texts: Word describing multiple companies under one ownership

texts:
I racked my brain for last couple of days trying to remember a word I read somewhere. I believe it was something about Bruce Wayne's (Batman's) company. But the term Wayne Enterprises was not used instead the term Wayne ??? was.

The way I understood the meaning of that word was  multiple companies owned and established by Wayne family over the decades of business

I remember it started with C (though it is possible that it started with K) and ended with MAT (Something like, and don't laugh I know that this word does not exist, Cloglomat)

Can anyone help me out, it's driving me insane.


texts: Is semiannual one or two words? Or both? Or hyphenated?

texts: I've looked on Google and StackExchange for the answer and am having no luck. This HAS to have been answered and asked before now... so I'm sorry in advance if this is a bad question or a repeat.


texts: Is "freak-out" an active or a passive experience?

texts:
The OED defines the verb freak-out as meaning:

  to freak out (occas. without out): to undergo an intense emotional experience, to become stimulated, to rave, esp. under the influence of
  hallucinatory drugs. Also trans., to cause (a person) to be aroused or
  stimulated in such a way. (Also in more trivial uses.) So
  freaked-out adj. affected thus.  freaking-out n.

Examples of freak-out are given from 1965. They stop in 1970, suggesting that this was perhaps a word of the 60s, though I still hear it being used mostly by Americans, a lot during the recent election campaign.

Typically the OED's examples are in both an active and passive context.

  1970   It 27 Feb. 11/1   Aage leaps about and shouts at them and
  freaks them out.

  1970   Nature 23 May 704/1   One question asked the respondents how
  often they had seen other people ‘freak out’, that is, have intense,
  transient emotional upsets.

The first of the above is a transitive verb, the second an active intransitive verb.

Sometimes people get freaked-out, sometimes they freak-out. In a newspaper article I have been reading on people who supported Donald Trump, a 25-year-old man, James Morrison says I was freaked out about Hillary because there were 33,000 emails....So, who or what did the freaking-out? Hillary is an indirect object governed by 'about'.

Now that does not sound quite the same sort of thing someone saying they freaked-out because of the 33,000 emails...

So how does the meaning change here between these two uses? Can anyone throw any light on the matter, please?

Edit. After giving further thought to this and after a helpful dialogue of comments with others, which has better crystallised the issue in my mind, I feel I should re-pose the question. What concerns me is that freaking-out, it seems, can be both a self generated experience (he freaked out) or something that is inflicted upon one (it freaked him out). I cannot for the moment think of any other verbs which behave in quite this way. Can anyone else?


texts: Word for killing half a people or group?

texts: Its usually referred to by an euphemism, but is there a formal word like an equivalent of "decimation"?


texts: Designing / devising a concept (e.g. for a website)

texts:
I'm looking for a noun that describes the process of "Designing / devising a concept". For example for a website: Means writing a general concept for the designer and developers, sketching wireframes, describing features and so.

I'm unhappy with "Design" because I could be misunderstood with designing the actual graphic design
I guess "conceptual design" isn't used widely
and "conceptions" seems to be used in a more philosophical sense (e.g. conceptions of the world).
In German we would use "Konzeption" or "Konzeptionierung" but "conceptualization" sounds weird to me.

Which noun would you suggest? Am I right with my interpretations of the listed options?


texts:
Often times something is referred to as being a "crutch" for something, meaning they rely on it. What would be a suitable opposite to this metaphor?

EDIT:
To rephrase: What's a good metaphor/term for something that "sets you free" or liberates you or helps towards a cause? I hope that makes more sense.


texts:
What's some alternatives of saying "You heard me" while snapping back at someone (in informal and formal situations both) ?
Can I say "You heard it"?

Also in a formal setting when dealing with jerks how to say it properly so the expression has some meaning and weight.


texts:
I've found this sentence in a grammar site :

"you'll surely pass the exam if you studied hard"

(independent clause in the future and dependent clause in the past)

Wouldn't be more natural : "...if you study hard" ?

Does the original sentence express doubt about the willingness to study?

Puime


texts: Should I use the phrase: "to + verb-ing" or just "to + verb"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How to use to + V-ing

I don't know what is correct in the two sentences below:

  I work everyday to learning new technologies.
  I work everyday to learn new technologies.

If you can tell me what is correct, please explain to me why.


texts:
I would like to ask when  we should use prepositions such as "on", "upon" or "about" with the word expound. In dictionaries there  are examples showing both usage but I cannot figure out in which conditions I should prefer one to another. Can we say it is optional?

She expounded her theory further in the course of her talk.
We listened as she expounded on the government's new policies.


texts: Everyone singular or plural in "except" questions

texts:
1)Everyone, except Jess and Susie, was present at the company meeting yesterday.

2)Everyone, except Jess and Susie, were present at the company meeting yesterday.

Which is correct?


texts:
"How do I suppose to have a garden at home?"

"How am I supposed to have a garden at home?"

Is there any differences?


texts: Ambiguous usage of "too" at the end of a sentence

texts:
'I heard Avengers is awesome too.'

Does this mean that I heard Avengers is also an awesome movie, or I also heard that Avengers is awesome?

Basically I want to convey that I also heard from others that Avengers is awesome. Is the first sentence correct?


texts:
Basically I want to say I am graduated today. Here is the sentences:
it is a huge honour to graduate from a top university such as ...... .

It is correct? or it must be "to be graduating".
Thanks


texts: What exactly does "I'm sorry for your loss" mean?

texts: I find it strange when someone hears about another's dead lover and he says "I'm sorry for your loss". Why would they apologize when they have nothing to do with his or her death? Is there a better expression, something like "Don't feel sad" or "It's something natural"?


texts: Which would be correct who or whom at the beginning of this interrogative  sentence _____ do you think will win?


texts:
Is it true that if any verb is immediately followed by a prepositional phrase, then it has to be an intransitive verb?

As a counter example, I need a sentence which:

(i)   has only one verb, and

(ii)  the verb should be of only one word, and should not be intransitive and immediately followed by a prepositional phrase

(iii) follows subject-verb-object order strictly

(iv)  has as few clauses and conjuncts as possible

(v) doesn't alter normal sentence construction


texts: Is "grounds" (as in a chunk of land) singular or plural?

texts:
Am I correct that grounds, although sounding plural, is actually singular?

More specifically, which is better:

  I view Fedora as a testing grounds for new ideas.

or

  I view Fedora as testing grounds for new ideas.


texts: A word to describe evidence gained from hearsay and individual examples

texts: I know there is a word for this, but for the life of me I cannot recall it.  It's used to distinguish evidence from individual examples and stories vs. evidence based on large-scale data analysis.


texts:
It is likely to rain.

Here likely is a predicate adjective with to rain as the complement (correct me if I'm wrong).

Who took the cookie? It was likely Bob.

Is likely also a predicate adjective here, or is it an adverb modifying was? It certainly seems like the case if one were to substitute probably in its stead, but I'm not certain.


texts: What are these kinds of lumps on a tree trunk called?

texts: I saw these lumps on a tree in a park near my house. What are they called?


texts:
I'm working on/reading a scientific article about the use and effects of Corticosteroid or Ketorolac on rabbit tendons and I got stuck at infiltration in the following excerpts:

  "Despite the increased adhesion formation noted grossly, minimal
  differences in lymphocytic/plasmacytic infiltration, focal
  histiocytic infiltration were noted between the (...) groups"

  "Tendon specimens were analyzed for evidence of necrosis,
  lymphocytic/plasmacytic inflammatory infiltration, focal
  histiocytic inflammation, and vascularity."

I found in medical dictionaries that infiltration is " the pathological diffusion or accumulation in a tissue or cells of substances not normal to it" but this definition is similar to neoplasia's (according to The Free Dicitionary, "an abnormal new growth of tissue; abnormal proliferation of benign or malignant cells").

Does someone know if they can be synonyms?

Thank you.


texts:
Should I use "is" or "be" in the following sentence?

  What can be said for sure is that it is essential for the challenge
  that the claim is/be made officially.

If the above sentence has a subjunctive mood, then "be" is the right choice, but I am not sure if it does.


texts: We call a piece of music with voice a song. What do we call a piece of music without voice? We sing a song but play a XXX.


texts: Is it acceptable to say "more [adjective]" when there is already a dedicated form making "more" unnecessary (e.g. "angrier" vs. "more angry")?

texts:
For years, it irritated me that people kept using "more [adjective]" where there were already dedicated forms making "more" unnecessary.  For example, people would say "more tight" than "tighter".  I figured people were just being forgetful, but then I see notable publications like The New York Times using "more angry" instead of "angrier".

"They were more angry with Washington and intense in their desires for a smaller federal government and deficit."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/us/politics/15poll.html

I've researched online, and I don't see any clear indication that both are acceptable.

Is "more angry" correct and acceptable in this case?


texts: Comma in "The key objective is X, with the broader goal of Y"

texts:
The key objective of the declaration is to create guidelines, with the broader goal of facilitating international mobility of students.

Are there any rules that govern the placement or omission of this comma?


texts: What's the name of this figure of speech playing with the use-mention distinction?

texts:
The following is a figure of speech I've seen a couple of times in my native language of German.
Though I have no reason to doubt it exists, I don't remember ever seeing it used in English, so I've come up with two examples myself:

  Every time you wear your heart on your sleeve, or give someone short shrift, you're using a phrase coined by Shakespeare.
  People who take everything for "granite" might not be the most educated.

These sentences deal with the mentioning of these terms - saying "I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve", or misspelling "granted" as "granite" - but they're worded like they deal with their using, as if they were about actually wearing your heart on your sleeve or taking things for granted.

To once again illustrate the difference, here are the same sentence with the figure of speech removed:

  Every time you say "I'm wearing my heart on a sleeve", or use the phrase "to give someone short shrift", you're using a phrase coined by Shakespeare.
  People who say "take for granite" instead of "take for granted" might not be the most educated.

No list I've used has mentioned this figure of speech. I could just name it "equating usage and mentioning" and call it a day (and by calling it a day, using a phrase originating in the 19th century, just by the way),
but I'd really like to know if this has been observed before, and given an official name.


texts: I read "slap bang in the middle of the debate".


texts: Any difference between "Sorry I'm late!" and "Sorry for being late!"?

texts:
Is one of these sentences used more than the other?

(I'm) sorry I'm late.

(I'm) sorry for being late.

Or is one more formal than the other?


texts: moving relative clause to the end of a sentence

texts:
I have this sentence of which I am not sure: "Establishing a commission in six months at the latest who will determine the rules of appointment"

I do not want to move time expression to the end not to cause confusion but is the sentence grammatically correct if words come between the object and relative pronoun?

Can you help me out? Thanks.


texts:
The subheading of this news story says, "Threatened showers don't mute crwods' enthusiasm" [sic].

Separate from the misspelling of crowds, is it appropriate for the apostrophe to go before or after the 's'?

The enthusiasm of the crowd.
The enthusiasm of the crowds.

I feel that an argument might be made for both.


texts: In the RF communications world, firmware takes data and "packetizes" it into frames. Is this really a word?


texts:
In the some sentences there are several verbs that goes by one another, e.g.:

  You both have to go get dressed before ... (something happens)

Subject phrase: "you both"

Verb phrase: "have to go get dressed"

Main verb: "have to go"

What the grammar function of the remaining part of the verb phrase "get dressed"?
Should the particle "to" precede the verb "get" in order to form "to get dressed" phrase?


texts:
There's this quote from Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, about brain augmentation, that's been bothering me:

  I think, and my thoughts cross the barrier into the synapses of the
  machine – just as the good doctor intended. But what I cannot shake,
  and what hints at things to come, is that thoughts cross back. In my
  dreams the sensibility of the machine invades the periphery of my
  consciousness. Dark. Rigid. Cold. Alien. Evolution is at work here,
  but just what is evolving remains to be seen.

Then I heard it used as good nurse in an Hercule Poirot episode:

  — And then— then I wake up and I recalled something.

  — What?

  — Oh, it is but a detail – in fact, it is half a detail, one twentieth of a
  detail, but yes, my friend, it worries me.

  Something nurse Hopkins said, concerning Mary.

  — What about her?

  — Yes, what about her? What is behind her?

  — You are not making sense.

  — Then suddenly I see there's something that the good nurse Hopkins, she does not wish me to know.

  Something she thinks has no bearing on the crime, but I believe that
  it may. But surely she would realise that.

  Non. My dear doctor, nurse Hopkins is a woman of high intelligence, within
  her limitations.

  But her intellect is hardly equal with that of mine.

There's also a 2011 film by the name, and a 2013 Korean medical drama which pollute the search results.

What does the phrase mean? Where does it come from?


texts: Can ‘benefactor’ can be used to refer to someone given the responsibility of a property?

texts:
I am reading a book called ‘Pure Dead Brilliant’ by Debi Gliori. I’m having trouble understanding a sentence. The male protagonist in the book, a kid named Titus inherits his grandfather’s wealth but his sister Pandora doesn’t share the fortune, this creates a funny conflict between the two. In this context, a particular line reads- ‘...three months past, when Titus discovered that he was the chosen benefactor of their grandfather’s vast hoard of money...’ I am confused because I know a ‘benefactor’ is someone who is the provider, and the receiver is the ‘beneficiary’. To quote wsu.edu:  “Benefactors give benefits; beneficiaries receive them. We expect to hear of generous benefactors and grateful beneficiaries.”
If that’s so then why the author has described Titus as the ‘benefactor’ here? My best guess is that it is a way to say that Titus is given the responsibility / freedom to spend his grandfathers money and that’s why now he is a potential provider. I might be totally wrong but I want to understand this. Any help would be highly appreciated.


texts: Is there a synonym for 'fake' that has good connotations?

texts:
What's a good adjective to describe a smile which is not genuine, but still has a good connotation?

I was thinking of using fake smile, but fake has a negative connotation, which I'm trying to avoid. In fact, I'm looking for something that says the exact opposite about the person... they aren't trying to be fake towards people, they are just so kind that they don't want the other person to feel bad, therefore they put on an insincere smile to be kind towards them. Insincere, too, has a negative connotation which I'm trying to avoid, since it makes the person sound like they have negative qualities as well.

Perhaps a little background could help clarify: imagine a person that is annoyed by something that a friend does, but doesn't want the friend to feel bad about annoying her, so she puts on a smile just for show. The smile isn't meant to be [snarky, rude, disparaging, sarcastic, etc.], it is truly, genuinely meant to be so that the other person doesn't feel bad about annoying her. Therefore, as you can see, the person really is kind and using a word such as fake doesn't do justice to describe the smile.

Any suggestions?


texts:
Is there any difference between these three expressions?

to find one's bearings
to get one's bearings
to take one's bearings


texts: "My wide range of abilities have/has helped"

texts:
Please consider the following:

  My wide range of abilities have helped my team succeed.

  My wide range of abilities has helped my team succeed.

Microsoft Word identifies the first as a subject-verb agreement error. However, from my perspective, the "wide range" is not the subject, but rather a descriptor of the abilities.  Are either of these sentences wrong, and is one preferred?


texts: What is the oldest variety of English in the Americas?

texts:
There are several varieties of the English Language in the Americas, from Alaska to the Falkland Islands. To mention just a few:

American General and its varieties
Canadian General
Bajan
Falklander
Newfoundland English
Guyanese
Bahamian
Trinidadian
Bermudian
Belizean
And several other varieties, not to mention dialects, pidgins and creoles.

Some varieties - not mentioned above - may have existed and gone extinct.   Of course languages change all the time.  Barbadian English as it is in the twenty-first century, is not the same as it was when the first English settlers arrived in 1627-1628. Even so, we can consider that Barbadian English was born at that time, even though a language changes and receives influences all the time.  Among those that are neither vulnerable nor endangered, and considering the time when the first settlers arrived, what variety of English has been in the Americas longer than any other?  In other words, where was it that the English Language first arrived in the Americas and is still spoken in 2014 in a way that allows us to call it a variety of English? (not a dialect or pidgin).


texts:
How does he does that?

  How does he do that?

Which one is correct? This type of sentence sounds a little odd because of two do/does in a single statement. Is there an alternative which has the same meaning?


texts: What's the implication of the word "scene"

texts:
In a TV documentary we heard the sentence "X announced that, whenever Y happens, they will react by doing Z, as in the following scene". After that we saw X doing Z. What is the implication of the word scene?

We saw a recording of X actually doing Z
We saw a scripted event of X doing Z for the camera
We saw some actors disguised as X doing Z
No implication at all, "scene" can be used for all of the above

Please note X was a group of anonymous members, so although I skipped the context here, it doesn't give away much.


texts: What is the name of the grammatical construction "noun + present participle", i.e. a noun phrase followed by a participle?

texts:
What is the name of the grammatical construction "noun + present participle", i.e. a noun phrase followed by a participle as in the sentence "His panic fading now that there was no sound of Filch and Snape, Harry moved nearer to the mirror, wanting to look at himself but seeing no reflection again."?

The noun I'm referring to is "panic" and the participle is "fading".

Well, I already know the answer it's nominative absolute which was appropriately pointed out by KarlG and the credit goes to him. I looked it up to further clear things out.

What I gathered is the absolute phrase only describes the circumstances of the main clause. The participle modifies the subject of the absolute phrase. And as I understand, correct me if I'm wrong, the present participle as a part of the absolute phrase doesn't imply any ongoing action.

So, the sentence in question can be rewritten, without any change in meaning, in the following manner: "When his panic faded now that there was no sound of Filch and Snape, Harry moved nearer to the mirror, wanting to look at himself but seeing no reflection again."


texts: What is the difference between these three sentences?

texts:
What do you guess it means?
  Do you guess what it means?
  Can you guess what it means?

Question 1. Is there anything grammatically wrong the sentences above?
Question 2. What is the difference in meaning between the above sentences?


texts: Category term for "polite", and "offensive"

texts:
I'm trying to complete the following sentence:

  It's not specifically polite, but it's not offensive either; it's __ agnostic.

Is there a common category term for polite, offensive, rude, or respectful? I've tried to love politeness, or courtesy, but those don't seem to fit, to me.

I agree with many of the comments that agnostic is either a poor word choice, or at least overly restrictive.


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How should I punctuate around quotes?
  When should end punctuation go inside quotes?

Here is what I have written:

Is it too late to say, "Don't go. I'm sorry"?

Here is my question:

If I add a period after sorry, within the quotes, is it absolutely incorrect. I don't know why, but the above looks wrong.


texts: If a common noun is capitalized in a title (headline-style), does it need to be capitalized in the body (or anywhere else that isn't a title)?

texts:
I work in education, and we follow Chicago for most things. We also want to down style where we can. I was wondering if I could get some clarity on this situation.

For example, if an activity sheet for students is titled at the top of a document "Financial Wellness Activity Sheet," do I need to capitalize "activity sheet" in the body text of lessons or anywhere else if it follows Financial Wellness or if it stands alone?

I'm thinking that activity sheet becomes general, so a sentence would use it like, "Have students work on the Financial Wellness activity sheet." Or, "reference the Financial Wellness activity sheet." Or in a list of materials, "Financial Wellness activity sheet"

Am I wrong? Most that I work with see this as fine, but another person involved is suggested these takes capitals everywhere.

Similarly, things like "Part A, Part B, etc." are subheadings in these sheets are capitalized, but when referenced in lessons, I'd suggest them as "part A..."


texts: What is the correct syllabification for this word, and what is the authoritative source for syllabification?

texts:
What is the correct syllabification of the word "eliminate"?

What is the Authoritative Source for syllabification?

Just in case it is needed, the word is used in the sentence:

  To allow more ef|fi|cient usage of paper, more reg|u|lar ap|pear|ance
  of right-side mar|gins with|out re|quir|ing spac|ing ad|just|ments,
  and to elim|i|nate the need to erase hand-writ|ten long words begun
  near the end of a line that do not fit, words may be di|vided at the
  near|est break|point be|tween syl|la|bles and a hy|phen in|serted to
  in|di|cate that the let|ters form a word frag|ment, not a word.

from a test case on the automatic hyphenation tool found [here][3]

Sorry if my question is too simple, English is not my first language.


texts:
Are there any other ways to say each other? For example, in this sentence:

  There are times when we both need each other.


texts: Normally, 'I want to do something', 'nice to meet you', that the verb always be its normal status. But why 'look forward to doing'?For example, I am looking forward to seeing all of the great ideas that you come up with.


texts: What is the uncontracted form of "won't ever"?

texts:
I read in a book lately:

  This is my home and it won't ever be the same again.

I was wondering whether the proper uncontracted form would be:

  This is my home and it will not ever be the same again.

Or:

  This is my home and it will never be the same again.

Are all of the 3 above grammatical? Are there any differences between any of them?

I'm asking because the second sentence seems to be quite unnatural, although I can't find any reason why it should be grammatically incorrect. The same would apply to I would not ever ..., but again, I have no idea why.


texts: What is the origin of the phrase "cut the mustard"?


texts: What English idiom or proverb is equivalent to this Hindi expression: "Having eaten 900 rats, cat moves to Hajj"

texts:
There's a Hindi proverb:

  नौ सौ चूहे खाकर बिल्ली हज को चली

The literal translation is:

  Having eaten 900 rats, cat moves to Hajj (pilgrimage)

This proverb means you adulate yourself pretending to be innocent after committing so many sins.

It also implies a remark for a person who tries to veil his shameful acts by showing himself as a gentleman.

Please provide an English proverb or idiom,  which is equivalent to that above one.


texts: Can I use 'could' instead of 'might' in this unreal situation?

texts:
Are might and could exchangeable in this unreal situation?

  If I were in Tom's position, I think I might look for another job.


texts: Are all English surnames-made-first-names masculine?

texts:
This may not be an English language question, but I've always wondered. In Sweden, it is very unusual to have surnames that can also be used straight up as first names. In fact, I can think of no such examples. But in English speaking countries, it seems to be rather common. List of examples:

  Barry Lyndon – Lyndon Johnson
  Dylan Thomas – Thomas
  John Adams – Adam
  Thomas Jefferson – Jefferson Davis
  William Henry Harrison – Harrison Ford
  John Tyler – Tyler
  Chester A Arthur – Arthur

(Yes, I used a list of US presidents as reference). With the exception of James Madison, whose surname is sometimes used as a female name, I cannot think of many other such surnames which are used as female first names. Is this the case? Is the tradition to use only male names as surnames, or reuse surnames as male first names?

Of course, nowadays, people improvise a lot more, but speaking from a historical perspective.

As a side note, in Sweden we used to have the -- rather curious -- tradition of giving surnames to children based entirely on the father's first name. E.g.:

  Johan Davidsson's son was named Nils Johansson
  Nils Johansson's son was named Bertil Nilsson
  Bertil Nilsson's son was named Karl Bertilsson

(Yes, two 's', as in "Johan's son") Something that surely makes genealogical research difficult. These surnames are used today as well. Either way, it seems to loosely be based on the same principle of using male names as surnames.


texts: What is the correct shortened form for "Goals of the Theses"

texts:
What is the correct shortening for "Goals of the Theses"?

Theses Goals
Theses' Goals

I am confused, because Theses ends with an 's', but using the apostrophe makes it plural.


texts: How can I say when referring to occurrences of an operator?

texts:
I'm documenting a coding guide.

Please help me out regarding how to indicate occurrences of an operator in an expression.

For example:

X = A + B + C + 3

In this situation, can you tell me a proper word that must come in the placeholder below?

This expression includes three ________ of the addition operator.

Or, is there any other way to say it differently?


texts: What is the proper name for a circle with a line through it?

texts:
What is the formal name for a circle with a line through it (often red in color) indicating that something behind the line is "off-limits"?

For example, this sign indicating that one should not touch:


texts: What does "macabre laugh line" means with regard to the government’s alteration of color-coded alert system?

texts:
American daily newspapers such as Washington Post and New York Times provide a treasure trove of interesting words and idioms to foreign learners of English language like me.  For example, an article of January 29 the New York Times titled We Never Got Down to Blue begins with the following copy. It provides me with a set of interesting phrases in only the following few lines, such as Erode into a macabre laugh line, stand beltless in one’s socks and survival biscuits.

Among these phrases new to me, I’m particularly interested in the expression erode into a macabre laugh line. Why can macabre, which I understand meaning chilling, dreadful, can marry with the word laugh line that does not seem to necessarily fit gruesome connotation of macabre? So, What does erode into a macabre laugh line. mean? Can anybody tell me?

  Well before the end, the government’s color-coded alert system was eroding into a macabre laugh line for the modern age of terrorism. Were people standing beltless in their socks actually hearing the airport announcements when the risk estimate mostly shuttled between yellow (Elevated) and orange (High)?
  The five-color code is going the way of cold war survival biscuits. Homeland Security officials decided that it ultimately lacked credibility and clarity to the point of sapping rather than bolstering public confidence.


texts:
I was wondering if the use of “for” like “because” was current use.
For example: “I haven’t come to the party, for I was tired.”
Is this used nowadays?
Or shall we say “I haven’t come to the party because I was tired” otherwise?
Thank you ever so much!


texts:
Recently I read a book, since I'm not a native English speaker, this passage of sentence confuse me:

  If his face betrayed any hint of his disappointment at the explanation, ....

What's "betrayed" mean at this sentence? My interpretation is that it means his face "shows" hint of disappointment. Is it okay to interpret it like that?


texts: “..which did what lay in it…” from “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens

texts:
Ref: “A tale of two cities” by Charles Dickens.

What does “..which did what lay in it…” mean in the following  sentence?

  “As the bank passenger – with an arm drawn through the leathern strap, which did what lay in it to keep him from pounding against the next passenger….”


texts:
From Wikipedia:

The term archmage is used in fantasy works as a title for a powerful magician or a leader of magicians.

Should it be pronounced arch, ark, or some other way?


texts: Is there a single verb meaning "Make actionable"?

texts:
I'm discussing a project where tasks require someone to review a list of items and mark an action associated with each one. When writing the project task lists I'm trying to say, "Note the associated action item with each item on this list", but that seems unnecessarily verbose. I'm hoping someone can recommend a single word that means "note associated action".

After looking at words like "annotate" and "instantiate" I'd like to say something similar to "Actionate this list". Is there a single verb I could use without making something up?


texts:
How do you express the difference between two value correctly?
Let's say I have several houses. For example house A has a larger height than house B. Now I have several cases where I just want to compare the difference from A to B, coming from the height of A. For example:

The difference to B is 50 feet. (from the context it should be clear that the starting point is the height of A)

The difference from B is 50 feet.

Which is better/correct? Note that if possible I do not want to say "the difference between A and B is...". I know this is correct, but I have many houses to compare, and it is tedious to mention the pairs exactly each time. I prefer to define a starting point, for example the height of house A, and then compare it with other heights by stating just the "difference to ...". But I am not sure if you can do this in English.
Another example to show what I mean:

The height of house A is 100 feet. The difference in height to house B is 50 feet.

Thanks for any guidance.


texts: is it permissible to use lower case for the Latin names of plant diseases in the body of a text? (The cases in point here are 'sclerotinia' and 'phoma')


texts: Alternative way to say "there are a number of limitations to our analysis"

texts:
I am looking for an appropriate way to say "there are a number of limitations to our analysis", which does not sound so demeaning to the work we have carried out.

I am new to this site so apologies if I haven't gone about this the correct way.


texts:
If it is to happen then we should be ready for that

Here I am confused about the meaning of the sentence.

Does it mean "If it will happen" or something else?


texts: Forming a Possesive of an Already Possesive Name (Possessive of "Xyz's" is ...?)

texts:
How does one formulate a possessive of a name that is itself already in possessive form ("'s")?  Is the name just treated as a unitary term and modified accordingly?  Is this even possible in formal English?

Actual example in context from http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=40435.msg377758#msg377758 :

  Two best lists I've found:

  https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-report-malware-or-false-positives-multiple-antivirus-vendors.htm
  -- though I'm loathe to ever link there as I dislike the mods so much, Chiron deserves props for creating and frequently updating this almost
  comprehensive list

  https://www.opswat.com/blog/what-do-i-do-if-engine-detects-my-safe-file-threat
  -- needs updating but includes a few outside Chiron's ambit/Gizmo's' policy (What is the possessive of a name that is itself a
  possessive?)

Yes, I could have finessed the issue by reformulated the sentence slightly (i.e., "policy of").

As a former data processing developer, I've found person names an especially difficult concept to model and implement.  Thank goodness I never had to deal with the glyph used by the musician formerly known as Prince.  Does anyone have an example of an actual person's name with this formulation?  I used to work with someone who collected "odd to Western sensibilities" example names but I've lost touch.

This is a problem I've had in other contexts with corporate names.  My favorite pizza place is "Mia's".  In line with the US Supreme Court ruling, I frequently hear a business treated as a person in colloquially usage.

Some may take exception to "though", prefer an attributive rather than possessive in the context of "policy", or otherwise question my choices herein.  This is a linguistics forum.  Have at it in the comments unless applicable to the question.  (Have fun.  Bonus point from me for a comment with an especially amusing or thought provoking example or that is generally witty or pithy if remotely on point.)

Whether/when a possessive of a noun ending is "s" is formed by a trailing apostrophe or apostrophe-s is mildly off topic unless directly applicable (i.e., because example is a proper name, already in possessive form, or an exception).


texts: How should I properly use the word vice versa in writing?  Is that even the correct spelling?


texts: Is it common to use the word "numb" to describe the after effect of being hit on the head?

texts:
Example:

  The bat hit me so hard it numbed me.

The reason I ask is because I only get three results on Google.

Is it common to use numb in a case like this (feeling dizzy after being hit with something)? Or is there a better alternative?


texts: Problems of Use of Participle in Academic Writing: "When considering" VS "When considered"

texts:
I have questions about the participle phrase in academic writing which are related to the dangling modifiers of 3 cases.

Could you explain me more the appropriate use of sentences with the participle group with 3 cases given?   Thank you.

Case No.1:

1.1. When considering the environmental context, identified species conform to principles of optimal foraging.

VS

1.2. When considered in the environmental context, identified species conform to principles of optimal foraging.

Case No.2:

2.1. When considering the virosphere, extremely unlikely events become probabilistic certainties.

VS

2.2. When considered the virosphere, extremely unlikely events become probabilistic certainties.

Case No.3:

3.1. Considering the qPCR data, the reduced synthesis of stress-induced molecules might be attributed to an enhanced adaptive response.

VS

3.2. Considered the qPCR data, the reduced synthesis of stress-induced molecules might be attributed to an enhanced adaptive response.


texts:
If someone were to ask you to name the top N things/people etc. except for some (that would be in the list, otherwise) then what would you reply with?

To illustrate this question properly, I will provide an example and also the exact use case in point.

Example: "What are the top 3 movies on IMDb's charts except for The Shawshank Redemption?"
Possible answer 1: "The Godfather, The God Father: Part II, and The Dark Knight"
Possible answer 2: "The Godfather, and The God Father: Part II"

My reasoning says that answer 1 should be correct, but some people say that The Dark Knight was not in the "top 3", so it should not be in the "top 3 except..."

The actual use case in point is the following:
Nmap has a top-ports option, and we are planning on adding an exclude-ports option. In this case, we are unsure of whether "--top-ports 3 --exclude-ports 80" should scan 2 or 3 ports (Note: 80 is the port scanned if we say "--top-ports 1").


texts: What is the correct way to punctuate this text?

texts:
I would like to know your thoughts on how to correctly punctuate this text:

One of the most visited places here in Manila is Binondo, often referred to as the business capital at the time, before housing little towns and narrow sidewalks. Specifically near the shorelines of Pasig River therefore making it perfect for travelling by boat, trade and commerce possibly routed through and from Binondo.

(This is from a blog post, which you can read from this link: http://www.rochellerivera.com/2019/04/what-it-really-feels-like-to-live-in.html)

I have 4 things to point out:

First, the second sentence here is not a sentence at all. Where is the subject? Can we even connect it to the first sentence? Can we make it "sidewalks, specifically"?

Second, do we need to put a comma after "Specifically"?

Third, do we need to enclose "therefore" with commas?

Fourth, do we need to have a comma between "trade" & "commerce"?

Thank you!


texts: Commas after coordinating conjunctions at the beginning of a sentence?

texts:
I asked a question like this before, but I didn't give my reasoning. I'm asking about the comma after "and," "but," "or," "then." I have the idea that if you begin a sentence with either one of those words, and if it's related to the sentence before it, you should place a comma after it. Here's what I mean:

Instead of writing this:

  "I went to school, and I talked to my friend Daniel."

You could write it as this:

  "I went to school. And, I talked to my friend Daniel."

In that sentence, I feel like by adding a comma after "and" would make the sentence seem related to the one previous said. Here's another example:

Instead of writing this:

  "She's going to the store first, and then she'll pick up the kids from school."

You could write it as this:

  "She's going to the store first. Then, she'll pick up the kids from school."

My question is asking if this would be a good a good thing to do, add a comma after a coordinating conjunction when it begins at the beginning of a sentence and if it's related to what was said before. Two more example:

Instead of writing this:

  "She used to work at a restaurant, but now she works as a teacher."

You could write it as this:

  "She used to work at a restaurant. Now, she works as a teacher."

Instead of writing this:

  "You can choose to go to the park, or you could choose to go to the beach.*"

You could write it as:

  "You can choose to go to the park. Or, you could choose to go to the beach."


texts: Word for to organize, to make clearer the structure of

texts:
Like building a diagram, or modelling something. Putting lines together on a graph that represent something. Organizing. Working to make the structure of something more clear / evident.

Ideally, I'm looking for a somewhat flourished, attractive word.


texts:
My friend has been raising a ruckus about the abuse of the word "utilize" in place of the word "use." He complains that it just makes your sentences sound pretentious.

u·ti·lize [yoot-l-ahyz]

verb (used with object), -lized, -liz·ing.
to put to use; turn to profitable account: to utilize a stream to power a mill.

utilize. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved April 06, 2011, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/utilize

Today we saw this post which uses "utilize":

  each app vendor may utilize unique policies for app pricing."

He claims that this isn't a very good sentence to use "utilize" in. I don't disagree but what determines whether or not you should use "utilize" in place of "use?"


texts:
I was watching The Cable Guy and came across a confusing sequence of nouns:
''It's a kick in the face on a Saturday night with a steel toe grip Kodiak work boot.''

Could you explain me why there's grip in the sequence, not just ''steel toe Kodiak...''

Thank you in advance.


texts: Looking for a nice and unique word that resemble the general usability of a device

texts:
I am looking for a nice and unique word that resemble the general usability of a device. Let's assume we have a smoke detector that is installable on any heater, so what should I call it?

  e.g. General installable smoke detector on heaters?!!

I am looking for something sounds nice .


texts:
I somehow ended up in a small argument about the first part of the compound word "fingerprint". The other person insists that the first word "finger" is an adjective, which I cannot agree with. "Fingerprint" is a noun-noun compound word, but my counterpart argues that "finger" is used adjectivally to describe what kind of a "print" it is. I would not say that everything that specifies something or describes something is an adjective. That would just be simplifying some elementary school heuristics for parts of speech...

Now, there certainly are some words that are both nouns and adjectives, such as "cotton", but I doubt "finger" would be one of those.

So, is "finger" in the word "fingerprint" a noun or an adjective? "Fingerprint" is a noun-noun compound anyway. Prove me wrong, maybe I'll learn something.


texts: Could I sometimes indicate completed actions using the passive version of the present tense?

texts:
The work is done - The work was done.

The action is finished - The action was finished

For example, I have just finished my work and say

The work is done

but when I explain something in the present tense and say

the work is done by machines

it has nothing to do with actions completed in the past as in my first example.

The dinner is served means that it was served in the past and means pretty much the same thing, doesn't it?


texts: Evaluation Method or Evaluation Methodology

texts: In a research domain, evaluation part is itself challenging, and thus we are proposing a way of doing the evaluation in that domain (i.e. determining what inputs should be given to the system and what outputs should be expected). Should we call what we are proposing an "evaluation method" or an "evaluation methodology"?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What is the word for an unmarried female?

What is the word for an unmarried female?
The above closed question is unanswered as bachelorette implies both unmarried and divorced/widowed. Spinster is for old women.

Bachelor is a never-married man.

Is there no such female equivalent of bachelor?


texts: If a person is stubborn in his statement?

texts:
When we ask a person (X) to change a method that he doing something regularly. He is not ready to accept our request and he says "I will do in the same way as I did previously" whether the method he doing is right or wrong.

I need some sentences How to we explain this situation to someone else "I explained him, but he(X) is rigid in his statement (or)

He (X) he is strong in his statement (or)

He is constantly holding his statement..... He is not ready to accept our request.

I'm not fluent in English now only learning to speak. So kindly  you yourself understand try to my question and give some proper sentences examples. Thanks in advance.


texts: When we write difficult surnames, e.g. Novak Djokovic, is it neccessary to use 's in the genitive case? Is it correct to write Novak Djokovic match-ball, or we must write Novak Djokovic's match-ball (that is difficult to pronounce)?


texts: Using "Until" with the Past continuous, Past simple and Past perfect

texts:
In English are we able to use "Until" with the Past continuous, Past simple and Past perfect tenses?
He was watching Television until his Mother got home.
He had watched Television until his Mother got home.
He watched Television until his Mother got home.
He was studying Spanish until dinner was ready.
He had studied Spanish until dinner was ready.
He studied Spanish until dinner was ready.


texts:
I'm looking for an appropriate word to describe someone who is a man of his word.

Trustworthy springs to mind but doesn't seem appropriate, as it doesn't imply an honorable connotation associated with a person who keeps their word.


texts:
Bear with me, please. Consider this sentence:

  "He might've turned his head and seen the incident, but I'm not sure."

This sounds awkward, but it makes sense, as seen agrees with might have. But this look at this sentence:

  "He might've turned his head and saw the incident..."

This sounds more natural, and I would prefer to use this.

My question is as follows: When omitting words that are implied (in this case, he might have), does grammar follow the ellipsis or what is actually there? Since the he might have is omitted before seen, should one just use the simple past saw or the past participle seen? I'm not explaining this as well as I could, but that's the best I can do. If anyone understands what I'm asking, please feel free to edit this question accordingly.


texts: 'Employee Profiles' or 'Employees Profiles' or 'Employees' Profiles'?

texts:
I had a spat with a coworker. We are compiling a software feature list.
One of the entries was the "Employee Profile". However, we wanted to write it down in plural. So, which one should it be?

  1 - Employee Profiles
  2 - Employees Profiles
  3 - Employees' Profiles

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the following:

  1 - Correct
  2 - Incorrect
  3 - Works, too


texts: What is the difference between 'luck' and 'fortune'?

texts:
I was translating a German chat in the office and somebody said something about 'Glück'. I immediately translate the concept to 'fortune', also because I'm Italian and the most similar word is 'fortuna' - cames from Latin, makes sense - but a colleague of mine said 'lucky' is better.

Is there a real difference?


texts: Positive word describing something that is not high-tech?

texts:
The company where I work has developed a product that is very easy to use and that doesn't need a computer or electricity to run (in contrast to competing products). Now we are looking for a word or short phrase to use in our marketing that describes this.

One alternative is "low-tech" (as the opposit of "high-tech"), but some of my co-workers find that it has a negative feeling.

"Simple" has also been voted down in other contexts, as being too negative.

We would use the word/phrase in this kind of context:

  [Product name]:
  Low-tech, low cost, high performance!

How would you describe something that is easy to use and doesn't require electricity?

(None of us are native English speakers, so we're not sure if our feelings about words are "correct".)

Edit: Our target market are scientists, so they are used to working with complex equipment. If you are not using it yet, the "ideal" is still to use this equipment. That is why "low-tech" might feel negative. We are trying to target those that can't afford the complex equipment or are tired of the complexity.


texts:
Is there any idiom or phrase for "I am going to have a fulfilling day tomorrow"??

I am writing an English diary to practice writing skill, and I tried to end it up saying myself that "I will have a fulfilling day tomorrow". I wanted it to sound determined, but I am not sure if there is a idiom or phrase for it.


texts:
1 million = 1,000,000.

1 billion = 1,000,000,000 or 1,000,000,000,000 depending on if using the long or short scale.

How many is a zillion?

Although Wikipedia redirects "Zillion" to "Indefinite and Fictitious Numbers," are there expert definitions or defining professional usages of the word?  The same article also describes how "forty" started out as an indefinite large number but now has a fairly precise meaning.


texts: Why so many words in English are pronounced different from their spelling?

texts:
As a non native English speaker, I am astonished at the amount of English word pronounced different from their spelling.
For instance, 'Would' is pronounced like 'Wood', 'Whole' is pronounced like "Hole", and despite 'though', 'through', 'thorough' and 'thought' have similar spelling, their pronunciation is just vaguely similar, among many others.
I understand people pronounce words as they want regardless of spelling, but, is there a particular reason why this happens?
Thank you very much.


texts:
Ageing is affected by the passage of time. To cure ageing - stop time!

I don't think this is irony, sarcasm or paradoxical but I'm sure there's a word to describe the "stop time" element.

What is it, please? Absurdity?


texts: A thesaurus with archaic and obsolete words

texts:
Can you point me to any online thesaurus that contains obsolete, archaic, out-of-use synonyms for contemporary words?

Google search is horribly unhelpful, yielding hundreds common thesaurus and dictionary entries for the word archaic, usually in dictionaries that have been pruned of obsolete words.


texts: Using 'to swallow' to indicate having an emotionally hard time accepting a truth

texts:
Can 'to swallow' be used to indicate that you have a hard time accepting a truth?

Neither a hard time in the sense of being able to understand it nor to accept that it is true, but rather in the emotional sense.

Example:

  I will show this to you now, but you better sit down. It's pretty sad and will be hard to swallow.

I know that I'm mostly transforming this from German, where the direct translation is used in this meaning. However, I am under the impression that I have heard it used in English as well. I can not find it on Merriam-Webster or Macmillan, though. Did I just make it up?

If this usage is not valid, can you suggest alternative verbs for dealing with the emotional side of something sad/scary/moving?


texts: Word for something that can be obsolete in the future, obsolete-able

texts:
Done → Doable

Destroyed → Destructible

Consumed → Consumable

Obsolete → ???

The word "Obsoletable" is listed some ~ 34,000 times in Google; however, I can't find it in dictionaries, which makes me think people coined it looking for the same word I am trying to find.


texts: What is the best word to describe popularity that does not stay the same through the years?

texts:
What is the best word (except for changing) to describe popularity that does not stay the same over the years? For example, a movie was once popular. Then it fell out of favor. And then again it became popular.

The following example sentence was added after one of the answers below was provided.

"The movie has had ...... popularity since it was first released in 1982. It became a surprise box office hit, but suddenly after a couple of years it slid into oblivion and it was not until the early 2010s that it regained its popularity."


texts:
Am I right in assuming that the word closure is derived from the word closed?

If so, I would be interested to know the name of this procedure and what it yields when applied to the word open.

My motivation is a mathematical one: "The closure of a set is the smallest closed set containing it." For certain topological spaces (Alexandrov spaces) it is true that every set is contained in a smallest open set.


texts: Can I name one client of my application "tenant" if I have multitenancy?

texts:
I'm a software developer and want to add the feature "multitenancy" (German: Mandantenfähigkeit, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multitenancy) to my application. Each entity in my application has several attributes. Now I want to add an attribute and give it a good default name. I could use "company", "subsidiary", "client" or maybe "tenant"?

Tenant sounds odd to me because it is immediately associated with renting an apartment.

I've googled for lots of terms but never found a way to describe in one word what I'm searching for, so I'm asking here.

Can I just call this attribute/form field in my application "tenant"? I don't want to use "client" because that words means so many different things in the IT department. At the moment I'm using "client organization".


texts: We have the same car vs we have the same cars

texts: If me and someone have the same car.  It is correct to say: we have the same car or we have the same cars.


texts: Do most languages need more space than English?

texts:
I saw the following statement on User Experience:

  Supporting multiple languages can break the user interface, because most languages need more space than english

This seems to be a gross generalisation. Does anyone have any data on this?


texts: "go too far" -- suitable for academic writing?

texts:
I am revising the following sentence in an academic paper:

  The de facto XXX seems to go too far and notably undermine the readability.

where XXX is a named of a new technique.

I feel like "go too far" is a bit verbal. So my question is whether this is suitable for academic writing, and if not, what is the proper way of emending this?


texts: When to reduce and when not to reduce a vowel ([ɪ] & [i])

texts:
Most of the time people reduce vowels in speech when these are not stressed, but sometimes these unstressed vowels are fully pronounced, too. For example, most people reduce the [ɪ] to schwa and say /bəˈliv/ instead of /bɪˈliv/, but they don't say /əˈkwɪp mənt/ in place of /ɪˈkwɪp mənt/ or /əˈkɒn ə mi/ instead of /ɪˈkɒn ə mi/.

This also happens with other vowels like [i]. For example, the [i] in the word /ˈbɪz i/ is unstressed, yet it keeps its original sound, i.e it's fully pronounced.

Why does this happen? Can we always reduce vowel sounds in words in which they are not stressed? Or when should we reduce them, and when should we not?


texts:
Which is grammatically correct: "a book to be read" or "a book to read"?
And what is the difference?


texts: what is the difference between efficient learning and effective learning?

texts:
I have trouble understanding the difference in the meaning of "effective" and "efficient".
what is the difference between "efficient learning" and "effective learning"?


texts: Is there a name for spelling differences in words like _grey/gray_, _color/colour_, etc.?

texts: Is there a categorical name for differences in the spelling of a word when the word keeps the same meaning and the same sound?


texts: In this sentence, why is "do" not at the end? Is there a specific rule for this?

texts: "Women who are heavy coffee drinkers find fewer errors in the study than do less caffeinated women."


texts: How I avoid ambiguity in the use of "and"?

texts:
How do I avoid ambiguity in the use of "and"?

For example, the phrase:

  "demonstrative pronoun and adjective"

could mean both pronoun and adjective are demonstrative, or it could mean only demonstrative is for pronoun.

Is there a way to write this where the ambiguity is avoided?


texts:
Let us work together in providing the poor quality and affordable healthcare.

In the above sentence, how it can be determined whether the word 'poor' is used as adverb for quality or it refers to people. In each case, the sentence has two different meanings.


texts: which verb means "to give someone advantage in a competition"

texts: For example, A and B are going to race. How does A tell B that he'll let B start at 10 meters from the starting line ?


texts: Do the tug of war rules have a typo? ("Or" vs. "nor")

texts:
The Official Tug of War Rules (link is PDF, here is Google quickview link) say:

  The rope must not be less than 10 centimetres (100 mm), or more than
  12.5 centimetres (125 mm) in circumference...

Since it's declaring a negation, shouldn't it be nor?


texts:
"After rain, when raindrops _________ on leaves and falls intermittently with blow of wind."

I want to say here raindrops (collected) (stayed) on the leaves but it doesn't seem appropriate at all. So which word can be used here.

P.S. Its a romantic novel.

Thanks in advance


texts: What should I call a person from New Zealand?

texts:
The question “They are Australian” vs “They are Australians” on English Language Learners made me think of what people from New Zealand should be called. With Australian people it's quite clear, you can say:

  one Australian, two Australians, three Australians...

How would this be done with people from New Zealand? Is there a general rule to apply to all people coming from countries ending with -land?

In case of New Zealand, an alternative would be:

  one Kiwi, two Kiwis, three Kiwis...

but this isn't really what I'm looking for.


texts: What does best among the worst mean? For example, if a person is best among the worst does it mean that he is the worst of all or that he is a good person in a group of bad persons?


texts: So just had a phone interview, the interviewer was a lady, now that i want to write a thank you letter, how should i address her, Ms or Mrs, because i am not supposed to know she's married or not


texts: Hypernym for all of the "watching" hobbies

texts:
There are various hobbies that involve "watching", e.g.:

trainspotting — looking for trains
birdwatching — looking for birds
stargazing — looking for stars

Is there a term which can be used to describe all of these hobbies collectively?


texts:
How can I make the difference in this kind of sentence :

"French Quality Clothes"

Does it mean :

Clothes of the well-known "french quality"

or

Quality clothes from France

?

And How can I express the 2 without been misunderstood?


texts:
When something is displayed on computer screen ( e.g a list or names of servers etc) people use "I am showing the below list" is this correct ?

I use "I am seeing the below list". I observed people residing in USA use "showing" can any please help me understand what is correct usage.


texts: What are the rules to shorten phrases correctly?

texts:
I have a dilemma, I do not know how to shorten the expression, room temperature.
I used to write it as RT, but several times I've seen people abbreviate it as rt.

Which one is correct?

And what about ultraviolet? Why is it shortened to UV, but visible, shortened, is usually  written as vis?

What are the rules for shortening words?


texts: Why "the" in "Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)"?

texts:
When reading the title of the book, we don't know what three men it is talking about so there is no/indefinite article (the same with "a boat"). But why is there "the Dog" instead of "a Dog"? We don't know anything about the dog either.

Update: Thanks for the answers. However, I'm not sure why the question got down-voted. I'm not a native speaker and my language has no articles, so using them properly and knowing different corner cases in English poses a problem for me. Honestly, I'd like to know the reasons for down-votes so that I could ask better/more qualified questions in the future. So I kindly ask people who down-voted to explain the reasons.


texts: What does an en_GB speaker need to know to write en_AU?

texts:
I'm a native speaker of British English, and I often write documentation and copy for an international audience. I understand the differences between British and American English enough to "translate" a document for consumption by Americans. There's no slang or local cultural references, so it's just a question of removing the u's and changing the odd word (boot to trunk, and so on).

How can I do the same for Australian readers? Should I start from the British or American version of the source? Are there even more word replacements for me to consider? (Don't try to list them here; I just want to know the scale of the problem.)

I've seen that there is a similar question for Canadian English.


texts: Is "an" still used in front of acronyms?

texts:
For example,

  The school has just started an SLA program.

(SLA is second language acquisition.)

Should I use "a" instead of "an" here? Technically, following the rules of "an", I should use "an" here since the acronym starts with a vowel's sound. However, I'm not sure if acronyms are even considered words, which means these rules might not apply to them. If I expand the acronym, I realize I should use "a", which leaves me a little confused. Do I have it right or should it be "a"?


texts: Word for someone who is a mix of shy and deliberately obtuse in a slightly flirtatious way

texts:
Searching for the right adjective to describe someone. She a mix of shy and deliberately obtuse in a slightly flirtatious way. Very calculated. Is purposely vague for the sake of trying to drum up interest. Not in a negative-connotation but more so in an friendly annoying way. Imagine someone coming to you to let you know they have terribly bad news with a smile on their face and then when you inquire about it - rather than tell you they change the topic to something totally different with the hopes that you continue to press for more information.

"Obtuse" seemed too unintentional and not calculated, "disingenuous" - was my closest fit but seemed too cold, "coy" - too playful... can't quite put my finger on it.

EX: Don't take her constant vagueness too personally, she's just being (insert adj).

EX: She is so ( ). Every time I try to peel back the layers on her we end up on a whole new tangent.


texts: How acceptable is it to use wanna, gonna, etc in business or more formal US environments?


texts: Is it ok to start a sentence with "seems"?

texts:
In a formal paper, would it be alright to include a sentence such as

"Seems as if the extremist Muslims are being highlighted by the media to perpetuate stereotypes"

or

"Seems that the media is exploiting the bad apples in the bunch to spoil the whole bag"

Maybe I have to include a word such as "it" or "there" before "seems"? Any answers are appreciated.


texts: Regarding Re: ; what is the correct usage in an email subject line?

texts:
I want to know what is the recommended way to use Re: in the subject line of an email.

I use Re: in the subject line as a shortform of 'in regards to'.

Whenever I have used Re:, people have told me that Re: is only to be used  when replying to an incoming email and shouldn't be used when starting a new email thread.

I remember being taught that Re is an preposition, which means “in the matter of, with reference to.”

I have also observed that I get immediate responses if I use Re: in the subject line.

So, should I continue to use Re: in the subject line or is that  incorrect usage?


texts:
Austin (1956):

  Much, of course, of the amusement, and of the instruction, comes in drawing the coverts of the microglot, in hounding down the minutiae, and to this I can do no more here than incite you.

What is a "microglot"? And what is meant by "drawing the coverts of the microglot"?


texts:
Please help me with the correct usage of capitalisation in an interrupted quotation.

For example:

  Alice yelled, "Get out of here."

In the above sentence, the first word under the quotes is capitalised as it's a complete sentence. But what happens in case of an interrupted quotation here? I mean what if the sentence was like,

  Alice yelled, "Get out of here," pointing to the door, "I can't handle you right now."

In this sentence is it correct to capitalised the first letter of the quoted sentence.

Ps: I know many of you would suggest that to end the sentence at the word "door". But this is just an example. I want to understand the rule here.


texts:
I have heard conversations similar to this:

  'I am an Indian and I don't like racial slurs, do you know where I'm coming from?'
  'Yes sir, I understand where you are coming from.'

I am quite familiar with the phrase 'where one is coming from' since that is used a lot where I live. It simply means,

  'I understand your point of view' or
  'I can see why you think that' or
  'I can see that your experiences lead you to that conclusion'.

I would like to know if this phrase is acceptable to native speakers of English because I should be careful not to annoy anyone or commit a faux pas. I hope you know where I'm coming from.


texts: Word coined to describe the phenomenon of using an oft-repeated rhetoric to shut down a discussion or debate

texts: Some time ago I read about a word that was coined to describe when someone uses a "common sense" style rhetoric to attempt to stifle or shut down further discussion on a topic, but I cannot recall what that word was.


texts: How do I insultingly describe an extremely ugly building?

texts:
The building is shaped like a matchbox. Or like a beehive. Designs of this sort need very little engineering and less imagination. It's mostly glass and concrete. More glass than concrete. It is a residential building.

In order to make room for it, an entire block of 19th Century buildings (very quaint and very much in keeping with the city's spirit) was mercilessly razed.

A handful of half-hearted protests from the neighbors followed. Those were ignored. The local media assessed the situation and found there was nothing worth reporting.

The monstrosity went up in no time. It now towers over the street, faceless and depressing.

Because the windows are walls, and the walls windows, it costs a fortune to keep the apartments warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Not that I think the tenants give a rat's ass: to those who can afford to rent a place in that building, the utility bill of any size is a trifling matter.

Ordinary pejorative words that people normally use to describe this type of architecture (matchbox, barn, etc) are way too weak. The monster is just too hideous, and the architects who designed it, contractors who built it, and tenants who live in it are too self-complacent and too dismissive of things that are beautiful and harmonious, as well as of the city's history, as well as of other people who live in the city.

To summarize. The building is neither a barn, shack, nor a matchbox. Those words are much too weak. Any suggestions?

Addendum: I once called the whole "ugly growth" phenomenon "a chancrous rash on the body of American architecture," but that's too general, I think. Nor is it an exclusively American thing either: London is chock-full of them, and so is any German city, and Paris is catching up pretty fast.

Before: buildings not unlike these:

... and now:


texts: How to refer to several titled individuals, "Mr x,y,z PhD"?

texts: How does one abbreviate "Mr Adams PhD, Mr Benson PhD, Mr Charles PhD" to use just one salutation and one title.


texts: What's the right preposition to use with the verb "enroll"?

texts:
The dictionary says that one enrolls in a university, but today I heard a person saying

  "The student enrolled at the school."

Is it right? Can I use both the prepositions "in" and "at"?


texts: Best way to express serving in an office with many clients

texts:
How can I simplify this, to explain that i am working in an office with high volume of clients whom I serve i.e.

I work in a/an ____ office

I work in an office with ____

Something close to that...


texts: I'm looking for a word to describe a feeling. The best I can describe it is bashfully giddy. Like, I want to show of this elated smile but I also kind of want to bury my head in the sand. It's as though being so happy makes me shy? There has to be a word for it....


texts: Definition of A Positive Statement Used Prior To A Negative Statement

texts: What is the word for a positive statement used prior to a negative statement?  For example:  "She seems great but she's never on time."


texts:
Currently, I am finishing my statement of purpose, which I need to write in order to apply to graduate programs. In my statement, I want to describe my teaching experience (for a semester, I taught a course in Mathematics for undergraduate students; the classes had a form of seminars). However, I don't want to use a word "teach", because it is used many times in the very same paragraph. I found two possible options. The first is to say:

  For a semester, I gave seminars in Mathematics.

The other possible option is suggested by my friend, who studies in the US:

  For a semester, I led seminars in Mathematics.

However, neither of these options sound right - according to Google, they are not actively used.

I would like to wonder, what is the common way to describe teaching experience in this case? How to formulate the sentence I mentioned without using the word "taught"?


texts: Is there a term to describe a human who has been turned into an animal by some external force or actor?

texts:
I am compiling a database of deities, mythological creatures, fairy tale or folkloric beings, and other similar entities, complete with categorisation based on various factors. In doing so, I have identified a (surprisingly large) category for which I cannot find an appropriate term, that being the class of animals who were once people. Despite this occurring in countless myths, legends, and folktales over several millennia (everything from the ancient Greek stories of the Pieredes and the encounter with Circe as described in the Odyssey, through to medieval and later tales such as The Children of Lir or The Frog Prince, and the innumerable further examples in modern works of fiction), I can find no general term to describe or refer to the subject or subjects of such a transformation.
The following terms I have already considered:

These characters are not Shapeshifters, at the very least these characters are distinct from the common definition in that they do not possess the power to transform themselves. Further, Shapeshifter is already both an entry and classification in the aforementioned database.
The terms Zoomorph and especially Zoomorphic have unfortunate connotations to deities with animalistic attributes, again with potential for confusion given the context.
Therianthrope is tangentially related but definitely not the correct word here.
The website TV Tropes refers to this phenomenon as Baleful Polymorph, and the more general concept of humans turning into animals as Animorphism. The latter of these terms is certainly too broad, while the former comes across as a bit of a misnomer both because the transformation may not always be what one would consider baleful, and in the sense that polymorph implies the ability to transform is inherent to the subject.

Does a concise term or (preferably) single word exist to describe this already? If not, could one perhaps be created or co-opted from Greek or Latin roots that would be fairly unambiguous in the given context and has no previous connotations in the realms of myth, religion, or folklore? And, failing that, what might you suggest as a new term to describe this (preferably in no more than two words)?
Note: This term will be used much like tags are used on this site, rather than in a sentence and as such no sample sentence is provided. Additionally, the grammatical form of this word or phrase (i.e., noun vs adjective) is not particularly important as long as the meaning is clear.


texts:
I am looking for the opposite of billable; the context would be "billable hours". A complete example sentence could be

  Sorry boss, the work I did from 9 to 10 is "not billable".

While writing a program, I encountered the technical correct, but somewhat ugly billable_true/billable_false-pair.

I want to rename the first to "billable", since its truthiness is reflected in the code already. It just leaves me with a very unsatisfying "not_billable" as opposite. While not wrong, I am hoping to find a single word that encapsulates this concept of hours I spent working on something, but cannot or want not put on the bill for some reason.

For the record, I am not a native English speaker, but I cannot even find an antonym in my native language (German). The word I am looking for should be an English word, since all words in the program are English(ish/as far as possible).

I did a quick search through the following sites:

synonyms.com
thefreedictionary.com / thefreethesaurus.com
thesaurus.net
openthesaurus.de

I did not find any single word describing this concept. I do not mean "slack", because the time I want to categorize was spent working. It just should not end up on the bill presented to the client. The word could have almost any connotation, but it should not have be too colloquial. It should be something I could tell a coworker without getting fired or reprimanded.

So, what would be the (ideally single-word) opposite of "billable (time)"?

UPDATE:

Just to clarify: The domain I want to use the word is timetracking in IT. We have some internal projects, events and such, which are tracked, but not billed, because there isn't any client. We also have in some client-projects aspects that we do not put on the bill (e.g. internal "sync" meetings that are not wanted/needed by the client). We track these short meetings, because it's work-time, but it is not something the client needs to pay for.


texts: word meaning praising somebody or something that tends to be biased to others

texts:
i was watching a collegiate volleyball game, and i noticed that one of the commentators was very partial to one team (the one from his alma mater), like he kept on saying all the great things (which are actually true) about that team, while virtually leaving the other team behind. what is the word for this ACTION, or PERSON?!

i need a word that denotes overpraising something because of a predilection, albeit everything about it is true.


texts: What is the difference between "every time I look outside my window" and "every time I look out my window"?

texts:
is there any difference between
I am amazed by the view every time "I look outside my window" or "I look out my window" ?

I don't think there is any but "I look out my window" is more common.

Thank you.


texts:
In an essay, a friend used the expression:

  It wasn't that bad of an idea.

I think that it would be preferable to write

  It wasn't that bad an idea

However, I can't explain why.


texts:
I'm looking for the correct adjective or noun to describe good part of something.  It could be anything such as a book, a movie, etc.

Update:

Take this for example:

  I've skipped a few parts (pages) to get to the [GOOD PART], but I really haven't
  found any [GOOD PART].

In this context we are speaking of a tutorial video or a scientific book. This [GOOD PART] must have a better synonym. What's the most appropriate and beautiful way of phrasing it?


texts: How to answer the inquiry: "Please confirm that you are not working for another company"

texts:
I got the following prompt.

Please confirm that you are currently not working for another company in this field.

If I am not working for any other company, should I choose "Yes" or "No" as my response?


texts:
In college, a literature professor related that a poet from the British Isles, as a young child, uttered the words (as best as I can remember)

"What ails the wee bairn?"

upon hearing an infant crying ("Bairn" is a Nordic word for "child").
The odd part is that this poet was, at the time, maybe 3-4 years old, and these were the first words he was ever heard to utter.
His parents had assumed he was mute for some medical reason, and when they asked him why he had never spoken before he said "I never had anything to say" (or words to that effect).
Any idea who this poet was?


texts: "Bear market" / "Bull market" : what relationship those animals have with economy?

texts: A bull market is a upward trend and a bear market a downward trend, but how did those animals end up in financial terminology?


texts: Does "painted vapors" mean anything without a context?

texts:
I have encountered this phrase in a tale I am reading:

For him the huge city of Ptolemides, with all its manifold clamor and
tumult, was little more than a labyrinth of painted vapors.

Does it have an idiomatic meaning?


texts: Is there any single name for this type of sport which look like exercise?

texts: I saw this scene in Baywatch (2017) movie, Matt Brody moving from place to another by this sticks by putting into holes.


texts: "you," "your" or "yours" in this sentence?

texts:
I just received an email that had the following sentence,

  We have plenty of magic that will pique your and your customers' interest.

Aside from the obvious errors, do we use "you" "yours" or "your"?

EDIT
The original sentence, verbatim:

  "We have plenty of magic that will peak your & your customers interest."


texts: word for when you take things to be true without questioning or reason

texts:
looking for a word that would work for when you take things to be true without questioning or reason. like the sky is blue, stealing is wrong, believing in santa, etc.

not looking for the "sheep", bigot or bias but rather the word that signifies how we just accept our life.


texts: I studied the nominalisation, but I'm so confused if the noun ”attention” regards as nominalisation, and if say so, what its verb?


texts:
Came across this sentence in a newspaper article.

"But as the months passed by quickly with little other than grand announcements and declarations to show for, the case for more hands at the wheel became compelling.

The "for" in the above sentence (after show) confuses me.
If this is wrong usage, what would be more appropriate - to omit the "for" after "show" in this sentence? Or adding an "it" after "show for" to make it "show for it"?
Please give your enlightened views.


texts:
Is this sentence grammatically correct?

Our participation will ensure that the outcome of the meetings are compatible with the interests of the U.S. for transportation and classification of XXX materials.


texts: Does album start with a vowel or consonant

texts: "Album"? Does it start with a vowel sound or consonant?


texts: Usage of without in conjunction with within

texts:
In my experience, the word "without" is generally used as a preposition to describe some action for example:

  I went to Paris without my bag.

I believe though, that I have heard it used with reference to some physical location or perhaps as an exclusion from some category:

  You will find him without the city walls.
  The enemy within and the ally without.

I cannot quite remember the connotation that it was used with, but upon saying the above phrases to myself I get bit of an archaic sense from the usage. Sounds to me like a line that could be used in a film set in a medieval time period.

The reason I ask is I'm reviewing an official document describing an employees work and the following statement appears:

  He has participated in numerous projects both from within the same department and from without.

Is this usage relevant/correct in a modern business setting?


texts: Any authoritative source on British rules on space before question mark?

texts:
Is it ever correct to have a space before a question or exclamation mark? is affirming what I always use, but now some translators at my office said that I always need a space before. I am sure they are French or something but before I answer them, I would like to see some British source confirming it.

UPDATE: No, Wikipedia is not authoritative unless it has a link to a publication that is.
The people I need to correct are likely native English speakers who sat too long next to French translators or something. I need some heavy tome to throw at them :)

UPDATE: The translators ate their words. All is well in the world.


texts: Are "had served" and "had been serving" both acceptable in the situation?

texts:
I have encountered this question in my test,
The model answer is "had been serving",
but I have written down "had served"
A)Mr.James had been serving this school for ten years when he retired from service.
B)Mr.James had served this school for ten years when he retired from service.
Is "had served" acceptable in the above situation?


texts: Can there be a comma between the adverb and the noun of the last member of a series?

texts:
I saw a practice SAT question on Khan Academy:

  Certified Executive Chef Hilary DeMane has prepared confections for celebrities, governors, and even Ronald Reagan.

The correct answer is filled in and in boldface. While I find this correct answer most natural, I wonder when it is permissible to add a comma between the adverb and the noun of the last member of the series. I understand that the following is incorrect:

  ... governors, and even, Ronald Reagan.

But this, with a comma between the adverb "importantly" and "interest rates", seems natural to me:

  Factors that affect bond prices include inflation, credit ratings, and most importantly, interest rates.

Or is the above not correct either? Should there be a comma before between "and" and "most importantly" as well in order to make it grammatical?

  Factors that affect bond prices include inflation, credit ratings, and, most importantly, interest rates.

Thanks!


texts: "was employed at" vs "had been employed at"

texts:
I am providing an "employment verification letter" to one of my past employees. He worked at my company from Oct, 2008 till Jan 2017. Which one of the following is correct?

1) He was employed at XYZ company from Oct, 2008 up until Jan, 2017
   OR
2) He had been employed at XYZ company from Oct, 2008 up until Jan, 2017

Thanks for your time.


texts: What does the phrase "take some big seams" mean?

texts:
This phrase was found in the novel Dorothy Dainty's red letter days by Amy Brooks, published originally in 1921.

Here's the context:

  "Oh, I say, Tess! Let’s be good friends,  and I’ll promise to cut down the size of my yarns a bit. When I start telling things,  they’re not so huge, but the more I tell, the  bigger they become. Say! I’ll promise to take some big seams in the next story before  I tell it."


texts: Why is it "description" but "describe" (b and p)?

texts:
I've just wondered by it is "description", but "to describe". It looks as if "to descripe" would be a more consistant choice. Is there any other explanation besides "this is how it is written for years"?

edit: Or alternatively "to describe" and "describtion".


texts:
From the book What If? of XKCD when talking about super strong winds:

  The flying debris would pulverize anything that wasn't nuclear-hardened.

What does nuclear-hardened mean? The closest result from Google for this term is Radiation hardening. But radiation hardening simply means making a device withstand-able in high radiation environment. The context doesn't mention anything about radiation, or radiation wind (if it even exists), just air wind.

So what does nuclear-hardened mean?


texts:
Is it correct to use a verb right next to its corresponding noun in this specific context?

I strum strings and hit keys for a living.

Thanks for your help.


texts: Is there a term for the linguistic phenomenon where a word in a sentence describes the sentence itself instead of just the elements in the sentence?

texts:
I'm thinking specifically of they way words like "frankly" are sometimes used in modern English.

Take the sentence: "His speech was uninhibited, unprepared, and frankly insulting to half of his audience."

Now it could be read that here "frankly" is describing the way that the speech was insulting, saying the speech was openly and obviously insulting. However it seems another reading could be made where "frankly" is describing the tone of the sentence itself, reading almost like:

"His speech was uninhibited, unprepared, and frankly (I am going to be frank about this) insulting to half of his audience."

Is this interpretation of the sentence valid? If so, is there a term for this linguistic phenomenon? How exactly does the word "frankly" fit into this sentence (such as if you were to diagram it)?


texts:
"In this year": Can anyone argue that the preposition in is unnecessary here, maybe even a hypercorrection? (Are there any situations where in is necessary?)

Edits

Some examples:

How many days are left in this year? How many days are left this year?
In this year, Tommy has grown 12 inches. This year, Tommy has grown 12 inches.

To stir up some debate, is in this year a prepositional phrase with year as the object? If so, how does this change with the phrase this year?

A construct such as "In this year's [some event], [this occurred]." makes sense because the phrase automatically becomes prepositional: in the [event] while year's becomes some kind of adjective. I'm not asking about this situation.

I suppose I'm interested in knowing whether in this year is grammatically correct. Can every sentence containing the phrase in this year be shortened to the one containing this year? (Do any grammar rules govern this?)


texts: Do I capitalize the c and s in Cognitive science when referring to the career? What about the n in Neuroscience, or Neurobiolgy. And the P in Psychology?


texts: Is there a term for the type of communication where the feedback is immediate, as opposed to delayed?

texts:
I often try to distinguish between immediate-feedback communication, such as talking in person, on the phone, or by instant message, and delayed-feedback communication, such as email.  (Or at least, delayed in the sense that it's socially acceptable to not respond right away.)

I usually would say something like, "I'd prefer to discuss this in real-time," which usually gets the point across, but I'm wondering if there is a better way to describe this concept.  ("Can we talk about this using an immediate-feedback medium?" sounds a little awkward.)


texts:
Before asking my question, I would like to point out that English is not my mother tongue, and that consequently, my choice of terminology might be inappropriate.

I have noticed that in many cases, there is a very strange combination of dependent (sub?) clauses in the English language.To be more specific, consider the following quote from wikipedia's artcile on Barack Obama:

  Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was president of the Harvard Law Review.

What does, apart from any weak and uncited statistical correlation there might be, the fact that Barack Obama was born in Honolulu have to with the fact that he is a graduate of Columbia and Harvard? To me this is a very bizarre way of writing a sentence, and it makes just as much sense as saying "Born in Honolulu, Obama ate an apple on the 4th of july 1990" (no idea if he actually did).

Has anybody else noticed this absurdity? Does anybody have an explanation for it? Is it merely a failed attempt at giving the text a good "flow"?


texts:
Is there any thing wrong in the following sentence:

  Could you please inform me when you go.

Can I use 'when you go' like this?


texts: What is a word or phrase meaning "ever so slightly" but with less emphasis on slightly?

texts: Imagine you have a serendipitous encounter with an old friend and they made your day "that much more" interesting. What is a good phrase meaning incrementally better but perhaps a little more sophisticated than that much more—something one would be more inclined to use as a compliment?


texts: "sufferings" is plural though it is uncountable,but how?

texts:
We know that there is no plural form of the "uncountable noun," but, for example, we write:

  His sufferings force us to retain pity for him.

Is it possible to make an uncountable noun plural? If so, please explain it.


texts:
As I am reading books and articles, I come across this bona fide. How do you pronounce this? How do you use it properly?

I know the definition is in good faith, like if you are welcomed to someone's house, the guests are in good faith welcome around the house and not expected to steal anything, or when you test drive a car, it's in good faith you won't run off with it.


texts: What would be an "earnest description" on the difference between language and grammar?

texts:
I came to this website searching 'difference between language and grammar' and found this question “What is the difference between grammar and usage?” I thought on what was said there and came to realize the word 'usage' is given its own place as a term. Which seems to be an expression of cognitive fallacy in the development of the language or at least the organization of the rule. Before someone begins their freak out response please give me a chance to finish some more context for the answer I am looking for.

Originally I defined language as the stylized set of rules and assets (all things dealing in individual words) that defines all usability of its spoken and written forms. I looked at a definition of grammar "the whole system and structure of a language or of languages in general, usually taken as consisting of syntax and morphology (including inflections) and sometimes also phonology and semantics." and then another and another till even lexicon and dictation was able to be included under grammar.

Maybe the issue is within the orderability of the many rules. An inability maybe to assign of sequential priority to each rule except maybe categorically. Getting sentence structure right then dealing with plural rules next, as an example. The question may need to be answered if it is in fact appropriate for rules to exist that hold a definitive placing in usability but not covered under grammar. Once again more simply put, is there some sort of definitive reason that separates grammar from usage. I am not qualified to say, but feel that would be what makes Language distinctly different from grammar as it would be comprised of then of more than one super subject.

As a final message to whoever replies I feel strongly someone is capable to define these terms without resorting to examples for pattern matching as substitute for an earnest description.


texts:
I just came across a word for "music playing in a mall" in some song's lyrics or an article. Mostly a song(latest pop), can't recall.

Reverse dictionary help?

PS: It might begin with a "P"


texts: A verb phrase that describes someone that doesn't pay their debt

texts:
ie. Knowing that they have an unpaid debt, yet doesn't care.

I suppose "he is renouncing his debt" would be fine, but it doesn't seem to flow well.

"he is abandoning his debt" doesn't sound too good either, so are there any better alternatives?


texts: I'd expect, I'd expected, I expected, and their subtle differences

texts:
Lately, I came across an interesting thread on the WordReference forums in which one user asked:

He's growing up much faster than I'd expect.
He's growing up much faster than I'd expected.
OR
He's growing up faster than I expected.

Do you guys think which one is the best way to speak?
I know all of them are correct but not sure which one does make so
much sense.
Thank you.

The first reply contains a very informative answer:

Just to make it clear to other readers, I have expanded the apostrophes. I have also deleted the word 'up' that I don't think
helps in the example.

He's growing up much faster than I would expect. = a consideration of
the process of growing up after giving the matter and circumstances
some consideration.
He's growing up much faster than I had expected. = a simple remark on
the process of growing up without giving the matter much consideration.
OR
He's growing [up] faster than I expected. = expressing some polite
surprise.

Spoken, the tone would convey a lot of the meaning and any differences
between them. All of them make sense.

At first glance, this seems reasonable enough. The answer is well-formatted, can be easily understood, and is very thorough - hallmarks of an excellent reply. However, the more I think about it, the less it makes any sort of sense. The reasoning as to why I am confused will be expressed through these questions:

Is the answer actually correct?

IF NOT:

What could possibly be the reasoning behind the interpretations?

IF YES:

Why is it not when the speaker considers, but to which degree they consider?

Does the third example even adhere to the abovementioned implication? If yes, then how does it relate to the rule itself?

How exactly can the speaker's tone change the meaning of each example?

Edit: As part of the mandatory research report, I have indeed done some sleuthing, but absolutely nothing of interest was ever discovered. By nothing, I mean it. I can't find so much as a clue regarding this conundrum. So please, forgive my severe lack of research evidence.


texts:
Are both sentences correct? with and without the indefinite article (a):

  She lives two minutes' walk from the station

  She lives a two minutes' walk from the station


texts: I know that in speech we say "the bigger the better", but is this ok in written English as there is no verb....


texts: other way to say " more to it than that "

texts: I will be really appreciated if anyone suggests any other form of saying " but there is more to it than that ". I have issued this question because I am looking for a graceful way to start a new paragraph which contains extensive information about previous paragraphs presumably . any ideas?


texts: What did Francis Bacon mean when he wrote this?

texts:
"There is little friendship in the world, and least of all between equals, which was wont to be magnified. That that is, is between superior and inferior, whose fortunes may comprehend the one the other."

Of Followers and Friends


texts: What is the meaning of "head-poppingly"?

texts:
In a book I'm reading there is a sentence like this

  If you travel to a foreign country, you will make the charming discovery that there are many differences
  between the local way of life and your own.

  Is a cup of coffee over there huge and watery or tiny and head-poppingly strong?

My question is what does it mean by head-poppingly?

Please explain for me.

Thanks.


texts: What's the origin of -sends in an email signature?

texts:
I've just discovered an email record where the writer signed his name as follows:
V/R Firstname Lastname-sends
I've never seen this particular type of signature before. I assume V/R is "Very respectfully"[1], but what is the origin and purpose of appending "-sends" to your name in correspondence?

[1] For the purposes of this question I'm not interested in the meaning of V/R


texts:
I found that the word "populist" means someone who represents the interests of ordinary people, so a "good" word. But I have also seen the term used as "he was accused of populism" so "bad".

What exactly does it mean.


texts: How would you name these two different types of adjectival qualifying?

texts:
If I say "Max is quite joyful right now" that would mean that Max is experiencing a feeling of joy, right?
But if I say "This needle is rather painful" that would mean that somebody else is experiencing or could experience a feeling of pain because of that needle (not that the needle is having some pain).

Thus, in the first case the feeling is "inside" the thing qualified by the adjective, while in the second case the feeling is "outside" of the thing qualified by the adjective. Clearly, we are dealing here with two different types of how the emotive adjectives function: some of them seem to impart the feeling (emotion) to their object, while the others seem to provide their objects with an ability of causing that feeling in others.

How would you call the first type? How would you call the second type? Do you know any terms that would describe these two different types of adjectival qualifying? If not, how would you yourself name them.


texts: If an animal is not a predator (e.g. a herbivore), but has nothing that eats it, what is it called?

texts: Most animals I have heard of, such as killer whales, great white sharks, and other apex predators are, well, predators. But what would you call an apex non-predator?


texts:
How can I name a boolean thing (yes/no data only) that should show that the all information is locked for changes for users, but admins can change it.

I have thought about: locked?, readonly?
Is there any better names?


texts: Meaning of "pull figure" in the context of scientific papers

texts:
I read Andrej Karpathy's A Survival Guide to a PhD and in the section titled “Get the gestalt right” he writes (about scientific papers):

  Your papers, as you become a more senior researcher take on a characteristic look. An introduction of ~1 page. A ~1 page related work section with a good density of citations - not too sparse but not too crowded. A well-designed pull figure (on page 1 or 2) and system figure (on page 3) that were not made in MS Paint

I haven't hear the term pull figure before, and can't find a satisfying explanation online.


texts: Explain the word efficiency in this context

texts:
Across the fire, Riga was
binding a struggling deer with his usual brutal, callous efficiency.

Please explain the word "efficiency" in a simpler way. I already tried to translate it to my language but none seems to make sense. English is not my mother language.