texts: “As high as an elephant’s eye” - was it an existing figure?

texts:
One of the most famous lines in American theater is
"The corn is as high as an elephant's eye",
written around 1942 by Oscar Hammerstein II, obviously the opening of Oklahoma,
There's a bright golden haze on the meadow
There's a bright golden haze on the meadow
The corn is as high as an elephant's eye
And it looks like it's climbing clear up to the sky

Oh what a beautiful mornin'....

1. "as high as an elephant's eye" was already an idiom at that time.
(Perhaps - who knows? - due to the circus fad of the time.)
2. "corn as high as an elephant's eye" was already an idiom at that time.
(You can imagine, perhaps, that phrase being used in American rural life.)
3. Hammerstein invented from whole cloth the phrase "as high as an elephant's eye".
(So, contemporaries hearing "The corn is as high as an elephant's eye" heard it as a completely novel sentence; it was not at the time an existing figure of speech or idiom. It only then became a catchphrase.)
So which was it?
Watch the film version of the song.

Oscar Hammerstein II, who wrote much of the Broadway canon with Richard Rodgers.
--
Would y'all please note the question here is very simple:
Yes or no, was "high as an elephant's eye" an existing idiom / figure of speech at the time? Or was it a novel phrase?
For some reason this question seems to have attracted confusion, I have completely rewritten with hopes of clarity.


texts: I am confused between these words. Dictionaries say they are similar, but I vaguely remember my schoolteacher apprising me of a difference between them. I would love if someone could elucidate.


texts: Would one write that someone is “a nonsmoking so-and-so” or “a non-smoking so-and-so”? I'm not sure if the hyphen is necessary or superfluous.


texts: An adjective or a single word that means something is "new" and "different" at the same time

texts:
When we say this approach is "New," new, here, doesn't necessarily imply that the approach is different from preceding approaches.

When we say that it is "different," different, here, doesn't imply that it is new.

So is there an adjective or a word that could denote both meanings?

Here is the context:

  to unravel .......... reasons and motivations.


texts: What is the difference between "I'm in no mood " and "I was in no mood"? I asked my mentor and he told me they're both the same, but I see that these are different in regards to tense.


texts:
I've been noticing in conversations that people often use past or present or future progressive where I would normally use past, present or future simple.
I know some rules about interrupted actions that are always described by progressive tenses.
But today during listening some podcast, the lecturer said

  Initially I was planning to make this podcast...

So my question is why to use progressive tense here? Could we use simple here? I suppose there is some difference in meaning, but have no idea where to start digging.


texts: Can one ever say for certain a word does not exist?

texts:
Can it ever be concluded that an alleged word is not actually a word? Obviously, if a word is not in a particular dictionary, it does not mean the word is any less of a word than the ones that do appear in the dictionary.

What about words like irregardless or administrate, which seem to be self-contained logical fallacies? Can one conclude definitively that they are not "real" or "proper" words?

In other words is the statement

  "xyz" is not a word

always false?


texts: How to express the price of a unit of output

texts:
What are the differences in meaning between:

  The output’s unit’s price
  The unit output’s price or
  Output unit’s price

My intention is to say:

  “The price of a unit of output”


texts: 'Hark' and 'behold' call attention to what we can hear or see. Is there an equivalent for smell?

texts:
'Hark' calls attention to something that we hear - for example:

  "Hark, the herald angels sing" (hymn of the same title, by Charles Wesley)

'Behold' calls attention to something that we see - for example:

  "'Behold, the Lamb of God...'" (John 1v29, ESV)

Is there an equivalent for smell? That is, is there a similar word to call attention to something that I can smell?

For example:

  __, the roast dinner is ready...


texts: A word for how much a thought or feeling compels a response

texts:
"Urgency" comes close to what I want. For example, a painful sensation has urgency (may be more or less urgent), and may compel me sooner or later to change position, take aspirin, etc. Similarly, a full bladder has a quality that compels an obvious response.

What I don't like about "urgency" is the emphasis on how soon the response needs to come.

I like "exigent", except, as with "urgent", there seems to be emphasis on timeliness. Also, there doesn't seem to be a word for how exigent something might be ("exigency" means that which is required not how much something is required). Another problem is that "exigent" also means "requiring or calling for much" which is not what I want.

"Demanding" is good, but "demandingness"??

"Pressing" (and ?"pressingness") and "imperative" (?"imperativeness) are also near what I want. "Priority" too is close, but I think is better used to describe a property of tasks rather than perceptions or thoughts. Also, "priority" emphasizes the ordering of competing options, which is not what I want.

I would like to say something like, "The thought of one's own death has great urgency, even though there is nothing to be done about it," but I don't like "urgency" here because I don't want to highlight how soon it needs to be done, rather, how much something needs to be done.

Edit: To clarify in response to comments below, I am mainly interested in a noun that names a property or quality of some mental phenomenon (thoughts, sensations, emotions). Adjectives would then be applied to the property.

To give a concrete example, 'height' (a noun) is a property of a person. A person's height could be tall or short (adjectives). Likewise, an emotion might have urgency. Its urgency could be urgent or not urgent.


texts: Usage of "join" - simple present or progressive?

texts:
Suppose that I enrolled in a group at a particular time in the past and now I maintain membership.

In this case, which of the following is (are) correct?

1) He is curious of the group I'm joining.

2) He is curious of the group I join.

3) He is curious of the group joined by me.

4) He is curious of the group I've joined.


texts: What is the meaning of 'clusterbourach'?

texts:
In recent days I've seen the word 'clusterbourach' come up to describe the Brexit process. For example, in the National:

  The deal was, he said later, not just a bourach, but a “clusterbourach”.

I've tried looking up this word online but have been unable to find a definition (for example, in the Online Scots Dictionary). I'm guessing from context that it means 'a mess' or something similar. Still, it would be good to get a proper definition.

What does this word mean?


texts:
Is there a term for two words combined intact to make another word?
E.g. back yard -> backyard, every day -> everyday, etc.


texts: Passive Voice to active voice conversion doubt

texts:
Can anyone convert this passive voice to active voice, please. For my understanding. (I'm really confused with passive and active voice)

First of all, throughout history education has been reserved for those who have the most money.


texts: Origin of "You've got nice ... here. It would be a shame if something happened to it"

texts:
This phrase have become a popular meme in the Internet, but it dates to at least 1970's. The earliest example I know is Monty Python's "Army Protection Racket" sketch:

Luigi: (Michael Palin) (looking round office casually) You've... you've got a nice army base here, Colonel.
Colonel: Yes.
Luigi: We wouldn't want anything to happen to it.
Colonel: What?
Dino: No, what my brother means is it would be a shame if... (he knocks something off mantel)

However, they were likely using an already stereotypical Mafia threat. So, when did such a phrase first appear?


texts:
If something normally cost £300 and someone is selling exactly the same item for £100, is this:

  over half price
  under half price

Does it depend on context or is either correct?

For example, if I were in marketing, and had this as a deal, which would be the correct choice?


texts:
I am looking for a specific word to describe a person with a narrow perspective, suggesting a lack of foresight/consideration of the broader implications of their decisions.

This would preferably be the noun-equivalent of "myopic," as in:

I am most concerned with the politician's "myopic-ness" and total disregard for the broader implications of his policy proposal.


texts: Active to Passive voice: "School classmates make the best friends"

texts:
Recently I've encountered one problem which I couldn't solve myself. I have a sentence, "school classmates make the best friends", and I want to rewrite it using the passive voice. However, after rewriting the sentence I am left with a few doubts.

Firstly, if I try to use the construction "are made by" (e.g. "The best friends are made by school classmates"), it  sounds somewhat funny, therefore not unuseful - to me, at least. I think that the construction "are made by" is proper only in sentences, in which the predicate meaning is close to "are manufactured by" (e.g. "Wooden doors are manufactured by workers" and so on). The same, in my opinion, goes for "are made from" (e.g. "The best friends are made from school classmates" and "tubes made from plastic"). Is that true, or is it only my vision of the problem and is  it  possible to rewrite the sentence with one of these constructions ?

Secondly, if I try to use this other construction, "are made at" (e.g. "The best friends are made at school"), it seems somewhat closer to the meaning of the sentence in the active voice (refreshing our memory: "School classmates make the best friends"), but... I don't know, this sounds like we are talking about the plain meaning of "make" again, that is, as the verb meaning "to create".

Finally, the best way to rewrite the sentence which I could find is "The best friends are obtained at school classes". But is it possible to rewrite the sentence using passive voice and some form of "make" verb? The main problem here, I think, is an existence of a collocation "make friends", which interferes with regular contextual usage of "made by", "made at", "made from" and so on.

Thanks in advance for reading and answering!


texts:
I just read this sentence "when the wind was in the east a smell came across the harbour" from the Ernest Hemingway's novel The Old Man And The Sea:

Two questions:

What does "in" the wind mean? Does it mean the wind was "from" the east or the wind was "towards" the east?
Should there be a comma after the relative clause, before "a smell"?


texts: Expression for highlighting why studying is important

texts:
In my country, we have a saying that goes by "the pen is lighter than the shovel", that we use to convince kids and teenagers to overcome their laziness and take their studies seriously.

Is there a similar idiom for this, that could be said to a young person?


texts:
I had just come up with an Iraqi who was looking for a shopping mall where he can buy his shirts and clothings.

At first he had asked "where is the market?" So I had to re-ask him the category of merchandise he wants to buy.

I have a question here..

Does the word "market" also commonly include the place where you can imagine such as shopping mall complex? (Because where he was looking for was quite big multi-complex where we can watch a movie and shoppoing and eating.. etc)


texts: What is the difference between the meaning of these two sentences and which one is the correct usage?

texts:
"He jumped off the train while it had been running"
  "He jumped off the train while it was running"


texts:
It's a line from Taio Cruz's song Dynamite:

  Cause we gon' rock this club
  We gon' go all night
  We gon' light it up
  Like it's dynamite


texts: Which idiom is correct "draw on" or "draw from"?

texts:
Is there any difference in meaning between those two:

Gulf Racing draws on this history...
Gulf Racing draws from this history...

Are they both grammatically correct?


texts: what "the degrees to which an individual peer service or goods provider can elect to work for a sharing platform" mean?

texts:
In the following sentence, I'm confused about what "the degrees to which an individual peer service or goods provider can elect to work for a sharing platform" means.
Does it mean something like whether an individual peer service or goods provider can freely choose a sharing platform among many platforms or he(she) have few choices or options(that are worth considering to choose)?
Against the backdrop of liability and tax problems that support strong cooperation between
market platforms and government, the issue of the fair treatment of labor is the thorniest and most
variable aspect of the sharing economy’s maturation. Because of the fl uidity of the employment
relationship and the degrees to which an individual peer service or goods provider can elect to
work for a sharing platform, labor protections defy uniform application.
Thank you in advance.


texts: Sentence Explanation - Seneca's On the Shortness of Life

texts:
I realized that your grief should not be intruded upon while it was fresh and agonizing, in case the consolations themselves should rouse and inflame it: for an illness too nothing is more harmful than premature treatment.

If I'm understanding correctly, Seneca refers to consolation of a fresh and agonizing wound as "premature treatment" and therefore, he should abstain from doing so to not make the situation worse. This indicates that premature consolation is less harmful than an "illness too nothing"? That doesn't make much sense to me.

If consolation is less harmful than a "too nothing" illness, than why isn't he consoling his mother?

What am I missing here? The sentence after the colon is contradicting the first.


texts: Is there a way to unambiguously say "out(side) of time"?

texts:
"Out of time" can mean a variety of things, but IMO the most common one and the one that will be understood if there's no context is "with no time left". unambiguously

In can also be used in music but context is often enough to tell.

But it the case of a time traveler, out of time can be used both for the meaning I mentioned and for when he's "outside of time" (hors du temps in French). I'm using outside just to be understood, but I'm pretty sure out of time is the only correct form.

Is using outside of time incorrect? Is there another way to express that idea that's not (or less) ambiguous?

That "problem" occurs for example in the lyrics of True Survivor by David Hasselhoff:

  Out of time, running in and out of time

I believe the first one means no more time/running out of time, while the second one has the other meaning. It's hard to tell, am I correct?


texts: Restructuring "is that" type of sentence?

texts:
I often find myself and others using this type of sentence:

The real issue is that A,B, and C need to be fixed.
What happens underneath the hood is that A works like this and that

They attempt to emphasize the preceding subject (at least such is my understanding) and while there's nothing wrong with "is that" phrases grammatically , these phrases are verbose. Is there a way to restructure such sentence to make it more "active", less verbose, and more focused on the things being explained after "that is" part.


texts: What is the "class-noun" for online and offline?

texts:
If something can either be yellow or red, green, blue, then its "redness" or "yellowness" "class-noun" would be its COLOR.

If something can either be fast or slow, then its "fastness" or "slowness" "class-noun" would be its SPEED (or VELOCITY).

What would be the "class-noun" for something that could be "online" or "offline", to describe its "online-ness" or "offline-ness"?

EDIT:

Clarification:

I am talking more about something that takes place as part of an ongoing process, or otherwise after the process has finished. Nothing is connected in my case, and the internet is not involved.


texts:
I am confused about how to use in the presence. Here I have written a sentence in which I think the before presence should be omitted.

  This situation might be more critical in the presence of long edges,
  although we restrict the irregular shape boundary to minimize the
  complexity.


texts: How long has the subjunctive existed in English?

texts: I'm pretty sure Shakespeare used the subjunctive. I'm not sure about Chaucer and I haven't a clue whether it is used in Beowulf. Has the subjunctive always existed in English, even as far back as Old English? If not, roughly when did it start being used?


texts: What is the word to describe someone who thrives on change?

texts: Need word that would describe this type of person and I am unable to locate it. Please help! I was recently ask for a word to describe myself and the best thing I could come up with is I thrive on change, but it is multiple words and I was asked to narrow it down to one. Therefore, I have been reaching out to determine if someone out there might know a word that works. My apologies for having the incorrect format for questions.


texts:
Suddenly came up with a thought that the sentence below could have two meanings due to the "so ~ that" structure.

I'm so happy that I can sing.

If the sentence had no "so", it would mean that the speaker is happy due to the fact that he can sing. But since it has "so happy that" it occurs to me that it could have two meanings.
The first meaning I find it could have is: The speaker is so happy as to sing. The second one is: The speaker is happy due to the fact that he can sing. Not only about this particular sentence, but about other sentences which have "so ~ that" structure, would they be interpreted in two ways? How the sentence is interpreted, is it up to the context the sentence is involved?

Thanks.


texts: What is the 'predicate' in the sentence 'Frank has been studying syntax lately.'

texts: Certainly the content verb is viewed as the (core of) the predicate. but I am curious about the auxiliary verbs. Should they be included in the main predicate? In other words, is the main predicate in the sentence above has been studying or just studying and why?


texts: Surely it is not quite ethical but is it grammatical to say: "I am going to use this stick to hit you." vs "I am going to use this stick to hit you with." (excuse my ending the sentence with a preposition)?


texts:
Reading a little about the Inca people of South America and I see that most commonly the word Inca is used instead of Incan, e.g.:

The Inca Empire vs The Incan Empire

My natural instinct would be to say Incan.  Is Incan wrong here?  Why is Inca usually used instead of Incan?

For reference and more examples see this article: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/284517/Inca


texts: Single word for a synonym with opposite connotation?

texts:
Is there a single word to describe a word that has the same literal meaning, but is opposite in connotation to another word? In other words, what is to connotation as antonym is to denotation?

To clarify, I mean "connotation" in the simplest possible way, such as this Wikipedia quote:

  A connotation is frequently described as either positive or negative,
  with regard to its pleasing or displeasing emotional connection.

Suppose I have some connotative words with generally accepted synonyms (in a given sense) with opposite connotations (in this pleasing/displeasing emotional connection sense):

cheap and affordable, meaning "not expensive": typically affordable  would be "inexpensive in a positive way" and cheap might be "inexpensive in a negative way"
famous and notorious, meaning "not obscure": to say notorious evokes a negative connotation, while famous evokes a positive connotation

Is there a word to describe this relationship between famous and notorious, cheap and affordable?

In a sentence: "Our product is not expensive, but could you find a ____ [word of opposite connotation] to cheap? Maybe affordable would leave a more positive impression."

A different context: "He is definitely known, but I wouldn't say famous; to use a ____ [word of opposite connotation], you could say he is notorious."


texts:
Is such a sentence correct:
Humans destroyed the animal in an inhumane way.
Can I use the words "destroy" and "inhumane" in such a construction?
Because I think using the word kill is much better.
thanks.


texts: Is there any difference? Why would you say authors guild and not authors association?


texts: "List of items" is correct. Is "items list" correct?

texts:
Actually, my question is a bit broader.

AFAIK, the latter is generally incorrect: "item" is adjective so it should be singular.

However there are some well-known exceptions like "sales manager".

Could anyone explain the rule here: when is plural form acceptable?

Update: looks like here is an answer.  Any comments are welcome, however.


texts:
In a recent Academia SE question, user moonman239 writes:

What is proper etiquette for college students needing to leave the  lecture room for any reason?
Example: Bathroom breaks, an urgent phone call, or a need to "play the trumpet" (if you know what I mean)

As the user does not seem to respond any more, those of us who do not know what he or she meant are now left wondering what was actually meant.
Based on googling, I did not find any conclusive evidence to a commonly understood meaning of the expression "play the trumpet". In fact, virtually all results I could find seem to talk about people who - literally - play a musical instrument, a trumpet.
I can see some possible explanations that could (remotely) make some sense also in the context of the question, although they realistically strike me as quite far-fetched:

It might be a general way to express "make noise" (literally and figuratively), by talking, singing, jumping around, or whatever other freedom is desired that would not be possible in the described context (of a university lecture hall).
Trumpets can be used to play recognizeable melodies, and thus may serve as leading or solo instruments. Hence, "playing the trumpet" could be a euphemism for "taking the lead", for instance, in a group working on a project, as opposed to a lecture hall, where the lecturer has the superior role towards all attendees.

Given that a euphemism is used in the first place, though, it could also be that the expression is meant to refer to a taboo-ish topic:

If we concentrate on the play part (with the trumpet being a somewhat arbitrary placeholder for the object of playing to create a memorable expression), the expression might be interpreted as a euphemism for "masturbation".
If we concentrate on the trumpet part, i.e. something that creates loud sounds, the expression might refer to "(audible) flatulence".
In fact, the direct Chinese translation of "playing the trumpet" ("吹喇叭") seems to be used in Taiwan as a euphemism for fellatio.

With the background in mind that this is about something that could cause students to urgently leave a lecture rather than wait for some one or two hours until it ends, not a single one of these interpretations sounds actually likely (even less so if the activity would require several students to suddenly feel the same need).
Therefore, my question is: What does the expression "play the trumpet" mean (if it means anything), and if so, is it commonly used in English (or just in some English-speaking places)?


texts: Synonym for competitive that has negative connotations

texts:
I'm looking for an adjective or a noun or a verb that means to be overly competitive in a way that makes you lose sight of how you're affecting others around you.
Example. "Ben was (behaving) **** , working on his . He was laser-focused on his project at the expense of spending time with his family.


texts: Is there a verb that describes the act of being healthy?

texts: Is there a verb that describes the act of being healthy (exercising, eating well, etc.)? Preferably a single word


texts: Is "can't" or "couldn't" apt in "I told him I couldn't do it anymore because I'm old now"?

texts:
The following is a narration of something that had happened in the past.

My friend says to me, "What did you tell him yesterday?" In reply, I
said, "I told him that I could do it when I was young and that I
couldn't do it anymore because I'm old now."

Since I'm talking about something that I said in the past, I changed "can" to "could". Still, I'm unsure if I should change "couldn't" to "can". Should I keep "couldn't", and should it be "I was old" because it's something I said in the past?
I read the other threads they're different from my question.


texts: Is it "as wonderful as them" or "as wonderful as they"?

texts:
I have a few questions on terminology, first, actually, as having the right terminology may have enabled me to answer this question on my own.

What is the terminology for such constructs, "as [adjective] as [noun]"? (Wiktionary seems to label them adjective-based similes—is that correct?)
Is the [noun] considered a subject, a direct object, or some other kind of an object?

I feel that [noun] was actually meant to be a complete sentence on its own, e.g. "She is as wonderful as they [are wonderful]," but for convenience we drop repetitive words—is that an accurate view?

If so, then, are sentences like "She's as tall as me" actually ungrammatical? Yet, it seems awkward to say, "She's as tall as I." Is that purely due to a shift in speaking norms?


texts: What English words employ the Spanish suffix '-ista'?

texts: The Spanish suffix '-ista' denotes someone associated with something. This has been adopted into English in one example I can think of, namely a 'fashionista'. One would have expected many more but I can't immediately think of any that are regulary used. Can anyone else help, please?


texts: Am i using the word fundamental correctly?

texts: Some fundamental points both men discuss are immoral act of slavery and government corruption?


texts: What terms describe the various parts of someone's name?

texts:
People tend to have at least one personal name and one family name. Some people also have middle names and nicknames. What terms describe other kinds of names, e.g.:

What term describes additional names, such as those added after the middle name?
What term describes surnames which combine two family names, joined by a hyphen?
Are there any additional kinds of names? What are they called?


texts: Should I use "the" in the phrase "the check-in for a flight", in this context?

texts:
I have this sentence in Russian I need to translate into English:
"Звучит объявление о регистрации на рейс Кабул - Гонконг."
The best I can come up with is this:
"An announcement rings out about the start of the check-in for the Kabul - Hong Kong flight."
But, I am not sure if 'check-in' is supposed to be "the start of the check-in" or "the start of check-in". In all honestly I would have changed it to say, "An announcement rings out to begin boarding the Kabul - Hong Kong flight." but the original author is quite adamant about this check-in phase, which is not something that airports typically announce. Any tips would be appreciated.


texts: I want to use a idiom or phrase that describe the emotion or gesture

texts: I want to use an idiom or phrase that describes the emotion or gesture when people go silent with a finger on their lips when they see something totally bizarre or unexpected?  Thank you


texts:
I'm in a similar situation to crodjer, in that I am struggling with a word to describe a concept.

In his case, he had a job, for which some people are responsible, say: a, b, c, d and e. In my case, a can elect one or more proxies to act on his behalf, say: f and g; similarly, b could elect g and h as his proxies.

I'm happy with the term 'proxy' for the person the task has been delegated to, but I wonder what the reverse term is, i.e. in the example above, if g is a proxy of b, what is b to g?


texts: I need a word for a job title with this kind of description

texts:
What would you call a person whom other people could hire to do anything from cleaning up dog excrement to typing up a resume, while also cleaning and painting a  bathroom, picking up and dropping your children off at various functions, planning a weekend getaway, doing laundry (including ironing), planning, shopping and cooking a weekly dinner menu, answering your business phone and collecting payments. Organizing your garage after purchasing and installing shelving. Locating a special recipe off the internet with these exact ingredients. Getting your vehicle serviced, washed and fueled.  Feeding your pets while your away, when they come by to pick up the mail, mowing the lawn and turning on/off lights to have it appear that someone is home.
Hopefully not all of this in one day but just so you get an idea of the various things they could be doing.
Example: My job title when I fill out an application is _______.


texts: Why 'The' always comes in front of 'The United Kingdom' but the same does not always apply to 'Great Britain'?


texts: "I saw the Count lying within the box upon the earth, some of which the rude falling from the cart had scattered over him." Would anyone tell me the meaning? thanks in advance.


texts: If I'd like to indicate a duration of more than x years, can I write it as "+x years"?

texts: For instance, can I say "we provided +10 hours of programming services"?


texts: What is the meaning and structure of the following sentence?

texts:
RLIMIT_NOFILE

Specifies one greater than the maximum number of file descriptors that a process
may hold open.


texts: Is the word *pingle* widely understood to mean something outside the dictionary definition?

texts: A pingle is the little tab of a jigsaw puzzle piece or some other interlocking tab of a similar nature. Or so it was in common use in my family throughout my childhood in the 1990s and early 2000s (Pacific Northwest, USA). In fact, I can't recall ever using the word pingle and having someone (family or friend) need my clarification as to what I was referring. However, the dictionaries do not corroborate this definition. Webster's gives a couple definitions, and Oxford a few more, but none of them is remotely close to the above use that I thought everyone knew. Has anyone else heard the word pingle in a context outside those given by the dictionaries?


texts:
Are these interchangeable?

  Do you have anything in your mind?
  Do you have anything on your mind?

The first form seems to be the most commonly used one. But the second form is also used in some instances. And I am not sure if there is any difference at all. If both are correct, what is the difference?


texts:
During this internship, I joined the on-line training program which was given by the company to the employees and aimed to help them grasp the new system.

I am the student of this program.  I am afraid that "join" is not clear here because I think that the reader will not be sure whether I joined this program as a teacher, an organizer, or a student. Which verb suits to my purpose?


texts: Use of gerund vs bare-infinitive: overfilling vs overfill

texts:
How do I explain using "overfilling" instead of "overfill" in the following sentence?

  We needed to announce the party just a few days from the date to avoid overfill the salon.


texts: Elliptical constructions in formal language

texts:
I am a non-native currently struggling through writing my doctoral thesis in English. Several of my proofreaders (native Germans) criticized my frequent use of elliptical constructions such as

  Only then does an informed review of existing and the careful design of new solutions become possible.

Now I am wondering if elliptic constructions have a place in formal/scholarly writing? And if not, how to reformulate the sentence?

Adding another 'solutions' or synonym thereof makes the sentences sound bumpy to me

  Only then does an informed review of existing solutions and the careful design of new solutions become possible.


texts: Is "crib bag" the Australian equivalent of "carryall" in AmE?

texts:
I have seen bags labeled "crib bags" on Australian websites. I never really understand what they are precisely or whether "crib" refers to the material or the shape of the bag.

It seems the bags that fall under this category range from satchels, to tool bags, to carryalls (holdalls in BrE.) For example this site specializes in them. What exactly is a crib bag? And what does "crib" refer to?


texts:
I heard this sentence in an American film a while ago as I was watching it on DVD (the part after but is verbatim):

"I'm doing my best but I mustn't be doing it right."

This is something I occasionally hear in American films: phrases like "he mustn't have done it" or "she mustn't be studying now", where a logical conclusion is expressed. So far I've thought that the normal thing to say is "he can't have done it" or "she can't be studying now".

My question is: Can mustn't be used to express a logical conclusion when the speaker is certain that something didn't happen or isn't happening, at least in informal speech? Is this an American usage? (I've never heard this usage in British English, but this doesn't mean it doesn't exist.) Is there a change going on in the usage of the particular modal verb?

Note: All the references I've checked don't even mention this use of mustn't. Google books aren't of help either.

EDIT: I should clarify that I'm asking this question because if I wanted to express that I'm certain I'm not doing something right (as in the sentence quoted from the film) I'd say "I'm doing my best but I can't be doing it right". I would think that the use of mustn't/must not wouldn't be standard usage (although the meaning is perfectly clear to me; I never mistook it for an injuction).


texts: "If I would have lost you" vs "If I had lost you"

texts:
I watched a (Hollywood?) film the other day where a character visiting his just-hospitalised wife (who it seems will actually survive) says "If I would have lost you [I don't know what I'd do]".

I'd always thought this was an error made by non-native speakers (I myself would only expect "If I had lost you"), but there was nothing to suggest that in the movie. Is it a regionalism?

EDIT: Actually, that wasn't true about only expecting "If I had lost you". I'd have been perfectly happy with "If I'd have lost you", so long as I didn't think too hard about what was being elided. I'd usually elide "have" there to just a schwa (neutral vowel) anyway, and think no more about it.


texts:
If the following sentence is grammatical, does the pronoun it refer to deceptive?

"Marcos was deceptive and it led to his demise."

If the above sentence is wrong, then why is the following sentence correct when I use this instead of it even though both are pronouns?

"Marcos was deceptive and this led to his demise."


texts: References to the literature in a scientific paper

texts:
What is a correct way to express an idea in a scientific paper?

  1) Definition (1) was introduced in [1]. For more details on proofs in this section, see [2] and [3].

  2) Definition (1) was introduced in [1]. For more details on proofs in this section we refer the reader to [2] and [3].

I'm mostly concerned with the expression details on proofs in this section.

Thank you for your help!


texts: Why is baba ghanouj pronounced with a final "sh" sound?

texts:
Baba ghanouj is a delicious Middle Eastern dip made from roast eggplant and garlic. I've found the name spelled a multitude of different ways on the internet, but there are two peculiar things about its pronunciation:

The name is always spelled with "j" as the final consonant
I've always heard the name pronounced with a final "sh" sound [ʃ]

How did this peculiar situation arise? The word is obviously borrowed, though I don't know the source language, yet it seems like any reasonable transliteration would use a symbol other than "j" for [ʃ].


texts:
I know commas can make a big difference in the meaning and interpretation of sentences. However, in speech, when we speak out loud, how does the listener interpret sentences if there is no punctuation. Especially if someone tends to speak in a halting manner, like myself, because I am not very good at English.
For example, I said out loud, "A wishful thought followed by action.....it is a good thing....a wise thing.....if a person believes he can manifest his destiny." How is the listener to know that I meant that the "if a person believes he can manifest his destiny" conditional to apply to everything said before it versus just "a wise thing."


texts: Does the word "units" have a valid abbreviation?

texts:
Is there any precedent for abbreviating the word Units, and if more than one, is there any standardized prescription (no pun intended on my example) for which abbreviation to use in which context?

The question came up because I'm making a user input form with a field for units and the framework optionally specifies an abbreviation for the input field's label.

So, in a medical context, this

Prescription: [Hydrocodone]

is as valid is this

Rx: [Hydrocodone]

But can this

Units: [Milligrams]

be correctly substituted with something like this?

U: [Milligrams]

(NB, I'm not asking specifically about a medical context or about the accuracy of U, it's merely an example)

Note that the meaning of units as a synonym for pieces (pcs.) may be a different answer.  In this case, I'm asking about units as a category including kilograms and miles.  (Bonus points for also providing the answer for that other meaning.)


texts: Does one capitalize "communism" and "communist"?

texts:
Suppose I have the following sentence:

  I lived in a communist country during the fall of communism in 1989.

Should "communist" and "communism" be capitalized?


texts: Is "You were going to  and ." grammatical?

texts:
In the song "An English Teacher" from the musical "Bye, Bye Birdie," Rosie sings to Albert You were going to NYU / and become an English teacher.

I would parse this as You were (going to NYU) and (going to become an English teacher). but I'm not sure if become is used as an infinitive here, and (if so) whether to can be "distributed" like this between a noun and an infinitive verb.

(The line is in a song, so I suppose some creative liberties can be taken with the grammar. However, I thought it was a bit funny that this (possibly) ungrammatical sentence was in a song with such a title.)


texts: Can I use a reflexive pronoun in the same sentence with the person represented by the pronoun?

texts:
This is the sentence:

  The image on the screen stares back at Susan with eerie intensity – it
  is a picture of herself

Microsoft Word would like me to say her, not herself.


texts:
What does it mean ?

Hank took me on a ride-along and showed me just how much money even a small meth operation could make.

It was in Breaking Bad


texts: What is the word for something that is based on a prototype?

texts:
If two objects (or "types") have the relationship where one is the prototype of the other, then the other is the __ of the prototype.

In this sentence, from the context of the prototype:

  This will not be true for versions that are based on this version.

I want to replace the words "versions that are based on this version" with one word.  For example, in the context of one of those future versions, I could say "This was not true for prototypes."

Examples of the kind of prototypal relationship I am looking for:

  Chair is to Stool
  Protoplast is to Chloroplast

Examples of the kind of word relationship I am looking for:

  Archetype is to Ectype
  Supertype is to Subtype

  Prototype is to _


texts: "Engagement", "betrothal" — connotations?

texts:
I'm not a native speaker, so frequently I don't know underlying semantic subtleties of synonyms; what connotations they bear, which may be antiquated or very official, which are specific to given region or group and such.

Currently, I'm struggling with:

engagement / betrothal,
betrothed / affianced / engaged / to be married
betrothed / a wife-to-be / husband-to-be / fiancée / fiancé

Which ones would be proper for extremely formal occasion (royal pair)? Which ones are more informal? Can you outline differences between them, their general use? And in case I missed some other synonyms, could you supply them?


texts: What does a question mark inside parentheses (?) mean?

texts:
If a sentence/word has (?) at the end, does it mean the sentence is not a fact and the author is not sure about it?
As in the example:

I am the tallest(?) in our class.

Which means I am not sure whether I am tallest in the class.

Is it correct?


texts: What is a synonym for "necessary kindness"?

texts:
I'm currently searching for a word for what I call "necessary kindness".

Let's say there are two people who normally don't get along with each other. When they are together in public, however, they treat each other with politeness and respect, according to social norms.

By the way, the word doesn't necessarily have to have a negative connotation, nor does it need to convey rudeness or offensiveness.

EDIT

I would also like to be able to use a word in a situation such as when a friend or acquaintance compliments you.

  "You look nice today!" "I appreciate your ______ but that's not necessary"

In that case, the 2 people aren't "tolerating" each other just being unnecessarily polite.


texts: "Have you washed it" vs "Did you wash it"?

texts:
What's the difference between these two questions?

  Speaker A: Your car looks very clean.

  Have you washed it?
  Did you wash it?


texts: Word for saying something that people want to hear

texts:
Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister-designate, recently (rather impotently) rebuked his supporters in front of the media for booing a question posed by a reporter, saying,

  Hey, guys, guys, hey!  We have respect for journalists in this country.  They ask tough questions and they're supposed to, ok?

Video link: http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Politics/ID/2677142273/

Assuming we believe he is feigning outrage, what is a good word to describe this?  Grandstanding or pandering are suitable, but I wonder if there's something more appropriate.


texts: I read this term shave cream in NY Times today.  According to the results in COCA (Corpus of Contemporary American English), shaving cream (I also found this word in the dictionary) is far more common than shave cream in American English. I would like to know if there's any difference between these two terms.


texts: Is the apostrophe always necessary when denoting the number of individual items that are usually grouped together such as M&Ms?

texts: Which is correct: I ate the M&M's or I ate the M&Ms? With or without the apostrophe?


texts: What does it mean to say someone is "of" somewhere?

texts:
For example:

  William Howell of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, sang Our Gallant Ship..

Does it mean the place where the person was born? Or could it also just mean the place where they lived?


texts: When is a comma appropriate before when?

texts:
I have always refrained from using a comma before "when" but I heard that it is appropriate in certain circumstances. I can't picture a scenario where a comma is necessary before "when" to clarify the meaning of a sentence.

Thanks for the help.


texts:
I am confused about this sentence because it ends in a preposition, something that I thought was not really grammatically correct:

  Can we get this over with?

In addition, I haven't found a restatement that would solve this issue. Things like the following don't seem to make sense:

  This can we get over
  Over with get this
  With get this over

So my questions are:
1. Is there a problem with the sentence?
2. What part of speech is "with"?


texts: "to comment out" before the era of programming

texts:
I think many people here are programmers since stack sites started out as stackoverflow originally, which is about programming.

My question here is about the phrasal verb "to comment out". It makes a lot of sense to those who know that in programming you can easily turn some part of the code (usually a line) into simply a comment that would have no bearing on the code's execution. For example,

print: Hello world

can be easily turned into a comment in this way:

; print: Hello world

Programmers would say in this case, "I have commented out the line." It is absolutely logical and makes sense to me. However, I wonder if this phrasal verb ever was used before the programming came about. Did it exist in those times? If yes, in what situation it was normally used then?


texts:
Is there one word for "take into consideration". I searched online, but didn't find any. For example,

  We also have to take into consideration the fact that the
      requirements might change later on.


texts: Is 'bags/heaps/loads/oodles/stacks of + uncountable noun' always treated as singular?

texts:
CGEL* lists these nouns as "number-transparent":

lots, bags, heaps, loads, oodles, stacks

According to CGEL, these nouns are number-transparent in that they allow "the number of the oblique to percolate up to determine the number of the whole NP."
I can see how lots can be number-transparent. For example, lots of people is treated as plural whereas lots of money as singular. I can't think of any exception to lots being number-transparent.
But are the other nouns really number-transparent as well?
Here are counterexamples of each of these nouns:

Police officers walk in and out of the bank in what is supposedly a hostage situation, bags of money are exchanged, and corrupt politicians are brought to book without so much as a care about logic or believability. (News article 1)
From velvet chokers to oversized denim, heaps of the decade’s clothing have snuck their way back into my wardrobe, but nothing quite holds the nostalgic charm of concert apparel. (News article 2)
Bucket loads of money were poured into investigating and prosecuting crimes, while legal aid programs for impoverished defendants were starved. (News article 3)
The B.C. Liberals defend the practice on the grounds the donations are publicly disclosed. But the disclosure comes long after a donation has been made, and all they show is that oodles of money are given to the Liberals by resource companies and Vancouver-area real-estate developers – who based on the track record of donations must feel they are getting value for money. (News article 4)
The man also asked where the stacks of money were, and whether Fisher kept any gold, but Fisher had neither. (News article 5)

Are these all somehow mistakes on the part of the editors of these articles? Or these nouns are not really number-transparent, unlike lots?
*CGEL: The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Page 350) by Huddleston, Rodney; Pullum, Geoffrey K.


texts:
I'm doing research for my school and I have to describe the research method that I used.
I have had a conversation with a person in the company where I did my internship.

But I can't name the research method interviewing because it is not an interview. It's a conversation where the company explained the subject of the internship and answered some questions I had. If I name it an interview, my school will request me to have more interviews, because one interview is not a reason to do something.

Does anyone have an idea how to name this kind of research?


texts: A word(not phrase) for 'celebrating something without understanding'

texts:
A few examples :

People who can code in a programming language but don't understand algorithms, data structures, and other concepts but 'celebrate' Programmer's Day
Have a degree in engineering but have professions barely, remotely connected to engineering, yet, celebrating 'Engineers Day'
People who don't own an iPhone, even if they do, they are unaware of how it is better than other phones or aren't aware of all the features of iPhone but go bonkers about the iPhone 8 event

Facade, pompousness and so on came to my mind but the dictionary definition doesn't match with the above behaviour which is a mixture of ignorance, impatience, falsehood and desperation for an identity, an edge over others etc.


texts: What is the word for putting an image in someone's head by describing it?

texts:
I'm not quite sure how to put this but I'm writing an essay on To Kill a Mockingbird and Tom Robinson, the defendant in the court trial within the novel, describes what actually happened during the time that Mayella, the plaintiff, is accusing him of rape.

I need a word for how Tom Robinson "imagerizes" the incident.

One word preferred.


texts: What is the difference between “dot” and “point” in decimals reading?

texts: Can I use these words for decimals like 0.1 reading?


texts: How to use "make it xxx" and "make xxx"?(Such as possible)

texts:
I just viewed 4 examples in my book.

The development of steel nibs makes it possible to develop pens.
The development of steel nibs makes possible the development of pens.
The development of steel nibs makes it possible that people can develop pens.
Many people consider impossible what really is possible.

I see a lot of examples of using 'it' and not. Why would this change a lot?
How to use this 'it'?


texts: Is there any difference between "a sequence of increasing integers" and "an increasing sequence of integers"?

texts:
I think basically

  a sequence of increasing integers

and

  an increasing sequence of integers

are of the same meaning.

But since I'm not a native English speaker, I'm not quite sure about this.

Anyone knows the answer?


texts: Comma usage that I often see and think wrong. Right?

texts:
Here's a sentence from no less than Edward Gibbon (The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire):

  Twenty-two acknowledged concubines, and a library of 62,000 volumes attested the variety of his inclinations, and from the productions which he left behind him, it appears that the former as well as the latter were designed for use rather than ostentation.

Why is there a comma after concubines? I see this construction fairly often, where the second part of a compound noun is set off in commas.

Also, shouldn't Gibbon have put a comma before the "from the..." as in "....and [,] from the productions which he left behind him,"?

Here's another example, from the first paragraph of the work, where I've put a note in brackets after each questioned use:

  In the second century of the Christian Æra, the empire of Rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth, [Editor: comma use here?] and the most civilized portion of mankind.... The image of a free constitution was preserved with decent reverence: the Roman senate appeared to possess the sovereign authority, [Editor: comma use here?] and devolved on the emperors all the executive powers of government.  It is the design of this, [Editor: comma usage?] and of the two succeeding chapters, to describe the prosperous condition of their empire.


texts: Does the word pertinacity have positive or negative connotations?


texts: Translate the French quote "Il n’y a pas d'amour, il n’y a que des preuves d’amour" to English?

texts:
I’d like to translate a quote from Pierre Reverdy (or Jean Cocteau, this
is an open question apparently). The quote is:

  Il n’y a pas d’amour, il n’y a que des preuves d’amour.

For some context in French, see Le Monde’s website.

I’m searching for a naturally sounding equivalent rather than an exact translation. If you’re not a French speaker or are still learning, the quote literally says:

  There is no love, only proofs of love.

We often use it to mean that good intentions are nice, but that concrete
action or money is nicer.


texts:
Is there any particular term for this? "Anything has made for something (a reason)"

examples:
1- Computer invented for calculation
2- Sword has made for killing

A kind of general phrase to say that there was an absolute reason to making something new (invention) in the past.


texts:
I wonder if someone could offer feedback about the use and meaning difference between the use of infinitive and gerund

Being an artist is admitting you are lost and not wanting to be found.
Being an artist is to admit you are lost and not want to be found.
To be an artist is to admit you are lost and not want to be found.
To be an artist is admitting you are lost and not wanting to be found.

As an English speaker, I would incline toward,
To be an artist is to admit you are lost and not want to be found.
as in
to be poor is to be close to something!
although in the sentence
To be an artist is admitting you are lost and not wanting to be found.
there seems to me to be an implied, like or akin, eg, to be an artist is like admitting.
but I wonder if there is a subtler meaning or rule that I am missing!
Thanks in advance for any pointers
Richard


texts: Should a colon be used following a dependent clause to introduce a quote?

texts:
Doing some editing and came across a sentence in which a colon is used to introduce a quote.  Is the colon justified in this case? SENTENCE ENDS:

  ...wearing a T-shirt that says: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."

The following question (Correct punctuation to introduce a supporting quote) is actually focused on a slightly different issue, since it is about using a colon to introduce a quotation after a complete sentence.

The answers to it seem to be geared toward that example; one of them cites a Purdue OWL post that says it is appropriate to use a colon to introduce a quotation after a complete sentence or independent clause. But that is not the case here, since "a T-shirt that says" is not a complete clause or statement.

One answer (by Roaring Fish) quotes a "Guide to Punctuation" by Larry Trask that seems to say that it is "bad style," but not outright "wrong," to use a colon in the sentence "President Nixon declared: 'I am not a crook.' " This seems relevant, but it's a bit confusing. Why doesn't Trask just label this "wrong"? Is it a matter of opinion? I'd appreciate other references that describe the most common and influential viewpoints about how to punctuate phrases like this.


texts:
What's a word meaning

  "I want something very similar to what you have, but I don't feel resentment for your possession of it, nor do I wish for you to lose it"?

Greed doesn't seem targeted
Envy means wanting to take what someone else has, and feeling satisfaction upon seeing them lose it
Jealousy is a defensive fear of loss
Lust seems targeted at the person themselves


texts: Is there a word which means whatever you want it to mean? Or has no meaning?

texts: I'm looking for a word which can be used in any situation to describe something in whatever way you want, i.e it's not a word and just fits in to places..., but is there an actual word which does that?


texts: Need explanation about demonstrative determiner

texts:
Does the demonstratives refer to the next word or previously mentioned statement?

  The medieval center is Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral. An evening view of these illuminated landmarks is one of the most memorable sights in Europe.

In the above sentence, does these refer to "Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral" or to the "illuminated landmarks"? I'm a little confused about this. A clear explanation would be great.

Also, what's the difference between demonstrative determiners and demonstrative pronouns?


texts:
Is the verb "play" used as a linking verb in this sentence mentioned below?

  "My younger sister played Tiny Tim in the Christmas performance."

Can a valid argument be made that "played" is synonymous with linking verbs like "became" or "is" in this context?


texts: 'The talk was about' vs. 'We were talking about'

texts:
I want to point someone about theme of conversation with another person. What sentence is correct?

  The talk was about airplanes.

or

  We were talking about airplanes.

I want to make accent on a theme.


texts:
I want to express a concept about source code.

Coding style of the code is like a product for developer, especially on open sourced product. If the style is well established and maintained, developers consider it a good product and vice versa.

But the code is a product for the machine, too. So no matter the coding style, as long as the logic is correct, the result of execution is the same.

How can I express a kind of product that is good in both respects, in one special word?


texts: To what extent do English words sound like what they describe?

texts:
Is it true that the way languages develop causes the tonal qualities of the words to have a tendency to match the nature of the thing the word stands for?

I am not talking just about obviously onomatopoieaic words such as "splash" or "murmur". I mean very general everyday words. For example the word "book" has a sort of hard quality to it, whereas the word "water" seems to almost flow like the actual substance itself.

Is there any truth in this theory?

Edit: They discuss this topic on QI. They claim a pointy spiky object is far more likely to be named a "kiki" than a "booba".


texts: A word or phrase that implies "a struggle or hardship is about to begin"?

texts:
Looking for a word or phrase that embodies the feeling of "the struggle is about to begin". Can be a borrowed/loan word or phrase from another language (Latin, French, etc). It should have the feeling of something is about to happen, something unpleasant that will be taxing on the individual.

I am planning to use this phrase in a story, in which a struggle is about to begin.


texts:
Is there a word for "related in work-related way"? I want to include owners, managers and the like.

Here's an example: I want to convey "This is a list of all owners, managers, administrators, etc...." with a word that would fill this blank: "This is a list of all ________-related workers". ('-related' can be removed).


texts:
I was interested in determining words to describe ordinal Latinate series numbering above orders of 10 (i.e., "denary").

I found "duodenary", which makes sense based on the latin root duodecim, meaning 'twelve.' (see also etymology of the duodenum of the small intestine -- duodeni, meaning 'in twelves.').

However, I found no evidence of other ordinal numbering adjectives other than that for 20.

I have two questions:

Here, here and here suggest that "vigenary" is the Latinate ordinal term for "twentieth" (or "of the twentieth order"). However, none of these sources come across as legitimate. Can anyone confirm for me (through a more trustworthy and proper source) that "vigenary" is in fact the proper word to use here?
Do other Latinate ordinal adjectives (for orders > 10) exist?


texts: Usage of "burn" as a form of mockery - How did it start?

texts:
I have come across numerous posts/memes on social media where, considering A,B and C are different people:

A posts something seemingly innocuous.
B comments on A's post, something either very funny or offensive to A
C comments "BURN!!" with some ROFL emoticons

Not the best question, but I am just curious why people say "BURN", when they need to mock/insult other people? (according to UrbanDictionary).

How did this usage come into existence?

Is this used only in social media? Or is it used in real world conversations as well?


texts: Correct preposition to follow "ineptitude"?

texts:
I wish to express John's inability to do a certain activity, e.g. cycling, by using "ineptitude" plus a preposition. Which preposition is most appropriate/accepted? "At" + gerund? "For" + gerund? "In"? Something phrasal (e.g. "with regard to" + gerund)?
E.g.:

Observe John's ineptitude at cycling.
Observe John's ineptitude for cycling.
John is adept in swimming but has a certain ineptitude in cycling.


texts: Can I use the phrase it seems to me that in a sentence where I intend to state my opinion. Why? If not, can you suggest other words to replace it (but still has the same meaning.)


texts: What word means dealing with the insignificant?

texts:
I’m looking for a word that fits in to this sentence and means dealing with the insignificant:

  Twins fans have a knack for fretting over the ______, and this won't
  relent any time soon.


texts: Another word for "expropriate", or an antonym for "privatize"

texts:
While writing this comment on the "Despise the rich" question:

  Well, during the October Revolution, the bolsheviks overthrew the bourgeoisie and the peasants overthrew the kulaks, expropriating and redistributing their wealth among the populace. In Marxist theory, the working class people who are eternally pitted against the historical owners of the means of production are known as the proletariat, derived from its origins in Roman law.

I ended up using the verb expropriate, but that wasn't the one I was reaching for. I have a recollection that there's another, more specific, and morphologically more obvious synonym (perhaps derived from the root public).

What are other words which describe the act of the government (often forcibly) taking ownership of private property, so that the property is under the collective ownership of the public?

  After the Revolution, the new communist Cuban government ___ized many sugar mills, angering foreign interests who had invested in their creation.

Note: the word is not "eminent domain", which describes a policy which permits the act I'm describing, nor is it expropriate nor appropriate, which are often used in contemporary discussions of governments making use of eminent domain.


texts:
Does the following sentence make sense?

  What are the implications if we do not
  take a proactive approach to web
  security?

It sounds right to me but when I looked it up in the dictionary I wasn't sure that it was right...


texts:
In this song's lyrics, I cannot understand the phrase "two out of three ain't bad" :

  ...
  I want you, I need you
  But there ain't no way I'm ever gonna love you
  Now don't be sad
  'Cause two out of three ain't bad.
  ...


texts: Are there other grammatical ways to say, "I'm reading a novel of Steinbeck's"?

texts:
I would like to ask why the following sentence is only possible according to grammatical rules:

  I'm reading a novel of Steinbeck's

What's wrong with "I'm reading a novel of Steinbeck" or "I'm reading Steinbeck's novel"?


texts:
I assume conference goers are not usually performing Kabuki, so please explain this metaphor from The New York Times:

  [the financial conference at] Bretton Woods was itself 95 percent
  Kabuki theater


texts: Is there a word for a group of software programmers?

texts: We call a group of musicians an orchestra. In the same way, what would we call a group of programmers?


texts:
It's common to say someone is being overly literal if their interpretation of a phrase is too strictly literal either intentionally (nitpickers) or unintentionally (people learning another language).
As an example:

Person 1: "We were packed into the bus like sardines."
Person 2: "That's not true because sardines are packed horizontally."

A response to my own statement that someone was being overly literal was

You can't be overly literal; either it's literal or it isn't.

This sounds correct, but on brief reflection it seems ludicrous and a supreme example of someone being too literal themselves (the irony!). To say something is "overly literal" is a commonly accepted idiom, but is it a technically correct thing to say? Can a person even be "literal" at all?


texts: "In the middle" of a time span – will "middle" work? Better ideas?

texts:
I am translating a German text into English.

It contains a sentence that translates roughly to

  In the middle of life, you stand alone.

I'm unsure about "middle" here, and can't think of a more fitting substitute. "Life" is related to the time span of a single human life. Therefore, "center" is out of the question of course. Or is it?

Would you use "middle" in this sentence?

Do you have a better idea?


texts: What's meant by wishing for a child "as red as blood, and white as snow"?

texts:
An English learner recently posted about the tale The Juniper Tree, collected by the Brothers Grimm (possibly related - who knows?).

She notes that a woman wishes for a child "as red as blood and as white as snow", and wants to know how a child can be both red and white. (Without being pink, of course!)

Does it mean that the parts of the child that are red are as red as blood, and that the parts of the child that are white are as white as snow?

Searching for "red as blood" came across the following quote, from a different fairy tale:

  "I can love only a man with those three colors: cheeks red as blood,
  hair black as a raven, and body white as snow."

Should I assume that in The Juniper Tree, the woman is referring to wanting a child with cheeks as red as blood, and the rest of her skin as white as snow?

The only alternative I can think of is if "red" and "white" had some sort of metaphorical, rather than literal, meanings. But looking up Wiktionary for red, the main metaphorical meanings are from politics, which would post-date the story.


texts:
I'm trying to give English name for the class of items at the traffic schema (it's about software).

There are several classes of items. For some of them user can set direction (forward/backward). It's something like "this road can be used for moving forward only, and that - for moving backward" (or escalators, which can move up or down only at the same time).

How would you name these items?


texts:
I am writing a very important report and I am using the term 'driver seat' in it many times as a metaphor. For example, I say: 'A group of actors needs to take the driver seat'.

I just started googling the term "driver seat", apparently it should be 'driver's seat'.
Now it is really hard for me to change this term, so I wonder how wrong is it! Should I go through all the trouble to change this?


texts: What is the name for the class of computer programs that act as a front end for a database?

texts:
If you are writing a computer program that manages a large database of clients, like a rolodex, or a program that stores medical records for patients. What is that "class" of program called.

The specific term my company uses for the software it develops is "Practice management software" but I am looking for the next broader up in specificity, as I want to use this word in a non medical software context.

A good example of this type of program would be Microsoft Access.


texts:
Is there any adjective synonymous to "to the point"?

For example,

"Jack's and Jill's answers are quite to-the-point, but Mary's answer is the most-to-the-point one"

EDIT:

A better example:

Teacher: "Can anyone come up with a good logical syllogism proving that all humans need the Sun?"

Linda: "I got it! Here, in my encyclopedia page 345 says, 'All fish need water and the Sun' I think it's exactly what we need!"

Jack: "All humans need to live. The Sun doesn't live. So, all humans need the Sun"

Jill: "All humans like fish. Without the Sun, all fish will die. So, all humans will be sad without the Sun"

Mary: "Anything alive needs the Sun (otherwise, if there is no Sun, anything alive will die). All humans are alive. Thus, all humans need the Sun"

so, Jack's and Jill's answers are quite to-the-point, but Mary's answer is the most-to-the-point one


texts: Word or phrase that describes something that was very modern at some time in the past

texts: I am looking for a word or phrase that describes something that was very modern in the time being referenced, even though it is clearly not modern now. For example, I am writing about a computer language from the 1970's.


texts: A source for learning how to speak or write formaly?

texts:
and thanks for helping me. I would like to know if there is a source so I can learn how to speak and write formally, mostly for these topics:

-Sending a formal email to anyone or an organization or a professor

-How to talk formally with a customer, your boss, or someone you find in the streets whom you only want to ask a question

-How to write a formal article

-What are formal phrases.

Thank you and feel free to tell me if I have written anything wrong in this post.


texts: Which tense do I use when I talk about direct speech in texts?

texts:
I want to ask questions about a text. The text is written in past tense. When I talk about the text, do I only use simple present or also present progressive? Please, look at the following examples.

Text: “They were looking for something.” ☞
What do they do in the garden? vs What are they doing?
Text: “Emma asked: ‘What are you looking for?’” ☞
What do the boys look for? vs What are the boys looking for?


texts: When someone says something like "I will be gone for the next two weeks," do they mean the next two weeks starting next Monday or the next two weeks from today (today is Thursday). Are the words for each meaning or are they used interchangeably?


texts:
I'm 32 and today was the first time I've heard the expression 'upset the apple cart' used. It was on reddit and the context was:

"Once again, my colleague Stephen Hawking has upset the apple cart. The event horizon surrounding a black hole was once though to be an imaginary sphere. But recent theories indicate that it may actually be physical, maybe even a sphere of fire. But I don't trust any of these calculations until we have a full-blown string theory calculation, since Einstein's theory by itself is incomplete."

Looking it up I found that it means to 'cause trouble, by spoiling ones plans' or 'to disorganize something, especially established plans.'

So, my question is: is there an implied meaning behind this idiom?

Does it mean that Stephen Hawking is basically talking a bunch of smack that goes against the established theory of whatever they're talking about and causing trouble because it gets a lot of press, thus, upsetting the apple cart?

Or rather, that there is some established theory, but Stephen Hawkings brilliant ass self came up with something that is making them reconsider whatever it is they'[re talking about, thus, upsetting the apple cart.

Or third, is it just impossible to tell without further context.


texts:
I have looked through all dictionary meanings of "stint" (even at the Urban Dictionary), but have not found a meaning which is implied in "rehab stint" as a collocation. I have found a longer collocation, "drag rehabilitation stint", and I suppose "stint" means something similar to "stay". But I am not sure, because, since the primary meaning of "stint" is limitation, this also may mean obligatory stay, i.e. imposed on someone by authorities.

I'd like to know the exact meaning of "stint" here.


texts: Is there a word for an object that is no longer kept for its original purpose but instead for sentimental value?

texts:
The object in question would usually be no longer in use, or perhaps used extremely infrequently compared to when it was first brought. The piece should not be regarded as a waste of space, as the owner would view it with some sort of fondness due the positive experiences associated with its past use, so words like "piece of junk" or "clutter" should be avoided.

Redundant is an adjective (though I would prefer a noun) that might fit this purpose, however it does not reference the fact that the object has been retained out of nostalgia and also has negative connotations rather than positive.

Memento or keepsake are similar words to what I am looking for, however these are kept to remind of a specific person or event and not to remind of the extended past history and actions linked to that specific object itself.

An example might be a toy kept from the past or a laptop stored away after a new one has replaced it. I want to emphasise that in this case, the toy has not been retained because it reminds the owner of their childhood and the laptop has not been conserved because it was given to the owner by someone close to them. They have been kept instead to prompt memories of the interactions that the owner (and usually, only the owner) has had with them.

An example sentence would be something like:

  Alice tends to hang onto a lot of _________, such as her PS3 from 10 years ago.


texts: Grammar questions on the usage of "some" and "some of the"

texts:
I am correcting a short journal writes up from my student, who is from Korea and notice that I am so lacking of grammar knowledge in explaining to her why it is wrong in her sentence.

Below is one of her work:

"Today, some teachers who are from a University in Canada came to our school to give an introduction talk about their University."

This is the opening of her journal. For me, I think it sounds not very right. Below is my correction:

"Today, some of the lecturers, who are from a University in Canada visited our school to give an introduction talk about their University."

What do you think of my correction?

And after you have answered the above question, can you give me some tips on how to correct students' essay? Shall I change their whole sentence? Or I just change their grammar mistake?


texts: Didn't you USED TO or Didn't you USE TO?

texts: I was somehow confused encountering this sentence: Didn't you USED TO work with Annie at Macy's?. Should we use USE TO here since we are using Did which needs the base form of the verb.


texts: Is there a word for refusing to call things by their name out of fear?

texts:
Some examples:

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" or "You-Know-Who" for Voldemort of Harry Potter fame
Him in the Powerpuff Girls
Any of the various monikers for Yahweh
possibly "She Who Must Be Obeyed" for Hilda Rumpole


texts: Someone said he was not a fan of self-patronage. I was wondering, what does that mean? I have looked up the meaning of patronage.


texts: Concord of "scholarly enquiry combined with introspection"

texts:
What is correct:

  Scholarly enquiry combined with introspection reveals
  Scholarly enquiry combined with introspection reveal


texts: I am not a native English speaker. Anyways, there's this girl in my class who quite frequently bunks and she relies on me for notes. I am basically her asset who does all her assignments and other stuffs like doing completing her algorithm and Program assignments/projects. I don't mind, but, I have noticed that she always uses the word muwaah or something like that at the end of our conversations/messages. What does that even mean? I tried asking her once but she just laughed so hard and told muwaah and went away.In my years of learning English I have never come across of this word. Sorry, my native is not English language so I don't have that great vocabulary. Also, How do you even pronounce that word !?!?


texts: How to request to be addressed by one's title and surname

texts:
I am wondering if anyone might have a suggestion about how to request to be addressed by a personal title and one's surname.  For example, I prefer to be addressed as, "Mr. Redgate," but I do not wish to come across as rude.  I was taught that it was rude to address someone by their Christian  name unless that person has given you permission to address them as such; we were admonished for being too familiar.

I am not fond of most people calling me by my Christian name and especially the abbreviated, "Joe," "Jo Jo" or "Joey."  Such familiarity, especially by people with whom I am unfamiliar, is quite offensive to me.  What is frustrating is that I know that if I politely request that they refrain from such addresses, I am the one who is thought to be rude.

Does anyone have any suggestions?


texts: More months in a year than days in a week

texts:
Is it right to say,

  There are more months in a year than days in a week.

My question is how to compare between two groups of words using 'than'?


texts: How to avoid ambiguity in the question: "Why do you think...?"

texts:
Let us say I want to know why the sky is blue, my understanding is that I can ask you: "Why do you think the sky is blue?" regardless of whether you have thought about it before or not. It seems from the moment you hear this question you start thinking about it.

On the other hand, let us say my friend told me he thinks that life exists on Mars. Then I can also ask "Why do you think life exists on Mars?" It seems to me that these two situations are different. In the first situation, what if your reply were "I don't think the sky is blue. Why do you think that I think the sky is blue?"

Are there ways to slightly modify either or both questions so as to indicate the difference between these two situations?


texts: Which is correct in this sentence: "me and my" or "my and my"?

texts:
Which of the following sentences contains the grammatically correct bolded section:

"He affected me and my friend's day."
or
"He affected my and my friend's day."

It seems clear to me that the first sentence clearly sounds the best, but I was always told that you should be able to isolate the sentence to just one of the objects, i.e. remove my friend from the sentence, and when I do that, only the second sentence makes sense.

What is the correct grammar to use here?


texts:
In journal papers, we sometimes see sentences like: "after a few manipulations, the governing equations now read [...]" or "after a few manipulations, the governing equations now write [...]". Are these examples both correct? Wrong?

You can see an example here (page 7, just below the blue statement):

https://pregatirematematicaolimpiadejuniori.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/tuymaada-2012.pdf.


texts: Should I use "is" or "are" when the subject is a list of percentages before a collective noun?

texts:
I am stuck in choosing the correct verb (is or are) for the following sentence, since generation is uncountable (singular agreement) and it is preceded by multiple percentages (plural agreement).

Which one should I use?

  70, 40, 10, 60, and 10% of the old generation is/are selected randomly for the crossover, mutation, swap, reversion, and insertion operators, respectively.


texts: Translation of the German term “steile These”

texts:
Is there any good translation for German steile These, which means something like daring hypothesis? A Steile These is a contentious hypothesis which is or can not really be proven.

Examples from the German press:

  Steile These: Die Menschen werden dümmer
  [?]: People becoming more stupid

  Steile These: Microsoft jetzt innovativer als Apple?
  [?]: Microsoft more innovative than Apple now?


texts: Help me understand the structure of the question

texts:
In which of the following does the author of the passage reinforce his
  criticism of responses such as Isaacs’ to Raisin in the Sun?

A The statement that Hansberry is “loyal” to the American dream.
B The description of Hansberry’s concern for Black Americans as “intense”.
...

What does the question mean? What does "In which" mean?

How do I insert the answer into the question, and make the question a statement?


texts: Is 'external' in 'external appearance' redundant when talking about a person's looks?

texts:
Recently, I came across an essay titled "should we judge people by their external appearance?" The title made me think whether or not 'external' is redundant in this sentence.

Oxford Collocations Dictionary mentions the adjective 'external' under the entry 'appearance.' However, I am not sure if it is redundant to use such a phrase when talking about humans, unless there is such a thing as 'internal appearance' which is the beauty of one's kidneys, heart, pancreas, etc.

I appreciate your comments.


texts: What is the proper way to spell "inspiraysh"?

texts:
I've noticed a trend among "younger people" to shorten words by simply cutting the ending off.

For example, instead of inspiration they might say something like inspiraysh.

What is the proper way (if there is one) of spelling such shortened words?

Edit: It seems to me that the natural thing to do would be removing the last few letters: i.e. the spelling inspiraysh would make perfect sense to me if the original word was inspirayshon. But in case of inspiration this is not an option, since it would alter the pronunciation.


texts:
I know about the comparatives - drink,drank,drunk. But when I just used it in the sentence
"He drunk water!", Someone pointed that it was wrong and that the verb "DRUNK" must be used only when someone is intoxicated like "He was drunk!". Is this right? Can anyone clarify this?


texts: What is the difference between "Anyone and Anybody","Everyone and Everybody","No one and Nobody","Someone and Somebody"?

texts: Is there any difference between each of these words or can we use them interchangeably?


texts:
How should I capitalise Hall effect? I am using this in a brochure and want to get the capitalisation right.

I am certain that Hall is capitalised, as this phenomenon (concerning the behaviour of electrical currents near magnets) was named after its discoverer, Mr. Hall.

But what about effect? Should it too be capitalised?


texts:
Is there a single-word synonym for "quantity-related"?

Also: What is correct - "quantity-related" or "quantity related"? Or are they both equal?

Situation: Imagine I am at a market and I buy a huge amount of apples. I want to ask the seller for a discount, I would use THAT word to let him know I am relating to the quantity.

Edit: I'm not really looking for an answer for the situation part (it's just for imagination of the possible usage of the word). I'm rather looking for a word that could be used in many (independent) areas.


texts:
In following, the word string refers to a sequence of letters.

If A is a prefix substring of B. Then B is a ________ of A.

Examples:

ban is a prefix substring of banana so banana is a ________ of ban?
In lexicographical ordering, prefix substrings sort before their ________s.

The words extension and continuation appear to only denote the part that comes after the prefix substring (e.g. ana).

Any single word or multiple words will do.


texts: Imperative vs. Declarative (can a third grader or his parents tell the difference?)

texts:
My 3rd grade son was supposed to write a series of sentences, and write whether they were "imperative" or "declarative" (or "interogative" or "exclamatory", but those aren't relevant for this question).

The sentence he wrote was "You must join with the giants."

My thoughts were that, despite the fact that this sounds like an order, that this sentence was declarative.  My wife insisted it was imperative.  My third grader was confused as all get out by our contradictory opinions.

Her thoughts were that an imperative tells someone to do something...that's what this sentence is.  QED.

I was thinking that although it sounds like an imperative type order, by changing the words slightly, say changing the "you" into "I", or "must" into "should" or "might" it becomes more obvious (to me) that the sentence is making a declaration of state, rather than an order for immediate action.

I think I'm right, but would like to be sure (or be told why I am wrong).  I'd also like the correct terminology pointed out to me where I've doubtless messed it up.


texts:
Imagine you have a seller and a buyer who engage in bargaining at a market. Is there a one-word noun that describes a consumer who haggles (but not the seller)? I thought haggler, but that can be applied to both sides.

I want to distinguish between the members of a pair who engage in bargaining. I can call one the seller, but I can't really call the other a buyer, because the purchase does not happen if the bargaining fails (I guess the same objection can be made to the use of seller). I think offerer comes closest to what I am looking for, though I suppose a seller can also be an offerer.


texts:
Which sentence makes the most sense?

On 25 July, Russia joined Serbia in mobilisation and in a surprise to the Germans, as they thought that the Russians would take a long time to get ready for war.
On 25 July, Russia joined Serbia in mobilisation which was a surprise to the Germans, as they thought that the Russians would take a long time to get ready for war.

Grammarly shows that both of these sentences are correct but I think it's the latter.


texts: What's the meaning of "break through the wall"?

texts:
This is a passage taken from an article:

  I took the job at a particularly low point in my life. Me and my girl had a nasty breakup after months of me not just falling, but running headlong into the depths of depression and self-destruction. When she left, I broke through the wall. The creeping emptiness I had felt most of my life became a full-blown Nietzschean void. Years of stuffing my feelings into a deep, dark hole finally crushed most of my ability to have feelings at all.

What does breaking through the wall mean? Is this literal?


texts: I am creating a base interface for both the class Upload and Download but I can't figure out what to call it. Is there an English word that can mean upload and at the same time download?


texts: "Realizing that, despite..." vs "realizing despite...that."

texts:
What's the correct form? Example:

  I smiled, realizing that, despite her craziness, I missed her.

  I smiled, realizing, despite her craziness, that I missed her.

Is there any grammatical/stylistic rule I can use in the future to avoid this kind of confusion?


texts: I'm looking for the word (either noun or adjective) to describe something that happens in the last minute but is so important and precious that it  reverses the whole seemingly set situation.


texts: Any difference in nuance by the position of if-clause in a sentence?

texts:
Does the position of if-clause in a sentence, either before or after the main clause, give the sentence any different implication?

For example, how do the two sentences below sound to the native speakers of English? Any difference, or no difference?

If I were you, I would ask her out for dinner.
I would ask her out for dinner if I were you.


texts: What is the name of the verb form "I can" in the sentence "I think I can"?

texts: I know that "I can" is the direct object, but don't know what type of verb form it is i.e. participle, gerund, infinitive, etc.


texts:
Meaning of the word 'rap'
CIA takes rap for embassy attack.


texts: I have read a tweet: "the way Apple’s DTrace port controls processes is absurdly gross ....". How can I understand "absurdly gross" in this sentence?


texts: How would I express that what someone says is a challenge?

texts:
Let's say  that two people are having a conversation and one of them says something like

  Try me, Tom. Then I will surrender."

I'd like to add a "he says" statement. Should the "he says" say "He said, hinting a challenge", "he challenges" or something else?

Thank you in advance!

I'm going to guess "he says, hinting a challenge" is most clear?


texts: A word for when something is done in a way that it intuitively should be done, but isn't common practice in any particular industry

texts: For example, Google's changes to their privacy policies are available to the public here. This is one of many examples where this type of practice is very uncommon, but companies should do it. Another example is that Corporate Company X keeps their systems up to date (like upgrading from Internet Explorer 8 to 11) and many corporate companies continue to use Internet Explorer 8, forcing developers to create fixes for an obsolete, unsupported product.


texts: Can we mix tenses in the same paragraph?

texts:
From an Indian thriller TV show called Ssshhhh...Koi Hai

  Ajinkya manages to find his mother but is shocked to know she had never transformed. He managed to kill Vikrant but that wouldn’t be the end of him. He enters Vayika’s body, who is injuired in a struggle and in order to finish Vikrant completely, ends up killing Vayika.

In this phrase taken from Wikipedia, does the bold part fit correctly with the rest?


texts: Is there a context where 'to neglect' and 'neglecting' are not compatible?

texts:
I believe that to infinitive as a subject can be replaced by a gerund form, which is why

  To get up early is good.

always has the same meaning as

  Getting up early is good.

But a colleague of mine tells me this isn't always the case. I did not have a chance to have him elaborate on that. He cited the following sentence:

  Neglecting others means ignoring

and only said that because of 'ignoring', you cannot use 'to neglect' instead of 'neglecting'.

Is he right? If so, why?


texts:
I found this in "The Water Babies" fairy tale. It is part of the poem Lines Written in Early Spring by Wordsworth:

  To her fair works did Nature link
  The human soul that through me ran;
  And much it grieved my heart to think,
  What man has made of man.

What does "To her fair works did Nature link" mean?


texts: Do native speakers ever make pronunciation mistakes?

texts:
I've been thinking of this and I'd appreciate if a native speaker could reply.

Many times I see on the internet lots of English-related material about how to pronounce correctly, and that is mainly because in English you don't pronounce words as you write them.

I know that pronouncing a word correctly is an issue (sometimes unnoticed) to many students and even to advanced ones I would just like for a native speaker to share their insights on the matter and how/if this has been an issue to them.


texts:
The president states that,  after he read the memo, he felt very disturbed.

Is the first comma necessary?


texts:
Which should I choose: The factory roof or the roof of the factory?

Are there some grammar/rules about the difference? What case should I use the first sentence in? What case should I use the second sentence in?

Thanks in advance


texts: Are there rules that can be followed with plural or is it meant to be this way?

texts:
In my quest to learn something new, I started with simple ones where I come across this poem "Why English is hard to learn":

  We'll begin with box, the plural is boxes,
  But the plural of ox is oxens, not oxes.
  One fowl is a goose, and two are called geese,
  Yet the plural of moose is never called meese.

  You may find a lone mouse or a house full of mice;
  But the plural of house is houses, and not hice.
  The plural of man is always men,
  But the plural of pan is never pen.

  If I speak of a foot, and you show me two feet,
  And I give you a book, would a pair be a beek :
  If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
  Why shouldn't two booths be called beeth ?

  If the singular's this and the plural is these,
  Should the plural of kiss be ever called keese ?

  We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
  But though we say mother, we never say methren.
  Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him;
  But imagine the feminine ... she, shis and shim!

I am enjoying the beauty of this language. It would be great if anybody can clarify why plural in English language this way. Are there rules that can be followed with plural or is it meant to be this way.


texts: Is there a word for a person that does things because people said they would be bad at it? Ex: The man was told he would be the worst husband in the world so he set out to be the best. I was told spite but there is no ill intention.


texts: Can I use the word "foreshadow" in this case?

texts:
"The novel, written in 1913, foreshadows the atrocities of the First World War."

According to dictionaries, "to foreshadow" means "to predict something or to give a hint of what is to come." But I don't know if it is also applicable when a writer portrays a situation very similar to one in the future.


texts: If it's "I am" and not "I are", why is it "I aren't" instead of "I amn't"?

texts: I've been taught to say "I am" and "I aren't", but that doesn't make any sense to me. I think it should have been "I amn't" as am+not=amn't, but why isn't it?


texts: the correct usage of verbs"lie" and "lay"

texts: She wanna lay in bed or she wanna lie in bed.. Which one is correct.. Because in many English songs I have heard lay instead of lie..  Could anyone please clear this.


texts: Any adjectives for the noun 'Renaissance'?

texts:
I have a blog titled 'Renaissance' which means revival of art and literature. I was keen on slightly changing the title of the blog by adding a proper adjective to the noun 'renaissance' but I could hardly find any poetic or catchy appropriate adjectives for the word on the web.

I presume there are not many adjectives for the same. Can you please suggest me some?


texts: Word to mean the specific component part of a honeycomb?

texts: In the context of a math paper, I want to talk about the individual hexagonal parts of a honeycomb. "cells" can be ambiguous and "hexagonal prisms" is technically incorrect (the back of the cavity is angled outward).  "Repeating component part" is wordy and vague.  Is there a common phrase or word typically used for this?


texts:
"These are the angry ones who would demand that others bring what love they have into madness to take responsibility for the mess that has been made,
to attempt to restore order to chaos, (anything) so that the angry ones feel less alone with what their anger shows them."

Is "anything" apposition with "chaos" in this sentence?

Thank you for the answers as always!


texts: Consonant transposition: Why is "Wednesday" pronounced "Wensday"?

texts: It appears like a couple of consonant sounds have been transposed.  How, why did that happen?


texts: Is there a connotational difference between "Reality" and "Actuality"?

texts:
The motto for the TruTV channel has always bugged me: Not reality, actuality.
At least from online dictionaries I have looked up these words on, they seem equivalent. The definitions even reference one another.

ac·tu·al·i·ty

The state or fact of being actual; reality.
Actual conditions or facts.

re·al·i·ty

The quality or state of being actual or true.
One, such as a person, an entity, or an event, that is actual:
The totality of all things possessing actuality, existence, or essence.
That which exists objectively and in fact.

Is this motto just silly, or is there really some connotation to these words that I am not aware of that makes them distinct?


texts: What is the English word for the stones used in Indian weighing balance?

texts:
There are stones of 1 kg, 500 grams, 100 grams, or 50 grams used in weighing balance. What are they called in English?

These weighting stones are normally used by vegetable vendors.


texts: Is there a word for the situation where you are expecting something and then something totally different happens

texts:
I was watching a video on buzz feed. A couple was breaking up and the girl introduced her new boyfriend. But instead of fighting, as I expected, the new boyfriend and the old boyfriend became friends.
I want to know if there is a word for this.
I first thought Role-reversal would suit here, but is there a better word that could be used to describe this situation?

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x19KXDLxh0Q&index=1137&list=UUpko_-a4wgz2u_DgDgd9fqA


texts:
What is the correct usage of the phrase "due on"?

For example: is the sentence "my recruitment is due on 2/2/2018" correct?
Or is it better to use "I am to be recruited on 2/2/2018"?


texts: Can the idiom "It is high time" be used in formal writing?

texts:
Recently I saw  "it is hightime + subj. + past verb + ..." idiom. Like "It's high time we made some changes around here.". I want to know if it is a good phrase to start a formal writing (i.e. ielts or toefl writing section) with it or not?

(P.s I would appriciate if you give me some resources to support your respone)


texts: Continuous vs contiguous when talking about files

texts:
Files on a file system can be fragmented meaning they're split into several parts that are scattered all over hard disk. This usually means that reading these files is much slower because disk heads need to seek individual parts before reading them.

There are tools to defragment files, but I wonder what they do.

do they make files continuous or
do they make files contiguous?

English is not my native language. That's why I'm having problems distinguishing between the two. To me the first one seems more appropriate, but who am I to judge...


texts: What is the term for a marginal letter in a printed book?

texts:
Sometimes there are marginal letters in old books that serve as sort of an indexing mechanism. An example is shown in the detail below:

What are these elements of the book called?


texts: What does plaster in "plaster saint" refer to?

texts:
The saying plaster saint is used to refer to:

  A person who makes a show of being without moral faults or human weakness, especially in a hypocritical way. (ODO)

The expression is generally used to state that you are no plaster saint as in:

  she is no plaster saint—she acknowledges her faults and is quick to ask forgiveness.

Usage appears to be from the late 19th century according to Ngram and OED early usage examples are:

  1890 R. Kipling Barrack-room Ballads (1892) 8 Single men in barricks [sic] don't grow into plaster saints.
  1898 G. B. Shaw Philanderer iv, in Plays Unpleasant 148 You fraud! You humbug! You miserable little plaster saint!

 A plaster saint.

Questions:

1) I have always seen a plaster statue of a saint as an object of veneration and respect, so how did it come to represent an hypocritical attitude? What am I missing here?

2) The literal expression 'plaster saint'  and its figurative usage appear to coincide in terms of period of origin (late 19th century).  Was the expression imported from some 'catholic country' at that time?


texts: Difference between "tenacious" and "adamant"?

texts:
Specifically when they are used to refer to a person. While not listing them as synonyms directly, Thesaurus (adamant, tenacious) lists both as synonymous to strong-willed and several other adjectives that go in the same direction.

Is there a difference between the two words (specifically when referring to a person, but if you can think of other cases where both could be used with slightly different meaning, that's also good)? Does one of them maybe have a slight negative connotation?