texts: Singular or plural in possessives with "of" and "and"

texts:
Let me explain my question with an example.

I am writing a paper in electrical engineering. We have two type A converters and one type B converter. Each converter has a control loop with a bandwidth. I want to say that all the bandwidths are selected as 5000. Should I say:

  The bandwidth of the type A and the type B control loops is set to 5000

or

  The bandwidths of the type A and the type B control loops are set to 5000


texts: 'Neerdowell' has passed out of the vernacular. What has replaced it?

texts:
'Neerdowell' is a word I last heard used by my Grandfather easily 30 years ago. At the time, he was approaching 100 years of age and, along with his equally aged wife, was a veritable gold mine of linguistic archaisms. The word refers to someone who is

  'a rogue, vagrant or vagabond without means of support; a
  good-for-nothing louse.'

It may have originated with a play titled The Ne'er-do-Weel, an 1878 piece by W. S. Gilbert, of Gilbert and Sullivan fame. The Poetes Maudits of fin-de-siecle France were among its avatars: Rimbaud, Mallarme, Baudelaire (although he was earlier in the century) round out this Rogue's Gallery of accomplishment. The Poetes Maudits, in turn, were the descendants of Romantic era artists such as Blake whose prodigious output belied his deviant status. Their cinematic descendants produced a stream of European films from the 70s through the 90s that explored the social, cultural and economic origins of adolescent female failure: notably Alain Tanner's Le Salamandre and Agnes Varda's brilliant film The Vagabond to name just two.

In the early 20th century the Lost Generation of ex-pat Americans such as Hemingway, Stein and Miller are exemplars. In the US, this territory has been most deeply explored by artists, musicians and writers such as Jackson Pollack, the Beats, Lou Reed, Richard Hell and their epigones.

Would Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg have been thought of as ‘neerdowells’ by some of their peers, that is until they made their first billion dollars? Today's Millennials must have a similar pantheon of miscreants known only to them.

Clearly, the word has its provenance in the zeitgeist of every era and generation but, nevertheless, has passed out of common usage. The synonyms of 'neerdowell' include: failure, bum, schnorrer, guttersnipe, deviant, freeloader, mooch, miscreant, and so on, but 'neerdowell' retains its uniquely  stigmatising pall of lapsed potential relative to social norms.

While the question of why 'neerdowell' is no longer verbal coin of the realm is a good one, for me the more interesting question concerns the conventions and usages that have replaced it. This is particularly true since we all know people who fit the bill, celebrities among them -- adolescents, adults, males, females, whatever. And it may be that the rise of monetizing celebrity culture is a key reason for its eclipse, particularly the culture of notoriety beginning with works like Capote's In Cold Blood and extending to the flagrantly contemptible narcissism of Lindsay Lohan.

What are the leading contenders and memes that have replaced 'neerdowell' in the vernacular?


texts:
Can someone please give me one word for regretting after saying something?

For example, suppose I say something to somebody and then I regret saying that and think why did I even open my mouth.

So what will be one word for regret saying that?


texts:
Translators are obligated to ______ fidelity.

What verb is the most idiomatic one for the above sentence. I have observe and respect in mind. Are they any good?


texts: Word for the blackness of charred wood, that emphasizes it comes from charring?

texts:
What is a word to describe the blackness of charred wood called with a word that emphasizes that it comes from charring?

Of course it is technically usually identical to jet-black, but is there a word which also stresses that the color actually comes from charred wood? I would like something like char-black, but this does not seem to be a correct term.


texts: Expect: How to disambiguate dual meaning?

texts:
There seems to be two different meanings of the word 'expect' in common spoken English.

For example, 'I expect you to tidy your room this evening'. This is like a demand, in that the person speaking is asking someone to do something, and almost treat it like an order.

The second meaning is in a sentence like 'I expect it's going to rain tomorrow'. This isn't an order, merely relating what they think will happen in the future.

I don't believe either of the above examples would be ambiguous to a native speaker due to context, but the sentence 'I expect not to hear from you again' would be.

Is there a way to disambiguate this last use?


texts: De-garden path this: "This time I did spend thinking"

texts:
Consider the following excerpt from an imaginary letter:

Dear Margaret,
I apologize for not having replied to your letter sooner. I have been traveling for the past month and circumstances precluded me from corresponding with you. This time I did spend thinking about our last conversation...

The context is: The author had a weighty conversation with Margaret, after which Margaret sent him a letter. By circumstance, he could only reply a month after reading her letter, but he spent the month thinking about the conversation and composing a reply.
I became confused while trying to construct the bolded part of this. My intended meaning is: "in the month that I was traveling, I didn't just forget about you, instead I spent this time thinking constantly about what to say to you". However, the example I provide seems confusing to read: It sounds like the meaning is "in this instance". Ie. it's a bit of a garden path phrase.
My intention is not to confuse the reader, so I don't want a garden path sentence. I though I could un-garden path it by writing:

This time, I did spend thinking...

But the comma strikes me as an irregular usage, and I'm not sure if it even helps.

There are certain solutions I see, but they strike me as deficient:

"this month I did spend" - I do not want to specify the timespan.
"this time I spent" - I would like to emphasize by using did.

Is it possible to do better than this?


texts:
Beside is the more popular usage, but I have seen many references and usages of besides, as well. Beside is a preposition, and besides can be either a preposition or an adverb.

Which would be the correct usage?


texts: Is this the correct pronunciation of "heinous" in any English-speaking country?

texts:
I've never heard "heinous" pronounced "HI-ness" before; I always thought the only valid pronunciation was "HAY-ness."

Is "HI-ness" a valid pronunciation of "heinous" in any English-speaking country? The speaker in this case is a Canadian: Professor Jordan Peterson.

I'm British and, at least in the UK, I only recall ever hearing "HAY-ness," although that video says an alternative British pronunciation is "HE-nus." Either way, it's still not "HI-ness"!

Cambridge Dictionary also indicates the same pronunciation for both British and American English.

I even found an interview with the lead singer of an American blues band called the "Heinous Hounds." Both the band member and the interviewer (both American) also pronounce it the same way.

This question was not intended to be a peeve or a criticism of Professor Peterson in any way; I have the utmost respect for the man! It's actually precisely because I know Peterson to be an intelligent and articulate speaker that I was intrigued to hear him make what sounded like a possible pronunciation error.


texts: Modifying a word in its structure (spelling) to convey a different meaning?

texts:
Somewhere on the Internet I read the following lines:

  Daughter is not equal to tensions. Daughter is equal to ten-sons.

In this sentence the word "tension" is modified to be written as "ten-sons" to produce a positive connotation.

Is there any name to this form of writing, where a word is modified in its spelling/pronunciation to convey a different meaning?

Is it related to "semantic change"?


texts:
I have been doing a lot of reading on possession and there still seems to be a lot of confusion amongst people.
For example, two weeks' notice requires the apostrophe because it is two weeks of notice. So using that principle, wouldn't it be finals' week rather than finals week? It is the week of finals.
Even more complicated, Christmas tree would never be seen to have an apostrophe, yet it is the tree of Christmas. Can anyone care to explain?


texts:
I know that because of modifies verbs, whereas due to modifies nouns.
However, what do I do if I see something like:

  We find that X is better than Y in most cases, due to lack of support for Y.

Here, it seems like due to is modifying better, an adjective (I think). Is due to acceptable, or is it correct to use because in such cases?


texts: Term for person assimilating all events into furthering a prior agenda

texts:
Extreme example: Team discussion about whether to buy A or B ends with decision to buy A.

Proponents of B are perpetually unhappy with the decision and will see any future crisis as an opportunity to push their agenda to get rid of A and buy B regardless of any correlation of crisis to A or B.

A zealot?

I don't want to be overly prescriptive in the question and eliminate good alternatives that I lack the imagination to think of.  Might not be a single word, could be "cognitive bias".

A possible sentence might be: This person will assimilate all evidence into their "B" argument regardless of whether it fits, he's a "B" .


texts: What are the differences between the etymology of "ingenious" and "ingenuous"?

texts:
As a matter of fact, I don't know whether there is any difference between the source words in bold below:

From Latin ingeniosus (“endowed with good natural capacity, gifted with genius”), from ingenium (“innate or natural quality, natural capacity, genius”), from in (“in”) + gignere (“to produce”), Old Latin genere. Compare French ingénieux; see also engine.

From Latin ingenuus ("of noble character, frank")

And I wanna know the help of discerning the Modern meanings of those two words with the grammatical suffixes in Old Latin or Greek above.


texts: The presence of a person who has left a place

texts:
Q: What word should we use, if we were to describe the PRESENCE left behind, by a person after he/she leaves a place? [I have faced this exact situation a couple of times in the past few days,believe me!] (or) Can sillage be used in this situation? i.e in an abstract sense?

Oxford Living Dictionaries provide the following definition:

  (noun) The degree to which a perfume's fragrance lingers in the air when worn
  ‘neither scent has a very strong sillage’
  (mass noun) ‘a summer fragrance with good sillage’

The term  is generally used to describe the fragrance that continues to linger after a person has walked by, but can it also be used figuratively?

If you guys think 'sillage' can be used in an abstract sense, can you please provide a few examples?

Q: Is there a word that fits the description I described above?


texts: What's the meaning of "pushing at the boundaries of"?

texts:
Following is a passage from this article:

  Heterosexual men flirted with me, and I never bothered to correct them. In my mind, it wasn’t a lie unless my words actively misled. I was pushing at the boundaries of gender. Or so I told myself.

What does the phrase pushing at the boundaries mean? I have looked it up the phrase, but couldn't find a source that defines it clearly.


texts:
I noticed some maps from the southern hemisphere are "reversed" with the south pole on top.

Which makes me wonder, are there places in the southern hemisphere where the concept of "down" is presumed to mean north instead of south? For example, would someone say: "Yea I went down north for a bit to Ireland"

Just curious.


texts: What is the name of the disease when a person can see animals or humans that are not present?

texts:
I'm looking for answers other than Schizophrenia or Charles Bonnet syndrome.

explanatory note:

  Growing up as a child, I could see certain different cats in my window that would even move around everyday very often. Always just one. If I looked away or blinked for a second it would disappear. When starring they usually stayed in appearance for at most 20 seconds and then vanish. I think it had something to do with my serious lack of sleep and love for my two real pet cats. I honestly don't believe I had a disease


texts:
Something I find a little tricky is whether to use italics or quotes for terms. In most cases, the terms I cite are not used repeatedly, but are one-time mentions.

So, for example, we have the following sentence:

  The crest or kamon of the Tokugawa clan was the Aoi ("hollyhock").

So, here we have a couple of different terms that I have italicized, but then put the translation in quotes. Alternatively, I guess I could have used quotes, then put 'hollyhock' in single quotes. In that case, it would read like this:

  The crest or "kamon" of the Tokugawa clan was the "Aoi" ('hollyhock').

It starts to get confusing when I have a sentence with a lot of different terms and translations in it. Is there a general set of rules or policies that are advisable in such cases?


texts: How to mention that I'm good at utilizing both old/classical method of learning along with new ones (e.g. MOOC) on my résumé?

texts:
In the last 2 years I've completed quite a few books as well as online certification courses relevant to my field of expertise, and those have helped me a lot in expanding my breath and depth of knowledge. I am trying to mention this as a bullet point in the summary section of my résumé. As of now, I've come up with the following:

A voracious learner, embracing and thriving on resources old (books,
research papers) and new (MOOC, NanoDegrees) alike.

Although it sounds okay to me, I think the wording can be a bit more professional. I'd like to take the examples out of the parentheses, but not able to think how. Any help is appreciated.


texts: The word 'not' often doesn't mean total negation in mathematical sense?

texts:
Consider the following conversations:

  X1: I paid $10 for that hamburger.
  Y1: That's not cheap!

  X2: I pay $1 for broadband Internet access.
  Y2: That's cheap!

  X3: I paid $1 for a hot dog.
  Y3: Seems like a reasonable price.

In conversation 1, "not cheap" means expensive or overpriced.

In conversation 2, "cheap" means lower than the expected or average
price.

In conversation 3, the hot dog is neither overpriced not lower than
the expected price.

Therefore, the hot dog is neither "cheap", nor is it "not cheap".

Is this a special case, or does 'not' in the English language often
not translate to mathematical negation?

This post inspired by a MENSA book stating the 2 sentences below are
contrapositives (and thus have the same meaning), even though most
people interpret them very differently:

  Good food is not cheap.
  Cheap food is not good.


texts: Writing two sentences or using "which" as a conjunction

texts:
I am writing a scientific article and I asked my self several times, which of the following examples is better style:

One approach for getting from one place to another one is driving a car.
A car typically has a combustion engine and at least two wheels.

or

One approach for getting from one place to another one is driving a car which typically has a combustion engine and at least two wheels.

The problem is that I feel that I am overusing "which" if I follow the second approach, because my text consists of many phrases similar to the examples. On the other hand, I think that by using "which" the text sound a bit less formal but is more fluent to read. What do you think?


texts: The trap door in a bar top the waitress uses

texts: Many bar tops have a hinged section of bartop that can be lifted for entry and egress of servers to the back of the bar. Anyone know the name of this?


texts: Word/phrase for parent whose children have grown up and left home

texts: Is there a single word or phrase that means a parent whose grown-up children are not living with them?


texts: "Since", "until", "from", "to" on invoices or date ranges of a form

texts:
Which is the correct form on an invoice, or a general date range in a form, and why?

Monkey dolls                        12 GBP
From 2012-01-03 to 2013-01-02

Monkey dolls                        12 GBP
Since 2012-01-03 until 2013-01-02

Form format (dates can be modified with a datepicker):

Since: 2012-01-03
until: 2013-01-02

Since+until makes sense and sounds ok to me, yet I know I can be very wrong, at least when it comes to the common usage in the UK and/or US, since English is not my first language.

I am interested in both British and American English.

Until now I've been using since+until, yet some articles explicitly say they may not ever be used together, while some people and some other articles get deep into grammar rules which I can't really apply on the context of invoices and forms.

Here's a recent article saying since and until can never be used together (last paragraph): http://englishmatsuri.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/for-since-until-from-and-to/

Edit: The date range can start in the past or in the future, and can end in the past or in the future. However, at the time of issuing an invoice or rendering a form, you cannot know when the document will be read or how the form will be filled.


texts: What's a more professional term than 'blow your mind'?

texts:
I'm looking for a phrase that describes the experience of limits, preconceptions and world-views being challenged, exceeded and revised. I convey this if I say something "blew my mind", but there is a casual and left-field tone that I'd like to avoid.

What's a more sober and professional way to describe this experience? The intonations of personal transformation and the revision of self-boundaries are important elements that I'm looking to include.


texts: Why do we fluoridate but chlorinate water?

texts:
When we add fluoride ions to water, to make it good for teeth, it's called fluoridation. When we add chloride ions to water, to kill microorganisms, it's called chlorination. In the latter case, the generally used name for the process doesn't match with the technical/jargon description.

Why is this? Is it that chlorination is an older invention, so the lay word for it reflects an older technical jargon? Or is there some subtlety about the processes themselves?


texts: Why is "should" put in the following sentences?

texts:
It's strange that he should say so.

She tiptoed lest the guard should hear her.

It's crucial that she should have her own car.

.

I've seen those three sentences somewhere on the internet. I found them very  unintuitive and quite deceiving, so I've been looking for the explanation, yet did not find one.

If you could explain the usage of "should" in those sentences, I should be very grateful.


texts:
Bark is the abrupt, harsh, explosive cry of a dog.

Clatter is the sound made by two or more hard objects hitting each other.

Splash is the sound of something falling into a liquid, normally water.

What is the name of the sound made by a knife? And more in particular, is there a different name for the sound of a knife slashing through the air and the sound made by a knife hitting flesh?

Additional example:

  Blindfolded, I could only hear noises: the distant barking of a dog, the shouting of a terrified man, the [word] of a knife being waved into the air.


texts: What is the difference between "intermediate" and "intermediary" when both mean the same thing?

texts:
I have a tendency to say

  This case is intermediary
  This case is an intermediate one
  This is an intermediate case

I probably would stumble over

  This is an intermediary case

and come to a halt at

  This case is intermediate

Grammatically there seems to be no difference: both are adjectives (and, according to Merriam-Webster, in this context both even mean exactly the same thing).

In other words, I seem to prefer intermediate for modifying a noun, but intermediary for predicating it. Is there any rationale for this preference, or can/should I use intermediate and intermediary interchangeably¹?

¹ Only when they mean the same thing, of course.


texts: How did 'take in stride' originally signify 'without change of gait'?

texts:
[ Etymonline :] To take (something) in stride (1832), i.e. "without change of gait," originally is of horses leaping hedges in the hunting-field; figurative sense attested from 1902.

  to take in stride: to accept advances or setbacks as normal, to be dealt with as they arise. The image is of a person walking along without stopping for distractions.

TAKE STH IN YOUR STRIDE | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary

  to deal with a problem or difficulty calmly and not to allow it to influence what you are doing:

I know nothing of equestrianism. Horses obviously stride, but why was 'take in' adopted to signify 'horses leaping hedges in the hunting-field' and then 'without change of gait'?


texts: When can I omit articles when writing instructions?

texts:
I am a native speaker.

Say I am writing a set of instructions for making a cup of tea, I would normally write it as:

Add water to kettle and boil.
Place tea in pot and pour hot water over top.
Strain tea into cup, add milk and sugar,* and enjoy.

My writing correction software Grammarly tells me that it should be like this:

Add water to a kettle and boil.
Place tea in a pot and pour the hot water over top.
Strain tea into a cup, add milk and sugar and enjoy.

Which one is correct?

*Also I still have no idea whether or not I need this comma.


texts: Idiom / expression for someone who forgets their roots on achieving success

texts:
I am having difficulty finding an English idiom / expression to describe these situations:

A person who was previously poor then becomes arrogant because she/he is rich now.
A person who has been helped (because she/he really needs it) but she/he just walks away (and forgetting the person who has helped her/him) after achieving a comfortable state.

Is this appropriate: "A rolling stone gathers no moss"?

My native proverb is: "The nut that forgets its skin"


texts: Is it okay to contract "dog is running" to "dog's running"?

texts:
Are the following contractions okay to use:

The man's working on the roof for The man is working on the roof
The dog's running behind the ball for The dog is running behind the ball


texts: Reword a positive question into a negative one

texts:
I have a list of yes/no question. I want to associate a "yes" answer with a positive meaning (desirable) for all the questions, but I am having a problem with the last question of my list:

  Does the middleware rely on XML-based protocols?

Because answering yes to this question is considered undesirable in my context.

Can be appropriate to use the following question instead? (So a "yes" answer is desirable)

  Does the middleware not rely on XML-based protocols?

If not, how can I reformulate the question?


texts: Boundaries for a person's name - danah boyd

texts: How could the name danah boyd come to pass? Why isn't it Danah Boyd? Would it be inappropriate or incorrect to refer to this person as Danah Boyd?


texts: How do I get beyond the Etymonline etymology of authoritarian to see to first uses of the word in 1859 and 1862?


texts: Which of these phrases are equivalent, if any, and why

texts:
Some say the following two phrases are equivalent because of Raising (linguistics)!

Example 1

  He doesn't believe that bigfoot exists
  He believes that bigfoot doesn't exist

Are those two phrases really equivalent? In case they are, are the phrases from the examples below also equivalent? If so, why?

Example 2

  He doesn't love that bigfoot exists
  He loves that bigfoot doesn't exist

Example 3

  He doesn't hate that bigfoot exists
  He hates that bigfoot doesn't exist

Example 4

  He doesn't know that bigfoot exists
  He knows that bigfoot doesn't exist

To me none of the examples contains two equivalent phrases.
The example that seems more likely to have equivalent phrases, to me, is example 1, but, if the guy i'm talking about in example 1 doesn't know what bigfoot is, how can he hold a belief of any sort about the existence or nonexistence of bigfoot (phrase 2)? I mean, phrase 1 doesn't state that he believes something about bigfoot, so phrase 1, in this case, seems to be right.

IMPORTANT SIDENOTE: I don't mean to state or imply that all possible sentences that can be written in the stated format will not be equivalent and I also don't mean to state or imply that the linguistic principle of raising is somehow incorrect.


texts: Ambiguous question starting with 'Was not having [something]?'

texts:
*Was not having friends in your childhood something you wanted?

Is this sentence grammatically correct and if so what does it mean ?


texts:
I was watching a TV show, and one man asked another where he was from. The response was "Pennsylvania by way of Illinois", and I can't really understand what it means in this context.

Edit: thefreedictionary.com says it means "passing through" but I don't see how it applies in this context.


texts: What does it mean to be in an advanced stage

texts:
I sent an email to a professor expressing my wish to be his student. He replied me that the selection is now "in a very advanced stage". He saw my application but hasn't got updated yet.

What does "in a very advanced stage" mean here?

Thanks!


texts: What kind of a question is this? Is it rhetorical? If so, what type of rhetorical?

texts:
From Toni Morrison's Beloved:
"They beat you and you was pregnant?"
This is asked by Paul D in response to Sethe who describes that she was beaten when she was pregnant. Paul D knows the answer, this is more of an incredulous question, also angry, in disbelief... any particular way to classify it?


texts: Are there any words pronounced with an unstressed short monophthong at the end of word that are not /ə/?

texts:
Following my question Are there any words in English pronounced with /e/ at the end? I was wondering if there are any words pronounced with an unstressed short monophthong at the end of word that are not /ə/? The only words I could think of were "aqua", "alpha", etc., however, when I looked them up in the Macquarie Dictionary (excellent Australian dictionary, although admittedly phonemic rather than phonetic) it has them listed as /ˈækwə/, /ˈælfə/, etc. Wiktionary also has them as /ˈækwə/ (UK) and /ˈæɫfə/. Other words: bee /biː/, taxi /ˈtæk.siː/, do /duː/, go /ɡoʊ/, emu /ˈiːmjuː/. In Australian English these are all either diphthongs or long monophthongs (Wiktionary lists some of these as short monophthongs for US accents).

The reason for all these questions is for teaching people with a different phoneme inventory how to pronounce different languages closer to a native speaker, whether English-to-Other or Other-to-English.


texts: I want a word that conveys the opposite of "free-form," as in "free-form answers." Is it "pre-selected"? An example sentence would be: "Let's change the response field from free-form to [pre-selected?] choices."


texts: What is the correct way to reference more than 1 source?

texts:
Please keep in mind that this is for a commercial project and must be legally sound.

When referencing through a footnote (e.g. a little '1' in superscript), what is the correct way to reference in this scenario?

There is 3 references which are all supporting the one statement, in the one position. Here's an imagine of the 3 possible combinations I thought may be the correct way to assist in explaining what I mean:

Notice that the 3 references are always only 'referring' to the one place in the text.

Please tell me if I've left out any information which may help you to answer. First time posting in this community.


texts:
How should I write about my graduation ranking in a formal way?

  I graduated with a 3rd rank.

or

  I graduated with 3rd ranking.

or

  I graduated ranking the 3rd.

or something else. And I can't use the Latin titles. Please let's stick with the numbers.

Thank you!


texts:
I have a doubt and I do not know which preposition should I use. I have been looking for this a few days and I do not find any explanation about it.

Should I say 'Sunrise in Bondi beach' or 'Sunrise at Bondi beach'? And why?


texts:
The OED defines street-smart as

  The experience and knowledge necessary to deal with the potential difficulties or dangers of life in an urban environment

(emphasis mine)

Is there an equivalent word or phrase for someone who has similar sort of knowledge, but for rural or otherwise non-urban areas?

"Outdoorsman" is close, but is only for knowledge of things relating to nature, like camping or hiking. I'm looking for a word that can also encompass things like how to handle cows, navigate village politics, avoid getting shot at by a farmer, and dealing with bears.

(I'd prefer a word over a phrase, but both are acceptable, and will be used in an informal context)

I can't use street-smart to describe this character because she is being contrasted with someone from a city who does have more urban knowledge.


texts: A single word for a person who encourages terrible rumors about themselves to feel protected

texts:
I am writing a story with a character who was a prince born albino in a very superstitious country. His Uncle intensely feared killing him, as he believed it would release a demon inside of him. This myth becomes the only thing that saves his life when his kingdom is overthrown as a child. He learned that having people falsely fear him keeps him safer than trying to dispel the rumors.
I need a term for someone who encourages his own awful reputation, so that he can win through fear without having to actually be fearsome. Think of Captain Shakespeare from Stardust as being a good example.
The word in a sentence may be used much like the words illusion or facade. I am not necessarily looking for a noun or an adjective in particular; just a word, or perhaps a short collection of words to explain or describe the concept. Several example sentences include:

"He was known to ____"
"His ____ was falling to pieces".


texts: Is "must have four cats" the same as "must have got four cats"?

texts:
On Cambridge Online Dictionary, the phrase "have got" is considered a formal alternative to simply "have", for example:

He has four cats.

He has got four cats.

I want to ask: Does adding an additional modal verb (e.g. must) change the meaning, or is the meaning of "must have got" & "must have" still the same?
In other words, do these sentences mean the same thing?:

He must have four cats.

He must have got four cats.

How about with modals apart from must?


texts:
Let's say, we are talking about folders in a computer. What is a correct way to refer to the names of multiple folders?

ex:
- Folder names are incorrect.
or
- Folders' names are incorrect.


texts: What does “red faces” in “There were a lot of red faces in the general staff” on inefficient wreck of Russian war machine mean?

texts:
There was the following sentence in Time magazine (September 16) titled “”America’s weak and waffling. Russia’s rich and resurgent”:

  “2008 summer also put Russia’s military to the test when a war broke
  out with Georgia. Although Russia crashed its tiny adversary in less
  than a week, its war machine was shown to be an inefficient wreck.
  More tanks were lost to malfunction than enemy fire, and at one time
  Russian officers were forced to use store-bought navigation gadgets
  after the official ones gave out. “There were a lot of red faces in
  the general staff,” recalls Sivkov, the military strategist.

Oxford online English Dictionary doesn’t carry the ‘red-face’ as a headword, but includes ‘red-faced’ as an adjective meaning ‘having a red face, especially as a result of embarrassment or shame.’

Cambridge online English Dictionary has entry of neither ‘red face’ nor ‘red-faced.’

Now, what does ‘red faces’ in the above quote exactly mean?
Does it refer to people (Russian army’s general staff) with red face, or their sentiment (anger / embarrassment about the incompetence of their war machine)?

Why is it ‘in’, not ‘among’ the general staff?


texts:
There's a sentence that I keep reading over and over, and I can't quite grasp what's so funny about it. Perhaps, it isn't funny. Or perhaps, there's a meaning of a word in the sentence that I don't understand. The pun is:

  She’s afraid that if she leaves, she’ll become the life of the party.
                                                               ~Groucho Marx

I'm not quite sure what the punchline is here. Perhaps it's a concept I don't get or don't know. Can someone please enlighten me?


texts: Which is the correct sentence: Reading newspapers is a good way to build your vocabulary. OR Reading newspapers are a good way to build your vocabulary.


texts: Word for saying product is good after buying it even if it's really not

texts:
When someone buys a product that's really not that good, perhaps overpriced, and he/she then tells everyone how good it is, to justify the purchase (to him/herself).

Is there a name for the phenomenon?

Example: Someone buys the Beats headphones, finds that they're really bad and cheaply made, but starts telling friends how great they are and what a bargain it was.


texts:
"They disregard social conventions without being conscious that they are doing anything extraordinary."

Is it also fine（or more appropriate） to replace "anything" with "something" in the sentence above.?

Whole paragraph:
True eccentrics never deliberately set out todraw attention to themselves. They disregard social conventions without being conscious that they are doing anything extraordinary. This invariably wins them the love and respect of others, for they add colour to the dull routine of everyday life.


texts: Word to describe a person who always tries to hide their skills from other colleagues

texts:
I'm looking for a word,phrase, idiom to describe a person who doesn't want to share their knowledge to other colleagues and doesn't want to teach others the way of doing something because he is afraid of losing his position in the company or being left behind by his colleagues.

I think of this word: "protective over something". For example in this sentence: My manager is quite protective over his work; he doesn't want to teach me anything.
However, I'm not sure whether the word "protective over" is correct or not.
Could you help me out?

Thank you so much.


texts:
Is it suitable to use this expression to mean, we are active and alive in the market for more than 50 years?
" As we are in Second half of our first century activities "


texts: Term for a book on military history or warfare

texts:
An atlas is a book of maps.
A dictionary is a book of words and their meanings
A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary used in conjunction with a map or atlas
A grimoire is a textbook of magic

In a similar way, is there a single word that describes a book whose principal subject is military?  For my purposes, the book could treat military history, or weapons of warfare, or any aspect of martial actions.
I have heard of Jane's Fighting Ships as a reference book on warships of the world, but I have not heard of people referring to a military book as a "Jane."
My copy of Roget's Thesaurus mentions battledore, but while the name suggests the military it's the wrong type of term: a battledore is an obsolete term for a child's book to learn the alphabet.


texts:
I get confused with the following. Any explanation would be greatly appreciated.

  I can't do it myself.
  I can't do it by myself.


texts: Word Stress Within the Phrase I'm expecting someone

texts:
I tried pronouncing the phrase: "I'm expecting someone". Phonetically it looks like:

[aɪm ɪkspɛkt ɪŋ sʌmwʌn]

I perceive some stress on the second syllable of expecting and the first syllable of someone. I marked them with bold.

The context is something like this:

Person A: Well, I have to get home. I'm expecting someone.

Do you hear the same stress pattern as I am in a similar context? I'm not a native speaker. If yes, are the stresses equal on spɛkt and sʌm ?

Any suggestion would be appreciated.


texts:
As casual conversation simply means an idle chatter, I wanted to know of a word which means a "formal talk". Not completely formal, but rather a word for a conversation where people talk only for a purpose; a word which would mean "not casual, but less formal." This didn't help.
Think of a person(a loner) who doesn't like making friends but can talk with others only if the conversation holds some purpose.
What would be the word used to describe such a conversation?


texts: to be unfamiliar with something how to express it while writing an academic essay

texts:
Is it true to say we are new to social media (in order to say that we are not familiar with social media)
thanks


texts:
Is it grammatically correct to say :

  "He planned a strategy".


texts: Singular or plural noun after "their" when subject is "those" (as in "those who were") Details follow

texts:
I'm helping a nephew edit a paper and while he says it isn't essential that it be grammatically perfect... well. I don't know have to explain. You are my people. So without further ado, which option is correct:
A. This means that those who were indoctrinated at a young age may be hesitant to discuss their background.
B. This means that those who were indoctrinated at a young age may be hesitant to discuss their backgrounds.
I know the entire structure is awkward, and has to GO. But I became fixated on this issue, and would love the answer--more for me than for him at this point. Ha! Thank you in advance.


texts: What is a choice that is heavily favorable on one side?

texts:
A choice that is so favorable on one side that it somewhat forces you to pick the favorable one.

Example:

  "If you choose option A everyone will die or choose B to save everyone
  (with a small chance of killing you)."

More specifically I'm talking about someone giving  you a choice (whether you like it or not), and while technically it is a choice, you feel like you don't actually have a choice (it was forced upon you), like my example.


texts:
I always get confused about:

Is it true?
Does it true?

Where and when should I use one or the other? In other words, when should I pose a question using is and when should I pose it using does?


texts: I bought it at, I bought it on, I bought it from

texts:
Someone was asking:

Do we order things "off" a website or "on" a website?

I suggest it's from as it's a specific place (if virtual.)

What is correct here. Cannot for the life of me find an answer.


texts:
I'm looking for a single word that describes an application that provides the capability to redo or undo steps. My first thoughts were something like modifiable software, which doesn't really suit my needs, or things like step-tracking software. But all these sound a bit wrong or not on-the-spot.

Is there something better?


texts: Does "Either must die at the hand of the other" imply both that A can only be killed by B and that B can only be killed by A?

texts:
The prophesy made by Professor Trelawney about Harry Potter includes the phrase "Either must die at the hand of the other", speaking of Harry and Lord Voldemort.
Does this mean that both Voldemort must be killed by Harry and Harry must be killed by Voldemort?
Or merely that one must be killed by the other?
If the former, then presumably Harry is immortal after Voldemort's death.


texts:
When I am not bound by a style that mandates otherwise, I like to use whom in dative constructions and who in accusative constructions (I am aware that English doesn't have a proper case system, but it is convenient for the purposes of this qn).  Let's call this who/who/whom usage, matching nominative, accusative, and dative respectively.  This appears to be moderately widespread, the death of whom notwithstanding.  For an accusative example, consider Is there anyone who I could ask? vs. Is there anyone whom I could ask?

Are there authorities who explicitly recognise the possibility of differentiating between the accusative and dative constructions in this way?  To document what I have looked at so far:

APA 6th stands by the old-fashioned who/whom/whom, saying "Use who as the subject of a verb and whom as the object of a verb or preposition" (3.20).  Chicago 6th has a very similar formulation (5.63).  The Economist style guide has a nice discussion explaining its identical prescription.
Butcher's and New Hart's Rules both say that grammar should be correct, but say little about what correct grammar consists of.  I think MLA also doesn't prescribe on this point.
Fowler's 3rd articulates three rival views, namely that (i) who/whom/whom is moribund, stifling, or artifical, and who/who/who is the right usage, (ii) the righteous who/whom/whom should be defended against the slacker who/who/who, and (iii) who/whom/whom is appropriate for written language, but who/who/who for spoken language (from CGEL).  Fowler's further talks about tricky issues about the use of who/whom as a relative pronoun vs. as an interrogative pronoun.   Fowler's makes no prescription about this.  Who/who/whom is defensible according to Fowler's reasoning, but the possibility of this usage is not discussed.

Bonus points to anyone finding relevant guidance from CGEL.


texts:
In a argument with my friend who lost her love, I came across her experience of life and what she said is :

Opposite of love is NOT Hate.

why, Because in love people have feeling and think about other person. And in Hate it is same with different intentions.

Meaningfully Opposite of Love is not Hate.

Opposite of Love or Hate is Apathy. Which is actually feelings-free.
Is it right. Is she right. I am not looking for discussions?


texts: Word for sex discrimination issues with holding work-related duties in saunas

texts:
Is there any word (most likely a loanword) to describe sex discrimination issues for holding work-related functions in saunas?

  It's a sticky, steamy business. Two or more do it naked in a small,
  dimly lit room. Heartbeats quicken, pulses pound, sweat pours. The
  climax is a moist, suffusing glow. It has nothing whatever, of course,
  to do with sex - but Olli Rehn, the European commissioner in charge of
  handling the euro zone debt crisis, has found himself accused of
  sexism after holding towel-clad briefings for male journalists in a
  sauna beneath his office in Brussels.

Are there any words or phrases for this concept?


texts: Should you use apostrophe s for "No man's land" if it really belongs to no man?

texts: When talking about "No man's land" if the land belongs to no man, then should you use an apostrophe s?


texts: Put fingers over the mouth to silence someone

texts:
How do I say in English when I put the index finger over the mouth as to silence someone?

Thanks,


texts:
Raring definition: very enthusiastic and eager to do something.

I want to use rares, as in:

  He rares himself up, ready to tell her.

I'm wanting to use it as in the cited example, meaning he gears himself up, sort of like an instant pep-talk, like readying himself. But it looks as though rares isn't a word for what I need it for.

Can I use it like this or not?


texts:
I was reading a book and stumbled on this sentence:

  It was closed, but the salesman said he would wait, if we hurried.

I'm confused about the use of the comma preceding if we hurried.

Why not write

  It was closed, but the salesman said he would wait if we hurried

Are these two sentences materially different? Do they convey different things? How do I decide whether or not to use a comma before a subordinate conjunction?


texts: Is this a correct latitude and longitude notation?

texts:
Is the example below correct notation of latitude and longitude in English?

Coordinates:    50.0833 x 14.4667 (latitude x longitude)

Thanks!

(I hope the question is still in the scope of this website.)


texts: We're square/even/quits in formal speech

texts:
What are the differences between: be square, be even and be quits?

Are they acceptable to use in formal speech? If they not, what should I use instead?


texts: How did "itch" come to be used to mean "scratch" as in "I had to itch my leg"?

texts:
None of the regular sources list itch as a transitive verb meaning to scratch. Yet I hear it used that way in American English all the time. One of the British mods of this site says the usage occurs in British English as well.

There's even a question on this site about this usage that I myself answered nine years ago, which provides further evidence that such a usage exists.

The verb itself in its main meaning has been in use for at least a thousand years.

  Middle English icchen, from Old English giccan "to itch," from West Germanic *jukkjan (source also of Middle Dutch jöken "to itch," Old High German jucchen, German jucken).
  Etymonline

Given that itch meaning to scratch appears now both in AmE and BrE, there must be some logical progression to the transitive usage. What I want to know is how (and possibly when) this usage came into being. Is it because itch ends on the same phoneme that scratch does? Is it baby talk that gained currency?


texts: Adjective for two entities of the same weight

texts:
Is there a one-word adjective for two people (or objects) of the same weight?

  I think the two sides of the political spectrum are substantially and
  inherently different. One can't just see them as two
  [adjective-in-question] opponents fighting it out.

How about a compound adjective? Say, for two martial artists; Is there an attributive adjective for their weights being equal? (One similar to like-minded maybe.)


texts: do you always have to use "for" after the verb stay?

texts:
are "I stayed 10 days in Algeria" and I stayed for 10 days in Algeria" both correct?

are "I stayed a month in Algeria" and I stayed for a month in Algeria" both correct?

thanks for your help


texts: nebula and nebulous - a question of origin

texts:
While looking up nebulous, I noticed the origin of the word is dating back to 14th century. Surprised since the nebulae wasn't discovered at that time, I checked nebula to find that its origin dates to 17th century. Given nebulous means nebula-like, it seems inconsistent that it enters the dictionary before its derivative.

It's obvious that nebula with its Greek/Latin root existed long before 17th century. But could nebulous have been used without nebula not even being mentioned for 3 centuries?

Am I missing a point? Or is the dictionary wrong?

Or should we take these as non-definitive dates which just represent the first written occurrence of the word?

nebulous: 1375 - 1425 Late Middle English)
nebula: 1655-65 < Latin


texts:
What is a more formal way to refer to someone acting as an "enforcer"?

A landlord has a tenant who acts as his unofficial "enforcer" towards other tenants (and often times for no good reason). He usually goes with the guise that he is doing something or delivering a message on behalf of the landlord and uses intimidation and threats to get his way. No actual violence takes place, though he does do things like change locks on people.

What would be a formal term for a person in such a position? Something on the level of formality that would be expected in a court of law?

This is for Canadian English.


texts: What is the english phrase for "barang bukti" from Indonesia?

texts:
In Indonesia we have a phrase that means "barang bukti"

Barang bukti can be literally translated as good evidence

Of course this is not a good translation into English. In English good means not bad. Here it means goods as in stuffs.

Another is material evidence. However, that's also not a good translation because material in English can also mean significant.

Physical evidence?


texts: I was wondering why these two letters (capital 'I' and lowercase 'L') look the same in some fonts? Is there any historical reason?


texts: Full stop, double stop, period and colon

texts:
At different times I see "full stop" used online. Does this just mean a period, or is it something more or less? I would assume it refers to a period specifically at the end of a sentence, but does it mean more than that?

In the King James Version of the Bible, the colon is often used as what appears to be a "double stop". It seems to break apart groups of sentences. Other times it seems to be used as the period version of a semi-colon, almost connecting the two sentences. How is it actually used? Is there such a thing as a "Double Stop" or is it just called a colon? I know colons are supposed to be only used for lists, but are there other ways they can be used as well?


texts: What is the origin of the word "goodbye"?

texts: I've heard that goodbye comes from God be with you.  Is that true?  If so how did it become good?  Did goodbye always have the same meaning it has now?


texts: What are the origin and history of the phrases "local color" and "color commentary"?  There is a tiny bit in the dictionaries about this use of color to mean 'additional detail and anecdotes' but not enough to really explain how it came to be.


texts:
Is there a term for rejecting a proposal by not actively endorsing/confirming/voting for it? Like a veto, but by abstention, rather than active participation.

Alternatively, a term for "A choice being made for you, because you refused to choose for yourself" could work as well.

An example of a situation where this would apply:
When you boot windows after a crash, and you're asked if you want to enter safe-mode, while a timer counts down. When the timer reaches zero, the computer booths in normal mode instead.
Waiting for the timer to run out would be functionally the same as making the choice of not entering safe-mode, even though you didn't do anything. I'm looking for a term/word/expression to describe this act of choosing by not choosing.


texts:
I would like to say:
Available calculation methods are limited to few software. With "few", I mean 3 programs. However, "software" is an uncountable noun. "Some" and "little" sound also weird?

Available calculation methods are limited to few software.

Available calculation methods are limited to little software.

Available calculation methods are limited to some software.


texts: Word to describe people coming in and out of view, as in a crowd

texts:
I'm looking for a word to describe looking at someone on the other side of a parade, train station or crowd, etc. with something passing between the two sides. The target is hidden and can only be seen between the gaps. All I can think of is "flickered".

  Walking away, he watched them as they ______ between the other people dancing until they completely disappeared.


texts:
For example, how would I format this following sentence properly?
The others agree a little more heartily with “yeah”s and “it would”s.


texts:
I was drawn to the word aw-shucks appearing in the following paragraph of the latest article which I forgot to take note of the source:

  “You know, I’m new to this campaign. Honestly, I never thought I would
  be standing here. I thought I would be spending this evening with all
  my friends in the great state of Indiana,” Indiana Gov. Mike Pence
  said in his RNC debut tonight. His aw-shucks approach went over well
  with delegates outraged by Ted Cruz’s refusal to endorse GOP nominee
  Donald Trump earlier in the night.

I was totally unfamiliar with the word “aw-shucks,” and found out the following definition in the free dictionary:

awshucks adj. seeming to be modest, self-deprecating, or shy:
[C20: from the US interjection aw shucks, an expression of modesty or diffidence]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014

Google Ngram shows that the word emerged in mid 1940, and its usage has been on a rapid increase to 0.00000136% level in 2000.

I’m curious to know the currency level and origin of this word. Does this word often apper in conversation and writings? How did the word that sounds as if like the exclamation, “Oh shock” come into American, informal, and in particular, adjective word?


texts: Why is J often used to represent a "Y" sound in Romanizations of other writing systems?

texts:
I am not referring to IPA. I am referring to examples in textbooks. For example, my Ukrainian textbook says that the letter Я is pronounced as "ja". Most native English speakers would pronounced this as it sounds in "jar", whereas the true pronunciation is closer to "ya" in my experience. This is a case where English speakers are explicitly the target audience.

This answer says that J has always had the same sound, so it can't be because of a change in sound overtime after the establishment of a convention.


texts: "In the police station" or "at the police station"?

texts:
Is it correct to say:

  1. I filed a complaint in the police station.

Or

  2. I filed a complaint at the police station.


texts:
Is there an antonym for 'Formalize'?

As to make something not formal.
Would it be Deformalize, Unformalise, Informalize, or something else?


texts:
What is the difference between whine and grumble as verbs meaning complain?
Does it only have to do with the pitch of your voice or are there more differences?


texts: Trying to differentiate hyperboles and idioms

texts:
I'm having a hard time differentiating between hyperboles and idioms.

The sentence I have is calling someone a "dating app unicorn" because they know how to carry on a conversation. Would that be an idiom or a hyperbole?

Any pointers would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Danielle


texts: What is the word that means to offer to be in a relationship?

texts:
There is a word that means to offer to be in a relationship. For example, it could be used in the following dialogue:

  A: Let's go over to my apartment.
  B: Are you [] me?

However, I can't think of this word. Any help?


texts: Adjective defining a property of an object that is possessed by many of those objects

texts:
Is there a word defining an object's property possessed by many similar objects? Something like this:

  Tommy bought a red balloon at the circus. Many kids have red balloons there. Hence ballon's color is <the word I am looking for>.


texts: Is the sequence of tenses applied properly in this example?

texts:
I found this sentence in some book:

  When Mom asked Gramma why she hasn't been answering the telephone, Gramma said. . . .

My question is about the sequence of tenses: shouldn't the past perfect continuous tense be used here in the reported speech?


texts: Using "and" in a list with an element already containing "and"

texts:
I'm struggling with the following sentence in an APA format paper. I don't like the double usage of and here, but 'supply and demand' is one thing in this context. Is this correct or do I need to make a change?

  Riggs (2011) argues that tuition prices can be explained by the basic principles of supply and demand and perceived quality.

To clarify: My intent is for the term "basic principles" to apply to both "supply and demand" (as a single principle) and "perceived quality" as the other. As this sentence is paraphrasing Riggs, this must be the meaning conveyed whether or not we agree with his over-simplification of S&D.


texts: What is the exact difference between "into" and "onto"?

texts: How to use "into" and "onto" in sentences ? Can we use "onto" in any sense while talking of people and if yes, how ? Do these two quoted words have a common usage anywhere ?


texts:
I came across people using all the in sentences instead of all.

  Select the type of user to view all the users of that type. All the
  users of the selected role are displayed.

I usually strike out the after all. Is there any justification that I can give my team on why the seems out of place in the above example? Are there any rules of grammar for or against using the article after all?


texts: How would I address people who attend church with me?

texts:
So I am a christian and attend church. How would I grammatically refer to people who also attend my church. Fellow church mates, church-goer, church attendee?

A fellow ______ gave me a job at her business.


texts: What does 'odds' mean in 'overcome the odds'?

texts:
Well, I guess the 'odds' in 'overcome the odds' means kind of 'diffculties'. But I cannot find such kind of explaining in dictionary (oxford dict online) nor in "Practical Everyday English (by Steven Collins)". The closest explaining, seem to me, is 'The chances, probalility of winning, being successful'. But then it doesn't explain well for the following sentence (from "BBC Life Story")

  Animals have just one goal at the end of this journey, to leave offspring, and everyone begins its life with an irrepressible instinct to survive and overcome the odds.

What does 'odds' mean here?


texts: Do I use two full stops when embedding a quote in a paragraph?

texts:
If I am embedding a quote in a paragraph such as:

Thomas, a scientist, said ‘’I wish I had access to more samples’’

Should I put a full stop inside the quotation marks as well as outside if it’s at the end of a sentence and I am to continue with the paragraph after this sentence?

Which is correct?

Thomas, a scientist, said ‘’I wish I had access to more samples.’’. Thomas has been working hard with a team of scientists to find a cure.

Or

Thomas, a scientist, said ‘’I wish I had access to more samples.’’ Thomas has been working hard with a team of scientists to find a cure.

Which one would be correct in accordance to the rules of British English?


texts:
I read a news about terrorist attack:

  Berger said Kobani, aside from being sole example cited, was a military-style operation, not a terrorist attack, so the formula, should it hold up, might apply only to large-scale sieges.

I know "so" leads the sentence "the formula, should it hold up, might apply only to large-scale sieges." as a conjunction. "Should it hold up" describes the formula.

But "should it hold up" looks like a question sentence. I want to ask the reason why it was written in this structure.


texts: Reason for Subject-Verb Inversion: Only in cases where A is B, shall the Company do X

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Sentences using: [something] + have + they
  subject-auxiliary inversions not associated with questions

In the following, why does subject-verb inversion occur? Is it necessary? And what is this type of inversion called?

Colleague’s original:

  Only in cases where A is B, the Company shall do X.

I changed to the following:

  Only in cases where A is B shall the Company do X.

Searching Google for “shall the Company” gives examples such as:

  In no event shall the Company ...
  Under no circumstances shall the Company ...

And these all seem quite natural.

“In no event” and “under no circumstances” seem to be prepositional phrases, yet I would say simply, with no inversion:

  In the fridge, you will find some beer.

Is the S-V inversion maybe some sort of archaic style that remains in legal or maybe religious texts? Perhaps a remaining German-style syntax?


texts: "knock against someone" to mean not "your fault"

texts:
I'm struggling to find examples of something I swear I've heard being said before, and I just want to make sure I'm using the saying correctly and in the right context.

Say you're working on a project that involves using a specific software, which the boss knows is buggy or limiting. The boss talks to you about the end result and isn't happy, but he says this:

"It's not a knock against you, I'm sure you did the best under these circumstances."

Is that a correct way to use it? And if not, what should you say instead? Maybe I just misheard the saying if I'm using it wrong.


texts: When and by whom was the term "migration" first applied to computers?

texts:
To migrate in computing means:

  (verb Int or Tr) to begin using a new computer system, or to move information from one type of system to another.

(Cambridge Dictionary)

According to Ngram (computer migration, software migration) are expressions which have been used from the 70's, a few decades later after the expression "computer system" entered into usage Ngram (computer system).

Etymonline entries for  migration and migrate do not give any suggestion about this usage.

When were  the terms migrate/migration  first applied to computers? And who (person/computer house) first used that expression?


texts: Single word for "going along with the crowd"

texts: What is a word to describe the behaviour where you do something because everyone is also doing this, to the point where you do it without any clear reason?


texts: What is the word to describe a person who remembers his/her past lives?

texts:
I'm looking for a single word, which describes a person who can remember his/her past lives or incarnations. According to Buddhist (and Hindu) mythology, this is possible. And there's a word for such a person : "jatiswar" or "jatismar" (in Sanskrit script : जातिस्मर). Here "jati" can be interpreted as birth and "smar" comes from the verb "smaran", which means to remember. So literally the word means "remembering birth".

As for use in (relatively) modern culture, there is a film (and book) called "Sonar Kella" by Satyajit Ray. The plot revolves around a kid, who could remember his past life. Also the main plot device in the video game series Assassin's Creed is about certain people who can live their past lives using "genetic memory".

Now is there any English word for this? The closest that I got is past life regression. But I'm looking for a word describing a person, who is able to do such a thing.


texts: Origin of current slang usage of the word 'sick' to mean 'great'?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How and why have some words changed to a complete opposite?

How did 'sick' come to mean 'awesome' or 'really good / cool' in modern U.S. slang? I'm interested in origins and possibly regional patterns, if applicable.

This usage reminds me of the use of 'bad' to mean 'totally awesome' in the 80s. It would be interesting to know how that came about as well, and if the pattern is related...


texts: What would be a good alternative to the phrase "tip-top"?

texts:
I have a friend who is writing a story and he has thus far come up with unique catch-phrases that each of his characters uses throughout the story.

For example:

  keep it ominous

and

  you're so flow

For this specific character, he was going to use

  I keep it tip-top

but we both agreed that it's ultimately too generic of a term (I'm his editor). We're looking for something along the lines of tip-top, but more unique/original. Any suggestions?


texts:
Does one translate a word or phrase into another language or to another language? For example:

Translate the following phrase to Spanish.
Translate the following phrase into Spanish.


texts:
I am struggling a little with a question I received from one of my Russian students today.
She doesn't understand the sense of :
You can go to the country break when you have passed your last examination
and
We can pass this exercise when we have done this one.
I am of the opinion that WHEN is being used as a conditional
"If you pass your exams, you can go to the country for a break" but if I do this it changes the tense and she wants to know why they use past participle / present perfect and I cannot for the life of it, figure it out.
I said it could be that WHEN is being used as a conjunction here.
Her objective is to change this sentence using "will be able to"
"We will be able to pass this exercise when we have done this one." but does not understand the original sentence.
I have also explained that "pass your exam" in Russian is very different to that of British English as we "take an exam" and "pass the exam" but they use "pass the exam" to say they have taken the exam.
Can anyone please help me here?  I am trained as a TEFL teacher but do not have full indepth knowledge/training as a Teacher of English as the 1st language.
I would appreciate any help.
Thanks in advance.


texts:
Does anyone pronounce potato that way, rhyming with British tomato?

I've heard of the song before and wondered about potato as it mentioned tomato pronounced both ways, but I've only just listened to it (it's called Let's Call the Whole Thing off) and was surprised that it does say potato that way...


texts: Crusade of vs. Crusades for - which is correct?

texts:
Crusade of or crusade for
Crusades of or crusades for

Which expression is correct? Also, do any express the party the crusade against?
For example, is "crusade for peace against dictators" the correct term to express that people against dictators so that the people may have peace?


texts: They want paint by numbers. What does it mean?

texts:
Everybody wants the copy-and-paste templates. They want paint by
  numbers. But they also want big profits. They want scalable ad
  campaigns that don’t quickly burn out or take tons and tons of ad
  rotation. Sorry, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. (Sometimes
  you can for a while, but it will fade, I promise.)

This is an excerpt from a book talking about Facebook Ads. I get the big idea of this passage but don't understand what "They want paint by numbers" means.


texts:
None remembered any one thing he’d said.

How should any one be analyzed here?


texts: "to be a small person" - doeas it have second meanning?

texts: I'm not native speaker and I was watching tv show "Friends" (s03e14). One of characters said "I'm the smallest person in the world" after complaining about his girlfriend's prosthetic leg. Can someone explain me what does this expression mean or is it just how it is? I could not found an answer in the internet.


texts:
Dictionaries list the pronunciation of you're as

jɔː(r)
jə(r)
jʊə(r)

Which one is more common in British or American English?


texts: Should the noun that follows 'both' be singular or plural?

texts:
Should the noun that follows both be singular or plural?
Which of the following is/are correct?

I tested both inverting and non-inverting configuration.
I tested both inverting and non-inverting configurations.
I tested both the inverting and non-inverting configurations.
I tested both the inverting and non-inverting configuration.
I tested both the inverting and the non-inverting configurations.
I tested both the inverting and the non-inverting configuration.


texts: Word for "release candidate" of draft document

texts:
I'm looking for a word to use for a draft document that is basically finished. The draft should be marked with this word to let others know that they can look at it. This is not part of an approval process, just as a way of notifying others that the document will be published sometime soon and if they have any remarks they should put them forward as soon as possible.

The closest word I can think of is "release candidate" but that is two words (I'd prefer one) and also within the target group this expression is too closely related to software development rather than text documents.

Any suggestions?


texts: When and why is "flied" used as the past tense of "fly"?

texts: Why is the form "flied" used in baseball instead of "flew"?


texts:
In maritime contexts there is a specific difference between flotsam and jetsam i.e. both are drifting materials that have come from a ship but flotsam has been washed overboard while jetsam has been jettisoned or thrown overboard. However, when we are on land items dropped to the ground seem to be simply referred to as litter regardless of the intent of the discarding party - I have even heard a tale of someone being approached as they left a cashpoint (or ATM) and asked if some cash they had dropped was theirs and on answering yes being fined more than that amount for littering.
I am looking for a word or phrase that distinguishes between litter that has been discarded intentionally and items dropped accidentally.
Update
To add to the similarity to flotsam we have a situation locally where people correctly sorted their recycling and placed the containers (bags in our area) out for collection on the evening before collection was due but unfortunately it was the proverbial dark & stormy night so the area is now littered with wind scattered former recycling. This is the sort of situation that I would really like a concise description for.


texts: Can I use the word "compensate" to mean "adjust to correct" something?

texts:
I am wondering if I can use the word "compensate" to mean "adjust to correct" something in a document for a programming/mechanic related subject?

E.g. Can "position compensation of target objects" mean "position correction of target objects"?

Thank you in advance.


texts: Should nouns borrowed from Japanese be pluralized?

texts:
As someone who has watched a lot of subtitled Japanese animation, it seems odd to hear a word such as ninja (used in the plural) in the dialogue and see it transliterated as ninjas.

It somehow seems better to me to treat ninja just like antelope, bison, buffalo, caribou, deer, elk, fish, grouse, quail, reindeer, sheep, swine, etc., which are both singular and plural.


texts: Are there any words or idiom that means like dying the way you want or dying of your own free will? I'm thinking kinda like some sort of more honorable suicide or kinda like you know you're going to die if you do something but the alternative is worse, like a word for sacrifice that specifically means dying.


texts: Meaning of "He drives the train on this"

texts:
From Daily Mail news website,

Incoming White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said this week that he sees Donald Trump's tweets at the same time as everyone else – after the president-elect posts them.
'He drives the train on this,' Spicer replied when asked by former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs if the GOP communications head knows what Trump plans to tweet.
Spicer said 'I do not,' when Gibbs followed up and asked if he got to see the tweets ahead of time.

I do not understand clearly what is meant by "drives the train on this".
It does not seem to be about drivetrain (of an automotive vehicle) or the phrase "run/pull the train"
My guess is that it somehow connects to the fact that Trump tweets a lot. So what is it exactly?


texts: Why not elevenst, twelvend, and thirteenrd?

texts:
Base-10 integers, when used as adjectives to express order, add a "st", "nd", "rd", and "th" suffix to whatever the number is, depending on whether the ones digit is a 1, 2, 3, or anything else, respectively. The only exceptions are those ending in 11, 12, and 13, which take "th". Why is there an exception for 11, 12, and 13? You can't tell me that "thirteenth" is less awkward than "thirteenrd"; you're just used to it.
Is this st/nd/rd/th business a unique feature of English? (I know in German, for example, numbers used as adjectives take an adjective ending based on the gender and case of the noun they are modifying. It's not based on rank at all. And in French, you just add "ième" regardless, unless it's the first.)


texts: What excactly does it mean when in a sentence "It occured to me then that great trials have turned on less."?


texts:
Can I use the construction "No more worries" in the meaning like "you don't need to worry any more that something will go wrong."

Here is the full context
"No more worries that you’ll miss on our new pictures! We'll notify you as soon as new images come in."


texts: I don't want to sound like I'm copying straight off of the article. I'm looking for another way to say "{Person} won the election by a vote of 533 to 1"


texts: "Shaze (社是)" Meaning, When it comes to person names?

texts:
Meaning of the word "Shaze (社是)" is "Company Mission" according to the Google Dictionary, even though there are lots of fake definitions around the internet.

But what is the meaning of Shaze (社是) when it comes to person names?

Examples : Shaze Tempain, Shaze Brown, Shaze Yukoha


texts: What does Mr. Trump’s “inner rabbit” mean?

texts:
There was an article written by Gail Collins, op-ed columnist in the New York Times (February 19) under the title, “Trump Shows His Inner Rabbit.”
The article starts with the passage;

  I am sorry to note that Donald Trump no longer seems to be at war with
  the pope. “No, I like him,” Trump said during a town hall on CNN. He
  added that he had “a lot of respect for the pope. I think he’s got a
  lot of personality.”
  - Source

But there’s no follow-up mention to “His Inner Rabbit.” I surmise “Inner rabbit” here is a figurative expression of Mr. Trump’s unlikely eclectic pacifist character like a timid rabbit in contrast to his blatant and belligerent attitudes, though I’m not certain.

I searched for the meaning of the phrase on google.com without any result.

What does “one’s inner rabbit” mean? Does it mean a sudden obedience and civility (in his particular case, in front of Pope)? Do we have an inner  tiger, fox, pig, monkey, peacock, or you can name it depending on the situation? Is it a well-established metaphor or just an ad hoc expression?


texts: collapse of the soviet union - connotation?

texts:
does "the COLLAPSE of the soviet union" have a negative or postive connotation? I am looking for a neutral expresion.

Thanks for your suggestions


texts:
I am preparing for my TOEFL test and want to increase my vocabulary. Can anybody please tell me what lexemes and morphemes are, and why they are important?

I have Googled the terms but I need the explanation to be given in a simpler way.

Any help is appreciated. Thank You :)


texts: Word for "the increase of personal power or influence"

texts: Is there a single word that means "the increase of personal power or influence" or "the increase of political power"?


texts:
I'm busy today. Sasha is not here too

(Sentences are not really related)

http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/too-either.html says "either" should be used, but wanted confirmation.


texts: What does "quadrants" mean in an article stating that Obama's birth facts "do not seem to matter in many quadrants of Republican Party"?

texts:
I found the word quadrants in the opening of a New York Times Opinion column, titled This Just In… President Obama Is an American Citizen.

Its opening paragraph:

  President Obama is not a foreigner. He is not secretly a Muslim. Those are the facts, but they do not seem to matter in many quadrants of the Republican Party.

Oxford Dictionary defines quadrant simply as

a quarter of a circle of its circumference
an instrument for measuring angles (and that was my understanding)

However, quadrants seems to be used with a different meaning, here. Does it mean members, supporters or sectors?


texts:
I've started to see a lot this use:
Q1 2016
Q4 2016
But what does it exactly mean? What does Q stand for?


texts: Is there a word equivalent to "stereotype" without negative connotation?

texts:
Often, when describing or referencing a group of people, you use terms that summarize them, such as farmer or smallholder farmers. What is the correct word for these terms?

Similar concepts:

a stereotype (but this has negative connotations)
a definition

In context:

  As with any stereotype, the term smallholder farmer can incorrectly suggest a homogeneous group of people with identical situations.


texts:
I am writing an essay and don't have a fundamental understanding in using semicolons, and in fact writing as well.

My sentence is below:

  Group dynamics is the study of the processes and functions of two or more people who interact with one another, the term could also be used to explain the processes that are involved between the group members.

Should I add a semicolon where the comma is (after the word another)?


texts:
Machine has a time counter which counts down, and when it reaches 0, something happens.

This counter can work in 2 modes; always, or only when machine is working.
There is a setting which allows the mode selection.

How do I describe this setting? I have used Operation, but that could be confused with the event that happens once counter reaches zero. And it's quite generic anyway; if possible, I would like to something that clearly shows it's time related.

To clarify, there are 2 elements: setting label and setting value. Value text changes depending selection, but label is always the same. I want word for the label.

Operation:    Always
  ^              ^
  Label          Value


texts: Word that means "spoken so as to make clear there is no arguing"

texts:
I've tried "asking" Google this question in multiple ways, as well as using a reverse dictionary, but niether of those came close to being useful. I've seen this word several times, particularly In Ann McCaffrey's Pern novels, and believe it starts with a "C". It essentially means that something was said in such a way that the other parties to the conversation know that there is no room question or argue with the speaker.

A sample would be "We were playing pool all night," Tom $WORD to Dick when Officer Harry questioned them as to where they were at the time they murdered that one guy.

A key part of the definition is that the speaker is trying to silence any potential opposition before it is spoken. So it isn't just that Tom is speaking with authority, but also that he is denying Dick the right to disagree, or make any alteration to Tom's statement. It's as if there are the unspoken words "and that is the end of that" appended to the speaker's message.

That's probably not the the proper way to use the word. I see these words, and months or years later come to a situation where I want to use say something while using just the right word. However, I don't know what that is much of the time and I rack my brain until it gives me something that I can put into a dictionary. Unfortunately, my brain is being non-compliant.


texts:
I'd like to know the equivalent word in English for "Setsunai"(切ない) in Japanese.
It's the mixture of feelings such as sad, heartache, love and nostalgic.
It's near bitter sweet, I think, but I'd like to know more suitable ones if any.

You feel "setsunai" when you think of your ex-boyfriend.
You also could be "setsunai" when listening to a love song.
Recently, you could use this word more casually;
A: "I went to the post office, but it has already closed today."
B: "That's "setsunai" !


texts: Does the word "God" in English imply that there is only one?

texts:
I know the word Allah in Arabic implies that there is only one. That's because Allah is either a name or a short form of Al Illah, literally meaning "the God". That depends on which muslim you ask, actually.

What about the English word God or god?

We got Zeus, a god, Hermes, a god, and then we got this Judeo-Christian God.

Does the word god in English imply that there is only one such being?

This post on the Biblical Hermeneutics sister site claims that it does.


texts: Capitalization of titles in an essay where the original work does not capitalize its title according to style (MLA)

texts:
In my essay (MLA), I talk about Kendrick Lamar's album titled good kid, m.A.A.d city (stylized like that). Which of the following ways would be the correct way to title my essay:

Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city as a Coming of Age Story
Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid, M.A.A.D City as a Coming of Age Story

Also, in essay titles, titles of works are not placed in quotation marks right?


texts: Is there a term for it when you use an obviously false statement to highlight the falsity or absurdity of another?

texts:
For example, person A states something. Person B says "And pigs fly" to imply person A was wrong.

If there's no term for it, what could you call that that sounds smart?


texts: I know the difference. I know over in this case means that the thing covers all or almost all of the other thing, and on simply means that the thing is on part of the surface of the other thing. But, is using on instead of over wrong enough to be called a mistake, when the situation fulfills the sense of over? For instance: Zebras have stripes over their bodies. If I replaced over with on, would it be a wrong word here?


texts:
I'm confused what compound interrogative pronoun are used for? And what meaning does it give to a sentence? For ex
Whoever told you so?
Which also means who told you so? But what meaning does a sentence convey when a compound interrogative pronoun is used instead of a interrogative pronoun?
Sorry if I made any grammatical mistakes.


texts: Difference between 'Insidious' and 'Pernicious'

texts:
Do the words 'insidious' and 'pernicious' have the same meaning? And can they be used in place of each other?

On some places on the web (eg : http://www.dailywritingtips.com/insidious-vs-invidious/), it says that the two words have different uses, but the oxford dictionary defines them both similarly.

Oxford dictionary links : insidious and pernicious


texts: What is it called when you shorten a word to only its important letters?

texts:
ex.

  package --> pkg
   theorem --> thm
   proof --> pf
   function --> fn
   config --> cfg (this is a bit uncommon)
   attribute --> attr

Example sentence:

  This process  is called _____.


texts:
I'm on phone call between multiple participants. Initiator asks:

-Who is on the call?

What is correct form to answer? "John Doe is there" or "John Doe is here"?

From other question (Proper use of 'there' and 'here' in phrase) I can see a rule "Here-has been used when something or someone is close." - is it applicable to phone call, so here should be used?


texts:
In the dictionary, headache is a countable noun.

  head‧ache /ˈhedeɪk/ ●●● S2 W3 noun [countable]

  1 a pain in your head

  If you have a headache, you should take some aspirin.

Ok, most people say:

"I have A headache"

But I seldom hear people say  "I have headaches"

But we do say "to suffer from headaches" (source)

"a headache= a pain in your head" what does it mean?

Let say, my head aches randomly from time to time. Sometimes, in a day, it aches for 1 min and it stops and it returns after 6 hours. But, sometimes in a certain day, it aches nothing.

So, do I say "I have a headache" or "I have headaches"

or, How do "a headache" & "headaches" make you feel? What is the difference?


texts:
Connie Eble writes in UNC-CH Campus Slang 2016 on the word snatched:

looking attractive:
That outfit is snatched

This is the earliest and only record Green's Dictionary of Slang lists as a citation in defining the term.
Twitter shows some variations where snatched refers not to the thing that is attractive, but to the person being captivated by the attractive nature:

[The TV show] stranger things has me snatched

Twitter User (August 2016)

I'm waiting for Audrey to post some pics of her slaying in New York I'm ready to be SNATCHED

Twitter User (August 2016)

Still others on Twitter use the term as defined by Eble and Green, to refer to something as being attractive, and others further used the term in ways I couldn't even decipher.
So I'm curious if anyone can piece together an origin for the slang term "snatched" meaning "attractive."  I can imagine a couple of possibilities, the first being my hypothesis based on the Twitter specimens.

Originated meaning the attractive entity has snatched me up, to the attractive entity has me snatched, and transferred the term from the object to the subject, as in the attractive entity is snatched.

Simply refers to the desirability of something, that it either was or will potentially be snatched up.

Or perhaps there is some other derivation that hasn't occurred to me at this point.

Could this Twitter User, in referring to an image widely described as snatched, be alluding to another origin of the term?

Y’all see his build? Y’all see the abs? Y’all see the waist snatched from God himself? The Balenciaga? This is a win tonight folks.

This offers a third theory: That the attractive "snatched" entity was taken from some supernatural power.  I haven't found evidence for this theory beyond variants of the phrase that happen to fit this form.
Can further investigation shed any light on the origin of this slang term?


texts:
I'm new here, so I hope I'm not going to violate any rule. I have looked for an answer to my question in the previous treads, but I didn't find any. If I didn't look properly, please, send me the link to the question.
I sent an email to a University in the United Kingdom to ask for some information. I started with the usual "To whom it may concern" and that's ok. I received a reply but I have to write again for further information. Now, the question is this: since the reply I got has been written by a person called "XYZ", who is part of the ABC Team, do I have to address the email to (mr or ms) XYZ or to the ABC Team?
Perhaps it is a silly question, but it is a real problem for me. I am not a native English speaker and I don't want to seem impolite or uneducated. Also, the information I want to ask for is really important for me.
Thank you in advance to those who will answer.
Luca


texts: How to choose between British and American English for technical documents

texts:
I'm not a native English speaker. I'm Italian and I'm doing my thesis in the Netherlands. I have to write technical documents for non-native English speakers, so I didn't receive any advice for choosing which one dialect (British or American) to use, as long as I stay consistent.

My concern comes from the fact that, while British is the original form, American is more related to my field of interest (electronics) and, I would say, more related to the spread of English as universal language.

Is there any reason because I should use one over the other?

My audience is not well specified because the document is meant to be conserved, but most likely European people, not necessarily Dutch.


texts: I did not get the job offer. What term could describe the brief sadness I experienced, then moving forward?

texts: I was turn downed for a job offer after an onsite interview. This was sad news for me. What term could describe the brief sadness I experienced upon notification that I did not make the cut for a job offer? The key difference here is that I was upset, but now I am feeling better after some hours passed in this situation.


texts:
I am doing Masters in English Literature, In one of the books I read that there is nothing like 'Wrong English', there are so many dialects in the wrold that each type of English is correct English.

And to examplify there are some sentences:

"I aint do nothing"

"I don't do nothing"

Although there are two negatives in the sentence which makes it positive and according to standard English it is the wrong form.But it is the correct form in many regions of the world.

They also argue that there is no "standard English" , because with respect to region, standards of English change.

Now this all is very confusing for me because okay I got the idea that there are different dialects and each type of sentence formation is supposed to be correct in one or another English. But then why people make fun if someone writes,speaks English which defies the standards of English/American-English?

If this 'No worng English' is a widely acepted idea(I'm assuming it is, as it appears in text books) then why there is no awareness of it?I hadn't heard about it prior doign Masters.

Is it accepted by native English Speakers?


texts: "someone’s" vs. "someone else’s"-- any difference?

texts:
I am going through the meaning of "errand":

a short journey undertaken in order to deliver or collect something, especially on someone else’s behalf

I write it in my notes as:

a short journey undertaken in order to deliver or collect something, especially on someone’s behalf

Is there any difference between "someone’s" and "someone else’s"? Do I need to change my notes to “someone else’s”?


texts: Word for "the state of having eaten spicy food"

texts:
How do I say that my mouth is feeling very hot from the spicy food that I ate?

What word should I say?


texts: What are the distinctions between "authoritarian", "totalitarian", and "dictatorial"?

texts:
I'm giving a talk about technology (specifically the Internet) in various governments where freedoms are strongly constrained.  I'm a technologist, and I have little experience with words used to described the governments of places like Cuba, China, Iran, N. Korea, Libya, etc.

I've learned from reading new articles that these governments are variously described as "totalitarian," "authoritarian," "autocractic," "despotic," "dictatorial," and so forth, and I've inferred that these are all essentially equivalent.  Of course I'm anxious at the prospect of using them as synonyms if there are well-agreed-upon differences that I should be aware of.  My web searches haven't really helped in my quest to answer this question and so I thought I'd ask you folks if you feel there are strong differences.

In particular, are there any terms in my list above you feel have strong differential meanings?

Note: A search here on English.SE shows two related questions both closed without an answer, so I'm hoping that my question is clear (and polite) enough to avoid this fate.


texts: Artisanal whaling!? When did the use of artisanal start being used for activities not involving making fine products?

texts:
Wikipedia, Omura's whale uses the phrase Artisanal Whaling to describe hunting of whales by natives in the vicinity of the Mindanao Sea.

  Artisanal whaling

  As early as the late 19th century, the natives of Lila, Bohol, began
  hunting whales in the Bohol Sea...

I am familiar with the extension of artisanal from furniture and other fine products to foods especially bread, cheese, wine, and beer, but was surprised to see artisanal applied to hunting.

Merriam-Webster says of artisan:

  Today, when factories produce almost all of our goods, artisans
  usually make only fine objects for those who can afford them. And we
  now even include food among the artisan's crafts, so you can buy
  artisanal cheeses, breads, and chocolates—but probably not if you're
  watching your budget.

Obviously, artisanal X is X produced by artisans.

I found a reference to artisanal mining

  The new study titled "The socio-economics of artisanal mining and
  bushmeat hunting around protected areas.....

and also a reference to artisanal fishing

  Hunting for Tuna and Cash in the Solomons: A Rebirth of Artisanal
  Fishing in Malaita

My question:  when did artisanal expand from production of fine objects to activities such as hunting?  Is there any indication that artisanal is expanding further outward to include, say, artisanal jewel thefts a la Ocean's Eight?

The question Artisanal, what is its modern cultural history does not satisfactorily address my question, because it focusses on products such as artisanal cheeses and has only one brief reference to artisanal fishing.


texts: "He disagreed with something that ate him." (spoilers)

texts: In The Living Daylights (a James Bond film), there is a man named Felix Leiter who is [partially] eaten by a shark. The villain writes a paper that says: 'He disagreed with something that ate him.' Is this a common English idiom for use polite conversation, or is this informal slang?


texts: Single word that means "to look down on others"?

texts:
What is a single word in English which means to look down on others (due to their younger age, lower socio-economic position, lesser experience, etc)

Not look down upon everyone else in general, but look down upon some particular person due to a feeling of superiority of oneself over them ( this superiority may come from the fact that one feels has more money, talent, etc)?

By "look down upon" I don't mean just the feeling of having superiority over another, but acting to them in a manner that reflects this pride as well (for example, perhaps he acts very rudely to them, since he feels superior to them and feels he can get away with it, or he feels it doesn't matter at all due to his superiority)


texts: What is the difference between a nonessential and essential clause?

texts:
According to this, adding a specific noun to a sentence can make a clause nonessential.

 Example -
Freddie hopes to return to the city where he met a woman with haunting green eyes.
vs.
Freddie hopes to return to Cairo, where he met a woman with haunting green eyes.
 Even if Cairo is the proper noun and we know where Freddie hopes to return, we still miss out on "where he met a woman with haunting green eyes". Why does adding the place make this a nonessential phrase?


texts: "Turn out the light" vs "Turn off the light"

texts: What is the difference between "turn out the lights" and "turn off the lights"? Are they interchangeable? Which one seems more appropriate if there is no difference?


texts:
The prefixes mis- and mal- basically mean the same thing.
Mal-, from French, meaning "bad, badly, ill" and mis-, from Old English, meaning "bad, wrong". In some cases, mis- can derive from mes- (French) meaning bad(ly), wrong(ly).

From what I've noticed, the mis- prefix can be attached to any word of any origin but mal- seems to be reserved for words of French origin. For example: misaligned is a combination of mis and aligned (Old English + Middle French) and misidentify is a combination of mis and identify (Old English + French).

However, all the examples I checked with a mal- prefix are pure French, for example:
malfeasance, malformed and malfunction.

So the question:
Is it true that mal- can only be attached to words opf French origin?
If so, is that because the words entered the English language with the prefix already attached?


texts:
My linguistics teacher said the sentence "She put the book on the table." is wrong without 'on the table' part. I disagree with him.
Isn't in a sense transitive verbs also intransitive when you speak lazily or to the point, if you will? Some examples:
He killed him. -Who killed him? +Bob killed.
Some guy goes to jail and someone asks him: What did you do to end up here? + I killed, I robbed, I raped.
And I don't care about some prescriptive grammar rule. I am just interested if some native person would say these. Thanks in advance!


texts:
There is the sentence in the book which includes words like fall foliage angle. What is the intention of the author in the highlighted sentence. What the author wants to convey in this line from Phil Knight's Shoe Dog?

We hashed it out some more and finally decided New York and Boston were the most logical places. Especially Boston. "It's where most of our orders are coming from," one of us said. "Okay," he said. "Boston, here I come."
Then I handed him a bunch of travel brochures for Boston, playing up the fall foliage angle. A little heavy-handed, but I was desperate.


texts:
I was having a conversation with a friend, telling him that over time, I've started to dislike a certain genre of music:

  I've grown a strong disliking for Dubstep.

As though my liking for Dubstep has gradually decreased over a set period of time. Now, I'm starting to question whether the use of for is correct. Have I grown a strong disliking for Dubstep, or have I grown a strong disliking of Dubstep? They both seem proper to me, but I'd like to be sure.

Is there a difference between the two?


texts: “…nicer than any other…” vs “…as nice as any other…”

texts:
On a practice test, this sentence was given with the instructions to select the correct version:

The English teacher, Mrs. Jensen, is nicer than any teacher in the whole school.

This is obviously a bit nonsensical, because “any teacher” would include Mrs. Jensen, and she can’t be nicer than herself. Two of the four answers were wrong for obvious reasons, but answers A and B were as follows:

A) The English teacher, Mrs. Jensen, is nicer than any other teacher in the whole school.
B) The English teacher, Mrs. Jensen, is as nice as any other teacher in the whole school.

The test claimed that B was the correct answer. (No explanation was given.) Can you please tell me why answer A is incorrect? To me, they seem like two different, but correct, statements.
Thanks!


texts: Correct use of IN compared to FOR when describing an action

texts:
I find it rather odd when someone writes that an item was used "in prediction" of 'X', however I don't know whether that is my own preference or it's actually incorrect. Personally,  I think that 'for' is much more appropriate.

To illustrate my point, here is an example of a sentence and how I would correct it:

1 : "Y is a risk factor in predicting  cancer recurrence"
2 : "Y is a risk factor for predicting cancer recurrence"

I feel both sentences convey the same point, but "in predicting" just sounds weird to me; I prefer option 2. Is there are difference between 1 and 2, or am I just being picky?


texts: sprung into actions or sprung into action?

texts: My question here is which is the correct phrase to use? Action with the S or without the S, and why?


texts: Why did the personal pronoun "you" "survive" and not the others?

texts:
I was just wondering, since we started talking about the Early Modern English Period, for England the period of Renaissance, Shakespeare ....

There were four cases in EMEnglish, thou (Subject case) thee (Object case)
                                    ye (Subject case)   you (Object case)

As far as I know "you" was used by lower class speakers to address higher class speakers.
And higher class speakers used thou in return to address lower class speakers (non-reciprocal)

I am not sure about the others but my question is why became the addressing reciprocal (using the same form to address each other) "you".
Why was it the "you" form that "survived" and not any other one?
Was is French influence from Middle English (when the Normans conquered England: has it something to do with the word "vous"?)

Thanks,


texts:
"Slut" can have two meanings:

an immoral woman, or prostitute
a dirty and slovenly woman

I would like a term for men that is the equivalent of the second meaning. Is there a term for describing a man that is dirty and slovenly?


texts:
I have encountered the expression fixer-upper:

  A fixer-upper is a real-estate property that will require maintenance work     (redecoration, reconstruction or redesign) though it usually can be lived in     as it is.

But why is it called fixer-upper? I imagine the expression means that ‘fixing’ will ‘up’ the value of the property, but does it relate to other similar expressions with the same double-word construction?