texts: "The flowers that bloom in September trala"

texts:
I wonder what this sentence means:

  The flowers that bloom in September trala ...

quoted from http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/World/28104.asp

What's trala? Instead I heard people said "Ta la" as some kind of meaning-free words.


texts: How do you form the 'north' and 'south' versions of 'occident' and 'orient'?

texts:
How does one correctly form the "north" and "south" forms for which occident and orient are "west" and "east"?

I found boreal and austral, but those look like adjectives and I'm after the nouns.

Bonus: what about "up" and "down"?


texts: What is the structure in this question? "it's difficult knowing which one to choose."

texts:
It's difficult knowing which one to choose.

Can anyone explain to me why "knowing" is in ing-form?
I did some research but couldn't find the answer.


texts: What are a coolie and a draw, as in "feed in the coolies & water in the draw"?

texts: In a cowboy song the narrator, who is riding an old paint (spotted horse), says the dogies (motherless calves) "feed in the coolies & water in the draw." Where do they feed, and where do they water?


texts:
I don't get this joke.  Is it some kind of play on "water, too?"

Transcript:

  Two scientists walk into a bar. The first says, "I'll have some H2O." The second says, "I'll have a glass of water too. Why did you say H2O? It's the end of the day and there's no need to talk about work."  The first scientist stares at his drink, angry that his assassination plan has failed.


texts: Adjective for 'pertaining to (social) class'?

texts: How would one refer to the description of a (socioeconomic) class? For instance, racial and cultural would be adjectives referring to race and culture, but what would you use for something pertaining to a (socioeconomic) class? Neither classist nor classical would work, as they both convey something completely unrelated.


texts: What is the word for a magnificent history?

texts:
As I asked in the title, I always use Chinese Youdao dictionary to check some English words, and again this time I forgot the word, it's just a single word, and it means(perhaps it can be Figuratively used as) a great period of history and the Chinese translation given was 波澜壮阔的历史画卷(literally means a canvas of splendid & marvellous history)，or something like that but I'm not gonna type that many Chinese in as I think that doesn't make sense here.

Can anyone give me some hints?


texts: Does rational come from ratio or ratio come from rational?

texts:
Going through law school we often used the Latin phrase ratio decidendi, meaning the reasoning of a decision. In this context we took the latin word ratio to mean thinking process.

Recently I saw an author make this observation:

  Whoa.  Term "Rational" number comes from ratio, since all rational numbers are the result of a ratio. How did I never learn that in school?

The author's argument seems to be that the Latin word ratio has the same meaning as the English word ratio, and then that mathematical reasoning preceded philosophical reasoning, leading to the word rational having a mathematical origin. I believe this is based on an incorrect assumption.

Now I'm inclined to think that the term rational number has a slightly different origin.

My question is: Does rational come from ratio, or ratio come from rational?


texts: What's the word that describes the strenuousness of an animal untenably struggling to help itself?

texts:
Which word or phrase could be used in these sentences?

  Look at that cockroach helplessly _______ to flip itself back onto its legs.

Or

  The battle is over. The deer cannot escape the lion’s jaws anymore, yet it still ______.

The word needs not imply inevitable death, but it should describe a doomed struggle to help or save itself, and how strenuous and arduous this struggle is.


texts: When and why did "bug" start referring to illnesses?

texts:
In the US, it's common to hear phrases such as:

  I caught a stomach bug
  There's a bug going around
  I was sick with a 24-hour bug

When did bug start being used in such a manner?

Specifically, when did this definition (pulled from M-W.com) come into usage:

  3 a :  a germ or microorganism especially when causing disease
  b :  an unspecified or nonspecific sickness usually presumed due to a bug

For further background information:

M-W.com and other dictionaries indicate a first-usage for "bug" in general to be around 1622.

Microorganisms were considered discovered in either 1655 by Robert Hook, or around 1675 by Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek.

So, I wonder if the microorganisms were viewed as "bugs" rather early in the history of the word and the history of microorganisms, or if that terminology was maybe applied later as our understanding and imagery of microorganisms improved.


texts: Omitting the auxiliary verb in short answers or titles

texts:
Please help me in this.

what do we call the composition of the short sentence below, where there's no auxiliary verb:

Request approved.

(subject + past participle)

and which of the following gives the same meaning?

The request got approved.

The request has been approved.

The request is approved.


texts:
in the following string:

... a minuscule proportion of the millions that necessarily would have had to have been slaughtered within the overkill scenario.

what does  "would have had to have been" mean ?


texts: The use of nominative "whom" (as in “persons whom it is foreseeable are likely to...”)

texts:
From  page 48 of Law: A Very Short Introduction, by Raymond Wacks:

  In other words, you owe a duty to persons whom it is foreseeable are likely to be harmed by your conduct.

To try to parse this, temporarily overlook 'it is foreseeable'. Then persons is the subject of the verb phrase are likely to be harmed. So according to this question,
should the relative pronoun for persons be who instead? Is my parse wrong?

Are the (deleted) comments right: that this style predominates in law texts?
If this is correct grammar, what is the general rule? Is it commonly used in other contexts?


texts: Word for "Squeezing a sponge full of water"

texts:
Is there a word or words for the concept of squeezing a sponge full of water to get the water out? Or more generally squeezing any absorbing material out of its liquid?

The connotation I'm looking for is a word that could be used figuratively for that concept as well. For example, emptying our heart from emotions by crying a lot.

For example: It is good to * ones heart from times to times. This is just an example of how that word would be used.


texts:
(..) those who stand to profit from our working harder,

I've noticed this pattern very often, but I don't know how or when to use it. The following

  (...) those who stand to profit from us working harder,

would be right as well, right? Is there a difference in meaning? Or in context of use maybe? Thanks in advance!

For reference, the sentence is taken from the fourth paragraph from the end in this article.


texts: Subjective use of 'was' where 'were' would be expected (and indeed is immediately used) by Hemingway

texts:
I've just encountered a seemingly strange paragraph in Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, and I wonder if anyone can give me an explanation:

  If the boy was here he would wet the coils, he thought. Yes. If the boy were here. If the boy were here.

I understand the usage of were in the second and third repetitions, but I simply don't understand why he used was in the first sentence. What makes it more strange for me is that he used both within the same construct in the same paragraph.

I noticed this before while reading the book, but this example here sums up my confusion perfectly.


texts:
I have the following sentence:
"To this end(,) efficient algorithms are necessary". Is the comma correct or not?
I'd appreciate every comment and would be thankful for your help.


texts:
I'd like to know the meaning of "could hope to" in a sample sentence from my grammar book:

He earns more in a month than I could hope to in a year.

I think it's hypothetical situation. But I don't know the reason of using it and why we don't use "can hope" here. I wish native speakers give me some help.


texts: Can "drive someone home" be used when the vehicle is a motorbike? Can I use "ride someone home" with the same meaning as "drive someone home"?


texts: What is the difference between "confidence" and "self-confidence"

texts:
Of course we all know that it is a subtle difference between confidence and self-confidence. But I could not find the question asked (let alone answered) on various sites before; hence I am asking this question.

I am not talking about confidence in others as in "she had great confidence in her mother" or"he had implicit confidence in the bureaucracy", but where confidence obviously refers to self.

Random Examples:

  She played the violin with great confidence.
  He batted with tremendous confidence though it was his first Test match.
  We must always approach life with confidence.
  The management course helped them to develop leadership skills and self-confidence.
  It was a measure of his self-confidence that he left the job before finding another.
  He was very impressed with her boldness and self-confidence.

My question is whether we could use confidence and self-confidence interchangeably wherever confidence obviously refers to self and not others? If not, what is the 'fine difference'?


texts: What figure of speech is this? "Homes to the homeless, jobs to the jobless"

texts:
What figure of speech is this?

Homes to the homeless,
jobs to the jobless


texts:
"I will not accept the truth that I will be jealous if you have a boyfriend unless you accept the truth that you will be jealous if I have a girlfriend," said Phil.

Is this sentence correct or should I use 'would' in the places where I have used 'will'?
Or should I use 'would' only when there is 'had' in the places of 'have'?

confused


texts: While self introducing, how can we say someone that it's a pleasure to meet them if we don't know whether it's a pleasure or melancholy

texts: When we meet a person for the first time, how can we say that it's a pleasure to meet them, when we cannot predict the outcome of that meeting. What if it turns into a melancholy state ?


texts:
Let me know if you need any help using the computer.

I don't understand why 'use' ends with -ing. Shouldn't we use 'to' after the verb-'need'?

If I can say “I need to use the computer now”, why is the gerund used in the sentence above?


texts: When does the idiom 'breathed new life into' originate from?

texts: My assumption is it derives from Genesis, but even if that's the case, what I'm really wondering is at what point did it become a common idiom in English, that could be used in contexts that don't have any clear reference to the biblical creation? As in, she breathed new life into the abstract art scene, etc.


texts: "Consumable" and "non-consumable" in reference to electronic items

texts: How do you describe the difference between consumable and non-consumable electronic items?


texts: Do you italicize fictional company names?

texts:
Generally in fiction writing, you don't italicize company names (even though you would italicize the name of a newspaper).

But what do you do if the company name is fictional, especially a name that is not a real word (Like Schway). Italicizing it would make it clearer to the reader that it is a name (and not a typo). It would also make the name easier to read.

What happens if the text has a mix of fictional and real world company names  (e.g. the BBC and Schway). It seems a bit odd to have a mix of italics and roman.

Context:

Example:

Alice would always go to Adam's restaurant.
[Couple of chapters later]

After leaving Adam's, Angela checked her email. She had got a message from Schway, the famous social network, which was even bigger than Facebook or Twitter.

I'm not sure but I feel it might read easier with italics (especially Adam's)


texts: Word order in a negative imperative sentence

texts:
The following are imperative sentences with subjects not omitted. (Emphasis on verbs.)

Everybody look!
Nobody move!
John sit down; the rest of you go home.
Somebody answer the phone!
You keep out of this!

These are negative imperatives:

Don’tV youS worry.
It’s a surprise party so don’tV anybodyS mention it to Jim.
You allS, don’tV move!
YouS, don’tV move!
Don’tV youS move!
JohnS, don’tV speak!
Don’tV JohnS speak! (← not works)

In a negative imperative sentence having an explicit subject, when does the verb precede the subject, and when does it not? By “when,” I mean it in terms of grammar and meaning ⸺ What kind of subjects can be used in the “Don’t (subject)―” construction, and what kind of subjects in the “(subject) don’t―”? And how would the order affect the overall tone of the sentence?


texts: Is in bad condition the same meaning as bent out of shape?

texts: Is in bad condition the same meaning as bent out of shape ?


texts: What's the origin of "chock one up for something"?

texts:
I know that it has the same meaning as "chalk one up for", but I couldn't find out why it works with the word 'chock'. Is it something they used to do in the past, or is it simply a variation that came after "chalk one up for".
I came across it in an American English text.


texts: Which is the correct verb to use, "become" or "turn", when referring to one's age?

texts:
Which of the following statements is more common and why?

  I became 20 yesterday.
  I turned 20 yesterday.


texts: Idiom for the need to expose oneself to something they don't believe in, to broaden the mind

texts:
As an example consider the following:

  Atheists must read some religious literature now and then to make sure they are not trapped in their own filter bubble of thinking.

I remember hearing an idiom to capture this. Kinda like the idiom - "You must know your friends well, but your enemies even better."


texts: You sometimes see on tank trucks or petrol tankers carrying gas or oil or other liquids that catch fire quickly the word inflammable painted in bold red on them.Should not the correct word be flammable?


texts: Idiom or phrase for "nickel-and-dime"ing your time?

texts:
I'm looking for a phrase for someone who is over-grasping with regards to minutes on their work time-sheet or other time accounting.  Someone who will not only charge from the moment they walk in the door to the moment they leave, but also adds two minutes for a work-related email seen at home or six minutes for a work-related conversation with a colleague while sharing a ride to work.

The phrase that first came to my mind was "nickel-and-dime", in the sense of someone who charges for every single thing they can (like "Master of the House" from Les Mis).
I had a look at Can ‘nickel and dime’ be used for the object not related with money? but that doesn't seem to have a definitive answer as to whether you would use it for time.  And it would seem to have the potential additional meaning of "wasting away your time on trivialities" which is not what I am trying to convey.


texts: What is the phrase or idiom for older people who still can function properly

texts: Sentence: Although he is 90 this year, he still _____: he can still walk, eat on his own.


texts: The use of the word 'girl' in a movie/book title

texts: There is a recent movie entitled Gone Girl. You may have seen it. I wonder why they used the noun girl instead of woman in the title, as the age of the girl, who is the subject of the movie, is about up to 30 years old? Is it because the title Gone Girl is more eye catching because using the same letter, G, on both words as marketing language rather than Gone Woman?


texts:
I want a compensation equal to the value of my time.

I was told by a native speaker that this is the correct expression (instead of saying equal to my time value), but I don't know why.

Could someone explain and give other examples?


texts: Verb for increasing the vertical dimension of a space?

texts:
The highway department is currently enlarging a tunnel, not to widen it but to... what?  Is there a single verb that means to increase the vertical dimension of something?  (For purposes of this question it does not matter whether they're doing that by modifying the floor or the ceiling.)

Raise is not correct because raising doesn't change size, only elevation.  One can talk about raising the ceiling (which is how they are enlarging the tunnel), but that's not a single word.  Heighten (suggested in an answer) seems questionable, e.g. from thefreedictionary.com "to make high or higher; raise".

If I were looking for an adjective this wouldn't be a problem; "tall" would suit.  But it doesn't have a corresponding verbal form, and dictionary entries aren't giving me hints.


texts: How did ‘show’ become its own causative?

texts:
The following Etymonline entry states: the original meaning of 'show' is ‘see’ or ‘look at’. Essentially a causative equivalent of ‘see’ (to show someone something, is to cause them to see it), the current signification arose around 1200, and only in English. Please speculate or hypothesize how this semantic shift occurred, even if it did “for unknown reasons”.

  show (v.)

  Old English sceawian ‘to look at, see, gaze, behold, observe; inspect, examine; look for, choose,’
  from Proto-Germanic *skauwojan (source also of Old Saxon skauwon ‘to look at,’ Old Frisian skawia, Dutch schouwen, Old High German scouwon ‘to look at’),
  from Proto-Germanic root *skau- ‘behold, look at,’
  from PIE *skou-, variant of root *keu- ‘to see, observe, perceive.’

  Causal meaning ‘let be seen; put in sight, make known’ evolved c. 1200 for unknown reasons [bold mine] and is unique to English (German schauen still means ‘look at’). Spelling shew, popular 18c. and surviving into early 19c., represents obsolete pronunciation (rhymes with view). Horse racing sense is from 1903, perhaps from an earlier sense in card-playing.


texts:
Think thee that I would desert thee? Think thee that I don't care?

or:

Think thou that I would desert thee? Think thou that I don't care?

Which one is right?


texts: Is there an expression similar to "I am not worried about the sky or the ground"?

texts:
There is an expression in my mother tongue - "I don't give two s*it about the sky or the ground". This expression is used to convey, "I am going down anyway. I don't have to worry about anything in the world. So, I don't mind doing something vicious".

Is there a similar expression in English?


texts:
I know that in sentences such as the following one, "from" is to be put at the end of the question:

  Where are you from?

Does this rule apply also to the next one:

  Which movie is this scene taken from?

or should I rather use:

  From which movie is this scene taken?


texts: What is the name of the tense "that she take"?

texts:
He advised that she take as many classes as possible.

I know this verb form has a name. I just forget what it is called.


texts:
I came across the expression "get a lot of mileage by..." in a book on creative writing.

Here is the quote:

  (on a method the author is suggesting which is to say or write nonsensical things)
  "I think you'll get a lot of mileage by trying this out loud or on paper."

Through some research, I found out the following basics about it:

  1: It is mostly followed by "out of" instead of "by" as in the book
  2: It means "get a lot of use of"

My questions:
About 1: Does its meaning change in anyway when it is used with "by"?
About 2: This definition doesn't seem to completely go with the context. It does, though, if I can interpret it as "get more out of". Can I?


texts:
Is it possible to create a question with "either""

I don't like him. Don't you like him either?
She doesn't work. Don't they work either?

It seems to me weird.


texts: Proper term for knowing four or more languages?

texts: If bilingual means you know two languages, and trilingual means you know three, what would be the proper term for knowing four, five or even six languages?


texts: Should there be spaces between a number and its measurement unit?

texts:
Not sure if this is a style problem or a grammar problem

64 m
59.8 km
210 ft
37.2 mi

Are spaces necessary between digits and measurement unit?


texts: Is there a rule for how to pronounce words such as "dance", "prance", "castle"?

texts: Is there a grammatical rule for the pronunciation of words such as dance, castle and prance? I believe the British English pronunciation is "ah", while in American English it is a short "a" sound.


texts: Speaking of insults: "sod off!" meaning and origin

texts:
I've thought it had to do with the love that dare not speak its name, to put it ever so coyly, but what does this phrase mean and connote?

And what's the approximate American equivalent?


texts: Variable's value / variable value / value of the variable

texts:
What's the right and more formal way to tell it?
(In physics or mathematics):

The variable's value.
The variable value.
The value of the variable.

There are rules to use the Saxon genitive and "of" but for a foreigner it's not always easy.  Here I can't identify any "possession".


texts:
I know how to use "their". This means "belonging to them" but can you leave it out as in this sentence:

The main reasons that led single mothers to conceal (their) pregnancy and birth, were shame and economic factors.

It sounds wrong to say "conceal pregnancy" but maybe adding it is wordy?!

Thanks!


texts:
I'm preparing for the ACT exam and ran into this sentence in the English section:

Ashley Bryan's ABC of African American Poetry honors twenty-five poems and one spiritual, "the root of Black song and poetry," Bryan writes in the introduction.

Note: "Ashley Bryan's ABC of African American Poetry" is in italics because it's the name of a book.

I think it's a comma splice because it seems to have 2 individual main clauses (with "honors" and "writes" as main verbs) connected by commas.

This is an excerpt from the passage so it's supposed to be grammatically correct. But I'm really confused by the use of comma here.

Really appreciate it if anyone could enlighten me on this!


texts:
I am facing a problem during programming.
I am trying to describe a collection of three words.
Is there a word for yes, no and unknown ?

The words for example could describe if someone is authorized to do something, so I could call the collection Authorization. I could describe if someone is certain, so I could call it certainty. My question is, is there a "meta" word for that ?

You could for example say light blue, royal blue, airforce blue and sky blue are words to describe blue but the "meta" word for that would be colour.

The context in which I am trying to use that word is, as stated above, a programming scenario

public enum MISSINGWORD
{
    unknown = 0,
    Yes = 1,
    No = 2,
}

I don't have a real live example, where you would need that word other then describing the abstract collection of those three words without any adjective  tied to it.


texts:
I have written this. However I am unhappy with the last sentence. Because it is hard to see how to read it properly, because of the “and” and “or”.

“It became apparent that for some pupils, they also need extrinsic motivation. Both consequences and praise of effort or process.”

It should read: “Both consequences and praise of (effort or process).”
Not “Both (consequences and praise of effort) or process.”
or any other combination.

How can I rewrite it to make it clear?


texts: I've heard "from whence it came" said many times, often when the writer is attempting to be formal (or is in fact formal). But the definition of whence is "from what place, source, or cause" (with "from" being the key word). So is it wrong to say "from whence it came"?


texts: Can "than" be used at the beginning of the sentence?

texts:
I am reading "Eureka - A prose poem", but I find that a strange sentence (for me):

  "Than the persons" -- the letter goes on to say -- "than the persons
  thus suddenly elevated by the Hog-ian philosophy into a station for
  which they were unfitted -- thus transferred from the sculleries into
  the parlors of Science -- from its pantries into its pulpits -- than
  these individuals a more intolerant -- a more intolerable set of
  bigots and tyrants never existed on the face of the earth.- "Eureka - A prose poem" | Edgar Allan Poe

I do not understand the meaning of "than" in this sentence, especially in "than these individuals a more intolerant". Can "than" be used at the beginning of sentence? What is "than these individuals a more intolerant" exactly meaning?


texts:
I'm looking for an English word that describes the state of being a vagabond, and can be used in a sentence like this:

  "My only goal is vagabond-age" (to coin a word).

More details:

I'm trying to translate an Urdu word "Aawaargi" which means a state of blissfully chosen loneliness, with connotations of detachment, wanderlust and not belonging to any one place. The poet says "I seek aawaargi", and the closest I could come up with is "I seek vagabond[age]"

Perhaps I should be using a completely different word to describe this state of desirous loneliness. I'd really like a word that can describe the state, rather than the person in that state.


texts: "unless stated otherwise" or "unless otherwise stated"?

texts:
Convention: R^n is always assumed to carry the Euclidean
topology, unless stated otherwise.
Convention: R^n is always assumed to carry the Euclidean
topology, unless otherwise stated.

Which sentence is (more) correct?


texts: Why "paediatrics" but "pedagogue" in British English?

texts:
There's an account of the British ae/oe and American "e" spellings (as in diarrh(o)ea, f(a)eces, and other fun words) on wikipedia.

What I'm wondering is why, even in British English, pedagogue/pedagogy etc. lose the "a", despite coming from the same "paid-" root as e.g. paediatrics.

I've checked the OED, and the ped- spelling seems to consistently predate paed- - as in e.g. Pedocracy (1647) and Paedocracy (2000). Here, for those who have access.

So, can anyone:

shed any light as to why/when/how British English regained that lost vowel in all other ae/oe words than pedagog-?
and/or suggest other words with similar behaviour in British English?

UPDATE: to clarify, the question put more technically is: what is the basis for some words containing what were originally Ancient Greek diphthongs oi/ai coming into the language informally referred to as British English written with just an "e" and not ae/oe?


texts: Looking for a word for the point in time where one day becomes another

texts: I need help finding a good word for the point in time where one day switches to the next. Obviously the actual point in time would be midnight, but i want a word to emphasize the fact that something is happening over the switching point between two days. So the word i'm looking for would be something like "day limit" or "day break", but neither of these sound very good.


texts: Difference between 'awarding marks' and 'rewarding marks'

texts:
There is already a similar question but doesn't answer me. My teacher distributed answer sheets today and I felt aggrieved because I was not evaluated properly and deserved more marks. I gave the paper back to teacher and asked for re-evaluation. To this my teacher said:

  If I find you deserve more marks, I will award you more marks; not reward you with more marks.

Is this simply a punch dialogue? Is there any grammatical meaning to what my teacher said?


texts: Word meaning 'someone who has received a lot'

texts:
What's a generic word for someone who has been given a lot [of good things]?

We were playing a party game last night wherein we were to describe our life in one word.  Later, as we drove home, my wife said the idea she wanted to get across was that she received a lot in different areas of her life, but that the word 'blessed' wasn't quite the right word.  Blessed has too much connotation of set apart or special.  Is there a word for a person that has been given many good things without being especially deserving or noteworthy as an individual?

(Note: I do think she is special and wonderful, but that doesn't help us think of a word that fit the description)


texts: Is there a word of reviewing something and suggesting ways to improve it?

texts:
Is there a word that means "reviewing" something and suggesting ways to "improve" it?

The only words I think of are "review" and "critique" however they only mean reviewing something but they don't suggest ways to improve it.

For example [word] my book. Is there a [word] that will review my book, tell me whether its good or bad and suggest ways to improve it.

Update: What about a website?

For example [word] my website. Is there a [word] that will review my website, tell me whether its good or bad and suggest ways to improve it.


texts: Why do I so often want to replace "happen" in sentences?

texts:
Consider the following variant sentences:

  Colloquia and seminars both happen in an academic setting.

and

  Colloquia and seminars both occur in an academic setting.

Using happen to describe ongoing events often sounds very wrong to my ear -- I usually prefer occur or some such variant, but I have no idea why that preference should be justified.  Is using occur (or something like that) actually better here, or am I being overly pedantic? I'd love an explanation.


texts: What articles are needed in document titles?

texts:
There seems to be a general consensus that some articles can be omitted from movie, book or newspaper titles. Can this be generalised and applied to any document titles such as titles of technical reports or software user manuals?

Please consider the following title of a technical document (where "TG Platform" is a product name):

  TG Platform Architecture from Engineering Perspective

Can it be like that, or should it be changed to one of these?

  TG Platform Architecture from an Engineering Perspective
  The TG Platform Architecture from an Engineering Perspective

.


texts:
I am looking for a word or phrase which would identify a book index that would describe "what happened next" to some of the individuals mentioned in the book. "Dramatis personae" doesn't do it because the book is non-fiction. "List of Characters" won't do it because not all the characters are listed. It's not properly an index because there's no reference to the text, just a short paragraph describing what happened to the principal individuals after the events mentioned in the text. This is often seen in film. I'm looking for suggestions.

Aftermath?


texts: Is "less than eager" a native English idiom?

texts:
I'm sure I've read the "less than eager" expression a couple of times, but without being a native English speaker I can't tell for sure if that's an English idiom or a literal translation of an idiom from another language.

A quick search for "less than eager""usage" returned multiple translations engines offers to translate it to various languages as top results. It's never a good sign.

So, is this a less known native English idiom? If not, is there a more appropriate one which I could use?


texts: Pronunciation of the r and th sound together in American English

texts: I can almost always pronounce the "r" or "th" sound alone, but when they are right next to each other, for example earth, throw, for the... I naturally make a short schwa sound in between and sometimes distort the r sound. The words "for the" or "over there" are the most problematic for me. Is there any way I can improve or practice this?


texts: "In the open sea everything must be recorded in the Log. "

texts: Why the book where  the  record of a ship's speed, its progress, and any shipboard events of navigational importance is called Log?


texts:
oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com:
It's embarrassing the extremes he'll go to in order to impress his boss.

Why is this sentence correct without any punctuation after "it's embarrassing", e.g. a dash?
Thanks!


texts:
I'm writing a program with a numeric parser. The operations involved are multiplying, dividing, squaring, and cubing.

In order to define what kind of objects can be multiplied, divided, etc with what, I'm trying to name classes that define these relationships. Currently, I have MultiplicativeRelationship, CubicRelationship, QuadraticRelationship... and a divivitive relationship?

I can't think of a word that means 'of or relating to division'!

Divisible is the first word that comes to mind, but this can't be right because the relationship itself isn't divisible. The relationship describes other things that are divisible, making it a ________ relationship.

In short:
Multiplication is to Multiplicative as Division is to ________

Thanks!


texts: Single word for turning the good into bad

texts:
By my research, I found a very closely related word that denotes making something bad even worse, that is exacerbate:

  1. make (a problem, bad situation, or negative feeling) worse.

But, I am not fully satisfied with the word exacerbate, as it denotes turning bad into worse. I want the word that denotes turning something good (e.g. mobile, car, computer, etc. working fairly well) into bad while trying to fix something needlessly.

The sentence, in focus, can go something like this:

  He has _____ my computer, which was already working well.

The term destroy (apart from exacerbate) might be another option for me, but it totally connotes the physical harm of anything, rather than the harm in functionality (of computer, mobile, etc).


texts: Is it appropriate to use "sport", "champ", or "kiddo" to call a child (e.g. your son)?

texts:
I'm Spanish, just in case some of you think this question is kind of silly.

I watch TV series in English very frequently to practise my listening skills. The words I've heard in relation to children are:

Sport
Champ
Kiddo

I wonder whether they are used in everyday speech or not. I looked up the meaning of sport in a dictionary and it says:

  (old-fashioned) used when speaking to a boy in a friendly way.

However, the Urban Dictionary says: "the name your dad calls you by that makes you feel like a total loser".

As for champ, I think it's a shortening for champion, but according to Urban Dictionary it can be used in a pejorative way, "sarcastically to disparage someone's ability".

And the last one is kiddo, so that would be "(spoken informal) used by adults to address a young person". I like this one because it seems that it's always used with endearment.

So, what's the actual usage of these words? Do you ever use any of them? What words do you suggest I use for this purpose?


texts: Word/phrase that means "unhold" instead of "letting fall"?

texts:
The first phrase that came to my mind was "to let of".

Example sentence:

  Letting go of his pendant, Tom got up from the bed and stood in
  front of me.

I'm not sure, though, if "letting go of" is an ambiguous phrase. I'm looking for a word/phrase that means to "unhold" and that can't be mistaken with "letting fall". So in the example, Tom isn't letting the pendant fall onto the floor, but just letting it go back to its original hanging position.


texts:
I am not sure if the below sentence is actually passive voice.

  Count I alleges negligence in Park Rangers’ removal of the signs.

If so - suggestions on rewording it without making the sentence very long?


texts: "how to deal with the problem" vs "what to do with the problem"

texts:
He knows how to deal with the problem.
He knows what to do with the problem.

Can we switch between " how" and " what"? Why and why not?


texts: What is the difference between use and usage?

texts:
Can use and usage be written interchangeably?
Does use include usage under its scope?
Does usage has more specific meaning attached to it?
If there is any difference, tell me one striking difference so that whenever i tend to use them interchangeably I can avoid doing so.


texts: Since + Present Perfect or From + Simple Present?

texts: I had a debate with another translator the other day. My colleague wrote "From 15 July 2020 ... is allowed..." Since she wrote this in August 2020, she was clearly referring to a specific point in time in the past. When I suggested to correct it to "Since 15 July 2020 ... has been allowed...", she declined, saying that my version sounded like a translation. So, she stuck with her version, which I found confusing because to me it sounded as though she was referring to a point in time in the future. So, which version is the correct one?


texts: What's the name for a place where powder is kept?

texts:
In French we have the word poudrière which basically means a "powder house", although the military world seems to prefer the French equivalent of powder magazine.

In English, poudrière gets translated either to "powder keg" (which I think is a barrel) or to "magazine".

My problem with the latter, besides the fact that it has several meanings (without context you'd never think I mean "a place where powder is kept"), is that it's a bit too generic for a weapon storage building, which prevents me from using it without appending "powder".

Is there a clear single word for such a building or is powder magazine still my best choice?


texts: “The little more, and how much it is; the little less,and what worlds away.”’

texts:
“The little more, and how much it is; the little less,and what worlds
away.”

This is a part of "By the Fire-side" by Robert Browning.
I heard this phrase is often used as a quote as well.

But what does this phrase really mean?
I really don't know.


texts: By taking one step at a time or by taking "it" one step at a time?

texts:
The sentence was written in a conclusion and the topic is about simple ways to keep healthy.

"By taking it one step at a time, you'll be on your way to a more fulfilling life in no time."

Does it sound more natural to leave "it" out?


texts:
Regarding "x = A/B" like the following examples, which is "x equals A divided by B," is it correct to say "x is A relative to B" (e.g., "winners relative to total applicants") when I want to express in everyday language instead of mathematical terms?

In other words, can "divided by" and "relative to" be used interchangeably? If not, what would be more appropriate ways to say these expressions?

x = A/B
x = winners/total applicants
x = adult population/total population
x = expenses/total earnings

These expressions (without "x =") are in the subject line of a table (with calculated numbers) and I would like to explain them in writing using non-mathematical language.

Many thanks in advance!


texts:
Is there a word meaning "pertaining to diary writing"? For example something like diaretical (obviously not a real word) or similar?

Example usage:

  The text was written in a ["diaretical"] manner.


texts: "an example (how) to do something" or "an example about doing something"?

texts:
I will give you an example to write a CV.

or

I will give you an example how to write a CV.

or

I will give you an example about how to write a CV.

or

I will give you an example about writing a CV.

Which one of the above is right? If none, please, give me the correct one.


texts: How can I ask, "Why did you send me this link?" in a polite way?

texts:
The context is I told someone I'm looking for meetups in my area to network with certain people and this person sent me a link that does not seem relevant at all.  How do I ask, "Why did you send me this link?" in a polite way?

If I didn't care, I'd just ignore the link, but the reason I want to ask the question is because maybe they understand a way to use the resource in a way that I don't.  I'd be doing myself a disservice by not learning that.


texts:
I just realized that I’ve never needed to use 31th or 31st in my four years English study. So which one is correct, and what about other alternatives?

  31th or 31st
  101th or 101st
  1001th or 1001st

Can I also use that way everywhere in the same way (for example, ordinal numbers in math)?


texts: The proper name for a “story with photos”?

texts: What is the proper English word that means a publication (e.g. in a paper or online) consisting of a series of photographs along with short author’s comments? Here is a live example of such publication. Can it be called a photo report (and if yes, then photo report or photoreport?), or there is another established term for it?


texts: What is the word for someone who sees music as colours?

texts: Some people visualise specific musical keys or chords as specific colours. There is a name for this, which I think starts with chromo-. Am I remembering this correctly?


texts: Is "mediaeval" an outdated spelling of "medieval"?

texts:
I saw "mediaeval" on a Wikipedia page, and figuring it was a typo, edited it to "medieval", it was reverted as apparently mediaeval is the UK spelling. However, in all the dictionaries I've found from a quick peruse, including those of the UK, they now prefer the medieval spelling.

Is mediaeval still preferred anywhere officially, or is it completely outdated?

Resources I found:

Oxford Dictionary Online (a UK dictionary) redirects mediaeval to medieval
Wikitionary includes stats on it
An old argument on Wikipedia about it


texts: Removing "who were" in "The park was empty except for a group of people who were stretching, jogging, and doing Tai Chi"

texts:
Can I remove who were in the sentence below?

  The park was empty except for a group of elderly people who were
  stretching, jogging, and doing Tai Chi

Is it still grammatical?


texts: Is it accurate to say "I will mostly pass on something"

texts:
Here's a conversation that I had with a friend

Him: Do you want to come to the store with me today after work?

Me: I will mostly pass

I wanted to express that it's not very likely that I will join him with my sentence. I was wondering if this sentence violates the rules of grammar, or sounds strange in general?

A friend says that it can only be used for recurring actions or situations where my choice can be repeated, such as "Given the choice of beer vs wine, I will mostly take beer", but not for a one-time thing such as above example.


texts: What does the phrase "branded on my feet" mean?

texts:
It is a line from Bob Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man:

  Though I know that evenin's empire has returned into sand, Vanished
  from my hand, Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping. My
  weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feet, I have no one to meet And
  the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming.

I find the literal meaning does not fit here. What do you think?


texts: 'A' or 'an' against optional (bracketed) part?

texts:
If I have a statement : "She provides a (easy) path to information," should I use a or an ?

I know I could re-write the optional adjective to be something that starts with a consonant sound, i.e.? "She provides a (simple) path to information," but in my case it must be the word easy, which starts with a vowel sound.

Does the article follow the optional or the formal declaration, i.e., 'information?' Or is it not allowed, and the sentence MUST be rewritten?


texts: Meaning of "that the sail was becalmed between the seas" in Byron's Don Juan

texts:
From Byron's Don Juan:

  'T was a rough night, and blew so stiffly yet,
       That the sail was becalm'd between the seas,
  Though on the wave's high top too much to set,
       They dared not take it in for all the breeze:
  Each sea curl'd o'er the stern, and kept them wet,
       And made them bale without a moment's ease,
  So that themselves as well as hopes were damp'd,
  And the poor little cutter quickly swamp'd.

What is the meaning of that the sail was becalmed between the seas? The wind was very strong, so how could the sail become calmed? And what is the meaning of between the seas?

I think that the meaning of the entire bolded passage hinges on the meaning of "that the sail was becalmed between the seas", but I don't understand the second bolded line either.. What is set on the wave's high top? I can't even start to untangle this. "Too much" - of what?


texts: Is the "female" in "female cousin" redundant here?

texts:
"My female cousin working for a finance company was dismissed. Disappeared along with her job were her confidence and smiling face."

There is a very complicated system in Chinese for naming different relatives. For example, in Chinese, different words are used for a female cousin and a male cousin. Also, the word for an elder female cousin is different from the word for a younger one.

I'm having some trouble writing this sentence in English. I used "female cousin" in the first part, to translate the word that actually means "elder female cousin" in Chinese, but it still sounds awkward. I suspect that the "female" may be redundant too, because in the second part I use the pronoun "her".


texts: Sentence patterns: There are 16 ways to "leave" your book

texts:
Playing around in my head with the different positions that a subject, verb, direct object, and indirect object can be positioned in one sentence, I ended up with 16 sentences using only the simple past tense.

The sentences which are preceded by a question mark indicate my uncertainty about their grammaticality.

I gave Peter a book
Peter I gave a book.
I gave to Peter a book.
I gave a book to Peter.
To Peter I gave a book
? To Peter I gave a book to.
Peter I gave a book to.
To Peter a book I gave.
A book to Peter I gave
Passive voice
To Peter a book was given (by me).
? To Peter a book was given to.
A book was given (by me) to Peter.
To Peter was given a book.
? Peter was given a book to
Peter was given a book (by me).
A book to Peter was given (by me)*
*suggested by @Merk

Are there 16 different sentence patterns? Or is the passive voice a separate entity not to be included? In which case are there 9 sentence patterns in the English language?
Which sentences or sequence of words are ungrammatical and why?
Do these patterns or structures have names?


texts: "What this thing was" vs "what was this thing"

texts:
Example:

  What this new plan was I had no idea.

  What was this new plan I had no idea.

What's the difference between the two? Is one more common than the others?


texts: Is 'The transplant registry guidelines don't play in the gray for a reason' the same meaning with 'there is no exception in the transplant registry guidelines'?


texts: Which is correct, "buck naked" or "butt naked"?

texts:
"Butt naked" or "buck naked" both refer to completely naked, or do they? Where the phrase comes from I have no idea but that would be of interest.

This is a phrase I am too afraid to google and wouldn't know if I came upon an authoritative source.


texts:
In the following YouTube video, (4:35) entitled:
Master Craftsman, Nathie Katzoff | HUMAN, I heard

  I didn't get into this out of an interest in capitalism. I got into it out of an interest in craft.

I searched "out of an interest" in the following dictionaries, but failed to find the meaning.

Oxford Dictionaries Online (ODO)
Merriam-Webster (MW)
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
Cambridge Dictionaries Online (CDO)

What does the "I got into it out of an interest in craft." mean?

Is this replaceable with "I found an interest in craft."?


texts:
Are there (better) verbs for "and"ing or "or"ing a bunch of clauses together?

Edit:
Can't believe I didn't think of this earlier... would "conjoin" and "disjoin" work?


texts:
In formal English (legal UK English to be specific), should one use:

"Body A does not give any warranty as to [...] to body B, nor does body B give any such warranty to body C"

or

"Body A does not give any warranty as to [...], neither does body B give any such warranty to body C"

Unfortunately I do not have the flexibility of redrafting the sentence as a whole, as I would have preferred!


texts:
I wasn't aware of any other demonyms that add a V, except the unofficial Whovian (a fan of Doctor Who). This Wikipedia page turned up a few more more:

Barrow-in-Furness → Barrovian
Oamaru → Oamaruvian
Oslo → Oslovian
Peru → Peruvian
Warsaw → Varsovian
Waterloo → Waterluvian

Judging from the switch from W to V in Varsovian, I'm guessing this has something to do with Latin, but the places in that list don't seem to be linked by a Latin sphere of influence. Why do some demonyms add a V?


texts: Is there a saying like "Plum trees bloom most beautifully as they stand and overcome the cold severe winter."? It is a part of Japanese poem translated into English. It basically means a great achievement cannot be conveyed without overcoming great difficulties or sufferings; it is important to keep doing your best even in bad circumstances.


texts: What is a person I've affiliated called?

texts:
What are the right terms to define:

A person who is an affiliate in a company, who brings to the company other affiliates
What are the people he affiliated called in relation to him?
What is he called by them?

E.g. Affiliate, affiliates, referer

P.S. the word affiliate is surely related here. I guess it's referring to each person relating to the company. I'm not sure about the inverted relation.


texts:
I wonder what gentlebeing means and how it is used, especially when compared to similar phrases like Ladies and gentlemen!

I saw Gentlebeings! being used at the beginning of an email. Is it a formal or informal word, and does it have any sarcastic or humorous connotation to it?


texts: Which one is correct " God protect you" or " protects you"

texts:
When I wish someone a good thing, I would say:
God protects you.
But I have found all expressions that pray to God use verbs without "s".
Now I need to know what is the correct one.
God protects you and helps you.


texts: Is there this use? "Us not being in the same area"

texts: Is it possible to use this kind of construction? Starting a sentence with an object pronoun.


texts: bananas (are vs is) a whole different story?

texts: Imagine I'm talking to someone about a certain thing and then that person compares bananas to it, I don't think the comparison is valid, so I say "no, bananas are a whole different story", is it correct? Or do I say "is a whole different story"?


texts:
What's the difference between "any of my X" and "any X of mine"? My impression, as a non-native speaker of English, is that the latter sounds more formal.

I searched COCA Corpus, and I found:

any of my X: total 808 hits
any X of mine: total 67 hits (X is a single word, but multiple word cases are not so many.)

Note: You (usually) don't say "my any X" (but you say "my every"; see this question.


texts:
What does the sentence "He comes to feet, spins in behind" mean in football/soccer term?

Full sentence:

  He comes to feet, spins in behind and just makes it difficult for defenders and easy for midfielders to pick passes.
  — https://www.arsenal.com/news/wilshere-im-feeling-better-each-game


texts: Is there a word that describes both Spring and Fall, but not other seasons?

texts: "Wet seasons" or "cool seasons" don't apply everywhere, and "equinoctial seasons" blur into Winter. "Isothermal seasons"?


texts: Is there a word to describe words that look like antonyms but are synonyms?

texts:
Words like flammable/inflammable, valuable/invaluable, etc.

It doesn't look like there is a specific word to describe this phenomenon.


texts:
What would be the best way to express the following:

  His [...] is someone who <a list of attributes>

The context is a man uttering the above phrase and describing what a hypothetical ideal woman from his perspective would look like. (of course, it could be with genders swapped, but let's stay with this for the sake of the example)

If I used "ideal woman" I feel it seems to refer to an already existing person, but I wanted to express a purely idealistic concept. The word/phrase should not make it feel like referring to an actual person, but to a batch of attributes.

If I directly translate from other languages, I would say "women's ideal", but I'm not sure if that means what I think it means. The possessive makes me unsure. Does it mean what I intend to say, or does the possessive makes it into something belonging to a woman?

Another such translation would be "woman-ideal", but it feels strange and not English-sounding to me.


texts: ‘On’ vs. ‘at’ with immutable date-time string

texts:
I understand that on is used for dates and at for times, as in On vs At with date and time. But what can I use when I have a string consists of both a date and a time? The issue is that I can’t change the date-time string to add at between the date and the time—so my options are:

  On 19 January 2015 10:53
  At 19 January 2015 10:53

Which one is the better option?


texts: single word to describe a story based on real-life and later extrapolated

texts: What is a good single word to describe a story that is based on real-life events and people, and extrapolates them to build a hypothetical future scenario?


texts: Is there a term I can use to refer to this quote from a poem?

texts:
I am writing a biography. The woman I am writing about lost her father to suicide when she was 14. She later quoted a poem that she said embodied her understanding of his wish for her to "make harbour" in his name. The quote:

A shipwrecked sailor buried on this coast,
Bids you set sail.
Full many a gallant ship
When we were lost,
Weathered the gale.

(It is a translated quote from an unknown Greek poet which she may have read in Pragmatism by William James.)
Is there a word I can use to refer to the quote? It was her guiding light, so, rather than just refer to it as a "quotation" or "poetry fragment", I'd prefer a word or a term that is more specific if there is one.

Those few lines were her _______.


texts: Why is "sesame" not pronounced as "se" and "same"?

texts: The word "sesame" is pronounced as "se" "suh" "mee", with 3 syllables.  Why is it not pronounced as "se" "same", with 2 syllables?


texts: Jane Austen "Persuasion" Syntax Analysis

texts:
This is from Chapter four of "Persuasion" by Jane Austen:

She was persuaded that under every disadvantage of disapprobation at home, and every anxiety attending his profession, all their probable fears, delays, and disappointments, she should yet have been a happier woman in maintaining the engagement, than she had been in the sacrifice of it; and this, she fully believed, had the usual share, had even more than the usual share of all such solicitudes and suspense been theirs, without reference to the actual results of their case, which, as it happened, would have bestowed earlier prosperity than could be reasonably calculated on.

I am confused by the syntax of the black part. The syntax seems to mean 'if even more than the usual share of such solicitudes and suspense had been theirs'. But with this explanation, the whole sentence makes no sense.

So is this a conditional clause? Or is the subject of 'had' 'this'? What does the 'usual share' mean?

Thank you.


texts:
Is there a phrase or word for a problem that appears simple but is in fact full of complexities?

A few situations come to mind:

Painting a room
Breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend
Eating a pomegranate

... and a million more. What to call these?


texts:
I don't understand the meaning of "consumer presence" in the following quotation, and I couldn't find the phrase "consumer presence" defined anywhere.

  For any new table reservations product, no matter how good it is, it’s very hard to get businesses to adopt the product at scale for two reasons. First, it is hard to scale a sales team without massive funding. Secondly, it is hard to sell the product if you don’t have a significant consumer presence.


texts: What is the name of the difference between "doesn't" and "don't"?

texts:
I came across a phrase like this today, which is obviously incorrect:

  The car don't run.

The correct version of this would be:

  The car doesn't run.

I wanted to explain the issue to someone, but I could not recall what property of the verb "do" is incorrect in the first sentence.

"Tense" is the first thing that comes to mind, but "do" and "does" are both in the present tense.

What is it about the word "do" that makes it incorrect?


texts: What is the word for when you are about to walk into someone and hesitate whether to move left or right?

texts:
When you are about to walk into someone (generally a stranger), you anticipatory move, say left, to avoid a crash. The other person too does the same but to his right. So in essence the anticipation on both sides was futile (your left is his right). Then you go right and the other guy responds with a left. This carries on twice or thrice until it ends with a smile and a consensus as to which way to go. Finally you part ways.

This whole 'process' seems very intriguing to me and I'm sure has not just happened to me, hence, I expect there must be some word for it.


texts: I have not invited her to the party vs I didn't invite her to the party

texts:
I want to know the difference between the following sentences and also want to know which one is correct
If someone asks me at the party that Have you invited her/Did you invite her ? Then which answer will sound good?

I have not invited her to the party
I didn't invite her to the party

Please someone tell me the differences , thanks


texts:
I did my English homework and I searched this sentence. They said that it's "Elvis has died age 79"

Can I use "Elvis died at the age of 79" instead? Is it still correct?
Can you explain? (I hope my grammar isn't wrong.)


texts: Can it be plagiarism if one uses another author's phrase?

texts:
I was considering using the simile "like a sailor cast on a desert rock" (used first by Wordsworth), but was uncertain whether its mention without reference in a short story would be plagiarism.

Context: "He was drowning helplessly like a sailor cast on a desert rock."


texts: The term for a long sentence which ends with the key element

texts:
I recall from my youth a term for a long sentence which hid its meaning or point until the very end. it was used often in academic writing (and since I was doing much academic writing, I used this method often). I thought that the term for such a sentence was something akin to hypotonic or like that but since that word is a term for low pressure I doubt that that's what it is. It isn't a case of simple prolixity as the term in question was a technical label for the structure of the "reveal." [note, the final part of the sentence need not be especially shocking but is an essential part of the sentence structure, not an extra bit appended to the base sentence}

Can anyone help me remember the word for this type of sentence?

Here is a long sentence by Hannah Arendt.

  With the rise of the modern age, thinking became chiefly the
  handmaiden of science, of organized knowledge; and even though
  thinking then grew extremely active, following modernity’s crucial
  conviction that I can know only what I myself make, it was
  Mathematics, the non-empirical science par excellence, wherein the
  mind appears to play only with itself, that turned out to be the
  Science of sciences, delivering the key to those laws of nature and
  the universe that are concealed by appearances.


texts: What do I call this "heel fixture" used for attaching a pallet rack column to the floor?

texts:
I'm translating a text about a pallet racking system. One sentence goes like this:

Крепление стеллажей к полу осуществить через металлические подпятники с помощью химических анкеров.
Attach the racks to the floor via metallic "underheels" using chemical anchors.

I googled and these "underheels" look like the ones in the pictures below. The metallic thingies bolted to the pallet rack columns. These metallic thingies are then attached to the concrete floor using chemical anchors.
What do I call them in English? Multitran's entry for подпятник has many options, and I don't know which to pick.


texts: As in topic, what does "catch it on the chin" idiom mean? I tried to google it, but every hit is on webpages that use this idiom, never explain it.


texts:
I came across a text today that suggested that deep is the opposite of shallow but I found this difficult to digest. Furthermore, it feels one could use shallow as the opposite of deep but not vice versa. The word 'shallow' is usually used to quantify depth deriving its meaning from the idea of how deep something can be. Deep on the other hand usually signifies significant depth but does not necessarily give the impression that something deep is far away enough from shallow that it is an opposite.
From Oxford dictionary:
shallow (noun): an area of the sea, a lake, or a river where the water is not very deep.
So in actual sense, it could be more technically correct to say that very deep is the opposite of shallow?
How are cases where dimensions are loosely defined like in this case treated when considering opposites/antonyms?


texts: Meaning of "do" in "What do you like?" etc

texts:
What is the meaning of "do" in questions like "What do you like?", "Where do you live", "Do you have a large family?"

The verb 'to do' describes performing or executing an action, and in the first two cases the last word of the question could be (I suspect is) the infinitive of the verb(s) to like, to live.

Is the same meaning used in the 3rd question?

How is "do" used in these (or similar) contexts?


texts: Is the word 'Latin' a synonym --- or can it be used as such --- for 'Latin American'?

texts:
I am really unsure of this, but it is something that has been really bugging me for a long time.
Though I don't believe all Latin countries are in Latin America (if this is wrong please do correct me, as my geography is not on point whatsoever), what would you refer to Latin people who are not Latin American as? Would you call them Latins? It seems to me that most people opt for Latino over Latin.
Why is it that most non-Latin Americans are called or call themselves "Latinos* or Latinas, or sometimes a Latinx, but not Latins? Is the word Latin to ambiguous in non-Latin American Latin places? Is it considered offensive? Is it not specific enough?


texts: In the order of (what most people have recommended)

texts:
I asked three people to list the items that they think are most important for something.

PERSON A             PERSON B             PERSON C
Item "aaa111"        Item "bbb222"        Item "bbb222"
Item "bbb222"        Item "eee555"        Item "ccc333"
Item "ccc333"        Item "fff666"        Item "ggg777"
Item "ddd444"

Since some items appear on more than one person's list, those items are obviously the most important ones, so I have compiled this list, which puts the item most frequently named on top, the next-most-frequently named second, and so forth:

Item "bbb222"
Item "ccc333"
Item "aaa111"
Item "ddd444"
Item "eee555"
Item "fff666"
Item "ggg777"

I want to head this list with a caption of the form Combined list in the order of __.

My question: Is there a single word I can use in that blank to name my ordering principle?


texts: What would you call a laugh that sounded like a mix between wheezing and a hiccup

texts:
A friend of mine suggested that one of her co-workers laughed in such a fashion, and I was curious if there was a single word or phrase that might closely resemble that.

I asked her if it sounded like a really creaky hiccup, and she said, "It sounds like he's having a little trouble breathing while he's laughing, and that it's punctuated by short hiccup noises."

I'd imagine the onomatopoeia would sound like "hyuk hyuk," but creaky sounding.


texts: Is it possible to say 'suspicion and anticipation (...) has reached'?

texts:
In the article about Dismaland there is a paragraph saying:

  Inside the walls of a derelict seaside swimming resort in Weston-super-Mare, UK, mysterious construction over the last month—including a dingy looking Disney-like castle and a gargantuan rainbow-colored pinwheel tangled in plastic—suggested something big was afoot. Suspicion and anticipation surrounding the unusual activity attributed to fabled artist and provocateur Banksy has reached a Willy Wonka-esque fervor. Well, if Banksy’s your bag, continue fervoring. If not, there’s more than a few reasons to continue reading.

I'm not sure if I understand the meaning of this bold sentence correctly. I tried to divide it into two sentences:

The unusual activity (was) attributed to fabled artist and provocateur Banksy.
Suspicion and anticipation has reached a Willy Wonka-esque fervor.

But now I don't know - is it possible to use 'has' as a predicate for two things (suspicion and anticipation)?


texts: Member's Price or Members Price or Member Price

texts: I have a members only website. I want to place a price tag for "Members Price" is that correct or Member Price. It refers to the price a member pays.


texts: What would you call someone who plays hero in situations?

texts:
Example:
You have a costumer you have been working with who purchases something then your coworker later says they purchased because of something they did (like discrediting you).
Or another example would be, they are asked a simple question and then make it seem that the person who asked the question was freaking out and that they calmed them down even though the person was not freaking out at all?
I thought self righteous may be right but now I am not sure.


texts: Functionality vs. Functionalities: are both correct and idiomatic?

texts:
To me, inasmuch as use of the word functionality referring to software means the extent of its overall ability, I would write "The software implements the following functionality."  However, I've seen (from my Indian counterparts), "The software implements the following functionalities."  To me, this just sounds awkward and wrong.  In fact, as I just typed functionalities, the text box editor underlines it in red.  And yet, I read all over the internet that the plural of functionality is functionalities so I don't know why it should be flagged.  However, I guess that's not my question.  My question is as in the title; are both examples above correct inasmuch as the software quite obviously will implement more than one piece of functionality?

Edit
Based on the comments below, let me rephrase my titular question.  Are both examples above correct English?  If so, do they both convey the same message?  The way I'm employing functionality only feels plural, but that wasn't the essence of my question.

Edit 2
It looks like someone edited my titular question which is good because the focus below became too much on pluralization vs. idiomatic correctness. It appears that both uses are idiomatically correct.  However, within the "anglosphere", as Dan calls it, functionality is most commonly (and properly) used as a mass noun. From the Meriam Webster's Online Dictionary referenced below, functionality is defined as: "the particular use or set of uses for which something is designed".


texts: Which is correct - "most quiet" or "quietest"?

texts: A friend of mine saw a gun at the store that was labeled as the "most quiet gun".  Is this correct English or is it more correct to say, the "quietest gun"?


texts: "there's a powder at aspen" expression means what?

texts:
I'm reading a book where "The Advice Guy" says "Tell your boss the roport will have to wait. There's a powder in Aspen!".

I got, here, what "take a powder" means, but what about "there's a powder in..."?

(google image shows ski images when I search for this expression)


texts: How to name a the other party of financial transaction (both recipient and sender)?

texts: I am translating a balance sheet and it has a column name of the recipient or a sender of the money. Is there a word that designates "the other party in a transaction"?


texts: Is there a single word or a phrase that can be used to denote either Before or After?

texts:
I am looking for a word that does not refer to now, but can refer to either before or after. In case of phrases, the lesser the words, the better is.

It is to name a Java class file whose basic task is to denote activities done either before or after a given task.


texts: What is the semantic difference between "encipher" and "encrypt"?

texts: What is the semantic difference between encipher and encrypt?


texts:
Is there any emotion implied (either positive or negative) when we use "would" for repeated past actions and situations? A few examples:

I would dream away on nights like this.
When a child, I loved it when my Grandpa dressed up as Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, and then I would be happy for hours.
When I was at school, the local bullies would beat me every day after classes.

The use of "would" seems rather "special" to me, so I often avoid it and use "used to" instead.

Thank you!


texts: What part of speech is "talking" in the following sentence?

texts:
I'm confused as to the part of speech the word "talking" belongs to in the following sentence.

"Paula felt much calmer after talking to her grandmother."

Is it a verb or a gerund or something else?


texts:
There's some discussion at What is the correct abbreviation for the word "numbers"? about the use of the abbreviation "No." for "number".  However, my question is about the necessity of writing "of" after "no." when abbreviating "number of [foo]".
Question: Should one use "of" when abbreviating "number of..." using "no."?
As a concrete example,

Number of queries

could be abbreviated in one of these two ways:

No. queries
No. of queries

I'm accustomed to e.g. "Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America" being abbreviated "Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.", but this might be limited to journal abbreviations.
In my particular situation, I am abbreviating an axis label on a figure, and using an unabbreviated version in the caption.
One of the answers to the above question writes e.g. "Number of guests" should not be abbreviated, although it's a common enough abbreviation in computer science; examples can be found by searching for "No. of queries" in Google Scholar.


texts: What is different between (noun noun) and (adjective noun)?

texts:
For instance

"Study Material" vs "Studying Material"
"Participle Phrase" vs "Participial Phrase"


texts: What's the etymology of the word "zilch"?

texts: What's the origin of the word "zilch" and how it came to mean nothing?


texts: Is it possible to regard -id as a suffix forming adjectives in Modern English?

texts: The morphemic status of -id can be proved by its regular occurrence in Modern English adjectives (mostly of Roman origin): horrid, stupid, rapid, acid, sordid, valid, solid, etc.


texts:
Was readin song lyrics of a commercial song written in english and have two questions:

One line goes "can't you see I'm hurting" - is that correct english to use?
One line said "all for you" as implied - (I would do/I eould give) all for you - is it correct english to say all for you in that context?

P.S English is my second language and the songwriter as well I think


texts: what do you call someone who doesn't want to pay for another person's skills

texts: What do you call someone who doesn't want to pay for another person's skills? They want the best, but can't pay for it or think you charge too much because they think it is easy and cheap to do - always looking for the lowest price. They will seek out individuals who are not skilled and then try to use their prices to justify why you're charging too much. "I found three other people who charge half of what you want!"


texts:
How has the word "pigs" come to be used as slang for feet?

As in the phrase:

  My pigs are killing me!

It seems to me that "pigs" and "feet" have very little in common.

I'm not sure how common this usage is. I've certainly heard it on several occasions.


texts: What is the word/phrase that describes a situation at which between 2 sides, it is hard to decide which side will win? For example, in football, when 2 teams are competitive but cannot get out of a draw, and maintain at that situation.


texts:
I found a following sentence in this link:

"Does the Reaction of Abstaining Smokers to the Smell of Other People's Cigarettes Predict Relapse?"

Shouldn't it be "abstaining from" instead of "abstaining to", which means "to keep oneself from doing, engaging in, or partaking of something; refrain"? Thank you!


texts: What is a short phrase that means "how long it takes something to sell"?

texts:
This phrase would be used as the title or short description of a set of data. Some ideas that I've thought of so far:

"Time to Sell": This is the one I like the most so far, although it can be misconstrued as an assertion; it is "time to sell".
"Sell Time": A bit ambiguous - when you Google this results are related to the act of selling one's time.
"Turnaround Time": Also ambiguous as turnaround time is not specific to the act of selling something.

Any other ideas would be appreciated.


texts:
What is the English version of the Italian:

"In bocca al lupo / Crepi"Crepi il lupo"?

Is this correct?:

"Good luck! / Cracks the wolf"


texts: Can "did" be used in affirmative sentences?

texts:
Duplicate:
  “did shoot” vs “shot”
  When do you use “Did + 1st form” instead of “2nd form”?
  Use of “do” in affirmative statements

I know that did is used when asking or when using a negative sentence.

  — Did you play soccer?
  —I didn't play soccer.

But I'm wondering whether it can be used also when we are talking about affirmative sentences.

For example, "I did play soccer" instead of "I played soccer".

It's grammatically correct?


texts:
Slang lexicographer Eric Partridge once called slang a "prize problem word" with regard to etymology.

The OED maintains it as:

  A word of cant origin, the ultimate source of which is not apparent.

The earliest attestation is from 1756.

  Thomas Throw had been upon the town, knew the slang well.

William Toldervy · The History of two orphans · 1st edition, 1756 (4 vols.).

Jonathan Green discusses the various theories about the origin of the term in his introduction to Slang: A Very Short Introduction.  Among the possibilities discussed are:

Romani origin
Scandinavian origin
Variations on Standard English language or lingo
Variation on French langue
Dutch "slang" meaning "a snake."

Green credits "the most likely theory" to Anatoly Liberman, who points to "slang" meaning "a strip of land."

  The focus should be on their parallel definitions: to wander, walk aimlessly, or stroll... "Those who traveled about the country or a certain area were thus 'on the slang'." (This parallels argot, which meant "wandering hawkers" before it meant their language.)  He notes that "verbs of movement designating wandering tend to associate themselves with the name of the territory in which the movement occurs."

Liberman claims in a blog article here that the "prize problem" is definitively solved:

  Rather many people have tried to discover the origin of slang, and in 1898 the puzzle was all but solved. The relevant note by John Sampson appeared in a local periodical called Chester Courant and later reprinted in The Cheshire Sheaf. I would probably never have discovered it, even though I did screen dozens of local magazines for my database, if John M. Dodgson had not referred to it in his tiny 1968 article in Notes and Queries. Dodgson did not pay much attention to the word slang, for his topic was Cheshire place name elements, but, when I read Sampson’s explanation, I realized that the mystery was no more. All I had to do was to add a few finishing touches.

In processing Liberman's conclusion, Green praises the logic but draws attention to some missing links.  The entirety of Green's introduction is available online here.

  All this sees to stand up linguistically.  The problem, if it exists, is evidentiary. [...] Hard evidence is important, and the establishment of a concrete etymology remains frustrated by its absence.

Given this background, I wonder if the folks here on EL&U can shed any light on this vexing word and the dispute over whether Liberman's etymology is a definitive origin of the term.


texts:
Are there any English words that mean "an unlikely calamity" in that same way that "miracle" can mean "an unlikely beneficial event"?  My thesaurus only provides antonyms of "miracle" that mean "a mundane event" rather than "a horrible event".

I'm thinking specifically of multiple unlikely failures occurring simultaneously: I suffer an unlikely injury that leaves me unable to leave the house and my usually-reliable telephone service suddenly cuts out for the day, so I can't phone for help.

Words like "catastrophe" and "calamity" seem too general, since I'd like to express the exceptional unlikelihood of the event (or events). The best I have is a descriptive phrase like "disastrous coincidence," but I'd prefer a single word.

Overtones of the divine or demonic are not required, but preferred.


texts: Position of Adverbs in Negative Sentences

texts:
How am I supposed to write the sentences below in the negative form?

Example A:

  A.1) Lila is certainly not going to be very happy about it

or

  A.2) Lila isn't certainly going to be very happy about it

or

  A.3) Lila certainly isn't going to be very happy about it.

Example B:

  B.1) You are obviously not paying attention to the signs

or

  B.2) You aren't obviously paying attention to the signs

or

  B.3) You obviously aren't paying attention to the signs.

What is required to be done in these cases as so the sentences are grammatically  correct?


texts: What's a term for words that occur in different parts of speech?

texts:
For example:

Strategy, (n); Strategic, (adj); Strategise, (v); Strategically, (adv); or

Context, Contextual, Contextualise; or

Analysis, Analytical, Analyse.

These words, that occur as different parts of speech are called __________??

(It's like head words, roots, lemmas, families etc., but none of these seems to fit exactly).

Thanks, K


texts: Word meaning "likely to cause controversy?"

texts:
Example:

  The name Self-Arming Group isn't as [...] as Gun Club, but
  controversial nevertheless.

What word can I use in the example above?


texts: A word or phrase for valuing the metric over what's being measured

texts:
As an example, let's say a company does an employee satisfaction survey and the scores come back low. Instead of addressing the complaints, they send out a memo saying that they'll start basing bonuses on the survey results. Lo and behold, scores improve dramatically, and the execs pat themselves on the back for raising employee satisfaction.

Or perhaps a factory has a perfect safety record on paper, so when someone gets injured, they pressure the person to not report it as a workplace injury.

Basically, having a metric for some real-world situation, but then making the metric artificially high in ways that don't relate to the situation it was designed to track.


texts: Where to put "sometimes" in a negative sentence?

texts:
They don't sometimes play tennis at a club on Sundays.
They sometiems don't play tennis at a club on Sundays.

So, which sentence is correct? Where should we put frequency adverbs like "sometimes" in a negative sentence?


texts: "A foremost" correct usage of this superlative?

texts:
Among the antiquities of a great nation, its tombs always hold a foremost place.

Since foremost means "first in rank," how can something have a foremost place, and not the foremost place?


texts: Is there a name for somebody you’re jealous of?

texts: I'm trying to describe King Saul's suicide out of fear of his rival David, of-whom-he-is-jealous. Is there a better way to describe this?


texts: Is it more grammatically correct to use five-point star or five-pointed star?

texts: Possibly this is a contextual situation - I've seen it both ways, and if there are any rules regarding this I'd like to know them.


texts: What is the most succinct way of listing requests in a grammatically correct syntax/format?

texts:
When I am having a conversation with a a friend, I might say something like this

  That's a great idea, but I wonder if 'A' you have the time, 'B' you can get enough buyers and 'C' the buyers will remain loyal.

What would be the correct, most succinct, gramatically/syntactically correct way of communicating a sentence like that in writing?

The goal is to list questions for consideration in a sequential order, and with headers like 'A', 'B', and 'C' or 1 2 and 3 (thus this question is not a duplicate of this one) I know you could accomplish this by individual questions (i.e. "Do you have the time? If you have the time will you have enough buyers? Will those buyers remain loyal?") but I've found people are more apt to respond to all your requests/questions if you list them or annotate them with letters or numbers. Is there some "legal" way to do this without putting each requests/question on an individual line?


texts:
What does "said deuces" mean?

From context in places I encountered the idiom - I can guess it means to take one's leave, to depart, or to say goodbye, but I'm not sure.


texts: Is it good grammar to say or write "different to"?

texts:
To me it seems natural to say something like:

"I am different from you." or "You can't marry him, he belongs to a different species than you do."

But recently it seems to be more and more common to read or hear on TV phrases like:

"...looked very different to..."

And that really annoys me and makes me want to zap the user with a lightening bolt or something.

So is it correct grammar or bad and annoying grammar to use the phrase "different to" instead of "different from or "different than"?


texts: I have recently picked up the saying "A for away" (meaning, we are good to go/ready to go). I am English but live in South Africa and watch American TV, so I have no idea where this saying is from. Is it a global saying or regional to one of my "zones"?


texts:
Are there any special rules for using "get/got" with another verb? Sometimes i feel, i overuse the word "Get/Got".
e.g do the following sentences mean the same thing?

  (1) Internet "get disconnected" frequently.

  (2) Internet disconnects frequently.

Thanks in advance


texts: What were the historical terms for the two parts of segmented sleep?

texts:
It is widely claimed that for the vast majority of human history, people slept in two distinct periods of time with a period of wakefulness in between.  This is called "segmented sleep" or "biphasic sleep".

It was previously asked what the terminology is for this: Single word for the opposite of "nap"
The question was closed for being unclear.

I've heard that various languages have historical terms to denote the two periods of sleep and the period of wakefulness between.  I think I've seen "watch" and "vigil" used to denote the period of wakefulness between, but what were the two periods of sleep typically called?

For example, "After James awakened from his [first sleep period], he lit a lamp and studied an old book until he was ready for his [second sleep period]."


texts:
According to this article's first two sentences (which I find a bit confusingly formulated), there are two different meanings to the expression.

No way out and no options other than a single, not pleasant one.
Full speed ahead, all-in, whole-range approach.

After reading/googling, I'm unclear on which of the meanings is the correct one. Furthermore, I realize that it's possible that both are valid, in which case I wonder if there are geographic relation to which is the most commonly used. Is there a trend of popularity (raising/dropping) for any of them?


texts: pictures painted & pictures which had been painted

texts:
What is the difference between these sentences and when to use each one of them? :

-George showed me some pictures painted by his father.

-George showed me some pictures which had been painted by his father.


texts: Present Simple vs Present Continuous for future actions

texts:
I know we can use both Present Simple and Present Continuous to describe future actions. But I don't know when to use the correct form.

For example:

We fly to Paris next week.

We are flying to Paris next week.

These sentences both seem correct to me.
Can anyone explain me how to correctly use these tenses?


texts:
In an old tale about Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne this can be read:

  Robin thought on Our Lady deere,
  And soone leapt vp againe,
  And thus he came with an awkwarde stroke;
  Good Sir Guy hee has slayne.

In this text, the word awkwarde means "backhanded", as noted by this Tom Sawyer excerpt:

  “Why, that ain’t anything. I can’t fall; that ain’t the way it is in the book. The book says, ‘Then with one back-handed stroke he slew poor Guy of Guisborne.’ You’re to turn around and let me hit you in the back.”

Looking at the etymology of awkwarde (currently awkward), the Etymonline web page says that awkward comes from awk 'back-handed'. Fine, but it also says that awk meant "turned the wrong way" in the 15th century. It comes

  from Old Norse afugr "turned backwards, wrong, contrary"

OK, so in Old Norse it did mean "turned backwards" but it seems that in English it implied a "wrong" side instead of just a "back" side.

So I would like to know:

Was the back of the hand considered the "wrong" side of the hand by the 15th century? Or is it that the word "wrong" may mean just "back"? Or may it imply that the back of the hand is the "wrong" (in the sense of "clumsy") side of the hand (not the side you use to handle tools or weapons)?
In which period did the word awkwarde mean "backhanded"? When did the word lose that meaning and came to mean just "not smooth or graceful" or "uncomfortable or abnormal"?


texts: What is the meaning of this expression "Every time you do this a puppy dies"

texts: I see a lot of sentences that talk about puppies dying when you do something. For instance, in the CS domain, there's a common quote which says “Every time you log in production, a puppy dies.”. What does this exactly mean ?


texts: Facilitate (XX) student-student interaction?

texts:
I want to describe the advantage of small class.

  It facilitates [XX] teacher to student
  interaction.

But I don't know what to fill in for [XX]. Can I say, closer and more effective?

  The advanatge of small class is that it facilitates closer and more
  effective teacher to student interaction?


texts: When can you pluralize uncountable nouns?

texts:
I have a two part question, the second depending on the answer of the first. I don't know if that is frowned upon, but I'm not sure how else to ask.

Foil is an uncountable noun so it is not pluralized, but is it correct to use the plural when referring to several kinds of foils? Just like fish is plural but some people refer to several species of fish as fishes?

For example,

  That company makes aluminum foils

Meaning, they make many kinds of foils out of aluminum

If this is OK, then why is

  "organic and inorganic matters"

wrong but

  "organic and inorganic matter"

right?

There are several kinds of matter being referred to. It seems to be following the same rule.


texts: Is it OK to say '"an earlier way to do something"?

texts: I want to describe a method that can help achieve some goal earlier than conventional method. Is it OK to say "an earlier way to do something"?


texts: Which form of "potential" is used when modifying a noun phrase containing an adjective?

texts:
In the sentence:

  The young man with the potential(ly) sticky fingers was in aisle three.

Which form of "potential" is used? Should it be:

  "potential sticky fingers" (because potential is an adjective modifying the noun phrase "sticky fingers")

or

  "potentially sticky fingers" (because "potentially sticky" is an adjective phrase modifying fingers).


texts: Why isn't it "had handed" in "the girl alleged that her mother handed her over"?

texts:
In the following  reported speech:

  The girl alleged that her mother handed her over to a pimp and was taking Rs 40,000 from him every month.
  —  Times of India Newspaper, 1st May 2018

Why is it not:

  ... had handed her over ...

as per the reported speech rule?


texts: I can't find it anywhere else as of right now, but I've seen people using this expression several times and I still haven't been able to understand what it means. I tried looking for its meaning on the internet, but all I could find was the literal meaning, not the figurative one. An example can be seen below.


texts: What do you call the white haze that covers cough lozenges?

texts: I've got a package leaflet for cough lozenges in Russian saying that it's ok if they get covered in this white haze/mist (get opaque) in time. What do you call this mist? Or maybe there's a name for this process?


texts: Help deciding if plural should be used in this sentence

texts:
Can anyone help me with which of the following is the correct formulation?

The main driver for this is changes in the weather.
The main driver for this are changes in the weather.

Should it be "is" because "driver" is singular, or should it be "are" because "changes in the weather" is plural? How then do we decide which to use in these cases?
Thank you!


texts:
Why is this sentence correct:
"Could you find Diana's bag?"
According to what grammars say, it should be:
"Did you manage to find Diana's bag?"
Because:
1.it indicates ability in a particular moment.
2."find" is not a perception verb.
3.there is no negative limiting adverb.
4.it does not occur in a subordinate clause.
I found this example in an activity and it marks as wrong the second example but not the first one,but I still can't understand why.


texts:
From Christmas Storms and Sunshine by Elizabeth Gaskell (4th paragraph):

Jenkins had his wife too. Wives were wanting to finish the
completeness of the quarrel, which existed one memorable Christmas
week, some dozen years ago, between the two neighbours, the two
compositors. And with wives, it was a very pretty, a very complete
quarrel. To make the opposing parties still more equal, still more
well-matched, if the Hodgsons had a baby ("such a baby!—a poor, puny
little thing"), Mrs. Jenkins had a cat ("such a cat! a great, nasty,
miowling tom-cat, that was always stealing the milk put by for little
Angel's supper"). And now, having matched Greek with Greek, I must
proceed to the tug of war. It was the day before Christmas; such a
cold east wind! such an inky sky! such a blue-black look in people's
faces, as they were driven out more than usual, to complete their
purchases for the next day's festival.

What does having matched Greek with Greek mean? Is this some quote or allusion? What is its origin?


texts:
I am looking for a particular linguistic term for this process of turning words like hot into words like heat.
English has a bunch of pairs like these:

Hot -> heat
Whole -> heal
(Folk)lore -> learn
Dole -> deal?
Token -> teach?

What is going on there? What does it mean?


texts: What is the correct way to use an intensifier followed by an adjective and then a plural noun? I am specifically interested in the intensifier, "too"

texts:
Example: You should not place too high expectations on your children.
Using the phrase, "such high expectations"seems to change the meaning slightly.

I´m familiar with the construction too+ adj.+ a+ singular noun (Too pretty a waitress, too dirty a car, too nice a day) and I wonder if there is a similar construction for modifying plural nouns?


texts: "White lie" as in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time?

texts:
I had a discussion about the English language with a couple of native speakers (all British) and we got into the topic of lies. One of them said something along the line of:

  A white lie is a small lie told with the intention of not hurting the listener.

This goes in line with what's on the corresponding wikipedia page:

  White lies are minor lies which could be considered to be harmless, or even beneficial, in the long term.

However, me and another native speaker thought that white lie is something different:

  A white lie is when you still tell a truth, but in such a way that you still conceal what you wanted to conceal without actually telling falsehood.

Then I remembered that I've seen this definition before from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, at the beginning of chapter 79:

  When I got home Father was sitting at the table in the kitchen and he had made my supper.   [..]
  He said, "Where have you been?"
  And I said, "I have been out."
  This is called a white lie. A white lie is not a lie at all. It is where you tell
  the truth but you do not tell all of the truth.

To put things into context here, he concealed the fact that he was out investigating the incident, yet he didn't lie because he was indeed outside of the house.

If white lie is as described on the wikipedia, then my question is: what's the one that me and the other native speaker thought to be "white lie" that was also described in the Curious Incident?


texts: Why can't you place pronouns after a phrasal verb?

texts:
Many phrasal verbs such as look up or knock out typically allow the object to be placed between the verb and proposition or to be placed afterward. For example,

  You can look my brother up on Google.
  You can look up my brother on Google.
  Knock your opponent out!
  Knock out your opponent!

However, when the object is a pronoun, this doesn't seem to hold:

  You can look me up on Google.
  *You can look up me on Google.
  Knock him out!
  *Knock out him!

Why is there this discrepancy? Is there something syntactically special about pronouns that distinguish them from other noun phrases? Why can they only be placed in the middle of the verb phrase?


texts: Why is "bombshell" used to describe attractive women?

texts:
Bombshell is a term used to describe very attractive women, similar to the term "sex symbol". The phrase was notably used as the title of a 1930's film, which incidentally led to its lead actress being nicknamed a "blond bombshell", although the term may have been in use long before that.

Where did this term come from, and why? What's the relation between bombshells and attractive women?


texts: Is "would love to" too colloquial for a formal email?

texts:
In a formal (edit: application) mail, is it too colloquial to say:
"I would love to join your group as a postdoc..."?
For me, 'like' instead of love sounds less friendly. Is this necessarily the case?


texts: What does the 'Aquaintance at the dinner table' mean here?

texts:
"They weren't very good on the trapeze and their acquaintance with animals was only at the dinner table"

What does "their acquaintance with animals was only at the dinner table" mean here? Also,is it an idiom or what?

(I have attached the paragraph from which the sentence is taken). Thanks to all!
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texts: Why isn't "it" used in place of "he or she", "he/she", "s/he" etc.?

texts:
There is a related discussion on this Q&A site.

My question is different. I'm all for gender awareness, but why hasn't a properly defined pronoun "it" been used instead of "he/she" or "he or she", etc. Am I missing something?

Oxford English Dictionary:

  It: 1. a. As the proper neuter pronoun
  of the third person singular.

Dictionary.com:

  (used to represent a person or animal understood, previously mentioned, or
  about to be mentioned whose gender is unknown or disregarded): **It was the
  largest ever caught off the Florida coast. Who was it? It was John. The horse
  had its saddle on. **


texts:
Medicating Uvula  resulted  in making   the  tongue  fall out

The proverb means  sometimes   remedying  a  simple  problem  may  turn  out  to  be a  different  problem  of    great  magnitude

I  would  like  to  know  the  equivalent  problem  in  English.

I  believe  that  it  is  not  a  duplicate  of   the  previous  post  because  in the  post  the  Post  The  OP was  saying  that  the  situation  was  getting  worse  every  time  being rectified.But  the  proverb  I posted  does  not  mean it.Trying  to  solve  a  problem  resulted  in  a  some  other  problem  of   great  magnitude  and  danger.Besides,
My  proverb  is  a  literal  translation of  a  Telugu  proverb  which  may imply  that  we  must  be  very  careful about
 remeding  a  situation  otherwise  it  might  lead  to  a  different  consequence  which  might  be  fatal.It  does  not  mean  that  the  same situation is  getting  worsened  as  a result  of  medication  or  the  metophorical use  of the  same  problem getting  more complicated.


texts: Is the colloquial euphemism "to be volunteered" recent?

texts:
When someone is forced to volunteer for something, he or she can be said to be volunteered.  For example, if a manager asks an employee, could you volunteer to perform task X, then the employee may not practically be in a situation to say no; volunteer is used euphemistically.

I first heard this usage in 2014, but I first lived in a native English speaking country in 2014, so my experience does not say too much.  Is this euphemistic usage of to be volunteered recent?

(See also: urbandictionary entry for volunteered)


texts: Omitting the "I" from "I am" the second clause in a sentence?

texts:
For example I've written:

  "I have an interest in rock climbing and am a member of the
  mountaineers Society."

My friend thinks it has to be:

  "I have an interest in rock climbing and I am a member of the
  mountaineers Society."

which I think sounds bad.

Which is right?


texts: Why can't a count noun denote a class when used alone without any determiner?

texts:
The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Page 335) says:

  A count noun denotes a class of individuated entities of the same kind. Boy, for example, denotes the class of boys.

For example, in (1) the count noun boy denotes the class of boys but is combined with A to denote an individuated entity. And the same is true with the count noun human.

  (1) A boy is a young male human.

But when used alone (without any determiner such as a), as in (2), the count nouns boy and human cannot seem to denote the class:

  (2) *Boy is young male human.

Why is that?

(Although this is a why question, I hope this is detailed enough to be answerable.)