texts: Spaces within abbreviations and initials

texts:
I have come across examples supporting both spaced as well as non-spaced examples and that's what confuses me. I want to understand what the standard practice is as endorsed by any of the major style guides. For example, consider the following examples:

  A. B. Smith (Why is there a space?)

  U.S.A (Why no space? And why no period after the "A"?)

  P.S. (Why no space?)

I understand there already exists a similar question but since the answers on that one specifically deal with academic citations and Latin phrases, it doesn't help me. I am comfortable with Latin phrases, such as e.g., i.e., etc. not having spaces (P.S. being an exception because I still somehow see it as a regular abbreviation because it's capitalized, maybe. I don't know). It's the English acronyms that I find confusing...especially cases like U.S.A where even a period (the last one) is sometimes mysteriously omitted!


texts: What does "back up" mean in this dialog?

texts:
It's from a lecture.

Professor: So I wanted to discuss a few other terms here ... actually, some, uh, some ideas about how we manage our resources.
Let’s talk about what that …what that means. If we take a resource like water. ..well, maybe we should get a little bit more specific here-back up from the more general case-and talk about underground water in particular.
So hydrogeologists have tried to figure out... how much water can you take out from underground sources? This has been an important question.Let me ask you guys: how much water, based on what you know so far, could you take out of, say, an aquifer... under the city?

I don't understand the phrase "back up" in "maybe we should get a little bit more specific here-back up from the more general case-and talk about underground water in particular.",
does it mean the Professor wants to use something more general to support his point of view?


texts: "As if it weren't bad enough": meaning and subjunctive mood?

texts:
This is a sentence from a preface of book:

  As if it weren’t bad enough that I wrote my first book during our first year of marriage, I wrote this book during our first year of parenthood. Although I was able to do most of the writing after our son went to bed, I robbed the two of us of any significant quality time for far too long.

Is is my understanding that the author wants to say writing this book during the first year of parenthood is worse than before. Is that right?

I can't understand what as if means. Is this subjunctive mood?


texts: Is there a word that describes when an editor sends some copy back to be altered?

texts: In a publishing context, if a writer submits some copy (eg. an article) to an editor and the editor sends it back to be amended in some way, is there a word to describe that? Not 'reject' but something softer that indicates it's almost OK but needs some alterations.


texts: Why is the term "depressed" often used to describe a button which is pressed?

texts:
In several books that mention GUI, keyboard, or mouse buttons (e.g. the book Programming Windows by Charles Petzold), the authors refer to the state of a pressed button as depressed. Why is this term used instead of the word pressed, which has a simple and intuitive meaning?

Some alternative terms that could be a better fit are pushed, clicked, or activated. As someone who is not a native-English speaker, the term depressed is unintuitive to me because it resembles the opposite meaning:  not pressed.


texts: Where do I use (and not use) "that?" (not a vs. "this" question)

texts:
Given this sentence, the that feels unnecessary:

  If I believed that I were in a position to do so, I would.

I find these seemingly spurious instances of that working their way into my prose all the time.

Another example where it seems unnecessary:

  I've been around people so critical that I ceased hearing them.

My question is: What is the grammatical basis determining where that is appropriate in sentences like these?


texts: I noticed that in English language "government" can mean "any legal authority" or it can mean specifically "the executive branch of power (like Cabinet of Ministers)". What is primary meaning, that is assumed, when context is not given?


texts:
I am using the word 'sediment' quite a lot for my research. I work in the field of river engineering and I always thought 'sediment' to be uncountable.

However, a colleague uses 'sediments' to mean different grain classes, e.g. instead of writing 'sand, silt, cobbles, and pebbles deposit in the river' he would write 'sediments deposit in the river'.

I believe this use is correct, but I also think that if one generally means 'material being transported in a river' should use 'sediment' singular, e.g. 'sediment is being transported in the river' and not 'sediments are being transported in the river.

Do you agree that in the first sentence the word 'sediment' includes all the possible grain classes that are transported in a river?

Thanks!


texts:
What is the meaning of the phrase "from hunger", as in, "This xyz is from hunger"? From the context I found it in, it appears to mean either very good, or very bad, but it's hard to tell which.

The context in which I read this expression…

  "I'm going into the city. On the way back I'll get you the biggest jar of Samoy
      I can find."
  Mal rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Samoy pickles are from hunger."

—Michael Marshall Smith, Spares.

The phrase occurred later in a discussion of firearms but I can't find it just this minute (dead tree books — difficult to do a full text search).


texts:
So, I have a debate with my associate. We are debating whether one can say something like "I am student." It was argued that this was proper and that indeed you can use a verb followed by a noun without an article or definite/ indefinite article. I had argued that we can say "we are students", but their thought was that you can even use a subjunctive or a present indicative then immediately follow it with a noun. Such as "We are student."

We are adapting a script to a dubbed movie and my job is to give advice on how a native speaker in America would express the idea. I wondered about this question for awhile because us natives can say "I am home. / We're home." but of course we don't mean that we are in fact a place where one lives! So I am curious about this question.

Furthermore, they pointed out some instances on the internet where people used this term and they have "Googled" many results. I was perplexed because I never say this nor have I heard others who live here say it. Can someone help articulate this problem for them? Is "I am student." proper English?


texts:
I have a series of paired bar charts that show the most recent administration of a survey immediately adjacent to the next most recent administration for a given client. The two time points are two different colors. In the legend, I want a clear way to express the concept of the latest administration as distinct from the time before that, so it is clearly understood what is being compared.

Options that have occurred to me:

Most recent vs. next most recent
Most recent vs. penultimate
Most recent vs. previous-to-most-recent

Each of these is awkward to read and say, and in the case of "penultimate" the word is possibly unknown to audience members. Are there any other suggestions out there that I've overlooked?


texts:
In a game where there are two factions fighting each other and they take turns moving their units, if I want to inform the player of the game which faction's turn it is, should I use a possessive noun?

Eg. in this specific case, I have a game where Humans fight Monsters. Should I say Humans Turn or Humans' Turn?

I can't say why but I feel like the former is correct. I don't recall any video game having a message like Player 1's Turn, just Player 1 Turn but the more I think about it the more the possessive form makes sense.

Or maybe it should actually be Human turn?


texts: Can I use 'that' before a non-restrictive phrase?

texts:
Non-restrictive relative clauses must always be introduced by which
  and never by that.

So can I say something like

Both my computer and my car, that is run-down, were quite cheap.

An Oxford dictionary seems to say no. But I think that the non-restrictive phrase "is run down" is non-defining because I only have one car, and that it works with 'that'.


texts: Which would be the correct usage of tenses in this sentence?

texts:
A little bit of context:

Peter and Kevin were working on a mission together, and Peter had already planned (He was looking forward) to betray Kevin by the end of the mission. Kevin did not know Peter's intentions at the time but had suspicions that Peter was going to betray him.

And when it finally happened and Peter betrayed Kevin, Kevin then realized that he should have been more careful of Peter.*

Now, what would be appropriate tense to use in the moment after Kevin got betrayed?

Kevin: "Damn it, you had been looking forward to this moment!!" ("this moment" as in betraying him)

(The act of looking forward ended when Peter betrayed Kevin) so I think this tense would be the correct one.

or

Kevin: "Damn it, you have been looking forward to this moment!!"

I think the Past Perfect would be the correct tense since now the act of looking forward has already ended (He's been betrayed). It's now in the past, not an ongoing event. Therefore the present perfect is not appropriate because it is not an ongoing event.

I am not sure whether I am correct or not though.


texts:
Am I right to understand 'Cos = Because?

A song has a string 'Cos I love you so....
This is "Because", correct?


texts: Synonyms for "Needs some attention" and "getting attention"?

texts:
I have a particular English issue. I'm looking for short (one word if possible) descriptions of two concepts mentioned in the subject of this question. I'm building a software application and I need to give the user one of two statuses on an object.

The first context is "This is a new thing and needs your attention"; the second context is "this thing is being looked at by someone".

The visual space I'm working with is quite small, which yields my need for a short description. Any ideas for words that express this concept?

EDIT:

To add some context, I'm using this software in a sort of ticketing environment, i.e. that an issue affecting a customer has come up. I just need two indicators to say "This thing i new!" and "Someone is looking at it" for our customer service people to keep track of it internally.


texts:
I have a pretty good idea of what this means already. For example, Beckett's riff on Hamlet in Waiting for Godot:

  What are we doing here, that is the question.

But I'd like to be a little more precise. Is it simply a witty allusion? Is the wit, or humor of the reference, what distinguishes it from being a plain old reference?


texts: An expression for someone who makes difficulties for himself

texts:
Is there a word or expression for someone who is often a cause of difficulties that he later has to overcome?

For example, a man who always has to work extra hours to finish his job at time just because when he has time he slacks instead working.

Or maybe a good chess player that makes silly mistakes because he always underestimates his opponent (and later has to try hard to compensate for these mistakes).

So basically I want a word or expression for someone who makes avoidable and totally unnecessary difficulties for himself.


texts: Sentence structure: When should I use the "do" like in this sentence?

texts:
From the sentence:
"They are nice and flashy on the outside, and they tell you all the great things that are inside but very rarely do you actually get to see inside the box. "
I feel natural that the "do" is placed here, but what is this situation called and how do I know when to use it?
big thanks!


texts:
NANCY: I know that if you can't take criticism you'll never make it as a writer.

I wonder what the meaning of that sentence is. Does it mean if you can't take criticism then  you'll never become a writer? If my guess is right then how can "it" refers to an human?
I found another sentence. it is "If you're not a reader, you'll never make it as a writer"
Can "it" in those sentences refer to some writing?


texts: Pronunciation of final T sounds in English

texts:
What's the word to describe the phenomenon of the final 't' sound becoming a stop without aspiration, vs. how it sounds at the beginning of a word?

Does any one particular dialect/accent of English exhibit this characteristic more or less than another?


texts: Is there a word for "sticking up at an angle"?

texts: There's the word perpendicular when sticking straight up, but is there a word for "sticking up at an angle"? I mean, it's not particularly hard to just say "sticking up at an angle" but I wondered about this when someone just described something as "perpendicular-ish"; the exact context was an instruction about installing a sign upright but sloped backwards, not exactly at 90 degrees.


texts:
Does anyone know why the adjective in "chicken-fried steak" is
hyphenated by some people but not by others? What do writing guides
on both sides of the pond say about this issue?
The following is its definition:

a thin piece of beef that is lightly battered and fried until crisp.


texts: What is the sentence that is said before the real statement, to let the other person know what is coming, called?

texts:
Example: Don't be angry at me for asking this question, but are you rich?

Is there a term for the sentence in bold?


texts: Idioms and bodyparts: punch your lights out and lights

texts:
There is an idiom "I'll punch your lights out" which means

  punch someone's lights out

  Sl. to knock someone out with a fist

There is also "lights" which, when used about a body, mean

  Lights (Offal)

  noun
  the lungs of sheep, pigs, or bullocks, used as food, especially for pets.

I was trying to find whether or not the two were related. The only thing I can think of, which is by no means supported is that if you are to be beaten up then perhaps all the air gets knocked from your lungs?


texts: Is it correct to emphasize with "do" when using the verb to be?

texts:
I believe the following sentence is grammatically correct:

I do like burgers.

Meaning that the speaker wants to emphasize that he likes burgers.
What about something like:

I do am happy.
She does is married.

when the speaker wants to emphasize their current situation? Is this grammatically correct? If not, are there any other alternatives to emphasize while using the verb to be?


texts:
In the following sentence, what does the pronoun it refer to?

  A differs from B in that it is....

I read before that a pronoun refers to the closest name (B in that sentence); however, here it makes more sense that the pronoun it refer to A (not B).

I am totally confused when I read that sentence in an article. Please let me know your opinion.


texts: Can "A vote for/against B" be turned into the passive "B was voted for (by A)"?

texts:
Is there a passive for "vote for/against"? I mean do such sentences as "The bill was voted for/against" really exist? If so, can the passive of this sentence "OPEC members voted for a second round of price rises" be
 "A second round of price rises was voted for (by OPEC members)?


texts:
I believe it means “to carry a weapon”, but I would also like the phrase origins, if possible. So the full question is:

What is the meaning of the phrase “packing heat” and what are its origins?


texts: Difference meaning :having ving vs having p.p

texts:
Having learning English in three months, Jovovich grabbed the attention of photographer, Richard Avedon.

Having learnt English in three months, Jovovich grabbed the attention of photographer, Richard Avedon.

Would you kindly elaborate their differences?

Source:

www.myfdb.com/people/2645-milla-jovovich]https://www.myfdb.com/people/2645-milla-jovovich


texts: Question re: use of "the" before government?

texts:
Should one use "the" before government?

  Bringing change in government and its policies"

For a country's government's policies, should one use "the" before country name only for US and not India?

  "Studying Indian government's approach and the US government's approach"

Typically there is no article used before the noun "India" (e.g. he went to India) but it is used before "US" (e.g. "the US").

Should "the" be used before "India's government" or "india's policy?"

It seems that the answer will depend on whether the definite article is modifying the definiteness of "India" or the "government/policy." For the former, there will be no "the," unlike the latter.

Thoughts?


texts: Is double prime (″) the correct symbol to use for specifying inches?

texts:
Is the double prime symbol (″) the correct symbol to use when specifying inches? For example:

  3′11″


texts: What does 'closing the distance between' mean?

texts:
In the larger context:

  The poet showed how bad war is. Therefore, closing the distance between the audiences views and the reality of war itself


texts: Word to describe the occurrence of two adjacent anagrams

texts:
If you have two words that are anagrams of each other and are used next to each other, what is that occurrence called? (fee free to correct the way I've phrased the question if it is grammatically incorrect)

For example, mane's name. I realize that this is some form of anthropomorphism, but here the two words are anagrams of each other.

I ask, because luminous light-bulb is an example of alliteration. What would this occurrence be called?


texts:
I am very much hoping that I have punctuated all of the following examples correctly per BrE punctuation. And I'm hoping that my bracketed explanations adequately and logically explain my reasoning to punctuate them as I have done. That being said, are all correct per BrE?

The sign said 'Handle with care.'
[The original sign had terminal punctuation – thus the full stop goes inside the quotes, correct?]
The sign said 'Handle with care'.
[The original sign did not have terminal punctuation – thus the full stop goes outside the quotes to end the sentence, correct?]
Pete said, 'The sign said "Handle with care." '
[The sign contained terminal punctuation – hence the full stop goes inside as exampled here, correct?]
Pete said, 'The sign said "Handle with care".'
[The sign did not have terminal punctuation – hence the full stop goes outside the double ending quote marks as exampled here, correct?]
"The sign said 'Handle with care'," Mike said.
[The ending punctuation to this one is '," regardless of whether or not there was terminal punctuation on the sign.]


texts: Could you please explain the meaning of "retaining wall relation"?

texts:
"there is a retaining-wall relation between language and group.
"
I looked up the retaining wall (Retaining walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on the two sides. Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to (typically a steep, near-vertical, or vertical slope.)
However, I found it hard for me to understand what kind of relation is retaining wall relations?


texts: Is it grammatical to finish a sentence with "also"?

texts:
In the following text, I wonder if it's grammatical to finish the sentence with also. it does sound weird to me. The sentence sound incomplete somehow and makes the audience wait for more.

  Here this equation must be understood to mean not only that both sides have the same value when they are defined, but also that when either side of the equation is undefined, the other is also.

I know it's the other is also [undefined], but I've never seen a construction like that. If it's grammatical, what is it called?


texts: Is the expression "see you soon" impolite when I send email to superiors?

texts: Are there some polite expressions on "see you soon"?


texts: How should one show possession in "and I" constructions?

texts:
I share an office with a co-worker and wanted to write something about the office that she and I share. Should I do something like one of these:

Stacey's and I's office
Stacey and I's office

?


texts: Should the article that comes after ‘There is” always be “a” or “an”?

texts:
I found the following sentence in a reference book of English grammar, titled “These are the weak points of Japanese on English grammar - 日本人は英文法のここを間違える” edited by Japan IR and published by DHC Publishing in 2006:

  “Example: There is a first time for everything.

  Though you may be tempted to use “the” for “first time,” here you must
  use “a,” because  it is a grand rule to use “a” after “There is.” The
  composition,  “There is” always demands “a,” and “first time” just
  follows its demand.- P.52

I didn’t know such a grand rule – A noun after “There is” should be accompanied with an infinite article exhists. Is it true? I used to write “There was the following article in the New York Times.” Was I wrong?


texts: I believe I am a learner with high intermediate level of English and now encounter obstacles in learning English. What I did to improve English when I started learning English, such as reading articles and listening to radio, do not help me much because I am no longer a novice in learning English. I do not know how to further improve my English except trying to learn some new words. Can anyone provide me with some guidance on how to improve my English? I also would like to know how native English speakers improve their mother language!


texts:
The motto of the UK monarch is apparently not the same in all parts of the kingdom: In Scotland, it is:

  In My Defens God Me Defend

Ok, but - how do I pronounce this? Is "defens" pronounced like modern-English "defense"? Is the 'e' in "me" like in "beer", or like in "test"? What about the 'e's in "Defend"?


texts: Graduation from of - archaism or mistake on diploma?

texts:
My diploma certificate contains following sentence:

  Graduation from of full-time first-cycle degree programme

It obviously is a mistake, however I can't believe an official institution could make such a mistake, therefore I wanted to ask you if by any chance this is some archaic form or what ever that could explain this? I Googled "graduate from of" and nothing pops up.

To show the whole picture, it looks like this:

                       DIPLOMA
                       No. xxxxxx
      graduation from of full-time first-cycle degree programme
                      Name Surname

Some more details like date of birth, place of birth, subject etc.


texts:
A cat runs faster than a dog
The cat runs faster than the dog
Cats run faster than dogs

Are all three ways equivalent?
In general which way is more popular
Edit: what about the "the cats run faster than the dogs?


texts:
I've noticed that Germans and Indians will sometimes say "/w/ector space" instead of "/v/ector space".

I get that in German "w" is pronounced /v/. But "vau" (German "v") is pronounced like /f/. So what would make people pronounce an English "vee" like an English "double-u"? (As far as I know, German doesn't even have an "English double-u" letter; if they want to indicate that sound, they would use a "u" like English "quick" or Spanish "güero".)

I've also noticed that it's only in certain cases, for example I haven't heard Indians or Germans pronounced "However" as "Hovewer".


texts: What does this quote by Johnny Quid mean?

texts:
What does this quote mean:

  Oh, beauty is a beguiling call to death and I'm addicted to the sweet pitch of its siren."

The quote is attributed to Johnny Quid in the movie RocknRolla.


texts:
I was wondering if the word unuseful is different from useless. I want to use the former to mean "not very useful", and be less offensive sometimes than to use the latter, which means "of no use at all" IMO.

Dictionaries such as M-W seem to suggest unuseful is the same as useless

  :  of no practical value :  unhelpful, useless (nameless and unuseful
   plants such as flourish under barrels — Thomas Wolfe)

But does this difference actually exist?


texts:
As in the song 'Real Gone' by Sheryl Crow:

  "Everybody's lookin' for a way to get real gone."

Does that mean something cool?


texts:
For example, in the sentence: I baked a cake for my mom.

Direct object (DO): cake
Indirect object (IO): for my mom

Some webpages say IO can only come before DO

While others explain that a prepositional phrase can also act as IO

Can a prepositional phrase act as an indirect object?


texts: Are "NLT" and "NMT" acronyms generally used in sentences?

texts:
I found that "NLT (not less than)" and "NMT (not more than)" acronyms are frequently used in many scientific journals.
Since English is not my mother tongue, I was wondering if they are widely used terms for people in english speaking countries. If it is not, is it necessary to add a description for NLT and NMT to explain what they mean; e.g. NLT stands for 'not less than'.


texts:
I am comparing males with females and young adults (18 to 44 years) and adults (45 to 65 years). I want to say:

The group difference based on gender and age is very small.
The group differences based on gender and age are very small.

Which of the above is correct?

I am particularly concerned with "difference" versus "differences".


texts: Is there a name for an answer to a question that is the subject in the question?

texts: For example: Why is the Sun hot?  Because it's the Sun. Why is the grass green?  Because it's grass.


texts: Is it incorrect if the last word following a comma ends in a full stop and does not feature an "and" before it?

texts:
These are the four states of matter: solid, liquid, gas, plasma.
These are the four states of matter: solid, liquid, gas and plasma.


texts:
I'm sorry if that question seems quite obvious for some of you, but I'm not native from english country and have some trouble with some expressions.

Today, I found this sentence :

  In the end, all software systems that need any type of authorization will be authorizing against activities

In this context, I can't manage to understand the meaning of against, it is supposed to show some kind of opposition, but where do you find an opposition in this sentence?


texts: Can you switch verb tenses when telling a story, set in the recent past, and describing a living person?

texts:
Which of the following, if either, is correct? Each line is the beginning of a new paragraph, but still in the same time (i.e., not swapping between past and present).

This morning I left class after having an argument with my teacher.
She is an old lady that wears large glasses with very thick lenses. She had to special order the lenses.

or

This morning I left class after having an argument with my teacher.
She was an old lady that wore large glasses with very thick lenses. She had to special order the lenses.


texts: How to quote from a book which is a collection of stories by various authors?

texts: I need to quote a sentence from a book which is a collection of stories of various authors. So usually when quoting a book I would put something like "lalalalala" (John Doe p.101) Now I am not sure if in this case for the authors name I should put down the textbook's author's name or the short story's author name that I am quoting.


texts: What does "headline" mean in a job application form?

texts:
I was applying for an internship online and one of fields I had to fill after the name field was "headline". What does headline mean in this specific context?

Here's a screenshot of the form.

I can guess they mean address, but I'm not sure. Can someone please tell me?
And thanks in advance


texts: Is there a special common name for goods sold at public events?

texts: Is there a special common name for goods sold at public events, such as T-shirts, cups, stationery, etc. being sold at conferences, concerts.


texts: Single word meaning "Lack of perspective"

texts:
I need a single word that means "lack of perspective."

For example:

A child, punished by not getting to watch a rerun of his favorite show, tries to make a federal case out of the issue, writing a multipage essay about it. The child is what?
Someone of no account or notoriety is wrong on the Internet. Our subject, who doesn't know them spends all day arguing with them in a private chat. That subject is what?
Three blind monks are introduced to an elephant. One, touching the ear, says it's flat. The other, touching the trunk, says it's long and round like a firehose. The last, touching the leg, say's it's like a tree. Our monks are what?

The fundamental problem in all of these cases is that they lack perspective. They have performed a limited analysis. The first two performed a limited analysis of costs and benefits. The last could only speak to their limited knowledge.

You could say the first two were being ridiculous, short-sighted. Perhaps they are "immature" - but that is too vague and poorly defined.

An idiom might be that they can't see the forest for the trees.

You could say the last were ignorant or blind.

What is a single word that describes both?

I think I am looking for a direct antonym to "perspicacious." I suppose I'll offer some ideas in an answer.


texts:
Hi I'm writing a scientific paper and want to write something along the line of:

"Static in time" objects are ...

Is there a single word describing time independent?


texts: What's the usage of ''anything'' in this sentence?

texts:
This sentence comes from the beginning of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone":

  "They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense."

I guess the sentence means "they were expected to be involved in strange events".  It's confusing me.  I don't understand what the sentence means, and I think the reason is I am misunderstanding the use of the word "anything".


texts:
would you say
anything you install with a .application file
or
anything you install with an .application file
I feel like the "an .application" is right reading it, but "a .application" feels right aloud, because I read it "a dot-application"


texts: Word for software which has been killed or is no longer supported

texts:
When describing a piece of software on a list I have the following information:

SoftwareName

Released: 2013-12-12

????: 2014-12-12

The ???? is like the opposite of Released. Maybe I could use killed (but that is too strong), or no longer supported, but I would prefer a single word.


texts:
If I understand correctly, 105 should be written

  one hundred five

as in

  The building has one hundred five stories.

But is it

  A one-hundred-five-story building

or

  A one hundred five-story building

or something else?

Note: I'm familiar with the rules stated in the suggested duplicate, but the answer there doesn't necessarily apply because numbers greater than 20 and less than 100 are hyphenated regardless. My confusion arises when combining the rule that 105 is not hyphenated on its own, but compound adjectives should be hyphenated. Note also that the links in the suggested duplicate are dead, so I rely only on the text of the answer.


texts: When should I use a comma before a prepositional phrase?

texts:
Can someone please give me some examples
of when I should and should not use a comma before a prepositional phrase?

These are some of the sentences that I am having trouble with:

These are the problems that I've struggled with in my own life
I looked on the other side of me & seen a bird.
All of my friends came with me except Ron.
I want to help all of the people who have problems like I've had before.

Can someone show me which sentences need commas?
I need someone to show me where the commas need to go too!


texts: Do thence/whence linger only as rhetorical variants for there/where?

texts:
The King James Bible has numerous instances of from thence/hence, including the famous line of Psalm 121:

  I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help.

Do thence/whence linger only as rhetorical variants for there/where in reference to place?

Or are these words only old-fashioned?


texts: An English word that means "Unable to go to work due to injuries or sickness"

texts:
Contrary to what I would expect, there's pretty much no article with this words other than online automated dictionaries (which I don't find truthworthy). So far I have found Laboral Inhability but, as I said, I can't find a text with the usage of that phrase, which leads me to believe said phrase is most likely incorrect. Thanks in advance.

EDIT:
An example in a sentence would be, in the context of a worker who is unable to go to work for X days due to an injured knee:

"By doing this new therapy method, we can reduce the time of laboral inhability because the worker would recover twice as fast as with the old one."


texts:
Every online dictionary tells me that a 'stride' is a 'long step'. (Or a 'long decisive step', 'long confident step' etc.)

And yet, a search for 'short strides' produces thousands of results.

Even something as specific as 'short, measured strides' is present in several literary texts (as per relevant Google search); a David Baldacci book has 'short, halting strides'.

Is it wrong usage, or does 'stride' have a more general meaning than what dictionaries suggest?


texts: Suppose you want to change a flat tire. What is the right/common sentence to say that you put the spare tire in place of the flat tire? From the web I see that the sentence "Put on the spare tire" is used. However, I do not see such an application for the verb "put on" in my dictionary (it is mainly used for wearing clothes).


texts: Does the barking of a dog diminish the value of a priest?

texts:
Does  a  barking  of  a dog  diminish the   value  of  a  priest?

The  above  is  an  Idiom  from Indian languages.A  dog  stands metophorically  for  the inferior  people.The  priest  stands for  the  people  who  are intellectually  and  spiritually great.The  meaning of  the  idiom  is that  the  profane people  never  diminish the  greatness  and  holiness  of  great  people simply  by  mocking at them

What  is  the  equal  idiom in  English  apart  from the  saying  of  the  Egyptians.

  "A profane person might be tempted to  violate the  tomb"

Edit  :    My  question  is  not  a  duplicate  because the  idiom  is  different  from  other  idioms : it  is  the  tendency  of  a dog  to  bark  at  a thief  or  at  a priest . It  can not  distinguish  between  good  and  bad.Every  new  person  seems  to  be  a thief  to a dog.So  great  people  are  great  people  even if  the  inferior  people  do  not  recognise  them or  mock at them.The  distance between  the  great  and  the  profane  is  always too long


texts: "Those who qualify will be awarded a certificate" or "those who qualify will be awarded certificates"?

texts:
All my life, I have been confused with choosing plural or singular form to represent one-one correspondence notion.

  Only those who qualify will be awarded a certificate.

or

  Only those who qualify will be awarded certificates.

?

Another example, let us consider the following:

"Each student gets one pencil". But it becomes ambiguous if I rewrite in plural form as "Students get pencils".

I hope someone can give me a general rule to overcome my confusion. :-)


texts: Can a sentence have two verbs of same type - for example "is"?

texts:
I found the following sentence in a book.

  A good way of figuring out what a function is doing is to type
  it without the parentheses.

Is this correct way of writing?
Thanks.


texts: What's it called when someone insults you for not knowing something that you've never learnt or that's not in your field?

texts: For example, let's say I'm a physicist, so I'm not stupid. But, I'm talking to someone who is an accountant and they insult me for not knowing accounting jargon or how to do things involved in their field during a conversation.


texts: When do you use "Did + 1st form" instead of "2nd form"

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “did shoot” vs “shot”

I often notice such sentences as:
"EEG did show tumors"(from this week House M.D.)
Why not "EEG showed tumors"? Is that form used to emphasize something?


texts:
Should it be:

1: As I was conversing with him about his love for jazz, I measured the temperature and found it to be 100 degrees.

2: As I conversed with him about his love for jazz, I measured the temperature and found it to be 100 degrees.

Is there any better ways to break this up?


texts: I wonder the meaning of 'come' particularly in this sentence

texts:
I have been reading the book which is 'The Road To The Churchyard' written by Thomas Mann and translated by David Luke. It follows bellow.

On the saddle sat a young man-a boy, a carefree tourist. He made no pretension to be counted among the great ones of this earth, oh dear me no! He was riding quite an inexpensive machine of no matter what make, a bicycle costing two hundred marks, just as it came.

I wonder the meaning of the verb 'come' in this text. Please help me.:)


texts: Synonym for "a lot" where each contributes only a little

texts:
I'm looking for a professional-context appropriate synonym for the word "a lot", but with the additional expression of "each contributes only a little"

For example,

  To fill up that vat you'd need a crapload of tennis balls.

Here "crapload" implies that each individual tennis ball is actually worthless on it's own.  Where the vat is big, "crapload" serves to color the sentence.

Unfortunately "crapload" is unprofessional.  "A lot" is just colorless.  Suggestions?


texts: What's the meaning of "in the spirit of"?

texts:
The following is a passage from this article:

  In the spirit of full disclosure, the texter in question turned out to be my editor at Salon. (Hi, Sarah!) She has not texted me again.

What does in the spirit of in the passage mean? I have looked it up in the dictionaries, but couldn't find a definition for it.


texts:
This is.... blah blah. They shocked and angered, when the people sought to deprive them.

compare to this

  This is.... blah blah. They are shocked and angered, when the people sought to deprive them.

does this imply something ?


texts: What phrase can I use instead of "pop the roof" to mean revitalizing, enhancing and expanding a building? I need to convey this idea without referencing a roof.


texts: What do you call an android that used to be human? (no organic parts)

texts:
I was wondering - Let's say we take your consciousness and put it in a complete cybernetic body? What would the term for that would be?

I thought it would be Cyborg at first, But I know that's short for "Cybernetic Organism". So what if your consciousness is in a completely cybernetic body? Would you still be called a Cyborg?

Is there an accepted science-fiction term for this? If not, what work first used the concept and how did it refer to this idea?


texts:
In writing an essay, I have the phrase: "sometimes worried". Microsoft Word has made the suggestion "sometimes-worried", However, browsing through google and related questions on the site, I m still unsure.

Does a hyphen belong? I should really know this, my name is hyphenated.

"..it provides me with a self-regulated tool to more effectively manage my sometimes-worried emotional state in a competitive academic environment."


texts: Is it “backward/forward” or “backwards/forwards”?

texts: Can backward and forward be used interchangeably with backwards and forwards, or is there some particular situation in which one pair is consistently used over the other?


texts: Pronunciation of 'finance' and 'financial' in the media

texts:
This is just something I've noticed over the last few years in the English (UK) media and I wondered if there is some explanation for it.

It used to be that 'financial' and 'finance' were pronounced with an 'iy' sound (fiynancial) - the I sound from 'sigh' or 'bye' for example. But it seems that all newsreaders and correspondents are currently under instructions to pronounce these with a hard I such as the I from 'kick'.

I find this particularly irksome with the word 'finance' for some reason!

Has anyone else noticed this? Is there a reason? Is it an Americanism?


texts: How does one properly hyphenate compound adjectives that are locations?

texts:
Compound adjectives preceding a noun are hyphenated, but how does one properly hyphenate locations? Please include sources.

E.g.

hyphenated, compound adjective: state-of-the-art technology

city, state compound adjective: Denver, Colorado-based company

location with multiple words: Mountain View, California-based company

example options:

Denver-Colorado-based
Denver, Colorado-based
Denver-, Colorado-, based
Denver-based, Colorado-based,


texts: Single word for someone who "leads people on"

texts: Is there a word for a person who won't speak up when they don't want to do something, or who makes excuses about doing something without actually coming out and saying they dont want to?


texts: Using "the" in certain situations if you haven't referred to the object before in a conversation

texts:
I have difficulties with using "the" in certain situations.

For example, which one is correct? "I was lying on the couch the whole day" or "I was lying on couch the whole day"?
More general question: can I use "the" before certain objects if I haven't mentioned them in a conversation, assuming that the other person will get which object I am referring to? For example, can I say: "Hey! I fixed the car yesterday!" meaning "I fixed MY car yesterday" or "I fixed the car that we worked on together two days ago"?


texts: How can I use the phrase 'over against' in sentences?

texts:
In Longman Dictionary, under 'over against something', it says that

• over against something (UK) = in preference to

Then, how can I use the phrase 'over against' in sentences?


texts:
... the ability to co-operate is more important.

I think, the correct sentence is "the ability of co-operation is more important"
I don't understand, why the structure "noun + to + v + be" is correct.


texts: The etymology of "redhead" vs. "ginger haired"

texts:
All my life I have known people with reddish, orangey hair, to be termed ginger haired.

Just as you don't call a blonde a 'yellow head' red head just wasn't a word that was said (wouldn't orange head be more accurate for most anyway?).

However these days I increasingly find people using the term 'red head'. At first it seems to have been a term restricted to magazines with attractive ginger models, as if the media couldn't admit that attractive gingers exist, but it has slowly spread to the general population and these days I often hear it.

My guess is that that redhead is an old term that then fell out of use with the (then) more exotic ginger taking its place, and that in modern times with ginger no longer being an exotic food and anti-ginger stuff in culture redhead has somehow re-emerged.

Is there any truth to my guess? What is the actual history of the terms redhead/ginger?

When did ginger come into use? Why did redhead fall so out of use in favour of ginger? Has redhead always been used in a fashion context or is its re-emergence totally out of the blue?


texts: An explanation of the preface in "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

texts:
I am currently reading The Picture of Dorian Gray and I'm puzzled over the meaning of a few sentences on the opening page.

  The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography.

Can someone explain this in simple terms? Is Wilde trying to say that the highest form of criticism is one in which you're actually critiquing yourself?

  The nineteenth century dislike of Romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass.

I've not a clue about this, all I know is romanticism was a movement and Caliban is a character in a Shakespeare play.

Any help would be appreciated, and if the tags are inappropriate I'm sorry.


texts: How to refer to the question asked in the title of essay

texts: In an essay, the title is in the form of a question (e.g. Are those needed anymore?). At the end of the essay and based on the discussed facts, I want to answer the very early question. How should I refer to the question? Options like aforementioned or main question are not desirable. I'm looking for something more specific and interesting.


texts: verb or adjective in "The blue page is *stapled* to the red page"?

texts:
Consider the following sentence.

  The blue page is stapled to the red page.

Although "stapled" is (apparently) past-tense, nonetheless the above sentence is clearly expressing something about the present. What gives? In particular, would it be wrong to label "stapled" as past-tense in that sentence?

(note: Er, actually the OP's question involves the difference between a passive construction and a construction with a predicative adjective -- F.E.)


texts:
My friend asked me, "What is an existential threat? How is the word "existential" being used? Can't be the way it was used back when everybody was reading Camus and quoting Sartre. I wonder if the word could just be omitted? Isn't a threat a threat?"

I'm curious about this and the possible ways the meaning of existentialism has changed over the decades.

I am new to this group so I hope I haven't broken any rules. I looked at the "Similar Questions" and didn't see one that is similar.


texts:
I wonder what "an A/B metaphor" means, for example, in the following quote from Wikipedia about formal language:

  "In some applications, especially in logic, the alphabet is also known as the vocabulary and words are known as formulas or sentences; this breaks the letter/word metaphor and replaces it by a word/sentence metaphor."

In the example, what is used as a metaphor of what?


texts: Is it proper to start a sentence with the word that ended the last sentence?

texts:
For example:

  Instead, you’ll use a higher-level model called ASP.NET AJAX. ASP.NET AJAX gives you a set of server-side components and controls that you can use when designing your web page.

This does not seem correct to me, at least in this case.


texts: I wrote in one place "I can't help to say- what a great... !". I intended to say that I can't stop myself to say or think otherwise. In my native language it had to be a double negation and I wanted this. Did I write this correctly? How should this be written correctly ?


texts:
I'm a student studying English abroad. I couldn't understand something while reading an English article. I don't know why "about" was used in the emboldened sentence. Isn't "that's been the strangest thing" fine? I've thought "about" meant "concerning" or "nearly", but I think neither is right in this case. Therefore, please explain to me the meaning of that.

Utah officials found a mysterious metal pillar in remote Red Rock
Country in the southeastern part of the state while flying by
helicopter on a routine search for sheep. Officials said they had no
idea how the 10- to 12-foot-tall block of metal got there. "That's
been about the strangest thing that I've come across out there in all
my years of flying," helicopter pilot Bret Hutchings told KSL TV.

Besides, in the same sentence, isn't it better to use "is" rather than "has been"? I think using "is" looks more natural.


texts: Is there an expression to use when we want to say that someone does you a favor, but they keep talking about it or reminding you of it too much in a way that annoys you?


texts: What does “it” do in “the man whose unique right it was to assist the King to mount his horse”?

texts:
The sentence is from “The Persian Empire” by Christopher Tuplin:*

  [a] Another unusual (indeed, unrecorded) functionary is Tiribazus, the man whose unique right it was to assist the King to mount his horse.

I don’t recall having encountered a sentence like this before, and I would be tempted to rewrite it without the it:

  [b] […] the man whose unique right was to assist the King to mount its horse.

I looked up it in Merriam-Webster, and found a possible clue. It says (3 a) it can be “used as anticipatory subject or object of a verb,” and gives the example, “it is necessary to repeat the whole thing.” This example sentence looks very different, but if it anticipates the subject in the original sentence [a] maybe it should be read as:

  [a1] To assist the King to mount his horse was this man’s unique right (and no one else’s);

Whereas my sentence [b] should be read:

  [b1] This man’s unique right was to assist the King to mount his horse (not any other right).

I find this plausible, but I’m still unsure, as I’m unfamiliar with this type of sentence. Can anyone clarify? Is this such an unusual type of sentence, or maybe I haven’t been paying attention?

* Christopher Tuplin, “The Persian Empire” in Robin Lane Fox (editor), The Long March, Xenophon and the Ten Thousand, Yale University Press, 2004, p. 158.


texts: Urgently or desperately wanting something to happen

texts:
examples:

"urgently want" a pizza
"desperately and urgently want" to arrive to a destination.

Is there a single word to express this?


texts: What is the meaning of "have all the effect of"

texts:
What is the meaning of 'all the effect of' and how it used in the following statement? What does it refer by 'they'

  In such a life, scenery, inhabitants, costume, and characteristics are
  so different from those to which the novice has been accustomed in his
  European home, that they have for him at first all the effect of
  enchantment.

Forest Life In Ceylon, 1854


texts: Correctness of "of my sending the picture"

texts:
Is this sentence correct?

  I don’t think Linda would have approved of my  sending the picture; but I did it anyway.

Specifically, is of my sending the picture correct?


texts:
I'm currently looking at this Wikipedia article:
List of HTTP status codes
and it has the following sections that represent HTTP status code classes:
1xx, 2xx, 3xx, 4xx, 5xx.

The same can be found in the Apache documentation (Custom Error Responses):

  Although the Apache HTTP Server provides generic error responses in
  the event of 4xx or 5xx HTTP status codes

As far as I know:

four hundred - 400
four-hundredth - 400th
four-hundredths - 4/100

So the choice to pronounce might be one of the following:

four-x-x
four hundredth
four hundreds

I could not find any dictionary that has an entry for such a "term".
I think that some video courses refer to them as "four-x-x" and "four hundredth". I don't remember where I've heard that, but even if I would that won't be credible enough to post here anyway.

Question.

Specifically, how to pronounce 1xx and 4xx? I'm asking both of them in case they might differ, because of singular / plural forms.


texts: I will give you the money after my parents [give it/have given] it to me?

texts:
I will be giving something to someone after I get it from elsewhere.

I will give you the money after my parents give it to me.
I will give you the money after my parents have given it to me.

Which one is the correct?


texts:
I'm reading an old scientific paper from the 1980s, and I'm curious about one of the abbreviations it uses in a fairly admin part of the paper:

Single issue price Dfl. 77.00, postage included.

(This is the paper, in case it's relevant.)
I asked the internet what the "Dfl." means but none of the answers really apply. I imagine the answer probably speaks to some bygone method of distribution of literature, which makes me more curious. Can someone clarify this?


texts: Comma use in a complex sentence: independent clause combined with non-essential relative clause

texts:
I have the following sentence, where I have difficulty with the correct usage of commas.

Inpatient nursing care is available for medically stable patients, who do not require constant medical attention but need nursing and medical procedures that cannot be delivered at home.

Is the comma before "but" unnecessary as the last part is not independent clause? https://www.grammarly.com/blog/comma-before-but/
Should "who do not require constant medical attention" be separated with commas as it is a non-essential relative clause?
https://prowritingaid.com/grammar/1008112/comma-before-which-where-who


texts: Comma or no comma in reaffirmation of answer? "____ it is" or "____, it is"

texts:
Would sentence 3 get a comma or not?

Carrie: What time do you want to get lunch?
Corin: How about noon?
Carrie: Noon, it is!  OR  Noon it is!

In case it's not obvious, the intention of sentence 3 is that Carrie is reaffirming Corin's answer, not stating, Yoda-like, that the current time is now noon.


texts: Punctuation after the interjection "by heaven"

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Exclamation marks in the middle of a sentence

How would you punctuate the following phrase with "by heaven"? It was used by a cricket commentator.

  By heaven that's a good stroke!
  By heaven! That's a good stroke!
  By heaven, that's a good stroke!


texts: Complex sentence whose subject is a clause

texts:
In Thomas Harvey's Elementary Grammar and Compsition he says:

  A complex sentence whose subject or predicate only is a clause, need not be separated into principal and subordinate clauses in analysis.

Later in the section he gives the example, "That he is very sick, is evident," parses the sentence, then gives a sentence diagram.

I'm curious how one would break this sentence into its principal and subordinate clause.


texts: Does anyone know the origin of "drawing the bustle" as in spending too much money?

texts: I've read it in Georgette Heyer but can't find it elsewhere. Is it an expression she made up?


texts:
Elon Musk has recently posted a comment on Twitter, wondering under what name to include a flamethrower he had sold on a shipment manifest, so it gets past the custom services. He then proposes "Temperature Enhancement Device" as an option.
I immediately thought he meant the 'enhancement', as in increasing the tempertaure, but after failing to find any plausible defition of the word 'enhancement' in this sense, I now have doubts about it.

Did Elon Musk mean a "temperature increasing device" or he implied the flamethrower as a "temperture control/regulation unit"?


texts: Is it 'an' humiliating, or 'a' humiliating defeat?

texts:
I was looking at the papers and saw 'The Government suffered a humiliating defeat.'

It just felt wrong and I seem to recall it should be 'an' humiliating defeat, although I'm not certain.

I had a search but couldn't find anything.   Please could someone explain why it is one or the other.


texts:
Is this sentence correct:

"If this was true fifty years ago, it must be all the more so in modern times"

Did I use the expression "all the more so" correctly in this sentence?

Thanks


texts: I would like to know exactly where (or whether) "the right hand side", "the left hand wall", etc. should be hyphenated.


texts: Economy of words is part of the English language way (which) is saying things

texts:
"Economy of words is part of the English language way is saying things! Passive voice and complex sentences are out!"
When analyzing the sentence above, I found it has one subject, but has two finite verbs "is" and "say": "{Economy of words} {is} {part of the English language way} {is saying} {things}!"
What about saying it as "{Economy of words} {is} {part of the English language way} {which} {is saying} {things}!"


texts: How can I best describe "making a new discovery"?

texts: The context I am referring to is when someone, for instance,  comes into contact with something, a subject ( mathematics,  archeology or computer science, just to name a few),  a religion or a sport, and  discovers that he/she has found a new passion, something he/she  didn't know before or didn't think it could  be so fascinating. Is there an expression or an idiom to describe this ?


texts: How to treat a certain saying as a noun? i.e. ' "Do you see it"s '

texts:
I'm writing a story and in it, everyone sees this mysterious box. So, this crowd of people are:
"Exchanging looks and _____________"

I want to say they are exchanging "Do you see it?"s
Like multiple "Do you see it?" quotations. I'm not sure if this allowable in text, but I feel that there must be a way.


texts: What's the meaning of the expression "Live the ride"

texts:
I'm still learning some english slangs and expressions. I saw the expression "Live the ride".

I find nothing in the internet about that expression. Who uses that expression talk about to create something new everyday, do not have fear to try etc...

But when you talk about to "live the ride" you are talking about to live the life in your own way, to do what you want or to live to make something great, to have a purpose of life?

Thanks!


texts:
I remember watching an episode of Good Mythical Morning on YouTube the other day, and they had a game where they were given words and had to guess what they meant. One of the word's definition roughly meant outdated traditions or traditions that no longer make sense in the context of the modern-day but that we still perform.

I can't find the video now, and it's bothering me so much that I can't find this word. I've tried googling and nothing relevant is showing up.


texts: "Fi on You" phrase meaning, etymology, and spelling

texts:
I couldn't dig up any information on the phrase:

  Fi on you

Meaning, as far as I recall, shame on you

Perhaps my search came up empty because that's not the correct spelling, but does anyone have more info on this term and it's origin?


texts:
Observe below a body of an email:-

I have been directed to send the report on the subject mentioned above. PFA.

On the Grammarly software, it is flagged as passive voice misuse. Please enlighten me about the passive voice misuse. Thanks in advance.


texts: What is the one word for saying 'based a template on'?

texts:
If someone, person A, has done really well in their business, and one wants to encourage others to do the same, they would say

....... person A, you should also design a creative product.

What is the word before person A? Where person A is the person one aspires to become (i.e. the inspiration)

Thank you.


texts:
I realize everyone uses 'four times', 'five times'... in case of denoting something repeating more than three times. Even 'thrice' is currently gradually going extinct.

But did English ever possess single-word expression that denoted 'four times', or any for higher number, or was 'thrice' always the highest single-word adverb to denote a number of times something repeats?


texts: First use of phrase, “That’s not going to fly.”

texts: Would anyone one be able to ferret out the first-known use of the phrase or idiom, “That’s not going to fly”? Thank you.


texts:
For example, are the following examples of litotes:

  Ariel (The Tempest): ‘The powers, delaying, not forgetting’

(Stresses a past injustice being remembered)

  Adam (Paradise Lost): ‘nothing lovelier can be found / In woman, than to study household good’

(Stresses the best attribute in a women is maintaining a household)

Or is litotes  more confined to 'not bad', 'not unlike', etc.?


texts:
The hyphenation of this sentence is throwing me off, and I want to make sure I have them in the right place. Here's the sentence:

Each member of our team is mid- to senior-level.


texts:
"I would work on another script later this month, if I thought I could find the time."

As far as I know, both parts of the 2nd conditional are supposed to express present situation. Is it present situation with its present result in this case?


texts: "I ordered us..." vs. "I ordered for us..." vs "I ordered ... for us"

texts:
I usually use a phrase such as:

  (1) I ordered us a box.

Would it be more correct to say:

  (2) I ordered for us a box.

Or, better still:

  (3) I ordered a box for us.

Example 3 sounds the most correct, but are 1 and 2 improper English or are they perfectly valid in written form?


texts: What words do you use to describe an unmatched couple?

texts:
What words do we use to describe an unmatched couple, for instance, the female is much more attractive than the male, or the other way around?

If we found that a girl is out of the league of her boyfriend (8 vs 5), or the other way around, how would we describe such a couple?


texts: Confusions about the definitions of "draw on"

texts:
The idiom draw on as I know has many definitions. Two of which are to approach and to pass gradually

This can be very confusing because the same phrase has two opposite meanings.

Here's an example where confusion may come up:

  The storm lessened as the night drew on. (From The Free Dictionary)

Is it saying that the night is approaching or passing?

For those who saying it has to be approach, here is a pic of the definition from the free dict. :


texts: Does “We're going to buy you X” sound vaguely confrontational, vs. “We’ll buy you X”?

texts:
McWhorter, J,  Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue (2009), p 127.
[emboldening mine]

    What they think brings English back to par with German and the rest is, for example, the tricky English future tense. Future tense marking in English is a highly subtle affair, much more so than in other Germanic languages. Could you explain what the difference in meaning is between I will go, I’m going to go, and I’m going? They are not just interchangeable ways of expressing futurity. Try this: you tell someone that you’ve always wanted a pair of argyle socks and they say, “Okay, tomorrow we’ll buy you some.” Now, imagine if they said instead, “Okay, tomorrow we’re going to buy you some.” Notice how that second sentence has a different meaning—it sounds vaguely confrontational. Nobody taught you that—it’s a subtlety of English grammar. It’s hard, this English future—I am so thankful I learned it from the cradle. A non-native speaker I knew whose English was truly spectacular once said when I asked her age, “I turn twenty-five.” Mmm, not quite. It has to be “I’m turning twenty-five.” Only if you started with a time expression could you use the bare

p 128

  verb: “Tomorrow I turn twenty-five.” Subtle—or, to a non-native, hard.

Can someone please expound the emboldened sentence, and help me understand this subtlety? The  going-to future doesn't feel 'vaguely confrontational' to me at all.


texts: Is there a male equivalent of "dowager" with regard to British titles?

texts:
I was thinking about the British Royal Family, particularly the Queen Mother and why she had that title.  I started wondering if Queen Elizabeth II died before Prince Phillip (and Charles became King) would Phillip get an equivalent title (at least in the Press, which loves short nicknames for everyone).  "King Father" would obviously be wrong as he has never been King but "Prince Father" also sounds odd and suggests "Father of a Prince" rather than "Father of the King".  I see Wikipedia talks about "Queen dowagers" and that "dowager Princess" has sometimes been used, so "dowager Prince Phillip" would fit except "dowager" always refers to a female, specifically a widow.  So is there any equivalent for a widower?

As far as I know, no male consort has survived his wife in British Royalty but has it happened in other countries or is there an example in British Nobility that could set a precedent for this?


texts: Why was "to + verb + ing" used in this case?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How to use “to + V-ing”?
  “To hear” or “to hearing”?

  Samson had been a strong man prior to having his hair cut.

From a grammatical point of view, when to appears before a verb, it indicates that the infinitive (simple) form of the verb is to be used. But I have seen to used with conjugated forms of verb as well. What is the explanation for such uses?

For instance, why is this not correct?

  Samson had been a strong man prior to his hair are being cut?


texts: Do I write "zero millimeter" or "zero millimeters"?

texts:
Possible Duplicates:
  Correct plural form of a zero quantified noun
  There are no comments / There is no comment.

In the sentence "There is 0 mm of attached gingiva,"  is the proper word "is" or "are" when asking about the millimeters?


texts:
In a book I came upon this dialogue:

“Fired his ass the next day,” he said.
“No shit?”
“Hand to God,” Villanueva said.

What does "hand to God" here means, please? Where does it come from?


texts: Appropriate management and supervision of tourism centers "is" or "are" essential?

texts:
Which one is correct and why?

Appropriate management and supervision of tourism centers is essential.
Appropriate management and supervision of tourism centers are essential.


texts:
Somehow, overly never struck me as a cromulent word.  Over is already an adverb.  You can write “This sentence is over-long.”  Is there really an advantage to writing “This sentence is overly long”?

Is there a context in which overly is right and over is not?

(Edit: already an adverb.)


texts:
What is the origin of the phrase "Given up the ghost"?

  e.g.  "After 10 years, my DVD player has finally given up the ghost."

Does it have a religious connotation?


texts: Is it OK to use perfect infinitive in such cases...?

texts:
I wanted to express my disdain for certaing people and say something along the lines of "If they by any chance were to die tomorrow, I wouldn't care" (I know it's a wrong thing to say, and I'm sorry.) What I actually said was:

They could have been killed tomorrow; I couldn't care less.

Shouldn't I have said: They could be killed...? I used the perfect infinitive to emphasize the improbability of them being killed any time soon. Now I feel I overdid it.


texts: A word for a text with meanings read in both directions?

texts:
Not a palindrome at the word-order level, but one or more sentences that make perfectly good sense read in reverse order -- but a different sense.

Is there a term for this? (And if you don't know an English term, but do know a German or French one, that would help, too.)


texts:
I've stumbled over some dialogue in a textbook, where some people have a chat at work, and at the end, when they get back to their urgent tasks, one character says (emph. mine):

  Well, I'd better let you carry on
  then. No rest for the wicked.

Now, I've found out where the phrase comes from, but I do not quite follow in which context it can be "used for mild comic effect".


texts: What is "opening her Caesar" referring to here?

texts:
"But, oh, Marilla, I really felt that I had tasted the bitterness of
death, as Mr. Allan said in his sermon last Sunday, when I saw Diana
go out alone," she said mournfully that night. "I thought how splendid
it would have been if Diana had only been going to study for the
Entrance, too. But we can't have things perfect in this imperfect
world, as Mrs. Lynde says. Mrs. Lynde isn't exactly a comforting
person sometimes, but there's no doubt she says a great many very true
things. And I think the Queen's class is going to be extremely
interesting. Jane and Ruby are just going to study to be teachers.
That is the height of their ambition. Ruby says she will only teach
for two years after she gets through, and then she intends to be
married. Jane says she will devote her whole life to teaching, and
never, never marry, because you are paid a salary for teaching, but a
husband won't pay you anything, and growls if you ask for a share in
the egg and butter money. I expect Jane speaks from mournful
experience, for Mrs. Lynde says that her father is a perfect old
crank, and meaner than second skimmings. Josie Pye says she is just
going to college for education's sake, because she won't have to earn
her own living; she says of course it is different with orphans who
are living on charity—THEY have to hustle. Moody Spurgeon is going to
be a minister. Mrs. Lynde says he couldn't be anything else with a
name like that to live up to. I hope it isn't wicked of me, Marilla,
but really the thought of Moody Spurgeon being a minister makes me
laugh. He's such a funny-looking boy with that big fat face, and his
little blue eyes, and his ears sticking out like flaps. But perhaps he
will be more intellectual looking when he grows up. Charlie Sloane
says he's going to go into politics and be a member of Parliament, but
Mrs. Lynde says he'll never succeed at that, because the Sloanes are
all honest people, and it's only rascals that get on in politics
nowadays."
"What is Gilbert Blythe going to be?" queried Marilla, seeing that
Anne was opening her Caesar.
"I don't happen to know what Gilbert Blythe's ambition in life is—if
he has any," said Anne scornfully.
–– L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables


texts: What is the meaning and the usage of " save" in this sentence?

texts:
I don't understand the last sentence of the following paragraph, especially the meaning and usage of "save us with that".

  3:28
  So we come to one person, and we basically are asking them to give us what once an entire village used to provide. Give me belonging, give me identity, give me continuity, but give me transcendence and mystery and awe all in one. Give me comfort, give me edge. Give me novelty, give me familiarity. Give me predictability, give me surprise. And we think it's a given, and toys and lingerie are going to save us with that.

Source:Esther Perel: The secret to desire in a long-term relationship


texts: not or n't - word order in negative questions

texts:
Here is the context:

  Tom doesn't like eating apples, bananas and oranges.

If I want to ask a question about what Tom doesn't like to eat, Which one of the followings is correct and sounds normal?

What doesn't Tom like to eat?

What does Tom not like to eat?

Thanks guys!


texts: What is the meaning of "fit the time" in the context?

texts:
check out the sentence:

  As measurement devices have improved, maps have become more accurate
  and also less artistic. The following maps are from the region in
  which the current superpowers, Russia and the United States, almost
  meet. The older map (L126) is from the early 17th century. It was
  drawn by John Speed (1552–1629), an English cartographer and
  historian. At first his life took another direction when he followed
  his father into the tailoring business. It was not until later that
  his interest in history became an occupation. The map on display was
  published in a history book written by Speed. The details that fit the
  time include a drawing of Willem Barentsz’s crew spending the winter
  on Novaya Zemlya

I couldn't find the precise meaning of "fit the time" in dictionary.

Thanks


texts: Is there a word for "underneath a tree"?

texts: Is there an adjective to describe an object (edit: e.g. a dog house or a headstone; the object is not necessarily a living thing) on the ground and underneath a tree? I thought of "treeside", but its meaning is obviously a bit different.


texts: When did "fag" become an offensive word?

texts: I'm from Pennsylvania. With the recent threat by the Westboro Baptist Church to protest the funeral of seven children who perished in a fire, I've been thinking a lot about their infamous catchphrase: "God Hates Fags." Religious debates aside, when did "fag" become an offensive word?


texts: I quite occasionally play chess. Is it acceptable to say 'quite occasionally'


texts:
I don't understand the part in boldface. The Oxford dictionary interprets "extend over" as "occupy a specified area or stretch to a specified point", but I'm not sure if that definition fits here.

  However important it may be, in order to form a proper judgment of the natural state of man, to consider him from his origin, and to examine him, as it were, in the first embryo of the species; I shall not attempt to trace his organization through its successive approaches to perfection: I shall not stop to examine in the animal system what he might have been in the beginning, to become at last what he actually is; I shall not inquire whether, as Aristotle thinks, his neglected nails were no better at first than crooked talons; whether his whole body was not, bear-like, thick covered with rough hair; and whether, walking upon all-fours, his eyes, directed to the earth, and confined to a horizon of a few paces extent, did not at once point out the nature and limits of his ideas. I could only form vague, and almost imaginary, conjectures on this subject. Comparative anatomy has not as yet been sufficiently improved; neither have the observations of natural philosophy been sufficiently ascertained, to establish upon such foundations the basis of a solid system. For this reason, without having recourse to the supernatural informations with which we have been favoured on this head, or paying any attention to the changes, that must have happened in the conformation of the interior and exterior parts of man's body, in proportion as he applied his members to new purposes, and took to new aliments, I shall suppose his conformation to have always been, what we now behold it; that he always walked on two feet, made the same use of his hands that we do of ours, extended his looks over the whole face of nature, and measured with his eyes the vast extent of the heavens.

This sentence comes from A Discourse Upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among Mankind


texts: Words "configuration" and "settings" in context

texts:
Are the words configuration and settings correct in the following context?:

chair configuration / chair settings

regarding the height of said chair, inclination of the chair back, etc.

If so, are they interchangeable or do they have a different connotation?


texts:
I am helping to correct some errors in a game manual not originally written in english. I've come across a bit that I'm not sure what to do with.

The game consists of several 90-minute matches.

My question is whether this is correct or if the line should read:

The game consists of several 90-minutes matches.

I feel like the original version is correct, though I only base this off of the fact that is "sounds" right to me. I've done a bit of searching and found a blog post about something similar here. It doesn't provide a definitive answer though.


texts: "What have we here?" vs. "What do we have here?"

texts:
Could someone explain which structure is correct and if it's okay to say the other one?

Oh, what have we here?
Oh, what do we have here?

Can we simply invert the subject and the verb to make a sentence interrogative as in French?


texts: Position of the adverb 'just' before/after 'by'

texts:
Which of the following sentences are right:

  A) One doesn't become cool just by playing football.

or

  B) One doesn't become cool by just playing football.

The sentence should give the following meaning:

  Playing football does not make someone a cool person.


texts: Single-word term for "Number of employees"

texts: Is there a single-word term for "Number of employees" as in "our company's number of employees"?


texts:
What I want to say is that there is a small puddle of blood but find myself using the term too often and want to try something different.

A quick search of the term on books.google does return a few results using that exact phrase but I want to be sure that the term is correct in use.


texts: The proper usage of 'compeer'; and is it a root word?

texts:
Compeer has a definition:

A person of equal rank, status or ability

What I am asking is what context is this word typically used? And equally important - is it valid to use the words compeering and compeeringly? What is the general rule for this?

I'd really like to use the word compeering, but I'm not sure how correct it would be to.


texts: Meaning of 'train' in 19th c. women's clothing--but not the elongated part of a dress, robe, or coat

texts: Queen Victoria instructed her secretary to write Princess Alexandra about her trousseau before she married the Prince of Wales: "Three or four trains and grand toilettes will . . . be sufficient." What's a "train," in this context? Is it a long undergarment such as a slip, or something else?


texts: How do you handle singular/plural for mathematical expressions that evaluate to 1?

texts:
I know that it is correct to say

There is 1 composition of n.

but what if instead of "1", I use an expression that evaluates to 1? For example, what is the grammatical number in these sentences?

There is/are 20 composition(s) of n. (two to the zero)
There is/are 3 - 2 composition(s) of n. (three minus two)
There is/are 20=1 composition(s) of n. (two to the zero, which equals one)
There is/are 1=20 composition(s) of n. (one, which equals two to the zero)

This problem comes up somewhat frequently for me when describing the base case in a proof by induction.


texts: Is 'max' a proper word for academic writing?

texts:
A very simple question: can the word max be used in academic (conference/journal publications or books)?

  When searching for 'max number' using Google Scholar, I get 33,400
  results.

  When searching for 'maximum number' on the hand, I get 1,590,000
  results.


texts: A question on 'full' Vs 'fully', both as 'adverbs'

texts:
In order to modify an adjective or adverb, we use an adverb in English, as in "completely insane" or "It went completely out of hand". Now 'full', though mainly used as an adjective, occurs in English as adverb too, like for instance when you say: "I know full well." This makes the differentiation between "fully" and "full" not as intuitive as some may think.

I was wondering if I could get some thoughts on how the following sounds:

  He advanced to battle, full angry.

Or?

  He advanced to battle, fully angry.


texts: I'm new to this community. Why verb tenses names are so-called? For example why do we some people say "Present simple" instead of  where others say "Simple present", and so on.


texts:
I would like to get a sense of the implications of a phrase that begins with "may", but is followed by a limitation or qualifier.

For example:

"A lawyer may, no later than 10 days after being provided with the opposing party's motion, raise an objection."

My questions are:

What is this type of sentence called?; Is "may" used instead of "must" only to extend to the lawyer the option or raising an objection?; and If the objection is not raised within ten days, can the sentence be interpreted as negating the lawyer's option to raise an objection and/or is it suggestive that the lawyer acquiesces or accepts the opposing party's motion?

Any comment / interpretation would be appreciated.


texts: What is the difference between 'dimension', 'dimensional' and 'dimensionality'?

texts: Could someone show me the difference?  I do not know how to distinguish the usage of dimension and dimensionality when saying something is high-dimensional.


texts: Recently, I've heard that someone said "get him back". I'm not sure about the exact meaning though I can guess some. Could you please explain the meaning?


texts:
Consider the following setup. What would the word classes of "out" and "there" be?

  "Where is James?"

  "He is out there somewhere, right in the middle of the storm."

I was first thinking in the direction of "to be out there" being a phrasal verb, but I know that can't be true. This leaves me to think that there is a demonstrative pronoun (correct me if I'm wrong), but I can't figure out what the word class of "out" is in that case.


texts: What do you call a glossary accompanied with visuals?

texts:
I am trying to create a glossary but I want to incorporate some pictures but I'm pretty convinced that a glossary only contain words.

So what would you call a glossary with images where the images are related to the word being defined.


texts: Is it wrong to use "would wear glasses" in the meaning of a habit in the past?

texts:
I was learning about difference between "would" and "used to" to talk about past habits and tendencies. My grammar book says that both "used to" and "would" can be used in this sense and often are interchangeable, but an important difference between them is that:

You can only use "used to", not "would" for past states.

As far as I understand, it means that I can't use "would" in this sense with stative verbs. Right? Then I took an exercise

I ______ wear glasses when I was a teenager.
a. would
b. used to

The correct answer is "used to" and we can't use "would" here. Is it because "wear" is a stative verb? Is it actually stative? On this and a few other forums I figured out that "wear" should be a stative verb, or at least most speakers claim so.
Nevertherless, "wear" definitely can be used in present perfect continues, for example:

How long have you been wearing glasses?

Whereas stative verbs can't be used in continuous tenses (unless changing their meaning).
And, finally, my questions:

Is it true that in the first example we can't use "would" because "wear" is a stative verb?
If so, why is it correct to use "wear" in continuous tenses?


texts:
What are the subject and predicate in the following sentence?

What a crazy Email Chain.


texts: Alternative to "as-well-as" for an academic paper

texts:
Is there some better alternative to phrase  as well as  for an academic writing? It sounds to me too informal.

The whole sentence is:

  Improvements of both parts are possible as well as joining them into one piece of software.


texts: Does anyone know the origin of the name "dear-joy" (used, often perjoratively, by English people to denominate the Irish in the 18th century)?

texts: I'm looking for the origin of the term "dear-joys" applied by English people to the Irish in the 18th (and possibly 19th century). I can find lots of citations for its use in 18th century literature but nothing which tells me of its origin.


texts: showings of a movie at different times of the day

texts:
I know matinee refers to an afternoon showing of a movie.
How about morning, evening, and midnight showings? Any specific terms?


texts: Can we place a verb before a long subject (ten words) in passive voice?

texts:
I need to put the verb (to develop) in its proper place in the following passive-voice sentence:

  In that book were developed the basic ideas about the cell and its biological properties.

The proper order in English is subject–verb, which would be:

  In that book, the basic ideas about the cell and its biological properties were developed.

But in this sentence, the subject and its modifying phrases contain ten words. If we use the order verb–subject (first option), then the sentence is easier to read.


texts:
I am currently doing an assignment. I am having difficulty understanding this phenomenon.

If the verb "taking" is in a passage would it be considered a conversion process, as "taking" can also be a noun? Similarly, is the verb "occupied" considered a verb to adjective conversion?

I know that the "ing" and "ed" are considered derivational – while conversion is zero derviational – if added to a word in order to form a noun/an adjective, yet are both the "ing" and "ed" considered a derivational addition, or just a conversion from a word with an inflectional prefix?


texts: "Make money off of" vs. "make money out of"

texts:
Which one sounds correct?

  I am not making any money off of this product.
  I am not making any money out of this product.

If you tell me both, then how would you explain "off" here as it doesn't sound right to me since "make off" means:

  Run away; usually includes taking something or somebody along


texts: I am looking for a noun to describe an individual meeting of a course, as in a course of study at a university. Class is not an option in this case. Thoughts?


texts: What is the difference between 'finished' and 'completed'?

texts:
What is the difference between 'finished' and 'completed', As both words gives the same meaning.

Ex 1: He finished his homework.
Ex 2: He completed his homework.

And also how to use or where to use these words ?

Dictionary Reference :
Completed : Finish making or doing.
Finished : Brought to an end; completed.

As for me both sentence has same or mere meaning, So is there any real difference between?


texts: "He's unsure what might come after" replacement?

texts: I am not a native English speaker and according to my classes, the phrase "He's unsure what might come after" is incorrect because it ends in a preposition. Is there a replacement for this sentence or is it fine as it is?


texts: What's a better word to use instead of "nicheification"?

texts:
What would be a better word to use than "nicheification"? In the article here, there's one sentence that says

  Furthermore, when your entire career has been structured around nicheification, there's little potential for leadership or management, skills that are learned rather than innate, and generally ignored when your search targets a niche player.

I searched for this word using define:nicheification on Google, and it doesn't seem to exist.

Thanks.


texts: "Suped-up": is it a real idiom (vs souped-up)

texts:
I've looked up both and seen the answer to "why do we say 'soup up.'" Having always thought myself that the phrase was "to soup-up," I've been lately surprised to see a significant amount of usage of "suped-up" with claims that it's from the term "to supercharge" or "super" and that "soup" is the misspelling.

Is there a definitive word on whether "suped-up" is a real term for "supercharged" or if it's a misspelled variant of "souped-up"?


texts: What is the proper way to refer to the Original Poster (OP)?

texts:
In a Stack Exchange comment, I was corrected by referring to a user named alice as a "he". I said (context):

  I know he thinks he needs all of the eigenvalues, but I've learned that ...

and was corrected to by another user

  But a protip: the username "alice" and the pronoun "he" typically don't go together. Probably better to stick to gender-neutral singular they.

Which of these would be correct?

I know he thinks he needs all of the eigenvalues, ...
I know he/she thinks he/she needs all of the eigenvalues, ...
I know they think they need all of the eigenvalues, ...
I know the OP thinks they need all of the eigenvalues, ...

Clearly this question is related:

Is there a correct gender-neutral singular pronoun ("his" vs. "her" vs. "their")?

I'm interested in the last case where OP is essentially a pronoun, but the usage sounds awkward. Is there a good way to refer to OP or should I stick with "they"?


texts:
I need some help about the infinitive clause that comes after "curious".
Let's say that I am "curious" about a locked room.  Then, could I write this:

  I am curious to open the door.

I checked a few dictionaries, and they say that the infinitive clause after "curious" should be along the lines of "to know", "to find out", or "to see", not "to open".
Does that mean my example is wrong?


texts: Word to name a group that sits between Junior and Senior

texts:
I have a school system which 6 year levels. these 6 year levels are broken up into 3 groups. currently i have

Junior (1st and 2nd year)
_____ (3rd and 4th Year)
Senior (5th and 6th Year)

i'm looking for a word that would fit in-between Junior and Senior which would also be used to name them.
Description Example

The 6 year levels are broken up into 3 groups. Junior, _____ and Senior
Juniors (1st and second years), being the newest, generally have more restrictions put on what they can do around campus than most to help them ease into school like at Astrea rather than become overwhelmed with all the difference from their previous schools. the Junior uniform is generally colored black
______s (3rd and 4th years), having gotten used to the unfamiliar school system of Astrea are given some freedoms such as being able to join Night Watch or the Student Council and not being under curfew if living in the dormitories. along with these ______s can selected up to 4 elective subject each year however one must be of the Magic Combat Training subset of subjects. the _____ uniform is general a dark rose colour.
Seinors (5th and 6th years) have the most freedom and only need to take the core 4 subjects while the rest are all elective. of their electives they can choose to forgo study for almost 2 per seasonal term (_____s can only choose 1 and must get approval from their homeroom teacher and either their doom supervisor or an evaluation from the headmaster). Seniors can also gain access the break lounges scattered around the campus and can leave school grounds during school hours. the Senior uniform is white with an additional camisole-style lace garment dress over top imprinted with a student's elemental nature

Dialog Example:

"You don't mind if i walk home with you?" Arietta asked.
"do whatever you want" Suecia said walking off. the moody Undine didn't get far however before something yanked at the collar of her kimono
"hey! that's not how you treat your kohai" a girl said pulling Suecia back "you're a _____ now and like our ______s before us we help our kohai Juniors"


texts: People in America ask "how are you" a lot. Many people would reply with "I'm good." If I am feeling OK, I would say "I'm well." Which version is right?


texts:
As shown above, you can use this sentence.

  When needed, you can have this candy.

  You did more than necessary.

Those sentences have one thing in common. After word as, when, and than, they do not have subject. And it sounds perfectly normal. Can someone explain me why? Thank you.


texts: We're having a debate in the kitchen about this. When would I use addicting vs addictive?


texts:
I'm trying to verify the correctness the following sentence:

  Game time is Sunday.

Is it correct or should it be "game-time"?


texts: What does "prevently" mean in this paragraph?

texts:
What does prevently mean in this paragraph? The original article can be found here:

  [...] Only the activity of insects and frogs that danced around the
  lilly pads disturbed the water. Hardly a minute had passed when a
  movement caught the corner of my left eye. Imagination told me that a
  grandaddy beaver was tromping in clear range of my Winchester Super-X
  CXP3 power-point game load. Reality told me something else. What I had
  supposed was a large beaver turned out to be the head of a much larger
  animal. It was the presence of this laviathon that had prevently me
  from seeing any beavers upon arrival. In a flash, the five-foot
  reptilian sprang from the brush and exploded into the water with great
  speed and noise.[...]


texts: Possessive apostrophe regarding the term 'Logistics'

texts:
Just wanted to ask if the word 'logistics' would have a possessive apostrophe in the following sentence.

Halal logistics services are needed to guarantee halal products and maintain halal product integrity.


texts:
"Why shouldn't I be able to use all the resources here?"

Is this "should" the same as "I should go it." or "Why should I believe that story?"

Thank you.


texts: An idiom for "a hidden clue that will unravel a mystery"

texts:
I'm looking for a good idiom to express the idea of a clue or a key which if found can unravel or solve a mystery or greater problem.
A lynchpin to a mystery or diagnosis with implications of it being hidden or obscured


texts: Word to explain "mapping the unseen to the seen" (i.e. infrared light to visible light)

texts:
There is a popular misconception that sound can travel through space.  Since space is a vacuum, this isn't possible.

Confusingly this scientific video describes "the sound two black holes make when colliding".

Since it's impossible to make sounds in space, this video is actually a transcription of sorts from one human sense to another (audio).  I want to underscore that this is a false transcription, and merely:

Only a mapping of the unseen to what our senses can appreciate
Constrained by the limits of technology in conveying this information.  Video was used to show a chart.  Audio was used to help understand this.

I'm hoping there is a cognitive word to describe the concept of

an accurate mapping of information (such as sheet music)

versus

a simulation/flawed representation that requires context. (e.g. "What does gravity taste like?" is no different than asking "what does gravity sound like?")


texts: Word or term for a bet where you have nothing to lose

texts:
Is there a single word or compact term for a bet where you are guaranteed to get your input back?

  Say you bet $1 on a dice roll and get $1 for each eye on the dice roll. Since the dice has a minimum of one eye, you are getting your input of $1 back no matter what.

This of course is a very bad bet for the bank.

But how is that called?


texts: What are milder alternatives to the word 'epidemic'?

texts:
In Vancouver and British Columbia, we're lucky enough to have had far fewer cases of coronavirus than most Western regions. I might describe this as a "relatively mild epidemic". However the word epidemic seems like an intense word that'd be used only for things beyond a certain level of spread or intensity (I'm curious whether this is the technical meaning, but it does feel like the colloquial/connotational one).

So, what are alternative words to use? I say 'alternatives' since they needn't be synonyms, but need only point at the same class of phenomena (ie. they could apply to the current situation).

(Broader discussion of alternative phrases - of varying levels of intensity or heaviness - that one might use about the current situation more broadly would be interesting. But I believe I should keep the core question narrowly delimited for StackExchange.)


texts:
I found in it in some thematic dictionary in "job" chapter, but I'm still reluctant to use it because of the negative meaning it has.

Is it okay to use it? How does it collocates?

Sincerely


texts: Is there a non-romantic phrase for missing someone?

texts:
The phrase "I miss you" can be equivocal: suggestive of (a) romantic longing and/or (b) regret of loss.

Certainly, context can shape its meaning, including geography, historical period, and the speakers and their relationships.

Given the circumstances in which it would be desirable to eliminate ambiguity, such as a platonic friendship, is there an alternative phrase for expressing (b) without (a)?


texts: Why can one leave out the article in "Please contact administrator"?

texts:
As a native American English speaker, I wrote the following error message for our application: "There was an error. Please contact administrator."

A native German speaking colleague asked me why I didn't write, "Please contact the administrator."

Both of course sound correct to me, and I find thousands of instances of "Please contact administrator" when googling.

Why is it that as a native American English speaker, I find "Please contact administrator" correct while e.g. I don't find "There was error." correct?

Does anyone know of a linguistic rule which explains when one can leave out articles and when one can't?

It seems to have to do with headlines as someone suggested in the comments, but also instructions. Has there been any research on this to determine all the contexts in which articles can be omitted in this way?


texts: I mean in this sentence "A buzzer sounds sharply in the distance. without looking up, he lifts his middle finger up on one hand and flips 'the bird' , holds it a moment.drops it." I dont know what he is doing.


texts:
The visual studio kept stucking under RDP yesterday

Should 'stuck' become a present tense verb? It seems like "getting stuck" is too long for the modern world where it happens much more frequently to things than it used to (See, for example, Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, "Share and enjoy").


texts: In Rock paper scissors, rock is scissors' "Kryptonite", scissors are "what" to rock?

texts:
I'm trying to find a word for something that always beats something else. Kryptonite might be used for something that you always lose to. From Superman, of course.

e.g. Rock is scissors' kryptonite (scissors lose to rock). Water is fire's krytonite (fire loses to water), and so on.

I want to know the opposite word of this "kryptonite". Say between rock and scissors. What word would be appropriate here:

Scissors are rock's _____. Fire is water's _____.


texts:
Possible Duplicates:
Question about Capitalization for a Bullet List
Periods for bullet point items

Should each item be in uppercase or not? I've seen both forms:

Yada, yada, yada, such as:

standardized bananas
Standardized bananas

And if each bulleted item is a complete sentence, should it be punctuated? And even if it isn't, should it have a comma?


texts: Purchase / Acquisition / Order difference?

texts:
I'm building a script where I'm using the term "Orders" as orders I get from customers, but I try to find the right word for purchases I make - for example, if I buy a service or product for my company.

That purchase is affection the company stock of course.

What would be the right term to use? purchase? acquisition? something else?

Thanks in advance!


texts:
The name of the city of Sodom is the etymon of sodomy.

  Question: Are there words in English for which Gomorrah is an etymon?

According to Online Etymology Dictionary the unit omer is related to Gomorrah. Beyond this I haven't found other words that are, at least, related. It would be interesting to know.


texts: Nouns denoting a state and the point of its initiation

texts:
The word incarnation, according to Webster, has two meanings:

1) the act of incarnating
2) the state of being incarnate

So, this word can denote a state, as well as the moment of initiation of that state.

Are there any other such words in English? is there any official term for such words?


texts: "Police say there appear to be signs of a break-in." Why "appear" instead of "appears"?

texts:
Here is an example:

  Police say there appear to be signs of a break-in.

I wonder why appears was not used instead of appear in the preceding sentence. Can linking verbs function as modal verbs?


texts:
I was reading Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and I came across the phrase "April smile." I was unable to find a meaning of this phrase using Google, so I thought I'd ask here.

Here is a quote where the phrase is found:

  "Give me some more examples of the subjunctive, Rebecca, and that will do for this afternoon," she said.

  "If I had not loved mackerel I should not have been thirsty;" said Rebecca with an April smile, as she closed her grammar. "If thou hadst loved me truly thou wouldst not have stood me up in the corner. If Samuel had not loved wickedness he would not have followed me to the water pail."

— from Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin, 1903 edition, pages 61-62.

What exactly does the author mean by "April smile" in this context? And how does it differ from a regular smile — eg. said Rebecca with a smle, as she closed her grammar. —?