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3,600 | 76,956 | 76823_0 | I really enjoyed _The Dark Knight Rises_ and want to send a grammatically correct tweet about it. Unfortunately correct punctuation of the following eludes me: > In other news The Dark Knight Rises was better than The Dark Knight. Not > just a good super hero or action movie just a great movie, period. What is the correct punctuation before the word "period?" Am I correct in using a comma or should an ellipsis or emdash be used instead? |
3,601 | 76,954 | 76823_0 | I have read both two uses: 1. The _combinations of_ a, b and c, taken two at a time, are ab, bc, ac. 2. We can not help but noticing a harmonious _combination between_ classic and contemporary. Are both uses interchangeable? Perhaps substitute _combinations among_ for _combinations of_ in the first sentence? Any idea is appreciated. |
3,602 | 194,800 | 76823_0 | > _It is plain to see that you don't like dogs._ Here, what does _it_ refer to? _To see that you don't like dogs_ or _that you don't like dogs_? If it refers to the former, then the sentence means: > _To see that you don't like dogs is plain._ If the latter, then it means: > _That you don't like dogs is plain to see._ Since both do make sense at least semantically, I wonder what would be the better syntactic analysis of the sentence. Or whether either would be an equally possible analysis. Also, would your answer change if (1) _plain_ was replaced with _easy_ in the original sentence? (2) _to see_ was replaced with _seeing_ in the original sentence? |
3,603 | 177,239 | 76823_0 | In Ireland we say: "Twenty-five to ten" (9:35) (21:35) "Twenty to ten" (9:40) (21:40) "A quarter to ten" (9:45) (21:45) "Ten to ten" (9:50) (21:50) "Five to ten" (9:55) (21:55) "Ten o'clock" or just "Ten". For example, "I'll see you at ten so!" (10:00) (22:00) "Ten past ten" (10:10) (22:10) "A quarter past ten" (10:15) (22:15) "Half ten" and sometimes "Half past ten" (10:30) (22:30) You can also drop the hour value, if it is obvious, for example: "Is it half past yet?" (you can't say "Is it half yet?") "It's a quarter to, I must go!" When being exact: "It's a minute past nine" (9:01) (21:01) "It's thirteen minutes to ten" (9:47) (21:47) a.m and p.m. are not used. Instead to differentiate between 9:35 and 21:35 you would say: "I'll see you at twenty-five to ten tomorrow evening so." "I'll pick you up at twenty-five to ten in the morning." This is very consistent for all age groups and all parts of Ireland as fas as I know. How do you tell the time and mention which dialect you speak in your answer? How much of the Irish way of telling the time would sound alien or even confusing to you? |
3,604 | 73,522 | 76823_0 | I am trying to write a document that describes the frequency with which we perform a task. It is usually done daily, however I don't want to be tied to having to do it daily. Is there a more professional word I can use to mean _near-daily_? |
3,605 | 100,190 | 76823_0 | Let's say someone has an idea that he/she thinks is really good, but in reality it is actually not a very good idea. How can I describe this kind of mentality? |
3,606 | 73,524 | 76823_0 | I was talking to a friend of mine over Skype, and I typed this: > Ok... Now I want more pork pie. I'd like to know, should there be a capital letter after the ellipsis `…`? Should it be written the way I typed it: > Ok... Now I want more pork pie. Or should it be a lowercase `N`: > Ok... now I want more pork pie. Do ellipses break a sentence so that a new one must be started after them (hence the capital N), or do they behave similarly to commas and dashes in that they serve as a "pause", with a lowercase N? |
3,607 | 194,806 | 76823_0 | What is correct Sometimes I cook for myself or Sometimes I cook myself. This sounds like cooking self, which is not true. I've heard ( most of times ) people use second phrase. Which of the two is correct ?. |
3,608 | 92,661 | 76823_0 | When you say "I'm 25" to mean that you're 25 years old, would you consider "25" a noun or an adjective? |
3,609 | 73,529 | 76823_0 | If I have a template (say a generic letter) that is filled in with various pieces of data (say, the name of the addressee), what is a general term for those pieces of data? For example: Dear {firstname}, This is just a friendly reminder that the book {booktitle} will be due on {duedate}. Thank you. What would I refer to `{firstname}`, `{booktitle}` and `{duedate}` as? |
3,610 | 177,235 | 76823_0 | I research Latin texts which discuss a peculiar medieval practice: the addition of minute graphic symbols into the margins of the page, for example in order to indicate passages of interest, flaws in argumentation or for some other technical purpose. The Latin-users had a very clear technical terminology for such signs: they called them _notae_ (sg. _nota_ ) and the verb that they used to talk about this addition was _adnotare_ (plus there was a whole range of words that could be formed from these two). Modern English does not seem to have a term that would have the same technical meaning and I have a constant problem with both native and non-native English speakers when I am trying to write or speak about these _notae_. I have tried the English word markup (and its derivates), but this did not find favour with my audience. Translation as signs or marks is too vague and broad to be helpful. I cannot use the Latin word _nota_ indefinitely, especially since I cannot make a verb out of it that would make sense in English. **What would you call this 'thing'?** An example of the technical signs in question: http://daten.digitale- sammlungen.de/bsb00054504/image_69 (PX- and PO-shaped symbols in the right margin) |
3,611 | 92,668 | 76823_0 | I have just got a great news. I don't know what to say: > Such a good news. or > What a good news. The context should be formal (I am talking about hiring). |
3,612 | 171,962 | 76823_0 | I can see this being argued either way. 1% is a small minority because 1% is a small number. 49% is a small minority because, albeit a minority, it is only barely. |
3,613 | 74,551 | 76823_0 | We are considering naming our child the Arabic name Sa'ad (سعد). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saad The Arabic spelling has an ع which I am not sure how to spell. I have seen it spelled as Saad which has the potential to be mispronounced. The wikipedia lists it as Sa'ad, where the apostrophe separates both syllables. I currently favor this spelling. My question is: Is there a spelling other than Sa'ad which is more descriptive of how to pronounce the name properly? |
3,614 | 23,360 | 76823_0 | An awful lot of people seem to use the phrase "substitute X for Y" to mean "replace X with Y", while I've always used and understood it as "replace Y with X". This makes sense to me, given that a substitute is the replacement, not the thing which has been replaced. I thought I might be able to figure things out from a dictionary, but now after seeing two sorts of definitions, I'm even more confused: 1. to put or use in the place of another 2. to take the place of; replace The first one suggests that the object will be the substitute (replacement), the thing put into place, while the second suggests that the object will be the thing which has been replaced. Is one of these usages more correct in any sense? (I know this is probably a pointless question, since people will continue to speak the way they speak.) Is there perhaps a difference between American and British English? And most importantly, is there any reliable way to tell what someone means when they ask how to substitute honey for sugar, or is the verb simply guaranteed to cause confusion? |
3,615 | 159,594 | 76823_0 | Context: Equation 1 requires substituting A for B. Does this mean all "A" in equation 1 is replaced with "B" or vice versa? |
3,616 | 171,967 | 76823_0 | I am trying to present on a new technology/system that is based off something old... I am struggling to have a catchy title. I want to say something along the lines of: > 'the old-technology upgraded' or > 'old-technology with a face-lift' ... |
3,617 | 74,557 | 76823_0 | Of course, **heterosexual** and **straight** are interchangeable in most contexts, but there are times when I find myself wanting to make the distinction of whether the attraction to the opposite sex is _exclusive_. In my experience, _straight_ certainly means "exclusively attracted to the opposite sex." Thus, a straight woman is attracted to men, and not women. It would be incorrect to describe a woman who has been involved with both men and women as _straight_. But could one describe such a woman as _heterosexual_? I feel as though, given the literal meaning of the word roots, one ought to be able to use _heterosexual_ to mean "attracted to the opposite sex" without implications about lack of attraction to anyone else. (Same thing goes for _gay_ vs. _homosexual_.) Is this idea backed up by usage - do some people, sources, etc. utilize this distinction in meaning - or does English not have an easy way to express it? |
3,618 | 6,124 | 76823_0 | When somebody uses the phrase "not uncommon", do they mean "common" because of the double negative? I was recently informed that "not uncommon" could imply that something was anything but uncommon (e.g. rare), whereas I thought that _rare_ would be a subset of _uncommon_ and that saying it was not uncommon must mean it is common. |
3,619 | 194,128 | 76823_0 | In England, the beaches can be windy. I have seen people put up a "wind shield" like this.  I haven't seen people use this in America or Europe, but I haven't been to many beaches there. I'd call this wind shield, simply because it shields the wind. But in America, windshield means the frontal glass of a car. Is there a more proper name for this in British English, American English and other English (South African, Australian, etc)? Thank you |
3,620 | 139,548 | 76823_0 | At first I wanted to just write: "A photograph slowly losing its colors." But I think _losing_ isn't the right verb here. What can I use instead of _losing_? (I want to keep the word _colors_.) |
3,621 | 10,906 | 76823_0 | I just saw a parody on the Lord of the Rings, where one of the characters says: > it must be cast back in the fire from whence it came! This struck me as odd, since I expected them to say "whence it came"; but now I find that "from whence" seems to occur as well. Does anybody know whether this is correct, or whether it has been correct at some point and subsequently fell into disgrace (or vice versa)? |
3,622 | 94,339 | 76823_0 | > **Possible Duplicate:** > Is “from whence” correct? Or should it be “whence”? From the Shakespeare's Sonnet XLVIII, > ... > From **whence** at pleasure thou mayst come and part; > And even thence thou wilt be stol'n I fear, > For truth proves thievish for a prize so dear. Isn't the definition of _whence_ is "from where" or "from what place" which when converted from the phrase above will be "From from where at pleasure..."? Does Shakespeare use the word _whence_ incorrectly? |
3,623 | 139,543 | 76823_0 | > And the even stronger feeling of detachment upon reaching mine **no longer > knowing who I was.** Is this use of "no longer" grammatical? Should I add a comma before _no_? |
3,624 | 96,620 | 76823_0 | The opening sentence to _The Hobbit_ by J.R.R. Tolkien reads, > In a hole in the ground there lived [verb] a hobbit [subject]. I wonder if there are accepted stylistic purposes for such a structure. When is it natural, and when is it unnatural? |
3,625 | 10,440 | 76823_0 | What are general rules of thumb for creating adjectives with _-able_? I wanted to denote an object as having an ability to be tiled, but "tileable" and "tilable" both yielded as incorrect words by spell check and standard English dictionary used by Mac OS X dictionary widget. Is "tileable" or "tilable" a correct word/form for denoting an object having an ability to be tiled? |
3,626 | 124,011 | 76823_0 | I have been told that the following are the same: > It has been twenty years since I last saw her. > > It is twenty years since I have seen her. But I somehow do not understand why; usually the present perfect is somehow related to present ("I have not seen her recently"). I would tend to say that he has been seeing her since then (twenty years ago). Also why does the first one contain "It has been" and the other one "It is". Does it matter? |
3,627 | 181,004 | 76823_0 | Are there any rules / recommendation to using comparative "larger" instead of positive "large" when there is no comparison? What are they (recommendation of course)? Examples: _"I, **__, take you, __** , to be my lawfully wedded(husband/wife), to have and to hold, from this day forward, for **better** , for **worse** , for **richer** , for **poorer**..."_ " _The main participants in this market are the **larger** international banks."_(Wikipedia) |
3,628 | 140,793 | 76823_0 | First off, the title is misleading; feel free to improve upon it. I've noticed words surrounding titles often start with upper case letters, but I'm uncertain if this is correct. After reading this article I cannot find rules that justify the uppercase letters. EXAMPLES: 1) The student union building of many universities is abbreviated SUB but I often see the full name written as "Student Union Building". By itself "student union building" is not a proper noun since it doesn't refer to one unique entity but when speaking of a certain university it might. 2) Common buildings often have names beginning with upper case letters. For example, I've seen _fire hall_ written as "Fire Hall" and _city hall_ written as "City Hall" (example). 3) I have a ticket which reads "Winter Formal Dance". Is the capitalization of these words correct? If so, then why? Is it a matter of rules, or is the deciding factor whatever the owner decides? For example, if a swimming coach decides practices on Wednesday will be known as "Wednesday Practices", would it be correct to always write 'practices' with the upper case "P"? |
3,629 | 121,226 | 76823_0 | I got a note from a fortune cookie, which says: " Never gonna run around and desert you" I was wondering what does "run around" means here. Similar to runaway? |
3,630 | 125,766 | 76823_0 | > When he went out he left the radio on so that his parents **shall think** > that he was still in the house. This is a past sentence. Why is _shall think_ used? Can I use _should think_? |
3,631 | 121,220 | 76823_0 | I encountered the word I am searching for in R.C.Robertson-Glasgow's Crusoe on Cricket; but, since I do not have the book, nor online access to it, I cannot search for that word. The meaning is roughly "to watch an act over and over and over again in mind's eye" and in the context he mentioned of a cricket match that can be watched over and over before going to bed. Any help? Edit: In response to comments, I checked the list of all the words starting with "auto" and could not find it. If that is the case, then it could be a word, he coined. |
3,632 | 125,760 | 76823_0 | Which one is correct? > The demand of the workers' union that the dismissed employee **be** > reinstated, has been accepted by the management. or > The demand of the workers' union **is** that the dismissed employee **to > be** reinstated, has been accepted by the management. |
3,633 | 121,222 | 76823_0 | I am trying to find a single-word synonym for **hobbyist writer**. Any answers please. |
3,634 | 182,267 | 76823_0 | When did the term sci-fi come into usage? |
3,635 | 194,125 | 76823_0 | As this question makes clear, "which" is used when there is a set number of choices available, while "what" is used when there is not a set number of choices available. Which term do we use, however, when we are referring to continuous numbers as opposed to discrete numbers? How about numbers that are technically continuous but are in practice discrete? Discrete number example: Which parking spot were you assigned to? (There are a discrete set of parking spots which one could be assigned to). Continuous number example: Which/what temperature do you brew your beer at? (There are an infinite amount of temperatures available; however, brewers typically brew between the ranges of 40*F and 85*F, so it would seem to be discrete. On the other hand, there are an infinite amount of numbers between two consecutive integers, i.e 41.1, 41.2, 41.22, 41.3333 ...) When referring to time, which is another example of continuous or discrete (there are 24 hours in a day, but an infinite number of units in between two consecutive hours), I always hear people use "what"-- "What time is it? What time shall I pick you up?" |
3,636 | 182,265 | 76823_0 | I don't get the phrase "a word to the wise". Shouldn't it be "a word _from_ the wise"? Isn't the person with the word the one with the wisdom? Isn't the person receiving the word the one in need of it? |
3,637 | 173,447 | 76823_0 | I hate to swear, i.e to say "fuck you" or whatsoever of those words. However sometimes I get angry and I wish there are words that could be a polite replacement for those swearing. I wish there's a polite way to say "That was so fucking hard". I want to express such a frustration or so with a polite word but with the same strength of expression. & I actually wonder what would a good author use as a way to make such a strong expression. So my questions: 1 - what words could I use to swear in a polite way? 2- how would a good author swear in a good book? |
3,638 | 173,446 | 76823_0 | What is the correct way to write the following phrase? > In the mid of 1990s What are the (writing) variants of that expression? (I just want to know, to diversify my writing.) Thank you. |
3,639 | 173,444 | 76823_0 | This is a technical term in theater and movie arts for stereotyped piece of music that is played when to cue the audience that a scene is set in a particular location. E.g. London --> Rule Britannia Italy --> Ole sol Mio German --> Ompa music New York/Broadway --> No Business like Show business |
3,640 | 150,404 | 76823_0 | We call the quantity of more than one (singular) _plural_. Is there any general word similar to this for a quantity less than one (singular)? |
3,641 | 19,378 | 76823_0 | I use them interchangeably, however I'd like to know when one is better or more appropriate than the other. |
3,642 | 77,603 | 76823_0 | In the following two examples, what is the difference between the usage of _been to_ and _been in_? They seem like they have the same meaning but I’m not sure. > -Have you ever **_been to_** Florida? > -Yes, I’ve _been to_ Florida many times. > > * * * > > -Have you ever **_been in_** Florida? > -Yes, I’ve _been in_ Florida many times. |
3,643 | 184,639 | 76823_0 | Examples: > We haven't spent much time together(,) recently. > > I think you're good at dealing with problems. And not only yours—but > other’s(,) too.” I always get confused by this. Should the comma be in those places? Is there any technique to figure out? |
3,644 | 141,227 | 76823_0 | I forgot the word that means "to put something you have earned into a project to make more money". For example, > ABC ___ _ its profits into a new venture. |
3,645 | 184,634 | 76823_0 | In the sentence "It's one of the best films that has/have ever been made." what should the verb agreement be ? |
3,646 | 141,225 | 76823_0 | Normally I live in Australia where winters are quite mild. But right now I've been travelling in Asia and seeing all the trees which look dead but are not, due to it being winter, have got me thinking. There must be a term for the state a tree is in that has lost all its leaves and resembles a dead tree but will "come back to life" next spring. Like an equivalent of "hibernating"? Or "dormant"? I don't mind an everyday word or a technical word only botanists would know. I don't care if it's a single word or a multi-word term. Nouns and adjectives are both fine too. |
3,647 | 141,222 | 76823_0 | I noticed a USA Today article today that said "Mary Barra has been a growing force within General Motors. While she wasn't necessarily a shoe-in to be named to the CEO job...". I was pretty sure _sho **e** -in_ should be _sho **o** -in_ and m-w.com confirmed that for me, but didn't give any etymology. In other sources, I have seen references to horse racing and an argument for _shoe-in_ as a salesman would try to get his shoe in the door to further the sale. What is the etymology? |
3,648 | 195,187 | 76823_0 | I want to use a word for showing that a different perspective from all possible perspectives is considered in something. Should I use perspectived or perspective-based? For example, should I use "perspectived method" or "perspective-based method?" I mean that a method that is dependent on the chosen perspective. i.e. according to the perspective chosen, it acts differently. |
3,649 | 149,329 | 76823_0 | How do I quote two non-contiguous paragraphs from a longer article? I want to be clear that they're non-contiguous, but not have an editorial interlude between them. Here's an example quotation from an article by Clay Shirky, with how I _want_ to format it: > Over the decades, though, [higher education has] behaved like an embezzler > who starts by taking only what he means to replace, but ends up extracting > so much that embezzlement becomes the system. [...] > > When the economic support from the Golden Age began to crack, we tenured > faculty couldn’t be forced to share much of the pain. Our jobs were secure, > so rather than forgo raises or return to our old teaching loads, we either > allowed or encouraged those short-term fixes—rising tuition, larger student > bodies, huge introductory lectures. I thought about moving the bracketed ellipsis to its own line, which seems more proper but looks clunky. I'm also interested in how you might quote this if it weren't a block quote -- specifically, should you close the first paragraph with a quotation mark or not? (Also, this is in an email, not an academic paper, so I'm worried about readability rather than about adhering to an official style guide.) |
3,650 | 150,592 | 76823_0 | "These honourable Accessories [supporters] of the Heraldic Shield are said to have been introduced, (like Quartering) by Edward III, but they are of uncertain _authority_ until the reign of Henry VI." (Boutell, Charles., A Manual of Heraldry, p123) What does mean "authority" in the above sentence? At first, I thought it alludes to citations of references but it is meaningless in historical point of view. is it possible it means importance in there? There is another similar sentence: "A lion and an antelope, and sometimes an antelope and a swan, have been assigned to Henry IV. and Henry V., but upon no very reliable _authority_." (Clark, Hugh., An Introduction to Heraldry, p67) |
3,651 | 17,661 | 76823_0 | What is the meaning of “runneth” in _My Cup Runneth Over_? |
3,652 | 128,060 | 76823_0 | In response to someone sneezing there are a few possible phrases you can say as a form of polite acknowledgement: > "God bless you" > > "Gesundheit" And others. But with a fart you laugh, deride or come up with something clever to say on the spot. Is there a commonly known polite word or phrase that says "I acknowledge your flatulence" similar to things said after sneezing? |
3,653 | 128,065 | 76823_0 | I came across this word/concept when reading a philosophical book but I cannot remember where. It basically means if only a few people do something its ok, but if everyone does it it becomes bad for everyone. For example a good fishing hole. If only I or a few others go there, everyone benefits. If everyone goes then there are no fish and everyone loses. The word has a meaning to do with reaching some tipping point. If a few are firemen, that's great, but if everyone was a fireman that's bad as nothing else will get done. |
3,654 | 85,537 | 76823_0 | What is the English word / phrase for things / persons that are experimented on? I think of experimentee but I believe there may be more common words. |
3,655 | 42,912 | 76823_0 | You can write > this ol' man 'ere when you mean > this old man here But can the ' be used to indicate whole missing sentence parts? For example: > 'been a pleasure! for > It's been a pleasure! |
3,656 | 75,602 | 76823_0 | _Scaring_ is related to the word _scare_ , while _scarring_ is related to the word _scar_. Why is it that some dictionaries get these two words confused? For example, when you use Mac OS X Lion's lookup feature on the word _scaring_ , you get the result for _scar_ instead of _scare_ :  Looking at Apple's built-in Dictionary app gives us a bit more insight into the source of the problem. If you search for the word _scaring_ , you get the following result:  Notice how it shows entries for both _scar_ and _scare_. Notice, also, that _scarring_ appears under the word _scar_. The entry for _scare_ has no form ending in _-ing_ :  Had this only been an issue in Apple's OS, I would think it's a bug specific to that system. However, this appears in other dictionaries as well. The second result on Google for the word _scaring_ is from The Free Dictionary, and their entry for _scaring_ takes you to the entry for _scar_. Why do some dictionaries get these words confused? |
3,657 | 75,601 | 76823_0 | Consider a circumstance when someone compliments during a conversation saying something like 'Your voice is so lovely'. I usually end up smiling and pushing it away. What can be the actual response to it. Also how to deal with such responses with a bit of humor knowing that its just blind flattering ;) |
3,658 | 103,793 | 76823_0 | It is important that one’s decision of their own life is respected. |
3,659 | 195,180 | 76823_0 | What is the word in English language to refer to a person who is only a friendly acquaintance but we don't hesitate to be just ourselves in front of them and sometimes, have deep conversations about intellectual topics yet we don't hang out often and talk only when needed to ? |
3,660 | 38,408 | 76823_0 | **Are there any general rules or guidelines for how to create abbreviations of a word when there isn't any established abbreviations of it already?** Context: I'm writing an article in which I have to abbreviate the word "questionnaire" (it's going to appear in a figure and have to be cut down to size) and I just don't want to wing it if there actually is a more or less proper way to do it. |
3,661 | 134,199 | 76823_0 | It seems like a basic concept, but I want to make sure. Can the antecedent ever be in a prepositional phrase? For example: > Jill likes running with Julie. She is a good person. Does _she_ refer to Julie or Jill? |
3,662 | 138,635 | 76823_0 | I need to write a door writing that states formally, "students are not welcomed in this kitchen, please use the café..." I've drafted some examples but I was wondering if there is a formal sentence which may sound more formal (like a warning from the principal) and also more native. z.B. "staff only" "Students are not allowed" "We kindly request students to use the ... Cafe provided." or What about ""We kindly request students to use the other areas(opportunities) provided for the tea service." |
3,663 | 38,403 | 76823_0 | Is there some expression for situations where you can conclude that a solution's advantages are the same as the disadvantages of alternative solutions? |
3,664 | 138,637 | 76823_0 | You were sent a package. If it is not received please call customer support. or You were sent a package. If not received please call customer support. Which version is correct? Is there a better version? |
3,665 | 88,473 | 76823_0 | How can I describe that the financial crisis got worse in two ways: 1. it involved more people 2. it increased in intensity Is there a particular phrase I can use that captures both aspects? |
3,666 | 138,631 | 76823_0 | I'm trying to understand the parallelism error in this sentence: "The university's board of trustees, being worried over declining student enrollments and their failing to secure additional funding from the state, has formed a committee to determine what cuts need to be made to staff and programs." I believe the parallelism error is this: The board is worried over "declining student enrollments" and "their failing to secure". What exactly is the error? "declining student enrollments" is an adverb + adjective + noun structure right? Is "declining" an adverb here? Does "their failing to secure" need to be in that same adverb + adjective + noun structure too? Can I change "their failing to secure" to "increasingly insecure funding"? Is "declining" an adverb? |
3,667 | 54,929 | 76823_0 | Are there any rules governing what the "which" refers to in a sentence like this: > Every five minutes, the Node.js application posts a JSON document to my > CouchDB instance which looks like: Above, the meaning of "which" was meant to refer to the "JSON document", but I feel that people might interpret it as referring to "CouchDB instance". I would like to retain the active voice, but feel like rewording it is _awkward_ : > Every five minutes, the Node.js application posts a JSON document, that > looks as follows, to my CouchDB instance: UPDATE: What follows the colon is an example JSON document like: { foo: bar, key: 2 } |
3,668 | 148,061 | 76823_0 | A colleague asked me this question, and I couldn't come up with an answer that satisfied him, so I'm wondering if anyone can help: Why does _a man with a short temper_ become _a short-tempered man_? In other words, why do you need the _-ed_ at the end? Are there any special rules for this? |
3,669 | 137,032 | 76823_0 | Consider the following sentence: > The labour-intensive and time-intensive part starts tomorrow. I want to write this without rewriting the word "intensive." Is this the correct way to do it? > The labour- and time-intensive part starts tomorrow. Note the hyphen hanging after the word labour. Or should there be no hyphen after labour? Can anyone point me to a reference that talks about this? |
3,670 | 153,078 | 76823_0 | all time or all-time, not sure which one it is. Are they different in different scenarios? |
3,671 | 70,075 | 76823_0 | The phrase `up and at ’em` (commonly construed as `?up and Adam`) is used a lot. Where did it originate? |
3,672 | 70,074 | 76823_0 | I was interested in the following sentence which appeared in an article titled “Hemingway's Prize-Winning Works Reflected Preoccupation With Life and Death" in The New York Times, ON THIS DAY, (July 3, 1961). > Mr. Hemingway earned millions of dollars from his work; for one thing, **a > great many of his stories and novels were adapted to** the screen and > television. Is the fragment "a great many of his stories and novels were adapted to ..." ungrammatical, as I think it is? I would reword "were" with "was", but I'm not sure on this correction, because I'm not able to precisely identify the subject[s?] of the verb, and if I think that the subject is "a great many" the problem becomes entirely incomprehensible (to me), at all. |
3,673 | 71,388 | 76823_0 | What is the difference between _sparsity_ and _sparseness_? Is it that the latter emphasises the extent to which something is sparse? I'm not sure I can see the thin line that separates them. |
3,674 | 71,387 | 76823_0 | Michigan State Rep, Lisa Brown’s comment using the word, vagina in her address against banning abortions in Michigan state House caused a big dispute, and she was rejected to speak on the another bill by the House speaker. According to NPR (June 18), she spoke on the floor: "I have not asked you to adopt and adhere to my religious beliefs. Why are you asking me to adopt yours?" she said. But what came next is what got her in trouble: "And finally, Mr. Speaker, _I'm flattered that_ you're all so interested in my vagina, but 'no' means 'no.'" I’m interested in the use of the word ‘ _be flattered’_ in the last line, “I'm flattered that you're all so interested in my vagina.” Is “I’m flattered that” a right expression? To me, a non native English speaker, it appears to say “I’m flattered to do (say, speak, tell you that ....) is more natural, if not grammatical, than saying “I’m flattered that ...” Is the meaning of “say” included in “be flattered,” not simply meaning “being urged “(to say a nice thing)? |
3,675 | 149,082 | 76823_0 | I met a women who I gathered was First Nations (or something like that). I struggled to ask the question to elicit the response to find more about her heritage and culture. What is the word that distinguishes between different North American aboriginal people? I've heard them called "nations" but it would be ambiguous to ask "what Nation are you from?" because the "official" one would be Canada. For example would it be politically correct to ask "What type of First Nations are you?" or "Are you part of a certain band?". I was looking for an answer like "Cree" or "Salish". |
3,676 | 122,758 | 76823_0 | Hi fellow language enthusiasts, so what does "Close to the Vest" or "Chest" mean may I ask? Or more appropriately "Chest" or "Vest" because I also learn that Chest appeared First. But what does the phrase mean at all? Any help is eagerly appreciated. |
3,677 | 161,828 | 76823_0 | In a recent article, the Guardian states that > Shakespeare is also responsible for the modern meaning of "odd". What is the evidence for this? The textual evidence alone is thin and unconvincing. Is Shakespeare really the source of our modern meaning for odd as unexpected, strange, or unusual? |
3,678 | 122,754 | 76823_0 | I know I can say **I'm having downtime.** How would you say it about a computer (system). **It has/ it's on downtime every night from 2 till 5?** |
3,679 | 122,751 | 76823_0 | I was writing an email to my colleague and as part of it I wrote > **Would** it be possible for you to help me with this? I felt a bit awkward after sending the mail. Should it be _would_ or _will_? I know that _would_ is a past form of _will_ but it is also used to indicate politeness. In this case, it was extremely important for me to sound polite and formal. Please advise regarding the correct usage. I have already seen these questions: "Would" vs "Will" and "Would" vs "Will", but I need some more insights as to when _would_ is used as part of a question asking for a favour. |
3,680 | 122,753 | 76823_0 | _Sex drive_ means you want sex. Does _blood drive_ mean you want to kill people? Does _talk drive_ mean you (want to) talk a lot? I know it might not be something people say a lot if at all, but does it make sense? |
3,681 | 70,381 | 76823_0 | 1. Few people would have been surprised to know another case of corruption in India. (A sentence from a newspaper) 2. "I came in and ordered some shoes from you." 'Oh! yes, sir. When would that have been, exactly?' 3. His test appearance would have triggered jubilation in Ludhiana where his grandparents live. 4. Harbhajan Singh would have been joyed reading that he was at top of batting charts in the just concluded Test series. 5. Such cases have not been reported in Delhi. Although there is a good chance that like the Mumbai big team many would have been reluctant to go to police. My question: Why is _would + perfect infinitive_ used in the above sentences whereas it appears that they do not represent the third conditional? They appear to represent a case of prediction. Please suggest a good book in which the use of a modal verb is clearly explained in detail and particularly this use of _would_. 6. (A conversation between correspondent of a newspaper and a leader contesting election for MLA.) _Correspondent:_ Would any state have accepted an outsider as a chief minister? _Leader:_ I'm not an outsider.I belong to this state. My question is: Why is _would_ used here and not _will_? |
3,682 | 70,384 | 76823_0 | What is the difference in meaning between a _robot_ , a _machine_ , and an _automaton_? I was inspired to ask this because I really can’t understand the subtle (or not so subtle) difference in meaning here. * I believe that _robot_ is something that can operate on its own with AI (artificial intelligence). * An _automaton_ is something like a black box: if we enter A, we know we will receive B (although we have no idea why). * _Machine_ is everything mechanical. What brings all this to my attention, and that maybe my understanding about the meanings of these three words is wrong, is this question. |
3,683 | 70,387 | 76823_0 | I've been given some names of towns and provinces for a tourism web-site. Is there a hypernym that could categorize both of them together? I've been thinking of the word "locality" but I'm not sure if that's suitable. |
3,684 | 153,721 | 76823_0 | I am looking for a preposition or postposition that shows one or all of the following characteristics The order matters: 1. Proximity 2. Multiplicity 3. Miniature The word I am looking is something like "let" that is added to book to make the word booklet (that resembles miniature). But "let" does not show multiplicity and especially proximity. I was thinking of "Leaf", but I guess it only shows thinness and miniature. The most important feature I am looking for is proximity and closeness. Pls let me know If further explanation required. Thanks |
3,685 | 8,974 | 76823_0 | > when I clicked on video file nothing has happened. Is that correct? |
3,686 | 172,312 | 76823_0 | Here is the sentence I'd like to use: I reviewed the applications of those who passed the written test with an 80% or higher. |
3,687 | 172,315 | 76823_0 | When someone gets taken advantage of, we would say "he got stiffed", where "stiffed" means "cheated". What is the etymology of the word "stiff" used this way? |
3,688 | 41,143 | 76823_0 | > **Possible Duplicate:** > Is there any other way you can "wax" as you do when you "wax > philosophical"? > What does "waxed rhapsodic" mean? > Sorry to keep this short, but some people can **wax lyrical** about this and > I'm not sure it's as mystical and magical as some will make out. I understand it intuitively, but would like to have the exact definition. |
3,689 | 21,673 | 76823_0 | The _wax_ in the phrase "wax philosophical" is a pretty strange bird. Its _wax_ is obviously not the ordinary definition of _wax_ , which my dictionary summarizes as an "oily, water-resistant substance", a definition which also serves as a fair summary of other, closely related "waxes", as in earwax or beeswax. Neither is, I think, the _wax_ in "wax philosophical" referring to another sense of _wax_ , as in _to grow_ , and which I know best in reference to the Moon "waxing and waning"; it means, as best I know, that the Moon is shrinking and growing in size. So is _waxing philosophical_ "growing philosophical"? Sounds pretty strange to me. The truth is, I only know how to use this set phrase, and can't really break it down into its constituents. It seems fairly archaic; the _philosophical_ isn't even in the standard canonical form of an adverb, with no ending "-ly". So I was wondering three things: What is the canonical definition of _wax_ as its being used here? In what other ways can you _wax_? Finally, if _wax_ is acting as a verb here, why is it _philosophical_ , as an adjective, and not _philosophically_ as an adverb? |
3,690 | 36,038 | 76823_0 | Why are nice cars called "sports cars"? Where does the "sports" come from? Is it simply because they are eligible for racing and racing is a sport (or is it)? Or is there some other origin? |
3,691 | 42,480 | 76823_0 | I am not a native speaker and it sometimes surprise me how many different meanings some words have. An example is the word **call** \- when I was learning English I thought it was only "shout" or "to ring someone" but the list of meanings is almost endless: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/call . What are some other such words so that I can be careful when interpreting their meaning? As if I could execute the query "give me a top ten list of words with most definition lines on TheFreeDictionary". |
3,692 | 65,420 | 76823_0 | > **Possible Duplicate:** > Words with most meanings For example: > ### in·se·cure [in-si-kyoor] > _adjective_ > > 1. subject to fears, doubts, etc.; not self-confident or assured: _an > insecure person._ > 2. not confident or certain; uneasy; anxious: _He was insecure about the > examination._ > 3. not secure; exposed or liable to risk, loss, or danger: _an insecure > stock portfolio._ > 4. not firmly or reliably placed or fastened: _an insecure ladder._ > We find the word _"insecure"_ has four distinct definitions. Which English word has the greatest number of distinct definitions? |
3,693 | 36,030 | 76823_0 | I found the word ‘Shoe-leather journalism’ in the following lead copy of the New York Times article (July 28) titled ‘In baring facts of train crash, bogs erode China censorship.’ > “China’s Twitter-like microblogs posted an astounding 26 million messages on > the crash, a potent amalgam of contempt, suspicion and shoe-leather > journalism.” Merriam-Webster com.dictionary gives the definition of ‘shoe-leather’ as ‘involving or using basic, direct, or old-fashioned methods', and shows shoe–leather journalism as an example without any explanation. Does ‘Shoe-leather journalism’ mean old-fashioned journalism or stereotype reporting style? Does it have something to do with a country’s governing system? What is the origin of ‘Shoe-leather journalism’? |
3,694 | 36,033 | 76823_0 | Are you his _dependency_ , _dependendee_ or something else? What is this type of opposite word called? I believe it is not called antonym, as that would be _independent_. |
3,695 | 185,584 | 76823_0 | In British English, it would be River Thames, River Jordan, etc, (as opposed to AmE requiring “River” after the name). So: > I swam in River Jordan. But, what happens to _river_ ’s capitalisation when _the_ is added? > I swam in the River Jordan OR > I swam in the river Jordan as in > I played the game Half-life **Edit** Damn! I just came across a PDF on Chicago Manual of Style. Agreed it's for AmE, but the first page itself talks about “the river Elbe” having a lowercase “R” because it’s “added by way of description”. Hence, my question stands. Does something similar apply to BrE or do we stick to capitalised “River” in all situations as long as it’s followed by a proper noun. |
3,696 | 193,797 | 76823_0 | Which of the following two are correct? 1. Melodies floating in relaxing atmosphere. 2. Melodies floating on relaxing atmosphere. My gut feeling says that it should be 1, but I am just a bit confused. Thanks. |
3,697 | 146,791 | 76823_0 | What is the difference between _comportment_ and _deportment_? I have tried looking up a comparison, but with very little results. The few discussions I found were contradictory. I also tried looking them up individually to do my own comparison. However, the definitions I found were almost indistinguishable. Even the example sentences made them seem like they could be used interchangeably. |
3,698 | 122,286 | 76823_0 | What is the correct place to use the word _tumbleweed_? Can we use it as a metaphor for a person who always irritates us? |
3,699 | 122,285 | 76823_0 | Is it appropriate to say “I speak good English” or “I speak correct English”? I believe there can be varied replies depending on context, so let me narrow it a little; let’s say I want to convey how well I speak English. |
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