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I'm looking for a term to describe when a medical advancement is achieved through, for example, a natural immunity to a disease. For example, the Berlin Patient, who is naturally immune to HIV may hold the cure to HIV.
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As I was reading a deleted question that asks whether > If I would have sweet dreams, they would be about you. If my dreams ever > come true, it will be with you. is correct, I noticed that the incorrect use of “if I would have” in the first sentence somehow made me feel like the poster was Indian. I don't know exactly...
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What do the following sentences intend to convey to the reader? > * One blew over the industrialist's quest. > * One blew over the ford's quest. >
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Is this sentence grammatically valid or not? > People who achieve they do this with perseverance. One of the two answers to the earlier question Unnecessary pronouns: “The President he issued…” says _clearly **it's not** "correct grammatically", as it is redundant_. The other says _it **is** grammatical, [but it's] mis...
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A couple of years ago I heard a word descriptive of short and impressive sentences that are used in catalogs and websites for product descriptions. I don't remember that specific word. Do you have any idea what it might be? I need it for use in place of the words _short description_.
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Today I listened to a performance by Stephen Lynch in which he said "A public service anouncement from Stephen Lynch" which confused me, a non-native English speaker. Is the usage of "from" correct here? When can I use "from" instead of "by"?
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> Thus they are compelled to cut all connection between their statements and > experience; and precisely by this procedure they **deprive them of any > sense**
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When writing scientific research proposals I have been advised to try and stick to active voice because passive tends to sound indirect and to imply doubt. However, when writing in active voice, I find it difficult to not use personal pronouns. Does anyone have any tips for maintaining active voice without using person...
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BFE is an abbreviation for "Bum Fuck Egypt" or "Butt Fuck Egypt," which is used to denote "out in the middle of nowhere." I'm curious how this expression came about. UrbanDictionary.com has a user- submitted definition with the following etymology: > As I understand (and other people have corroborated), it derives its ...
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What's another way of saying _easily deceived_? I want to have a better vocabulary. _Easily deceived_ sounds a bit basic to me. Is there a better word for that phrase?
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What does _writing the bill with a "double meat ax"_ mean? I found the phrase _double meat ax_ in today's _Washington Post_ article, House approves dramatic cuts in federal spending in 235-189 vote, dealing with last night's House vote on drastic federal budget cuts. I know the meaning of _double ax_ as a double-bladed...
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When I say "Apparently, xyz", does that imply one of the following, and if so, which one? 1. From observation, I believe xyz to be true, but I leave open the possibility that I might be wrong. 2. I believe xyz is not true, but I am aware that it may seem so, and want to point that out. Merriam-Webster gives "open to vi...
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Given the sentence "John told neither the boss nor the secretary.", which of the following has the same meaning? > 1. John did not tell both the boss and the secretary. > 2. John did not tell either the boss and the secretary. >
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Again in the _Time_ article (June 29),“Roberts Rules: What the Health Care decision means for the country” that many of my familiar ‘teachers’ criticized the style of writing as too pretentious and the analogies too outdated, there is the following sentence: > “Romney wasted little time in reacting (Chief Justice’s rul...
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I have a question about the phrase "make up for". You can make up for the loss, the delay or someone's mistake, right? I used to think you can also "make (this/it) up for someone", meaning that you will do something nice to that person because you feel obligated for your not-so-nice conduct prior to this conversation. ...
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I'm editing a draft of a scientific paper which repeatedly uses the word "setup" to refer to the, well, experimental setup. Example: > The dimensions of the setup are 250 mm × 250 mm × 50 mm. Every time I see the word "setup" appear by itself, I cringe a little, thinking of, say, Microsoft Windows' `SETUP.EXE`. However...
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Which is correct: "Somebody gets punished" or "Somebody get punished?" I have the same question with respect to "Someone gets" and "Someone get." Is there a rule which applies to this kind of sentences?
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Since English is not my native language I can not decide which one of the following two sentences is better. 1. We help companies sell more and consumers pay less. 2. Helping companies sell more and consumers paying less.
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The sentence: `There aren't any reasons to do it.` I'd like to say other form of this phrase with opposite meaning. Something like this: There aren't any reasons to _don't_ do it. How to say this form of the phrase with double-negations of affirmative meaning correctly? And are there some rules to make a sentence of su...
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What is a verb meaning _to make changeable_ or _to make variable_? For example, > Though normally his opinions were final, a recent stroke had ___ed his mind. > > When group policy changed, a ton of files were ___ed. If at all possible the word should be terse, but clear meaning is most important.
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Uh, I know there is a word starting with d. it sounds kinda like diophanus or something similar. It referes to very fine clothing, nearly see through clothing. I really don't know the word. Any help is greatly appreciated.
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The parents come back home, see the living-room is in a terrible mess. Do they ask their little ones "What have you done?" or "What have you been doing?" What is understood in each of the questions? I call this a tricky case because the usual criterion to distinguish between Present Perfect Simple and Present Perfect C...
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> She said she would give me her final answer **on** Saturday afternoon. Should it be _in the_ or _on_ in this case?
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Is it possible for nature to create an embankment or is the word used exclusively for the result of human activity?
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I often hear 'to make use of something'. Is there any difference from just 'to use something'?
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I am describing a mathematical model, where the probability density function of a variable is made up of two contributions, two distributions. Mathematically we would say that f(x) = g1(x) + g2(x). Now: in the text I am writing something like this: > "the distribution f(x) is the sum of two underlying distributions, g1...
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I know they're referencing a silo but i'm not understanding how it correlates/translates to business structure and presentation. are they talking about the function of the silo?
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What's the difference between _classical_ and _classic_? Should we say _classic content in textbooks_ or _classical content in textbooks_?
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> Sooner or later, you want to **leverage** Zend_Application better by > creating your own resource plugins. Can _leverage_ above be replaced by _utilize_?
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What is the term for animals that live under water (not necessarily in an ocean)? Ideally this would include sharks, dolphins, crabs, seashells, salmons and pet fish. Here are some I can come up with, but none sound right: * Aquatic Animals * Ocean Creatures * Ocean Animals * Marine Lives * Marine Animals * Marine Crea...
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> How much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, > than he who aspires to be greater than his nature will allow The above quote is taken from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and I read it described as an example of 'antithesis'. I don't quite agree that categorisation and was after a second opi...
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Are these two sentences both correct and equivalent? > People say stuff like "all lawyers are liars", but it's not true. > > People say stuff like "all lawyers are liars"; it's not true. Is there any difference in nuance or anything at all?
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Is there a dictionary dedicated to word prefixes? I'd like to know more about _de-_ , but there's no uniform meaning; for example, in _demystify_ it signifies a reverse action, while in _delimit_ it's a positive meaning, like _set_.
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I’m trying to track down the first printed use of the word _technique_ in English. Can anyone tell me the name, author, and date of the publication in question? It would be especially valuable, on top of that, to have an excerpted passage containing the word, in order to infer its intended meaning from its context.
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As far as I understand, the word _and_ is usually inserted between two verbs used in imperative mood in English. For example, “Go and make me a drink.” How obligatory is this? Can I claim that it is ungrammatical (or at least less typical) to have to consecutive verbs in imperative mood? Also, what about the phrase “Go...
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A **party pooper** is defined as: a person who refuses to join in the fun of a party; broadly : one who refuses to go along with everyone else I'm interested to know about the origin of this term and the person who first coined it. Any idea?
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I'm designing an interface of a web-based application and want to let users increase their credit amount online in one of its sections. What is a label for this action? Is there a technical banking term for it, or should I use a simple term like _credit increase_?
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First of all, sorry if it is offensive (I think it somewhat is). I was going through http://bleacherreport.com/articles/424590-the-funniest- promos-and-moments-in-wwe-history#page/20 > The Rock owned everyone by calling the Canadians mothercanuckers I heard him saying this in the video but what does that mean?
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> Mark said, "it would ruin our school's reputation!" If I want to quote Mark here, > Mark noted that doing so and so would "ruin ___ school's reputation." If I want to emphasize that Mark identifies himself as part of the school by using "our," can I say > Mark noted that doing so and so would "ruin our school's reput...
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Is there an official term for the ads that you see on public transit _inside_ the vehicle or car, _above_ the windows/doors, long horizontal panels, usually about 24" x /12"?
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How would you call a facial expression displayed at sight of someone hurting - the kind of involuntary grimace when you imagine just how much it hurt?
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I came across "factitious" in this quoted sentence: > One can, however, come up with a **factitious** principle to underwrite the > latter argument. (Middle of last full paragraph on this page of this book.) It seems to me that one could equally well have used fictitious instead. So are they perfectly synonymous or are...
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I'm working in an English big company in Germany. Everybody speak English but most of us as second, or third language. One thing I noticed is that we are all "guys" in the office: "Ask the guy up there." "Call the guys of help desk." "Guys, we need to manage this now." "Who is the guy who said that?" "We need to tell t...
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So the technical term for right or left handedness is chirality. The technical term for evenness or oddness is parity. Is there a similar term for inside-out-ness vs right-side-out-ness? EDIT: I wish to speak of 2 objects. They have no interesting features except that each could be considered 'inside-out' relative to t...
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I am writing a paper where I will cite several works by the Hungarian mathematician Gábor Szegő. Note that his surname includes the letter o with a double acute accent, NOT a letter o with umlaut ö. In his first paper (that I know of) he spells his own name this way, and biographies of him always use this spelling. How...
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I just got a receipt which said "Received with thanks the sum of ..." _Thanks_ stands for gratitude, so this looks fine to me as far as grammar is concerned. But is this old-fashioned and/or stilted? Are there more formal ways of expressing this idea?
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On lives in a part of town which has new roads most cab drivers don't know. In effect, one needs to direct the driver to the part of town, instead of just saying "take me to street X that intersects w/ street Y" Question: I want say that "I am stuck to hard-to-describe directions, while you're NOT." My thinking is, "wh...
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"Only a single DVD movie is at least 4.7 GB, So there should be a lot of data on the Internet."
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I want to say this in a passive voice: > People must have had this problem in the past. The sentence starts with something like "This problem must ...". How do I say it?
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In what situations would you say that someone "has integrity" as opposed to "behaves with honesty"? For instance, if an employee is meticulous about reporting his hours, does he have integrity or is he honest? (He's probably both—but which one fits better?)
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When you visit an aquarium, you see different species of marine life in different 'sections.' They are usually surrounded by glass. I want to build sentences like this: > I walked to another ' **glass/section**.' In it, I could see a many sting > rays." > > The shark whale swam from one corner of the ' **glass/section*...
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Does that mean I can pay on the 8th May, or before 23:59 7th May?
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Can you please elaborate what's "rounded" teaspoon, what's "heaped" teaspoon and what other "types" of teaspoons exists as a measures of volume? And is there any difference between, rounded teaspoon and rounded teaspoon* _ful_ *?
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I've struggled with this word for about 2 years (no joke). Every time I see it, I look it up, kind of understand what it means in that context, and then gleefully forget. Please help me understand the origin and meaning.
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These two versions below are used interchangeably where I live now in the United States: 1. Make sure to do something. 2. Be sure to do something. But I always have found the first version clumsy. I come from a strong linguistic background in the UK where there was an emphasis on grammar, and I can’t imagine my English...
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Is there a short and casual way (one or two words or the like) to express that whereas something is _truly_ important, the exact timing of when it gets handled or completes does not greatly affect overall plans? Saying `not urgent` isn't useful because that implies everything else _is_ urgent which would really be a di...
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I would like to know if there is an appropriate word for "one flavor." For example: * Monosyllabic: one syllable * Monochromatic: one color What is the equivalent word for "one flavor," eg. "mono-gustatic" (obviously this is just a mock-up word for sake of the question)? _Note: I am asking this in reference to wine (if...
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In Germany, kids of age 10 to 15 tend to evolve a language pattern that uses a certain word that has a negative connotation to describe everything they approve of, be it an impressive slam-dunk or nice cars on the street. Every generation seems to choose their own word for this, so after some years the word changes, bu...
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The following is from S. Fitzgerald's novel _Tender is the Night_ : > No friendship worth the name was ever destroyed in an hour without some > painful flesh being torn -- so Franz let himself believe with ever- > increasing conviction that Dick traveled intellectually and emotionally at > such a rate of speed that the...
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I am looking for a word or phrase that **means** _I am happy that something will be happening_. Existing phrases along this line already exist in popular writing: > Movie Y is the _most anticipated_ since Movie X. > I am really _looking forward to_ Christmas this year _Look forward to_ and _anticipate_ are synonyms but...
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My father called our TV "the idiot box". Implying either that it had idiots on it, was targeted at idiots, or you were an idiot if you watched it too much. Is there any similar term in use but referring to mobile phones?
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I'm having a hard time understanding why the phrase is > when something sounds too good to be true, it **is** and not > when something sounds too good to be true, it **isn't** Because "when something sounds too good be true," it "is **_not_** true", right?
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I used "eery" yesterday in a text and was corrected jokingly by my correspondent to "eerie." Looking at it after the fact, neither 'looks' right to me and both get through auto-correct with no red underline. Some cursory googling showed that both are at least technically correct, but I'm curious as to preferred or stan...
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How do you treat an emoticon at the end of a sentence? > He probably caught his cold from the kids at school :( Should there be a period after the :(, or should I go straight into the next sentence (capitalizing the next word)?
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I know that it refers to eating and as far as I'm aware, it is quite recent but does anyone know the origin of it?
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For instance in words Iraq and Qashqai? Are there any historical reasons for that?
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This morning I was talking to a friend and I came out with the sentence: "This picture may get confused" with the meaning "This picture is so strange that you could get confused" then I started thinking that, maybe, I could have said "This picture may get confusing". Is There any difference between "This may get confus...
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Following situation occurs/ed. I meet a friend for a coffee. We chat and I ask him what he's doing for work now. His answer: "I'm teaching English." This irks me. Because in that situation he's not teaching right that moment, but rather he teaches English. So shouldn't his answer rather be "I teach English."? English i...
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There's a short piece of text whose heading is as follows: > Maximum variability and openness The _variability_ and _openness_ should refer to the features of an application. Which article should/could I use before _maximum_ — zero, definite, indefinite? I'm a little bit confused by the many examples found through goog...
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To add emphasis to a normal verb, we use the emphatic do: > * He does run fast. > * Do come in. > * Do brush your teeth. > Obviously, with modal verbs this would be a grave mistake: > * (*) He does can run. > * (*) You do may come in. > * (*) I do should brush my teeth. > Of course, you can just stress the modal verb i...
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I asked a physics question about a scale tipping over and asked _Which way does the scale tip?_ I was later corrected that I should have asked whether the scale would _tip down_ or _tip up_. So it made me wonder, what the correct way of asking such question would have been?
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In Norfolk, when a child misbehaves in a demanding, or sulking way, they are often said to 'put on their parts'. 'She is _putting on her parts_ again', means that she is following a pattern, typical for her, where she is being loud, difficult, insistent or awkward. It can also be used for adults and has an added force ...
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> ... Since there are only about 328 wolves in a state with a historic blood > thirst for the hides of these top predators, the nonprofits are probably > right that lacking protection, Wyoming wolves are toast.
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For example, having one paragraph where the abbreviation XYZ is used a number of times. Then, in the following paragraph, having the full version Xxxx Yyyy Zzzz several times. How about in the _same_ paragraph? Note: I prefer to _avoid_ abbreviations, and that's what I do whenever I can. However, I'm also trying to red...
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What is meant by _hardline_? A commenter named Ed asked, > "I am very concerned as that was definitely our garage that slid into the > Batavia. My mom has a hardline phone in the house but probally does not > realize it is a cordless requiring power. She is 70 and alone. We have not > heard from her since 9:15 this mor...
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Does anybody know the etymology of the main greeting in English: hallo? Besides that I wish to know the difference between the terms _hallo_ and _hello_. I have to know!
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Can you tell me what the word is for `"Unnecessary detailed info on a topic which is given after the prominent parts is given"`
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So, I've been reading _A Dance with Dragons_ by George R. R. Martin. I've come across the phrase 'less seldom' and I would be really glad if someone explained it to me: > Even so, there was something in the air that made Tyrion uneasy. West of the > Rhoyne, he knew, the wharves of Volantis teemed with sailors, slaves, ...
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Is there a single word that encapsulates the idea of a question and answer pairing or grouping? So far, google has turned up nothing helpful on the topic. Naturally, reviewing the options for both questions and answers in a thesaurus turns up nothing because the alternatives are similar to the idea of one or the other,...
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I know that the use of profanity has a number of social and psychological functions like pain relief, a sense of control over helpless situations, intimacy and group bonding through release of social norms, and various physical benefits. Used incorrectly (in the wrong type of situation or to an inappropriate level of v...
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I know the rules of this site state to only ask questions to get direct answers, but I'm hoping I could still get a little suggestion on what to do. I'm writing a research paper, so the context is formal writing. I'm revising the last section of my abstract. And please, if brackets do not seem essential in my case, let...
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Is this sentence in italics correct grammatically? Is it written in inverted order? If we rewrite this sentence, is it _Came from Twitter_? > _From Twitter came_ , "@dannyhakim Pictures of flooded Arkville, N.Y., here: > http://t.co/ldJCEFb and here:http://t.co/tp44UFd #irene #catskills" -- CNN
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Can I use two colons in a sentence? A typical example would be something like the following: > Note: I have substantial experience with the following languages: Python, > Java, C++, and Perl. I have often wanted to write something similar but have been forcing rewrites in order to get around using two colons in the sam...
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I have to describe an object that is: a pair of * round/rounded earrings, * made of wood/wooden, * with bosses of brass/brass bossed? How can I put it in a single statement? I think that it could be right to say "round wooden earrings with bosses of brass" but I'm not sure, since I'm not a native speaker of English.
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What's the difference between Media and Press, I think that press for newspapers and media for TV, can anyone give us details about that?
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> I may or may not contact you later. Isn't this redundant? Unless I'm missing something, the meaning can be expressed equally well with: > I may contact you later. Or even: > I might contact you later.
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Some Spanish speakers use the word **crack** as a positive noun. For example: > Lionel Messi es un crack del football! Is it the same in English? Can I say: _You're a crack_?
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I understand 'drench' means to soak or get wet. Can I say 'I'm drenching in the rain' to mean that I'm standing in the rain and getting soaked by it? I mostly see 'drenching' being used only as a gerund. That's what had me confused.
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There was the following sentence in Maureen Dowd’s article titled “Taxing Times for Obama” in the New York Times May 18 issue. - http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/opinion/sunday/dowd-irs-investigation-means- more-taxing-times-for-obama.html?hp&_r=0 > “Asked about that on Thursday, Obama might have tried a little **J.F....
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I had a discussion today with a friend over the validity of using (coordinating, correlative) conjunctions like _but_ or _and_ at the start of sentences. His position was that it breaks a rule of grammar. However, I remembered a post on this site saying that conjunctions at the start of sentences is fine, and that lots...
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Is there any difference between these two sentences ? (1) Can I ask you to ...[do something]? (2) Can you ... [do something]? Eg., if my boss were to say to me "Can I ask you to pick up the client?". Would that mean the same thing as "Can you pick up the client?" Thanks
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I'm having a little trouble with matching some of the lyrics of Tim Minchin's "Angry (Feet)" to the reactions to them of the audience. This makes me suspect I'm missing some of the semantic layers. The lyrics are broken down between the more "controlled" and the more "natural" (maniacal) subpersons, I'll mark them like...
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In a recent question about comparatives, a dispute arose in the comments about gradable antonyms like _useful/useless_ where English speakers strongly prefer to use comparative forms only for half of the pair. I proposed that this is simply an example of marked word pairs, a kind of asymmetry where one word of a pair i...
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I often hear people say they "feel claustrophobic" (e.g. in a lift). This sounds wrong. To me, one _is_ claustrophobic, or one feels _claustrophobia_. Am I correct in assuming the expression "to feel claustrophobic" is technically incorrect, and should instead be "to feel claustrophobia"?
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There was the following sentence in the commentary of Joshua Rothman, the New Yorker’s archive editor on Amy Chua’s memoir, “Tiger Mom” under the title, “The Battle hymn of the Tiger Family” in the online New Yorker February 4 issue: > "Why didn’t all sorts of families, and not just Asian ones, send their kids > to cra...
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In my understanding, determiners are categorized into three subgroups: predeterminers, central determiners and postdeterminers. Articles (a, an, the) and possessive determiners are identified as central determiners. ~~In my book~~ , Is the following sentence ~~is identified as~~ correct? I believe it is. > This is the ...
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What is the meaning of "pull-out" in this sentence? I can't figure out the exact meaning even though I looked up the dictionary. > Schools that have adopted **pull-out**, team teaching, or block scheduling > practices will only inaccurately be able to isolate individual teacher > “effects” for evaluation, pay, or disci...
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I am aware of the usage of "lack thereof", but I was wondering whether it is valid to use "lack of it". During a conversation with someone I used "lack of it" in a sentence, and she claimed that it is an error and that "lack thereof" should be used instead. **Example sentence:** > Do you think that accent (or lack of i...
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While reading the free Kindle edition of _She_ by H. Rider Haggard (originally published in 1887), I noticed sentences like this one: > But now, to my intense horror, I _knew_ that I could never put away the > vision of those glorious eyes; and alas! the very _diablerie_ of the woman, > whilst it horrified and repelled...
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Disclaimer: There are a lot of questions packed in but their answers are interdependent. Different textures of snow can be described as "wet" and "dry". Considering that water is the quintessence of wetness and snow is water, is it accurate to describe snow as being dry? Is there a fallacy in the above syllogism becaus...