Unnamed: 0 int64 0 40.2k | id int64 1 196k | chunk_id stringclasses 1
value | text stringlengths 18 6.44k |
|---|---|---|---|
39,300 | 131,575 | 76823_0 | Given that "A" is one set and "B" and "C" are another set, how should the following phrase be punctuated correctly? > A and B and C |
39,301 | 186,795 | 76823_0 | I thought that the quotative "be like" was limited to American English, but was surprised to hear a 60-something New Zealand woman using it repeatedly recently. What is the status in world English? (I am referring to "be like" to introduce a quotation or internal monologue, as is discussed in e.g. this paper: http://www.jstor.org/stable/455910 ) |
39,302 | 4,133 | 76823_0 | Is _plantingly_ an adverb form of _plant_? Can you give me a example sentence? Edit: This use of _plantingly_ came from the following quote: > Firstly I [would like] to thank you for taking the time from your [busy] > schedule to help we **plantingly challenged**. |
39,303 | 178,244 | 76823_0 | I know that foreshadowing is when you drop hints about the future, but is there a name for it when a statement which is innocuous at the time suddenly becomes very important in the light of new events? |
39,304 | 170,602 | 76823_0 | "I will not accept the truth that I will be jealous if you have a boyfriend unless you accept the truth that you will be jealous if I have a girlfriend," said Phil. Is this sentence correct or should I use 'would' in the places where I have used 'will'? Or should I use 'would' only when there is 'had' in the places of 'have'? _confused_ |
39,305 | 177,377 | 76823_0 | I was wondering whether _sure thing_ — when I mean _certainly_ — is too casual in a business environment, or whether it could be used under certain circumstances. (I’m not a native speaker of English.) |
39,306 | 177,376 | 76823_0 | I encountered the following two examples: > 1. Moreover, the proposed scheme is designed in an ID-based setting **and > so** the necessity for certificates and some related problems are > eliminated. > > 2. Our scheme also achieves setup-freeness **and so** a user can enjoy the > fairness provided by the fair exchange scheme without interacting with the > arbitrator for registration. > > Is this type of construction ( _and so_ ) correct? Should there be some commas somewhere? Are they not just two independent clauses joined by _and so_? |
39,307 | 177,379 | 76823_0 | So I was recently curious about the sound that people sneeze with in other languages and was surprised to notice the difference between the English onomatopoetic word "Achoo" and that of other languages in the same family. For example: German - _hatschi_ Dutch - _hatsjie_ However some of our sibling languages are closer: Icelandic - _atsjú_ Norwegian - _aatsjoo_ Interestingly, most of the world seems to pronounce their sneeze more like modern Germans than modern Americans (basically all of Eastern Europe, Russia and Asia will end their sneezes with a short i instead of a long o). Does anyone have any ideas why the pronunciation differs between ending in a short i in many closely related languages and a long o in English? Presumably people talked and wrote about sneezing relatively early on before these languages broke up so there should be some sort of proto-english pronounciation that either split during a period when most of these branches hadn't extended far, or English changed its common representation of the sneeze at some point in history. Does anyone know of a time in English's history when our sneezes ended in 'i' or a time in German/Dutch history when the 'oo' was favored? Note that the OED traces the word back to the early 19th century, always spelled ending in the 'oo' sound and not a short 'i': > Forms: α. 18–19 aitchoo, 18– achew, 18– achoo, 18– ahchew, 19 ahschoo, 19 > ahshoo, 19– ahchoo, 19– atchoo, 20– aitshoo. > > β. 19 achoos. |
39,308 | 7,911 | 76823_0 | **Background** I am writing a scientific article that describes a computer program. Although it is common in the field to use a passive voice, it is also acceptable, and my preference, to diversify the text with an active voice. That said, the focus of my paper is a computer program, and I am describing what it does. I am having a difficult time determining when it is appropriate to say that the program does something versus when I (or we) did something. **Example** Call the program 'FOO' (all caps since it is an acronym, though presumably, since I am introducing FOO in this paper, I could change this to only have a capital first letter) > FOO uses addition to determine Y, versus > we use addition to determine Y, or > Y is determined by addition I think that giving agency to Foo makes it easier to write, but then my text becomes 'FOO does this ... FOO does that'; making the name 'FOO', which is really incidental, dominate the page when looked at as a whole. In addition, it can feel awkward to writing about a computer program as a protagonist (however, this is my first attempt to describe such a program). **Question: What is the best way to write about software in an active voice?** In my field, the passive voice is dominant so I am having difficulty finding good examples of the use of an active voice. |
39,309 | 112,690 | 76823_0 | Here is the sentence: > A person who agrees to serve as mediator between two warring factions at the > request of both abandons by so agreeing the right to take sides later. To > take sides at a later point would be to suggest that the earlier presumptive > impartiality was a sham. I don't understand the meaning of "by so" in this sentences. Does the sentence mean "by abandoning agreeing the right to take sides later, a person can become a mediator", or "by serving as mediator, a person must abandon taking sides later"? What does the "so" refer to? And is "by so" a "adverbial modifier" of "abandon agreeing"? |
39,310 | 185,164 | 76823_0 | I am interested in the word, “so” in the following sentence in Jeffery Archer’s novel, “The Prodigal Daughter.” Florentina Kane who is the chairman of an international hotel empire she succeeded from her father, and stood as a candidate for the Congresswoman for Illinoi State in late 1960s is asked question by a journalist at the press conference: > “Do you consider it a disadvantage to be a woman when seeking public > office?” > > ( She answered:) > > “Perhaps to a limited or ill-informed person **I would have _so_ answer > yes**, but not with any intelligent voter who puts the issues before > outdated predudices. Which of you if involved in a traffic accident on the > way home today would think twice if the first doctor on the scene turned out > to be a woman?- The Prodigal Daughter(Published by St. Martin's Press) > P.293. _Naturally_ I read the bold line as “I would have **to** answer yes,” as most of you do, but then noticed that it is _clearly and distinctly_ written as “ ** _so_** ” **in italic** to emphasize this specific word. What does “so” mean in the above sentence? How does “ _so_ ” here function grammatically? Logically and empirically, it's hard to believe such a reputed author as Lord Jeffery Archer deiberately put " _so_ " in Italic to _show off_ his error. |
39,311 | 185,161 | 76823_0 | I heard a song "As Good As I Once Was" by Toby Keith. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=kp&hl=id&v=ldQrapQ4d0Y&gl=ID There is this part of the lyric that I don't really know the meaning, **"I ain't as good as I once was but I'm as good once as I ever was".** By context of the video and the whole lyric I practically guess "I might not be as good as the younger me most of the time now, but if I could be that good at that time I can also be that good this time". Am I correct? The placement of "once" is kind of confusing me. I get the first "once", but I don't get the function of the second "once". An example of sentence using "once" with similar function would be great. |
39,312 | 101,788 | 76823_0 | Is it correct to use word commision as a synonym to order on stock market? In meaning: an instruction from customers to brokers to buy or sell on the exchange. I know that commision is a fee or percentage for broker for services rendered. But I found out that is commision synonym for order, or placing. So is it correct in this meaning? I'm asking about noun commision with one 's'. |
39,313 | 181,892 | 76823_0 | Is the word _nuclear_ assumed after the "or" in the following sentence? "by nuclear action or radiation or radioactive contamination" In other words, does the _or_ assume that the _nuclear_ applies to _radiation_ and _radioactive contamination_? |
39,314 | 101,781 | 76823_0 | Is there any difference between these two phrases? Is there any context in which we only can use one rather than the other? |
39,315 | 101,782 | 76823_0 | > Road transport is not the only sector concerned. LNG is also used in > maritime and inland waterway transport. The Commission therefore proposes > the installation of fuel stations in leading European **sea and maritime > ports (for 2020 and 2025, respectively)**. (source) What's the difference between _sea port_ and _maritime port_? |
39,316 | 181,898 | 76823_0 | Which of these sentences is grammatically and semantically more appropriate? > * Lawyers measure time and charge it by the blink. > * Lawyers measure time and charge it in blinks. > |
39,317 | 17,544 | 76823_0 | The stack exchange question "Is there any concrete-solid proofs of this space odyssey?" made me want to edit it to remove the s in proofs (someone with enough flair did), however it made me wonder about the plurality of _any_ and _proofs_. So please enlighten me about which one is correct. > Is there any concrete-solid proof of this space odyssey? > Are there any concrete-solid proofs of this space odyssey? If the asker wants to hear about at least one proof, the first one is OK, but what is correct if he wants at least two pieces of evidence? |
39,318 | 13,438 | 76823_0 | Is _replete_ used appropriately in the following sentence? > His office was like a Hollywood museum, **_replete_** with an autographed > photo of Marilyn Monroe. Or should _replete_ only be used with categorical plurals, such as: > His office was like a Hollywood museum, **_replete_** _with autographed > photos of famous stars_. |
39,319 | 130,623 | 76823_0 | I thought the correct prononciation of the word "wite" is exactly same as "white". But Google Translate pronunciates it like "wit". Which is the exact pronunciation of _wite_? |
39,320 | 130,620 | 76823_0 | I've tried my hand at Googling this answer through various terms, and have come up dry. Is there such a specific word for this field? If not, what would could be coined as such? |
39,321 | 124,191 | 76823_0 | In France, when gathered with friends, it is customary to drink beers or other light alcohol around 7pm, and this time is called _apéritif_ (or _apéro_ ). Does this custom have an English (UK and/or US) equivalent? How would you say "on se verra à l'apéro"? |
39,322 | 124,190 | 76823_0 | What do you call someone who lives for himself? If someone lives his life solely to achieve his own life goals and not want to associate his life with others', what would you call him? I know some of you would probably give answers such as A) hedonist, B) narcissist, but I disagree. Because: A) A hedonist is someone who lives in pursuit of pleasure, and hedonism is a doctrine that the pursuit of pleasure is the highest good. This person in question neither lives for pleasure, nor places pleasure as an important factor. B) A narcissist is someone who is vain, or derives erotic gratification from admiration of his or her own physical or mental attributes. The person in question is also not a narcissist because he does not admire himself; he merely lives for his own good, as mentioned in the question. So once again, what do you call someone who devotes his life solely to achieving his own life goals? Please, he is not a hedonist, not a narcissist, and most certainly not selfish. Assume he is not. |
39,323 | 13,433 | 76823_0 | In which cases is _very_ used with the same meaning it has in a phrase like "the very minute after"? Is it a set phrase, or are there other similar phrases? > The very minute after I leave, they start taking my books from the shelf, > reading them, and leaving them in the kitchen. |
39,324 | 124,195 | 76823_0 | From the Oxford English Dictionary at OED: > **proof of concept** n. evidence (usually deriving from an experiment or > pilot project) demonstrating that a design concept, business idea, etc., is > feasible; a piece of such evidence; freq. attrib. > > _1994_ San Antonio Business Jrnl. (Nexis) 19 Aug. a4 "We built this center > as a proof of concept." > > _2001_ Today's Pilot Feb. 51/1 "Although the GA-200 is a totally new > aircraft, some heavily modified Pawnees were used as proof-of-concept > aircraft." So is it both a noun and an adjective? I wrote in a document _"(...) successfully evaluated through a proof of concept prototype."_ and now I'm wondering whether I should change it into _"(...) successfully evaluated through a proof of concept."_. I left the dashes out in both cases. |
39,325 | 125,820 | 76823_0 | I am reading a novel which has lots of those _lol_ , where some of the events do not make sense at all. Should I call them logical errors? or logistical errors? |
39,326 | 101,436 | 76823_0 | I'm looking for a concise phrase for the sentence construction "a, b, c, and d". That is, a comma-separated list of things, where the last comma is either replaced or accompanied by the word "and". |
39,327 | 46,407 | 76823_0 | > What the extra time and money bought, besides headaches and heartaches for > the project’s sponsors and the thousands of patrons who line up for discount > theater tickets every day, is nothing less than a new way of seeing the > Times Square “bowtie,” that dazzling intersection of Broadway and Seventh > Avenue. That is because the TKTS booth _proper_ is topped by a sweeping > cascade of 27 ruby-red structural glass steps, rising to a height of 16 feet > 1 inch above the 47th Street sidewalk, where hundreds of people (as many as > 1,500 if they squeeze in tight) will be welcome to congregate every day > until 1 a.m. |
39,328 | 46,406 | 76823_0 | I have never used _doubt_ or _suspect_ properly before. Now I understand that they seem to bear quite the opposite meanings in a sentence. For example, > Everybody believes him, but I **suspect** he is lying means > I **doubt** he is telling the truth. Such pairs of words can be really challenging for non-native speakers to distinguish. What's worse, misuses of them could result in communication disasters. Why is this pair of words so confusing? Are there any more example pairs of this nature? |
39,329 | 140,230 | 76823_0 | I am writing an essay to attempt help my friends be themselves and stop worrying about what everyone thinks of them. I am trying to make sure I use punctuation correctly. And I was wondering if I'm using semicolons and commas correctly in the following paragraph. If they are used wrong, please highlight them (if possible) and tell me why and how I'm using them wrong. * * * Be whatever you want to be. Whatever you choose to be is beautiful and flawless regardless of anyone else’s opinion. Be proud of whatever you choose to be. No matter what you choose to be, there will be people that try to bring you down and there will be people that try to bring you up. You should always be proud of being you; be proud of what you look like, be proud of how you act, be proud of how you walk, be proud of how you talk, be proud of how you dress, be proud of your sexuality, just be proud of anything you have. These are all beautiful characteristics you have that set yourself different from everyone else. If you have a big nose, rock that big nose, be proud of your big nose, never be ashamed of your big nose; a big nose isn’t ugly, a big nose is a beautiful trait that you have. Never put yourself down because you envy a characteristic that another person possesses. You have characteristics they don’t have and they probably envy you for it as well. People might call your characteristics “ugly”, people might call your lifestyle “wrong”, people might say what you do is “gross” but regardless of what other people think, you and what you do are beautiful because you are you. What society wants doesn’t matter, you be whatever you want to be. Be eccentric, be dull, be exciting, be extraordinary, be yourself, it’s your life, not society’s life. You make the rules of how to live your life, not society. What society thinks doesn’t matter, you’re just being happy being yourself and living life however you want. Your opinion of yourself shouldn’t be hindered by anyone else, your opinion is your opinion, not society’s opinion, not your family’s opinion, and not your friends’ opinion; it is your opinion. * * * I apologize if this website is not meant for checking like this. |
39,330 | 46,403 | 76823_0 | Is there any meaningful difference between a "figure of speech" and a "figure of thought". Searching for a definition of "figure of thought" leads to many esoteric discussions relating to ancient rhetoric and philosophy. How can I tell a figure of speech apart from a figure of thought, and why would it be worth distinguishing between the two? |
39,331 | 140,234 | 76823_0 | As I understand, the term in itself is not consensual, but is there a preferred spelling for musealisation/ musealization, or is it just the 'usual' question of the British/American spelling? |
39,332 | 20,638 | 76823_0 | When reality agrees with my prejudices, they get __. What's the right word? For example: "I had long been prejudiced against city-dwellers as wayward and spendthrift; and when I saw the lust and lucre of New Delhi, my prejudices were __." |
39,333 | 124,442 | 76823_0 | I have recently heard in a Tv show that some guy said: > He is stable-ish for now! What does this term mean exactly? couldn't find anything, what's the occasion to use? can we use the -ish suffix for any adjective? |
39,334 | 20,633 | 76823_0 | I often hear people use the word "jive" when I'm pretty sure they mean "jibe." It's a subtle sound difference so it's hard to catch. But why do so many people mix these two up? |
39,335 | 45,173 | 76823_0 | The title says it all! Even if Anglo doesn't quite mean "of the English" you get what I mean. |
39,336 | 182,644 | 76823_0 | I'm looking for some type of inverse of "mandatory to _not_ ", as in "mandatory to not have any errors in your exam" or "mandatory to not read foreign words in the book." (Those must sound awful to a native speaker, but I hope the meaning is clear enough.) "Forbidden" or "disallowed" are too strong in this sense, but "optional" is also at the wrong end of the spectrum. Is there a better fit, or should I use a longer explanation? |
39,337 | 182,646 | 76823_0 | > His case, though, was rejected by the Court of Appeal, which suggested that > practical and policy reasons militated against allowing him to recover > damages. Lord Justice Stuart-Smith said: > >> In my judgment both as a matter of principle and policy the court should not extend the **duty** to those who are mere bystanders or witnesses of horrific events unless there is a sufficient degree of proximity, which requires both nearness in time and place and a close relationship of love and affection between plaintiff and victim. Would someone please explain how to determine which definition of duty applies here? I can't distinguish. Definition 1 looks correct, if I consider **duty** as 'responsibility of the law'. Yet Definition 3 looks right too, if **duty = payment** (in the form of damages) ? Source: P95, How the Law Works, Gary Slapper |
39,338 | 42,230 | 76823_0 | What does _self-deliverance_ mean? What I don't get is, _self-deliverance_ means different depending on a context used. I mainly hear the word in music but not sure what it means. |
39,339 | 80,069 | 76823_0 | Is "that've" a valid contraction for "that have"? For example, the sentence: "I've been working with some substances that've been detrimental to my health." It follows the patterns of other similar contractions (like would've, that'll've, and others), but doesn't seem to be any dictionary I could find. |
39,340 | 80,066 | 76823_0 | A location, A, is said to be equidistant from two other locations, B and C, if the distance from A to B is the same as the distance from A to C. What is the equivalent word to use in the context of time? That is, suppose that the distance from A to B is different from the distance from A to C, but it takes the same amount of time to get from A to B as it does from A to C. |
39,341 | 189,692 | 76823_0 | _NB This is **not** a question on how to use the said terms. This is **not** a question on what the said term mean. It might just seems like so._ Starting with the following sentences. > It's insulting that OP needs to explain himself for each case. Sometimes he > should but not always. Now, to make it gender neutral, I rephrased to the singular _they_. > It's insulting that OP need to explain themself for each case. Sometimes > they should but not always. The main question is this. What is the name of this rephrasal? I.e. what is the grammatically correct (possible very formal and to most people unfamiliar) term that describes such a transition? My best guess is " _numerus based gender neutralization_ ". Like it? The second question is this. I removed the ending " _s_ " from " _needs_ " in order to follow the plurality of the exchanged words (i.e. I'm intentionally making the mistake to fail to realize that it's a **singular** " _they_ "), although " _OP_ " still is singular. What's that error called grammatically correct? My best guess is " _bogus plurality based numerus incongruence_ ". I don't like it at all... NB My dictionary says that it's called " _numerus_ " but I'm not sure it's the correct term neither. By _numerus_ I refer to the collective set of _singular_ and _plural_. |
39,342 | 103,878 | 76823_0 | I'm looking for the etymology of the word _tomnoddy_ which, according to Wiktionary, either refers to a _puffin_ or _a fool or dunce_. From Tolkien's _The Hobbit_ , > _Old Tomnoddy, all big body, > Old Tomnoddy can't spy me!_ |
39,343 | 139,620 | 76823_0 | Some forums have this emoticon: _:hsugh:_ that you could choose to post with your messages. The resulting graphic looks like this:  What's the meaning of this emoticon? What emotion does it convey? |
39,344 | 6,049 | 76823_0 | There seems to be a large overlap in the definitions of Anthropomorphism and Personification and they are somewhat interchangeable, but in what context is one of these words preferred over another? Anthropomorphism: ascribe human features to something Personification: the act of attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas |
39,345 | 139,627 | 76823_0 | I have a sentence like this: > Since I graduated, I have been working for xyz in abc. **Since can mean:** 1. in the intervening period between (the time mentioned) and the time under consideration, typically the present. 2. for the reason that: because. * * * As both fit, the sentence is a little ambiguous in my opinion. I want it to mean the first (time duration). How do I make sure it does that? " _Since the time I..._ " sounds valid to me, but is there a better way to put it? |
39,346 | 26,133 | 76823_0 | I am an engineer by trade, and this phrase is often used in a somewhat derogatory way to indicate knowledge which is passed around in an organization, but never documented or standardized. A Wikipedia article indicates it's use in the six sigma community, which is probably the reason I've been exposed to the term, but I am curious to know if it is used elsewhere, where it came from, and if others use another word or phrase for the same idea. |
39,347 | 134,017 | 76823_0 | I have this sentence:- > Your environment advances the well being of humanity and the society. Should I put _the_ before society, or should I remove it and put it before _humanity_? |
39,348 | 10,018 | 76823_0 | Here is the full sentence: > This whole story is starting to smack of one of your gags. |
39,349 | 10,010 | 76823_0 | I hear people use the term _vis-à-vis_ all the time in place of what I believe should more correctly be _for example_ or _that is_. What is the most generally accepted correct and appropriate use of _vis-à-vis_ , and what are its origins? |
39,350 | 10,015 | 76823_0 | If I have a previous appointment, what can I say instead of appointment? Previous engagement? Promise? And I wonder exactly what they both mean. (I thought they were similar.) |
39,351 | 176,770 | 76823_0 | If protégé is the person who receives, so-to-speak, who is the giver? That is, what's the terms used for the person under whose patronage the protégé is? |
39,352 | 163,698 | 76823_0 | > The student thinks that he can _where's waldo_ their way to the answer Now, does it mean it's gonna be a cinch or a sisyphean task? Again, if I add a little detail, > The student thinks that he can _where's waldo_ their way to the answer by > using the words in the passage. The situation is that a student has to answer a question after reading a passage, trying to figure out whether the options match verbatim with some sentence in the passage. |
39,353 | 176,776 | 76823_0 | I have no idea if it is country specific, but in our country if someone doesn't know something he or she would put their lower lip forward. However, I cannot find a name for this lip gesture. Any help is appreciated. |
39,354 | 92,066 | 76823_0 | From Nate Silver's "The signal and the noise:" > The amount of information was increasing much more rapidly than our > understanding of what to do with it, or our ability to differentiate the > useful information from the mistruths. Why is there a comma before _or_? Isn't the second clause dependent, since it refers to the increasing amount of information (so it's not self-contained)? If it is indeed independent, how exactly do you tell when a clause is dependent? |
39,355 | 163,693 | 76823_0 | Hi guys I want to understand what is meant by this expression: > **_I often asked myself, did the principle of life proceed?_** This sentence came in the following context: > When I had arrived at this point and had become as well acquainted with the > theory and practice of natural philosophy as depended on the lessons of any > of the professors at Ingolstadt, my residence there being no longer > conducive to my improvements, I thought of returning to my friends and my > native town, when an incident happened that protracted my stay. **_Whence, I > often asked myself, did the principle of_** **_life proceed?_** It was a > bold question, and one which has never been considered as a mystery; yet > with how many things are we upon the brink of becoming acquainted, if What is mean by the principle of life here? And how can this principle of life proceed? There is a meaning underlying in this expression, but I can't understand it. |
39,356 | 163,697 | 76823_0 | Gnosticism, for example, is obviously not pronounced with a hard g. As far as I know the modern English use of agnostic is said to have originated with Thomas Huxley, who surely would have been aware of the correct pronunciation. Is there some odd rule or quirk that explains this? Or has it simply been repeated enough that people now consider it to be the standard pronunciation? |
39,357 | 163,696 | 76823_0 | I am wondering about the interjection "oh, the horror!". If it should be treated as an interjection directed to "horror" (there are similar expressions in other languages), why does it use the article "the"? There is no article in "Oh Lord!" or "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?", so why in "Oh the horror"? |
39,358 | 70,424 | 76823_0 | I was interested in the following sentence which appeared in an article titled “In Rossellini’s War Movies, the Naturalism Survives" by Dave Kehr in The New York Times (January 22, 2010). > It’s _almost impossible to underestimate_ the importance of these movies, > both for the impact that their startling realism had on the audiences and > filmmakers of the time and for the influence they continue to exert on > directors. Can someone clarify if the fragment "almost impossible to underestimate" makes the sentence illogical? I would reword "underestimate" with "overestimate", but I'm not quite sure on this correction because I'm not able to precisely identify the meaning of "underestimate" in this context, and the word "almost" that precede "impossible" makes the problem entirely incomprehensible (to me). (Apologize in advanced if the question is not good for this site or if it is a dupe of another question. If so, please delete rather than close. Thank you.) |
39,359 | 70,420 | 76823_0 | Consider the following examples: > I **have noticed** that a lot of people are switching to Unity. > vs. > I **have come to notice** that a lot of people are switching to Unity. or: > The Saddam I **have come to know** > vs. > The Saddam I **have known** or: > "I **have come to understand** " vs. "I **have understood** " > "I **have come to decide** " vs. "I **have decided** " My questions are: 1. How is the meaning different in the above examples? 2. I do not think it's possible to use certain verbs like "run" after "I have come to". So what sort of verbs can be used in this context? |
39,360 | 70,421 | 76823_0 | Is it correct to use the word "read" in these sentences? If not, what would be more appropriate word to use instead? > The status-bar now reads: Click to run the currently highlighted cell. > > The tool-tip reads: Click to run the currently highlighted cell. |
39,361 | 125,313 | 76823_0 | What is a proper way to address a person with the title of a Professor in a way which is less formal than "Dear Professor", but still conveys some respect? For example, suppose I am talking to Professor John Smith. At first, I would address him as "Professor" or "Professor Smith", but after some time he gets tired of it, and suggests that I call him by first name. Because Professor Smith is very accomplished and respectable (and partly because of my Easter European upbringing), I feel reluctant just to call him "John". Do phrases like "Professor John" or "Mr John" sound natural and respectful? Is there a better alternative? * * * I'd be most interested in answers concerning British English, but would also be grateful for insight about other dialects. |
39,362 | 174,738 | 76823_0 | In Hebrew, we say "pink glasses" to mean optimistic observation, and "black glasses" for pessimism. I was trying to figure out how popular the literal translations are in English. I found "rose-tinted glasses" as a popular equivalent to express optimism. But is there an analogous expression for pessimism? Googling "looking through black glasses" made it seem not to be a popular phrase. Is this in fact a recognized idiom? Is there a similar, more common one? |
39,363 | 174,739 | 76823_0 | > Tom: "Hi this is Tom, May I speak with Linda please?" > Linda: "Yes, she is speaking" Can Linda say "yes, she is speaking" or does she have to say "yes, I am speaking"? |
39,364 | 174,734 | 76823_0 | How similar or different is "putative" to "surrogate"? The term "surrogate father" is common, "putative father" is fairly so, too. But what may be the difference in connotation? |
39,365 | 125,552 | 76823_0 | An example: the sentence > "Upon finishing these books, I think the reader has a new perspective on > history." Taken literally, it could mean that "I, upon finishing these books, think..." Or it could mean "The reader, upon finishing these books, has a new perspective on history; in my opinion." Even though the second is pretty clearly the intended meaning, I'd like to call this error what it is. Thus, I am wondering what this error is called. I'm drawn to making up a name like "spliced verb" or some such, but I'd prefer to be certain. I know it ought not really matter; but still I'd like as technical and SNOOTy a label as possible. Many thanks. |
39,366 | 121,678 | 76823_0 | * Less of this noise, guys! * Less of that funny talk! * Less of talking nonsense! * Less of working late! * * * Does it mean less or stop doing something? |
39,367 | 174,730 | 76823_0 | What is the correct word in the following sentence? > Products will be shipped in the same order they [. . .] ordered. I am guessing for _are_ or _have been_ , but I'm not sure. Can someone explain? To clarify: the ordering of the products is both in the past and in the present. The shipping will take place _after_ the ordering of all the products. |
39,368 | 161,766 | 76823_0 | Are there any good explanations for questions without a subject like this: **Why bother to read fiction?** |
39,369 | 24,727 | 76823_0 | I hope this is not a double post. Should I use "at the time" or "at that time" when I want to express something that was known during the time when the events occurred? > Bonco presents the facts known at the time about Fiolo and their > interpretation by various authors. Here I mean "at the time" as "at the moment that Bonco wrote it." |
39,370 | 130,853 | 76823_0 | I want to make the following sentence short by removing **we**. Please help me which one is correct form. > The error we faced is "Sorry, you have exceeded the maximum allowed > databases." Option 1 : The error faced is "Sorry, you have exceeded the maximum allowed databases" Option 2 : The faced error is "Sorry, you have exceeded the maximum allowed databases" Please let me know which one is correct, or if both of them are correct provide some references for further study. Thank you:) |
39,371 | 138,573 | 76823_0 | Is there a word or phrase for "things we are responsible to share and work out together"? For example, we are in a team, so we have to work together and responsibility for every member is the same. Spouses have to share housework. … |
39,372 | 84,365 | 76823_0 | "been to" (be to) is used in perfect tenses - in sentences like the ones below: > * I have never been to the opera. > * I have never been to a baseball game > * I have never been to a Pentecostal Bible rally. > * I have never been to your house. > * I had never been to your country. > (Thanks to @Robusto for examples.) Can I use "be to" in any other tenses? What would be the meaning then? Thank you! **NOTE** This question is about _verb of being_ \+ _to_ \+ _location_ : why this is only seen in "perfect" forms, not in simple present or past, such as "I am to Spain" etc. |
39,373 | 84,360 | 76823_0 | What is the origin of the nickname "Money Making Manhattan" for the borough of Manhattan in New York City? |
39,374 | 164,473 | 76823_0 | Assuming the definition of 'form' as follows (see definition #6 here): "a printed document with blank spaces for information to be inserted." What could you call a printed document with the blank spaces filled in, if you were trying to use a word that differentiated those printed documents from the ones that haven't been filled in? **UPDATE** To help clarify the situation a little more, let me explain the two concepts that we are working with. We have several online 'forms' that people fill out in order to provide us with background information about them. We also keep hard-copies of the information they have provided, but these 'forms' do not correlate directly with the online 'forms.' For example, online we have "Personal Information", "Biographical", and "Financial" forms. The printed 'forms' contain information from several of these 'online' forms. For example, the financial form pulls name, address, etc., from the personal information form. So you see, the printed forms are not really submissions because they are created after the 'submissions' have been gathered. They are also not really the 'completed' or 'filled' forms. Also, 'printed' won't work either because, although I mentioned we keep hard copies, they are also used electronically as well. We are looking for very unambiguous terms because of the confusion that has resulted in the past (you would be surprised). |
39,375 | 138,578 | 76823_0 | If I want to know if an item is _available_ , I can check for its _availability_. What do I check for if I want to know if an item is _required_? |
39,376 | 138,579 | 76823_0 | Which of the following is correct? > * She doesn't go to school today because she is ill. > * She didn't go to school today because she is ill. > These are the only choices given. |
39,377 | 119,359 | 76823_0 | Consider a company called: > The Association of Examples Ltd. When you refer to this company, should you have to capitalize "the" when it's mid-sentence and would have been used even if it wasn't in the name? It _looks_ odd to me: > In other news, The Association of Examples announced that... > > Sarah is the founder of The Association of Examples and has... But I imagine it's the correct way. For the grammar-conscious, why or why not? To give you context, I am asking also when branding ones own company like that. The Economist did it (as did Fitzgerald for The Great Gatsby) and Wikipedia authors adhere, but I can imagine it can cause confusion. |
39,378 | 29,878 | 76823_0 | I notice that "let alone" is used in sentences that have a comma. The structure of the sentence is what comes before the comma is some kind of negative statement. Right after the comma is "let alone," followed by the rest of the sentence. What does "let alone" mean here? Does it mean the same thing as "or even?" Can someone explain this phrase and sentences that have it? |
39,379 | 119,353 | 76823_0 | My question is about usage of perfect infinitives with main verbs e.g. > I would like **to have lived** in the 13th century. > > She was going **to have worked** in her mother's business, but decided > instead to continue her studies. It's particularly the second sentence that I don't understand. How does it differ from the following? > _She was going to work in her mother's business, but decided instead to > continue her studies._ PS: Are these forms actually used in speech? They seem quite unnecessarily long and cumbersome to be used in ordinary everyday conversation. |
39,380 | 29,874 | 76823_0 | I've heard > I'm sorry your frog is dead. > I'm sorry if your frog's death causes you pain. > I'm sorry my taunting you about your frog's death caused you pain. You > should seek therapy. Do the second and third type of apology ("Conditional apology" and "poisoned apology") have something with it? I mean, does the speaker really feel sorry? Are these kind of apologies, more rude than polite? **EDIT:** I asked the question cause of this article: > An apology should give the sense that you actually feel some form of regret. > "Sorry if" is a conditional apology. Conditional apologies make things > worse, not better. |
39,381 | 119,351 | 76823_0 | > A personal flotation device (PFD) required by 14 CFR 91 shall be worn by > each individual on board the helicopter when conducting operations beyond > power-off gliding distance to shore, and during all hovering flight > operations conducted over water sources such as ponds, streams, lakes, and > coastal waters. If the requirements were that _either_ a power off glide distance or flight over water required a PFD, shouldn't "or" be there? Does the use of "and" say that both elements, beyond gliding distant _and_ over a water source _must_ be in place to require a PFD? Is the "and" acting as a "while" since it connects both parts? |
39,382 | 133,549 | 76823_0 | This question is about conditionals > If I had money, I would give it you * conditional 2 (present tense) > If I had money, I would have given it to you * conditional 3 (Past tense) But I've come across people mixing conditional 2 and 3 like > If I was there, I would have done that What does this statement mean? Is it grammatically correct? I feel it should be like "If I had been there I would have done that." |
39,383 | 130,858 | 76823_0 | Normally I would use forms of the words _epidemic, pandemic,_ or _infection_ but these would imply that the disease in contagious. Are there any words that mean a disease has spread but is not contagious? |
39,384 | 160,621 | 76823_0 | What are the scenarios where the meanings of these differ? What is the difference between their meanings and if any, why? I have observed that the term 'analyst' is specifically used in cases of humans. 'Analyser/analyzer' is used with humans and with others also, such as 'lexical analyzer' in computer science. Also when used with humans, 'analyzer' is used to describe some one's skills/ability (such as in resumes 'good analyzer' can be seen. Whereas the word 'analyst' is mostly seen in job descriptions. Can anyone help me understand the similarities and differences in these two? |
39,385 | 187,235 | 76823_0 | _Profound_ being an adjective, is its usage in the sentence below correct? > Loneliness is profound on weekends. |
39,386 | 5,362 | 76823_0 | I knew that admire can be used in phrases like "admire somebody" or "admire somebody for something", but recently I have found the following sentence in my Collins dictionary: > If you emulate something or someone, you imitate them because you admire > them a great deal. Is the meaning of "admire them a great deal" is "admire them, because they've made a great deal"? Would it have a different meaning, if I wrote "admire them for a great deal" or "admire their great deal"? What are other examples of the use of admire in the same way? |
39,387 | 1,042 | 76823_0 | Does the nickname _Dutch_ have any significance? I know it was Reagan's, and I'm sure I've come across it in other books/films. Also _T-Bone_ , as in _T-Bone Walker_ , _T-Bone Burnett_ : what does that mean? (I realise T-bone is a steak, but why would people be named after a meat cut, and why this one?) |
39,388 | 186,402 | 76823_0 | When it says: > You can apply for a visa up to 3 months before your date of travel to the > UK. > > Source: gov.uk Does it mean **the latest** I can apply for a visa is 3 months before the travel date, or the **earliest** I can apply for a visa is 3 months before the travel date? |
39,389 | 5,366 | 76823_0 | Which is correct: "Filename", "File Name" or "FileName"? |
39,390 | 5,367 | 76823_0 | I was watching an episode of _Friends_ where Ross talks about "counting mississippily". I did not get the joke. Why would someone say "Mississippi" after every number? Is there some story behind it? |
39,391 | 5,365 | 76823_0 | What is the meaning of the word "rain-maker"? How did this originate? |
39,392 | 187,233 | 76823_0 | The whole sentence is > Mr Boxell had deliberately sold the man a pair of shoes which were a size > too small, knowing he would return them next day! I'm so confused about _which were a size too small_ , whether it is the correct order. |
39,393 | 1,049 | 76823_0 | Why is the order of the words in "so do I" or "nor do I" different from the normal order? |
39,394 | 1,048 | 76823_0 | In dictionaries you'll often see a pronunciation guide next to words like (bakery would be beɪkəri). Are there different standards of these pronunciation guides? Also, where can I learn how to understand the pronunciation guide? |
39,395 | 122,099 | 76823_0 | I'm trying to say that a certain individual adds noise to any place he goes. When someone, figuratively, enhances the mood of a room he enters we say "he lights up the room". Is there any way to use _sound_ as a verb to get the same idea across but with sound? |
39,396 | 172,295 | 76823_0 | What does it mean by a statement being contestable? - (qualify a statement). |
39,397 | 149,723 | 76823_0 | > 1. You should have known that he is quite adept at what he does **and > that** he has the best conversion rate. > 2. You should have known that he is quite adept at what he does **, and > that** he has the best conversion rate. > Which of the above two sentences is right? I believe it is the first one, as it appears to be a case of compound object and hence should take no comma. Also, if there can be a case without a compound object and the second sentence has an 'and that' to start off with, what should I do? Is it similar to 'so' and 'so that'? |
39,398 | 110,920 | 76823_0 | Does it make sense to say: > Please consider this email as a meantime brief report. If yes, why? and if no, how can it be fixed? **Edit** By the above sentence, I want to say that this email is not the main report but, in the meantime, I just want to update you about the status and I'll send you another email later. |
39,399 | 172,299 | 76823_0 | So we have a guy in my office. He can say almost anything. Race jokes, gender jokes, he is just really inappropriate about everything but funny. He is not a racist or sexist and gets along with everyone fine. He has such a history of being inappropriate that basically anything goes for him. Things that would get someone else a seat in HR, everyday norm for him. He just has no filter. But now his inappropriateness has become appropriate for him. **Edit:** I will add that Theodore mentioned "The Office" bosses, both Michael Scott and David Brent. Pretty close I would say. Add in being a little more touchy-feely and not worrying about kissing ass to higher ups and it might be there. The big thing is that people shrug this kind of person off because the person isn't trying to be inappropriate, they just don't know better. So sometimes we get slightly offended, but then we are like... he doesn't know any better. Then we feel sorry for him then people like him more. |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.