title: "This may get confused" or "This may get confusing"

text: 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 confused" and "This may get confusing"?


title: "I teach" vs. "I'm teaching" — which one is proper in this situation?

text: 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 is not my mother tongue but I do think I'm fluent in it. I grew up bilingual.


title: What articles can I use with "maximum/minimum [noun]"?

text: 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 googling. **Edit:** I'm sorry I didn't include more context in my original question. I thought it would be enough. What follows is the actual text of the paragraph: > Customize the [product name] yourself for it to meet all of the diverse > requirements of the users in your company. The openness of the [product > name] is based on its ability to integrate an array of individual activities > managed by special, tailored pieces of software that you use to perform > activities in your company. As for the negative connotations of _variability_ when talking about software, I must say I was a bit confused at first, but then I checked my dictionary to find out it's a false friend in my native language. Good to know! I suppose the producer wants to stress the... it's on the tip of my tongue... _versatility_ or _universality_ of their application. No, those aren't the right words. I guess it's the infinite _customizability_ that matters here most. How about _variedness_ , _diversity_ , _diverseness_ , _heterogeneity_ or _multifariousness_ then? I'm sorry if this is a bit off-topic. Should I make it another question?


title: How to add emphasis to a modal verb

text: 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 itself or introduce an adverb. In the case of "should" you can also cheat by replacing it with "have to": >   * He surely can run. >   * You _may_ come in. >   * I do have to brush my teeth. > But are there other possibilities to add emphasis to a modal verb? Which solution is the most elegant? Do any manuals of style address this?


title: What do you call a scale going down?

text: 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?


title: Is the term 'put on his parts' used everywhere, or only in some dialects?

text: 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 since it suggests they are behaving like a child. But I am wondering if the expression is widely understood? Presumably it derives from the following meaning of the noun 'parts'. Edit Meaning 12 of on-line OED †a. A character sustained, assumed, or feigned by a person, esp. for a special purpose. Also in extended use. Obs. earlier references deleted. a1732 J. Gay Fables (1738) II. vi. 47 The man of pure and simple heart Through life disdains a double part. 1885 Dict. National Biogr. at Thomas Blood, It is not improbable that he was at this time..acting a double part, keeping the government informed of so much as might secure his own safety. Tags


title: What does "toast" mean here?

text: > ... 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.


title: Is it OK to switch between abbreviated and non-abbreviated versions?

text: 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 reduce the number of lines for a page limit. By abbreviating, I can sometimes remove a line.


title: What does "hardline phone" mean?

text: 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 morning." -- CNN


title: hallo or hello: etymology dilemma

text: 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!


title: What is the word for "Unnecessary detailed information"?

text: Can you tell me what the word is for `"Unnecessary detailed info on a topic which is given after the prominent parts is given"`


title: A particular usage of 'less seldom'

text: 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, and > traders, and the wineshops, inns, and brothels all catered to them. East of > the river, strangers from across the seas were seen **less seldom**. _We are > not wanted here_ , the dwarf realized. In my opinion, 'less seldom' should mean something like 'more often', but here it is used as 'more rarely'. Is my thinking wrong?


title: Is there a term for a question and answer pair?

text: 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, but not both combined.


title: What language function does profanity serve?

text: 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 vulgarity), it can also have negative impacts (mostly social). In terms of language itself, though, is there any particular function served by profanity? Or is it just a shortcut to expressing concepts like "this is extra important to me" or "I am angry" or "I perceive this as a comfortable and informal social situation" which could otherwise be expressed without the profanity?


title: In my example, did I use brackets correctly?

text: 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 me know :) Here are the original two sentences I want to combine: > Due to the nature of this study, I used the instrumental variables (IV) > approach to estimate the effect of the MLDA on mortality in terms of per > person drinking. Through careful analysis I believe the IV assumptions are > met, which implies that the IV estimate shows the causal effect of the MLDA > on mortality in terms of per person drinking. This is how I intend to combine them by using some form of brackets: > Due to the nature of this study, I used the instrumental variables (IV) > approach — and through the IV assumptions — to estimate the causal effect of > the MLDA on mortality in terms of per person drinking.


title: What does "From Twitter came" mean?

text: 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


title: Can I use two colons in a sentence?

text: 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 same sentence. The general pattern is: > Note: [sentence with a colon]. Is this use of two colons acceptable? * * * (This question is similar but distinct from Can I use a colon twice in one sentence? due to that question's focus on colons and lists.)


title: How can I join many adjectives to one word and create a grammatical phrase?

text: 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.


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?


title: "May or May Not" Redundancy

text: > 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.


title: "Crack" as a positive noun?

text: 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_?


title: Can I use 'drenching' to mean 'being drenched'?

text: 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.


title: What does ‘play the pill’ mean?

text: 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.K. > wit** to dismiss the ridiculous assertion. Instead, he **played the pill** , > as he too often does, huffily telling reporters, “Well, I’ll let you guys > engage in those comparisons, and you can go ahead and read the history, I > think, and draw your own conclusions.” What does “play the pill” mean? I was unable to find this expression as an idiom in any of Cambridge, Oxford and Merriam Webster Dictionary, nor the incidence in Google N Gram. At the same time, what does ‘J.F.K. wit’ mean? What is it like for example?


title: What great writers have used coordinating conjunctions at the start of sentences?

text: 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 of great writers have done that exact thing. I mentioned this to him, and he challenged me to name an author who did this, and to provide him with examples of such. I found that to my shame I couldn’t name even one. So what famous authors actually have used conjunctions at the start of sentences, and how did they do it?


title: implication behind "can I ask you to ..."

text: 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


title: Expressions in Tim Minchin's "Angry (Feet)"

text: 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 this and `like this` respectively.   * "My father left my mother for the love of a `pantang (?)` nother" [3:20]    * "In primary school I had trouble making `ashtrays` friends" [3:45]   * "And while he lied there bleeding I used his feet to kick him in the head" [5:40]


title: Does English have half-graded antonyms?

text: 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 is the dominant or default form for general use. Marking explains why we normally ask, “How _old_ are you?” instead of how _young._ I think it also explains why it sounds awkward to say, “This is more useless than that,” unless we add emphasis: “This is _even more_ useless than that.” Edwin Ashworth disagrees, claming: “ _Useful_ is not an absolute adjective, whereas _useless_ is. The opposite of _useless_ is possibly _essential._ ” I take this to mean that _useless_ properly has a complementary antonym like _on/off_ or _day/night,_ where the two meanings don't lie on a spectrum and don't normally permit comparatives. But _essential_ and _useless_ still form a gradable spectrum, and phrases like _more essential_ are not at all uncommon. I doubt that it's even possible to find a complementary antonym for _useless,_ as utility is inherently gradable. However, another possibility occurred to me: Is there a class of half-graded antonyms, where the two meanings lie on a spectrum, but only one of the words is gradable, while the other is absolute? This would work like a dimmer switch, where instead of _on/off,_ you have something more like _bright/off._ One such antonym might be _doubtful/doubtless_ : Wiktionary lists the adjective form of _doubtless_ as _not comparable._ My intuition is that adjectives like _useless_ and _doubtless_ are simply more marked than most, such that we permit comparative forms only in very limited contexts. However, I'm open to the possibility that some gradable antonyms really are anchored at one end by an absolute, uncomparable adjective. Does one of these theories have more merit than the other? Or are we just saying _tomayto, tomahto_? * * * Update: Thanks to ruakh for helping my organize my thoughts on this question. Essentially, I noticed that there are three kinds of adjectives that are similar in form and meaning but with different limitations in common usage. Some ( _doubtless_ ) are listed in dictionaries as having no comparative form at all. Others ( _useless_ ) have legitimate comparative forms, but they sound awkward without other modifiers ( _a hammer is more useless than a screwdriver_ ). Still others ( _thoughtless_ ) sound entirely natural in comparative form ( _Bob is more thoughtless than Alice_ ). Because all of these examples naturally fall on a spectrum and share the same suffix, I suspect that these differences are a matter of convention rather than semantics, but I'm not sure. Ideally, I'd like to see an analysis of the non-comparable and less-comparable words, specifically: How common are they, how strongly do people avoid the comparative forms in practice, and what role does convention versus semantics play in determining their limitations?


title: Can one feel claustrophobic?

text: 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"?


title: What does “Cultures are circular” mean?

text: 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 cram schools to study for Stuyvesant entrance exam? They regard the usual > explanation, that Asian-Americans have an ‘education culture,’ **as > circular**. The challenge is to delve deeper and discover the cultural roots > of this behavior – to identify the fundamental cultural force that underlie > it. - - > > The thing is, though, that often, **cultures really are circular**. All the > time, communities judge their members by standards that are, on some level, > arbitrary." http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2014/02/the-battle- > hymn-of-the-tiger-family.html I’m not clear with the meaning of the word, “circular” used here. Cambridge English Dictionary defines ‘circular’ only as an adjective, meaning;   1. Shaped like a circle:    2. Describes an argument that keeps returning to the same points and is not effective. OALD adds to;   1. Moving around in a circle as adjective, and   2. A letter sent to a large number of people as noun. There is no mention of “circular” as a verb in both CED and OALD. However, none of the above definitions seems to sit well with “culture(s)” in the above context to me. Does “culture as circular” mean culture is inherited generation to generation? What does “have an education culture as circular” and “cultures really are circular” mean?


title: Why is this sentence incorrect?

text: 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 Tim's book. However, this sentence does not sound right even though the two sentences used same determiner from the same group. > This is the my book.


title: Meaning of pull-out in education?

text: 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 disciplinary purposes.


title: Lack of it / Lack thereof

text: 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 it) is a critical factor in obtaining a > job?


title: Exclamation point inside a sentence

text: 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, attracted in even a greater degree. Notice the “alas!” in the middle of a sentence. I have never seen exclamation point in the middle of a sentence used like this before. Was this a common practice at the time this book was published? What is the history of this practice?


title: Can snow be dry?

text: 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 because water in its frozen form is not water but ice and therefore even though snow is _made of_ water it is not the case that it _is_ water? If so, is wetness a property that can only exist in non-freezing conditions? Are all of the above questions predicated on the false assumption that the adjective "dry", when applied to snow is intended to be literal when in fact it is figurative?


title: What does the expression 'Do the fish' mean?

text: I just recently heard this expression and couldn't quite figure out its meaning from the context, unless it means something like "take the bait." Is this a common expression? Is it perhaps an abbreviation of another expression? Most importantly, if it _is_ a common phrase, what does it mean? **Edit:** The basic context in which I heard this expression used was this: one person asked a technical question of a group, to which a member of the group responded, beginning with "I'll do the fish" and then proceeding to the technical explanation.


title: What is the subject of a cynic called?

text: According to the dictionary, a **cynic** is: > a person who believes that only selfishness motivates human actions and who > disbelieves in or minimizes selfless acts or disinterested points of view. Alice is a cynic. She uses Bob as an example to illustrate her point of view. What's the best term (preferably a single word) she can use to describe Bob? You could say that Bob is **___ __ ___ __ ___ __ ___ _**. For example, given the definition above, you could say that Bob is selfish. However, I believe that this doesn't sum up all of the things Alice believes about him...


title: "Yes, I thought it was very good." Why "thought"?

text: Here is a sentence from "Essential Grammar in Use" book by Raymond Murphy: > Did you enjoy the film ? Yes, I **thought** it was very good. The correct answer in key section is "thought", but why not to use "think" instead: > Did you enjoy the film ? Yes, I **think** it was very good. It looks like you thought in the past and have another thought now.


title: More colloquial term for "confidant"

text: Is there a more colloquial term for a " **confidant** ", or someone who has been entrusted with sensitive information to be disclosed only under certain conditions? This is related to my previous question on trusted proxies.


title: Expression for "pulling out something from the past"

text: I am looking for an expression (proverb / idiom) meaning "pulling out something from the past" in disapproval. An example of this would be: somebody mentioning a thing of the past, which is not relevant anymore. Do we have a proverb / idiom with this meaning?


title: Can 'must have -ed participle' have the present meaning?

text: In an Oxford dictionary, ‘must have –ed participle’ is used for supposing a past event. > He must have known (= surely he knew) what she wanted.   >  I'm sorry, she's not here. She must have left already (= that must be the > explanation)   >  (Advanced Learner’s) However, a case below seems to have some different meaning. Although, yet, I do not have found the explanation, from a grammar textbook for Korean language, I guess the case seems to express an awareness of realization, perfection, or the continuity of the perfection at present with a past form. Can my guessing be right, or am I to learn about some other explanation? > “Jane,” he recommenced, as we entered the laurel walk, and slowly strayed > down in the direction of the sunk fence and the horse-chestnut, “Thornfield > is a pleasant place in summer, is it not?”   >  “Yes, sir.”   >  “You **must have become** in some degree attached to the house,—you, who > have an eye for natural beauties, and a good deal of the organ of > Adhesiveness?”   > (Jane Eyre)


title: Different dictionary in New South Wales, Australia?

text: My writing textbook on page 446 says this: > _Use local conventions regarding punctuation, spelling, and mechanics._ Be > aware that these conventions differ from place to place, even in the English > speaking world. For instance, the Australian state of New South Wales uses a > different dictionary for spelling than all the other Australian states. I can't seem to find anything backing up the statement about the dictionary. The author does not appear to cite his source for this information. In short, does New South Wales really use their own dictionary? The textbook is Markel, Mike. _Technical Communication_. 10th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2012. Print.


title: Why is the pronoun required in the sentence "I know it is..."?

text: I am volunteering for an ESL program and one of my students wrote: > I know is very rare. As a native English speaker, I know that "it" is required. But I'm struggling to come up with an explanation of why. Is the subject/verb/object "I know it" or "it is rare?" The two nouns & two verbs is confusing me.


title: Antonym for "resurrect"

text: I am looking for an antonym for the word _resurrect_.


title: How common is the misuse of "literally" to mean "figuratively"?

text: This question > "Literally" and "Decimate" misuse addresses the misuse of the word "literally" to mean its opposite. I am curious as to how prevalent is such misuse. My hunch is that we are all so attuned to spotting incorrect usages that we over-estimate the frequency of misuse and overstate the threat of the word literally losing its meaning. How I might go about calculating the ratio of correct usage to incorrect usage?


title: How to clarify the meaning of "don't forget my son"?

text: There are two meanings of "Don't forget my son"   1. A directive addressed to your own son.   2. A directive addressed to someone else about your son. You want to use meaning #2. You can emphasize meaning #1 using a comma but there is no way to emphasize #2. How is the ambiguity resolved? Would any native speaker who don't see a comma assume #2? It's easy in many languages (Slavic, Turkic etc) changing subject's relation to the verb using suffixes. I wonder if it's possible in English.


title: What does “Don’t leave your brains at the door,” mean? Is this an idiom, or just frequently used phrase?

text: I found the phrase, “ _Don’t leave your brains at the door_ ,” in the statement of Republican congressman, Morgan Griffith quoted in ‘Today’s Quote’ of Time magazine (November 18). Under the caption, “ _I hope you didn't leave your brains at the door_ ,” it reads: “A Republican congressman from Virginia, to Secretary of Energy Steven Chu. Chu has been assailed in congressional hearings for claiming to have had no real-time knowledge of key events in the collapse of solar energy company Solyndra.” “Don’t leave your brains at the door,” reminded me of the famous catch phrase of Amex Card’s, “Don’t leave home without it” that prevailed in 1980s. But I don’t understand exact meaning of “Don’t leave your brains at the door.” Does it mean “Don’t be silly (or oblivious)”? I could find a few examples of the use of this phrase on Google, e.g. -"Have I ever walked out on a movie? Not yet. This is the closest I've come. Just the first in a line of soon to come Robin Williams crap. Maybe not technically a "* _leave your brain at the door_ " film" -.Amazon.com -If you live in a confessional world, do _you need to leave your brain at the door_? There’s been a lot of talk lately about whether Roman Catholics have less intellectual freedom than other Christians because of the strongly confessional nature of the Catholic tradition.- Scientia et Sapientia. As far as I checked, none of Oxford, Cambridge, Merrimu-Webster registers “leave (check) one’s brains at the door” as an idiom. Nor Google Ngram viewer registers usage of this phrase. Is this phrase has a currency as an idiomatic phrase nowadays?


title: What is another word for 'all round' capabilities?

text: I am looking for a positive, passionate word to describe the all-around capabilities of a person. Any words better than 'all-arounder'?


title: What are "pushing horns"?

text: This is from a song by Garth Brooks called The Cowboy Song: > Pushing horns weren't easy like the movie said it was   >  And I don't recall no dance hall girls   >  Or hotel rooms with rugs   >  You worked hot and tired and nasty   >  Rode your pony's head too low   >  There were all the nights you couldn't sleep   >  'Cause it was too damn cold   >  And you'd sing "Strawberry Roan" and "Little Joe" Can anybody tell me what "pushing horns" refers to, and possibly the name of the movie in question as well?


title: Why is it "grand theft auto"?

text: I'm not a native speaker so it might just be me finding this strange, but why is the _auto_ in _grand theft auto_ at the end? Shouldn't it be _grand auto theft_ or something like this? I thought the expression described the crime of stealing cars?


title: Better name for a square prism

text: What is the proper name for a cube which is stretched in one direction. So that it is really four rectangles of the same size with two squares at the ends. Elongated/stretched cube? Rectangular/square prism?


title: Is it appropriate to use two consecutive "-ing" clause?

text: > The Cheng-guang (law-enforcement staff) are semi-barbaric, stirring up a > universal hatred for the government, thus endangering the stability of the > whole political system. In this sentence I've devised, I have used two "-ing" structures as clauses describing activities / consequences. Is it appropriate to use two consecutive -ing clauses? Maybe I should create another sentence in which I replace the second -ing clause?


title: Usage of "Who" and "whom" in the given sentence

text: In the given sentence,"There’s Mr. Som, who they say is the best singer in the country" is "who" is the correct word to be used or "whom"


title: An adjective to describe "being at sea"

text: I'm looking for an adjective that describes the fact that a ship is sailing at sea. Much as "afoot" describes a person being in the state of walking. I was hoping "asail" would be a word, but can't find it from Google. The word would replace the square brackets in the following example: > In Plato's ship of state metaphor, a ship is [sailing at sea], helmed by a > captain ...


title: Others or the others in this example

text: > The goal of ABC is to enable the doctors all around the world to share and > benefit from the knowledge of (the) others. (meaning of other doctors all > around the world) I know that THE OTHERS is used when there is a limited count. But there is always a limited, finite count (people on the world..). Should there be others or THE others?


title: Another phrase for "until this time"

text: I have a student (C1 level English) who has asked me for another way to say "Until this time" in an email. She wants to reference a meeting that she is having next month with an executive in another company in her complimentary close. As I don't believe my initial reaction - "um, we don't say things like that in emails in America...?" was sufficient, is there a resource that I can point her to that would provide a fairly exhaustive explanation of the rules of business email etiquette? She said the equivalent in her L1 - Czech - is "awhile," which did not do much to help answer her question. Stock phrases generally don't reference a specific time, obviously; which, she is aware, but wants to do something different...be original and inventive, I suppose. So what should I explain to her, and how - ?


title: If I say First Monday or Second Monday of the Month what is the name for the First or Second Part?

text: Situation: Someone says i want to meet the first monday of each month. And i want to tell them that the first wouldn't work. But i want to say it like: Please choose a different xxxxx. IE: if i wanted to change the day i'd say. "Please choose a different day" I'm thinking something close to frequency or ordinal..but i'm sure there's a term for it.


title: Usage of the word "truancy" in a workplace context

text: I recently made this personal discovery of the word _truancy_. It means: > the action of staying away from school without good reason I am wondering if there's a parallel to this word for workplace or professional settings. All I can think of is _absenteeism_ , but it doesn't capture the essence of _truancy_.


title: “Greater Good”: Why the comparative?

text: I’ve often heard the expression _Greater Good_ and have always come across the very same question about it: why the comparative form instead of the superlative form?


title: Suitable idiom for using instead of immunize

text: We have water that is not drinkable, we boil it for killing the microbes, is this sentence correct “I immunize the water ” or there is an idiom for this action?


title: Is this social media post really grammatically correct as it claims?

text: A friend of mine shared an image macro that contained this block of text, claiming it is grammatically correct. > This exceeding trifling witling, considering ranting criticizing concerning > adopting fitting wording being exhibiting transcending learning, was > displaying, notwithstanding ridiculing, surpassing boasting swelling > reasoning, respecting correcting erring writing, and touching detecting > deceiving arguing during debating. Is this really the case? If so, does it really mean anything, or is it just a bunch of meaningless words sewn together to conform to English language rules?


title: "Piece of mind"

text: I was interested in the following sentence which appeared in an article titled “Personal Health: Diagnosing PMS” in The New York Times, Women's Health, (August 28, 1996). > Experts insist that no woman should now have to risk her job, her personal > relationships or her **piece of mind** because of premenstrual disturbances. I'm not particularly convinced in order to this "piece of mind" usage. Am I wrong? Or, perhaps, in the above sentence "piece of mind" assumes an idiomatic meaning that I am not able to understand. Can someone clarify this question?


title: Choice of pronoun to refer to 'one of us' when 'us' is male + female: they, he, she?

text: Imagine yourself – a man – sitting next to someone you want to talk to – a woman – on a bus, train, plane, etc. After a while you say: 'One of us has to start talking / break the ice, don't they? / doesn't he? / doesn't she?'


title: Statements beginning with subject+wonder

text: I'm wondering about the sentence structure when you use _wonder_. Take for instance: > I wonder when will my money be refunded. > > I wonder when my money will be refunded. > > I wonder when is my money going to be refunded. > > I wonder when my money is going to be refunded. Are all these sentences correct or only some of them? By "correct" I mean "grammatically correct". Could you provide examples of sentences starting with [subject]+ _wonder_ , and without it while conveying the same idea?


title: A word for the answer that is "the" answer

text: Sometimes when I ask a question on StackOverflow or SeasonedAdvice, I get an answer that is the perfect succinct answer to my question. Almost provably the best answer. In Swedish there is a word derived from the quick lookup you would do when you were doing an arithmetic problem in school, and you checked the _Answers_ section in the back of the book. The Swedish word is "facit". (I'm pretty sure it is related to the typewriter brand name "Facit" that was huge in Scandinavia during the early 70's.) **Is there an equally distinctive term in English?** A complete example for any Suedoisuisses   * -Han tejpade först sina trasiga skor med silvertejp. Sen lite härdande silikon. De var som nya. 212 kr från Clas Olson.    * -Du, jag tror facit vore en resa till myrorna.  I'd be pleased to learn the heritage of the word "facit" too of course, the letters alone implies a latin root. My explored options that I am unhappy about are   * A perfect answer. _This is just a compliment_   * The answer I was looking for. _It just serves my purpose_   * The definitive answer.  I can't complement an answer on SO with "This is the definitive answer". It would be odd to me.


title: Less colloquial term for "zoom in"

text: I have a graph that shows some statistic for the period 1930-2010. I then have another graph (for the exact same statistic) which I introduce by saying: "Let us _zoom in_ to the period 1960-90." I have been told that "zoom in" is too colloquial. What is a better word or phrase?


title: How specific does a noun have to be to have "the"

text: Consider these two sentences:   1. _Houses are expensive in that neighbourhood._    ― **All** houses are expensive in that neighbourhood.   2. **_The** Houses are expensive in that neighbourhood._    ― Not _all_ houses are expensive in that city, only the ones in that **particular** neighbourhood. Under appropriate contexts, aren’t both sentences correct?


title: "Baby is creeping" vs. "baby is crawling" in AmE

text: Years and years ago, I remember reading in a book on AmE usage that the phrasal turn a baby creeps before it walks was to some extent more common to AmE than to BrE, which preferred exclusively the "crawl" version. And so, I just recently checked on the accuracy of that information on NGram Viewer, and it actually was fact...more than a century ago! What I would like you to tell is if it would sound sort of weird to hear someone say today in the US that a child "creeps" before walking and running (see **_Synonyms_**) rather than it crawls. Also, what's the story to those terms? How did "to crawl" come to prevail and supersede "to creep" to describe the way a baby moves around? _As with a plant, so with a child. His mind grows by natural stages. **A child creeps before he walks** , sits before he stands, cries before he laughs, babbles before he talks, draws a circle before he draws a square, lies before he tells the truth, and is selfish before he is altruistic. Such sequences are part of the order of Nature... Every child, therefore, has a unique pattern of growth, but that pattern is a variant of a basic ground plan. (Bigge & Hunt, 1962, p. 166)_ My impression is that "to creep" instead of "to crawl" for how a baby moves around might have made a lot of sense in the old days if you consider the way babies were dressed back then. Think also of Swee'Pea's outfit in Popeye the Sailorman cartoons. Besides, here is a article I just found on Parent.com, which asserts a difference between saying "to creep" and "to crawl."


title: Period placement in a sentence containing both parantheses and quotes

text: Which of the following is correct: >   1. (This is a "test"). >   2. (This is a "test.") >   3. (This is a "test".) >


title: What is the term for a structure, unconnected to the main building, on an estate?

text: For a large property, or estate, what is the term for buildings other than the main residence that are separate and unconnected?


title: Avoiding confusion with multiple use of ibids, how would one do it?

text: I was thinking and researching about the use of Ibid in footnotes/endnotes etc. and found the following example in Wikipedia: > [1] E. Vijh, _Latin for Dummies_ (New York: Academic, 1997), p. 23   >  [2] _Ibid._   >  [3] _Ibid._ , p. 29.   >  [4] Al Azif, _The Necronomicon_ (Petrus de Dacia, 1994).   >  [5] _Ibid._ 1, at 34 What would one do if there were multiple books of the same title (and no author is mentioned)? For example, > [1] Interesting Book, p. 4   >  [2] Interesting Book, p. 4   >  [3] _Ibid._ , at 5 What would happen if this occurred over multiple chapters? (Given that footnote numbers reset at the beginning of each chapter.) What would differentiate the chapters? For example, > Ch. 1 > > [1] Interesting Book, p. 3 > > Ch. 2 > > [1] Interesting Book, p. 3 _Note: This is a different book_   >  [2] Even More Interesting Book   >  [3] _Ibid._ 1, at 4 Even worse, I was wondering what would occur if there were multiple books titled “Ibid” (where there was no author)? For example, > [1] _Ibid_ , p. 3   >  [2] _Ibid._ , p. 4   >  [3] _Ibid_ , p. 5 How would one potentially clarify this? Just given the above example, it would be impossible to know which one would be a new one.


title: "This wine is drinking nicely" : does anything else drink nicely?

text: People tell me this phrase is only used in the context of wine. Even though my lack of knowledge of other phrases that are built similarly suggests these people must be right, my curiosity gets the better of me. After all, I can't claim to know of all the phrases out there. Are there, though? Something along the lines of:   * this pizza is eating nicely   * this gum is chewing nicely or even with another beverage:   * this juice/whiskey is drinking nicely


title: What is it called when you “refill” a debit card?

text: How it is called (in the US) when you go to the bank or an ATM to add cash to your VISA/MasterCard debit card? That is, when you add cash to the bank account which is tied to that card. Is it either of these two, or is it something else?   * to refill my debit card   * to add funds to my debit card


title: String slicing nomenclature

text: Maybe I'm just not very good with Google, but I'm looking for good terms to use when describing manipulation of strings of characters, specifically words to describe:   * Removing a prefix   * Removing a suffix   * Removing an infix, i.e. taking out some middle part and concatenating the remaining parts A more or less comprehensive list of string manipulation terminology would be nice, but just providing the above definitions would suffice.


title: What would be the difference between past and present tense here?

text: * 1.) I assumed you were the type who **kept** your promises. vs.   * 2.) I assumed you were the type who **keeps** your promises.


title: Pronoun “you” can be omitted as subject in imperative form, what other pronouns can be omitted, when and why?

text: The pronoun _you_ can be omited as a general rule, but sometimes I’ve seen sentences that should have used _I_ or _it_ as the subject but it was omitted.


title: how to pronounce "twenty" correctly?

text: Well, I usually say "twenny" instead of "twenty" (not "twendy" even). I recently noticed that I never heard the same from any native english speakers during any talks I ever had with them. Recently I had a brief search on the 'net and it seems that it is somehow okay to say "twenny", but it might look the least correct pronunciation for most of the people, or they might think you have strange accent, etc. So, my question is, is there any good reference which clearly proves saying "twenny" instead of "twenty" is totally correct or wrong? P.S. You're most welcome to write your very personal opinion if you don't know any good references. **Update** I've already looked at the major dictionaries and didn't find any of them lists "twenny" in their pronunciation's section, however I'm sure that I didn't made that up, but I heard that while ago. Maybe in a movie, maybe from someone, and that's why I'm looking for the answer.


title: How should I refer to a "screen comp"?

text: I always get a word spelling error when I type my emails regarding screen comps. Screen comps, if you don't know, are a visual representation of a web design or the like. Does anybody know how to spell this. It feels like it isn't a word, but I hear and see it quite a bit, so it feels like it is a word now. Edit I assumed it was in reference to Screen Composition, but I haven't ever seen it referenced. When I do a Google search on it, nothing comes up that refers to what I know as a comp. Edit 2 When people refer to screen comp, are they referring to a composition? If yes, how do you know?


title: Does the term "Methodical" have a negative connotation associated with it?

text: It seems to me that the only times I hear the term Methodical in journalism/press are to describe negative people such as killers or psychopaths. I don't believe methodical inherently has a negative connotation but it seems society over time through its use in the media has given it one. Does Methodical in fact have a negative connotation? Is it viewed negatively in literature or is this only in news outlets?


title: What is the meaning of the expression?

text: What does "Get all you can, can all you get, sit on the can." mean? It seems that Google can't help me with this one. Could you also explain its origin and how it is related to the meaning?


title: Adding a new line to this statement

text: In the following statement: > After confronting Nick about it he said “I have helped you out in the past > you owe me for that!”. Should the quoted text be put on a new line and rephrased? This is the only direct speech in the paragraph I am writing.


title: Like ambidextrous, but for a thing

text: We know that "ambidextrous" describes (roughly) the ability to use both hands. Are there words in English the capture the idea of something that is "suitable for use by either hand"? Similarly, is there a word that captures the idea of something that is "suitable for use on either foot"? _Examples_ :   * For shoes, we distinguish between left and right feet. For skis, as far as I can remember from the last time I went skiing, each individual ski can fit on either boot.    * Scissors come in left-handed and right-handed varieties, whereas tongs generally can be operated by either hand. (As a side remark: I've seen scissors marketed as "ambidextrous". Is this use of the word correct?)


title: A phrase for "several" multiples of ten

text: Like how $x000 can be referred to as "several thousand dollars", and $x00 can be referred to as "several hundred dollars", and $x "several dollars", what about $x0? I've looked at this similar question: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/16356/how-to-use-tens-of-and- hundreds-of but it's not exactly the same, because it doesn't involve "several". The suggestion from that question, "several dozen dollars", does sound a little bit better than "several ten dollars". Is that the preferred approach? However, what about bigger numbers? I can say "several hundred thousand dollars", but both "several ten thousand dollars" and "several dozen thousand dollars" sound weird.


title: "Skills that are useful" or "skills those are useful"?

text: I am used to using the phrase _that is_ a lot, for example: "I have a skill that is useful in this situation". What if I use a plural form? What is the correct sentence of the following two? >   * I have some skills that are useful in this situation. >   * I have some skills those are useful in this situation. >


title: what would be synonym of 'utility' in the sense of 'marginal-gain'

text: I wanted to ask, what would be synonym of _utility_ , when it is used in the sense of _marginal-gain_. For example, we say: > Among two competing persons, I prefer giving this object to Person-A, since > Person-A has a higher utility of using this object than Person-B".


title: Sub-classification or subclassification?

text: We’re debating this at work. Merriam-Webster says it’s “subclassification”. Dictionary.Reference.com allows “sub-classification” and “subclassification” Is there a ‘more correct’ word to use? (If it helps, we're after Australian English)


title: In my example, comma or no comma before the word respectively?

text: In the graph for all arrests, and DUI arrests, the effect of the MLDA is about 125 and 50 increase in arrests rate respectively. I personally think no comma should be put before the word - "respectively". And what about the comma before the phrase - "and DUI arrests" ? Should I remove it? I want to say there is one graph for each and make that clear. So maybe I should change the first part of the sentence to something like... In both graphs for all arrests and DUI arrests, the effect of the MLDA is about a 125 and 50 increase in arrests rate respectively.


title: Looking for a suffix that is opposite of "-prone", but softer than "-proof"

text: Say I'm talking about a car that has less of a tendency to crash than other cars. It is the opposite of a "crash-prone" car. But it isn't "crash-proof" either, in that you can crash it if you try hard enough.


title: What does "macabre laugh line" means with regard to the government’s alteration of color-coded alert system?

text: American daily newspapers such as Washington Post and New York Times provide a treasure trove of interesting words and idioms to foreign learners of English language like me. For example, an article of January 29 the New York Times titled _We Never Got Down to Blue_ begins with the following copy. It provides me with a set of interesting phrases in only the following few lines, such as _Erode into a macabre laugh line_ , _stand beltless in one’s socks_ and _survival biscuits_. Among these phrases new to me, I’m particularly interested in the expression _erode into a macabre laugh line_. Why can _macabre_ , which I understand meaning _chilling, dreadful_ , can marry with the word _laugh line_ that does not seem to necessarily fit gruesome connotation of _macabre_? So, What does _erode into a macabre laugh line_. mean? Can anybody tell me? > Well before the end, the government’s color-coded alert system was eroding > into a macabre laugh line for the modern age of terrorism. Were people > standing beltless in their socks actually hearing the airport announcements > when the risk estimate mostly shuttled between yellow (Elevated) and orange > (High)? The five-color code is going the way of cold war survival biscuits. > Homeland Security officials decided that it ultimately lacked credibility > and clarity to the point of sapping rather than bolstering public > confidence.


title: What is the term used to describe when two items (maybe numbers) have been mixed up?

text: What is the term used to describe when two items have been mixed up (i.e.the month and day of a date of birth)?


title: Meaning of the adverb 'differently' and its position

text: > Perceptual constancy refers to our ability to see things differently without > having to reinterpret the object's properties. Is _differently_ referring to _we see_ or _things_?


title: "It can be safely deleted" vs. "It can safely be deleted"

text: Is there a subtle difference between the following two sentences? >   1. It can be safely deleted. >   2. It can safely be deleted. > If they mean the same thing, is one preferred for other reasons?


title: When should I use "a discussion of" vs. "a discussion on" vs. "a discussion about"?

text: “A discussion of”, “a discussion on”, and “a discussion about”: When is each phrase used in preference to the other?   If context is important, I want to use it as a subheading on a piece of non- fiction.


title: Use of  'pagan' in an essay:  is it acceptable or not?

text: I'm writing an essay right now and I'm deliberating whether or not I should use _Pagan gods_ instead of _Greek gods_ (to provide variation in the essay). I've looked up the word _pagan_ in the dictionary and it mentioned it was a derogatory term. Would it be acceptable to use it though in an essay or would it be inconsiderate for me to use that term?


title: What is non-derogatory way of saying "people here are obsessed with sports"?

text: Saying obsessed or being crazy about something seems a little negative and derogatory. How am I supposed to say it in a positive way.


title: What's different between the two sentences?

text: Hey, I'm watching a TV show, and there's a sentence: > I knew giving you that book was gonna come back and bite me in the ass. Can I change it to: > I know gave you that book was gonna come back and bite me in the ass.


title: Motorcycles, bikes, motorbikes, mopeds, motorcyclists, bikers, and motorbikers in AE

text: As far as I know, "motorcycle" is the formal term -- and "bike" the informal one -- for a powered two (and occasionally three) wheeled vehicle resembling a bike but larger, heavier, and a heap more powerful, chiefly for one rider but sometimes having two saddles and a sidecar for passengers. Besides, motorcycle riders are referred to fornally as "motorcyclists", and informally as "bikers". Now, "motorbike" is the generic term for a lightweight, less powerful motorcycle with a smaller frame. The thing is " motorbike" can both designate a lightweight motorbike (which I roughly equate with a dirt or pit bike stylewise), and also a pedal bicycle propelled by an attached motor (which, I guess, looks more or less like a moped). Hence my question: how does what you Americans call a motorbike differ from a dirt (or pit) bike style vehicle, and from a moped? Also, if "motorcyclist" and "biker" are both specific terms to refer to a motorcycle rider, what do you call someone that rides a motorbike? A motorbiker, or something else? > http://www.thefreedictionary.com/motorcycle > > http://www.thefreedictionary.com/motorbike > > http://www.thefreedictionary.com/minibike > > http://www.thefreedictionary.com/moped


title: What does ‘Brace yourself’ really mean?

text: I saw an article titled ‘The Rise of Chinese Cheneys’, written by Nicholas Kristof, with a lead copy > China today resembles the Bush era in America: Hard-liners are ascendant. > Brace yourself in today's New York Times. I know the meaning of 'Brace for.' But as I was uncertain about the meaning of 'Brace Yourself,' I consulted with Urban dictionary, which defines it as ‘Prepare yourself mentally or emotionally for hearing something unpleasant, out of place or inappropriate.’ However, in this particular case, what does ‘Brace yourself’ mean? Is the author casting this word to Chinese, or Americans? By the way, I found really amusing phrases ‘panda-huggers’ and ‘panda-muggers’ in relation with 'yin' and 'yang' concept in this article, which might not be any new to you, but new to me. > Chinese-American relations are deeply strained and likely to get worse. > American opinion tends to be divided between panda-huggers (‘China is > fabulous!’) and panda-muggers (‘China is evil!’), but the truth lies between > this yin and yang.


title: Water : Aquatic :: Sand : xxx?

text: Just as _aquatic_ is to _water_ and _aerial_ is to _air_ , what is an equivalent word for _sand_ (or _earth_ , I suppose)? For context, I’m trying to describe the locomotion of worms _within_ desert sand (as opposed to its _surface_ ). Ergo, _terrestrial_ isn’t particularly suitable and neither is _earthy_.


title: Modifier clause question?

text: In the following sentence, what parts are incorrect or ungrammatical? (GMAT related) > The new “e-waste” salvage company collects electronic waste items, such as > old cellular telephones and broken personal music players, discarding them > as trash, to transport them to state facilities for recycling. What does "discarding items as trash" refer back to, the salvage company or music players? Are there rules that apply here?


title: Should I Use “these” or “those” When I Refer to Something in the First Sentence?

text: > I’ve posted 5 photos on my timeline. Have you seen **these/those** photos? > You’ll love **these/those** photos! **These/Those** photos were taken in > France. Should I use “these” or “those” when I refer to something in the first sentence? Are there any simple rules that I should follow? NOTES: I know that I should use “this(singular)” and “these(plural)” for things that are near me. I know that I should use “that(singular)” and “those(plural)” for things that are far from me. In my example there is no “distance”. What should I do? Changing the sentence is not an option.


title: Rephrasing a Run-on Sentence

text: I am having trouble phrasing some of my thoughts into a decent sounding sentence. I particularly do not like the use of _and_ twice: I believe this may make the sentence a run-on. Also in previous English classes I have been advised against using _and_ twice in one sentence. Can anyone suggest how to express the same thought in one sentence without creating a run-on? > Growth of the Hispanic population within the US will increase their presence > within the workforce, creating new opportunities and challenges for > Hispanics and their employers.


title: Is 'GRAND TOTAL AMOUNT' verbose?

text: After the subtotals and net totals, finally it comes to the _grand total_. Should I say "the _grand total amount_ is $100", or only "the _total amount_ is $100", or "* grand total amount* is $100"?


title: Why is "yeah" considered unprofessional?

text: I have read in many places on the Internet that "yeah" is considered unprofessional. And that using "yes" is preferred and considered more formal. What is the reason behind it?


title: "Reconnoiter" and "reconnaissance"

text: Are _reconnoiter_ and _reconnaissance_ two forms of the same word or are they two words with a common etymology? According to the Wiktionary pages, they are both derived from French, but it is unclear as to the relationship between the words.


title: The way in which or by which?

text: I am trying to say something very weird, but I'm not sure if any of these sentences makes sense: 'Recursion is the way in which a function is specified in terms of itself' or 'Recursion is a way by which a function is specified in terms of itself'


title: Is capitalization of special words acceptable without another rule to justify it?

text: I've found that it's a rather contentious issue in the Pokémon fandom whether names like "Pikachu" should be capitalized when referring to the general species (and similarly for certain other words). Such as: > If your team consists of six **P** ikachu, you're going to have a hard time > against **G** round-types. Many people who I've seen talk about the subject believe that those bolded letters should not be capital, because there are no rules to make it such. However, I've also noticed this "special capitalization" of words in other, actually literary series as well — for example, the Dementors, Boggarts, or Hippogriffs from Harry Potter, or the Yeerks and Andalites of Animorphs fame. Any arguments I've seen on the subject have invariably degraded into bickering about different sides of the debate. Are there any more authoritative opinions on such a phenomenon, and if so, where can I find them? (What's special about the Pokémon case is that the species as a whole is usually only referred to by a "characteristic instance" of it — while you wouldn't say "I like dog better than cat because it's more loyal", you could definitely say "I like Squirtle more than Charmander, because it's cuter".)


title: How can I say the Italian term "dislivello" in English?

text: I'm working on a brochure describing many hiking trails in my region (that is northern Lake Garda, Italy). I'm trying to find a good translation for the Italian word "dislivello", meaning the difference in height between a lower and an upper point of a route. As possible solutions I've found "difference in height", "elevation difference", "altitude gap", "difference in level" and many others, so that now I don't really know which is the most suitable in my case. Could you help me? Thank you so much!


title: "The flowers that bloom in September trala"

text: I wonder what this sentence means: > The flowers that bloom in September trala ... quoted from http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/World/28104.asp What's trala? Instead I heard people said "Ta la" as some kind of meaning-free words.


title: A word for "modify/delete/change a newspaper article"

text: a word for " a person/politician asking to review/modify a newspaper article before it is published"


title: Common expressions of surprise in American and British English

text: I'm trying to learn English and I would like to know what are the expressions of surprise with positive meaning (slang or not, but not vulgar) currently used in spoken English for USA and Britain. Is "whoa" correct? Or is "wow"?


title: "that" + "would" = "that'd"?

text: Is "that'd" an appropriate contraction of "that" and "would"? I _say_ it, but I'm not sure if it's a legitimate contraction in written form.


title: Can a helicopter “ditch”?

text: If the verb _ditch_ means "to make a forced landing of (an airplane) on water”, as Merriam-Webster reads, what verb can be used to mean “to make a forced landing of **(a _helicopter_ )** on water”? Or, if _ditch_ , contrary to what Merriam-Webster reads and according to Andrew Leach’s definition below, is simply to make a forced landing ( _ditch in a field_ ), what verb, possibly a single word, can be used to mean “to make a forced landing of (an airplane) **on water** ”?


title: How do you spell time specifications given in (military) "Zulu time"?

text: For an example, let's consider the time specification "1539Z". How do the people in the military spell that? "Fifteen thirty-nine Zulu"? "Fifteen thirty-nine zee"? "One fife tree niner zulu"? Are there differences between US, Canadian, British, Australian (and other English-speaking NATO members) spelling of this time specification - and if so, what are they? The scenario here is how to put the time in writing as direct speech/quotation of someone. This is important in the following cases:   * It's a direct quotation, and I want to write down what would be spoken _exactly_ as it would be spoken (but don't have access to audio logs).   * It's direct speech in a work of fiction, where _how_ someone spells the time specification gives a hint to their background.


title: How to describe someone who speaks a language "as if it is his mother tongue" in a CV?

text: Let's say English is not my mother tongue, but I claim in my CV that my English level is "as if" it was my mother tongue? Is _natively_ the word for that? As in: > Languages: > >   * Hebrew: mother-tongue >   * English: natively > P.S. It's quite paradoxical and funny, asking how to say in English "my level of English is like a native speaker"; if my level was really like a native English speaker, I wouldn't have needed to ask.


title: Is there a name for this method of writing that includes pictograms?

text: I've seen people write (usually in a humorous way) a 'code-like' message where parts of words are replaced with a pictogram that sounds like that word-part. E.G.: > (eyeball) (tin can)(rope knot) get the (hole in ground) (earth) in my head, > yet. becomes > I cannot get the whole world in my head, yet. I once saw this used in a fictional book, and wonder if it has an actual name. **Edit:** the answer also helped by re-find this wonderfully imagined race that communicates via rebuses.


Any help with my question will be appreciated. Does a hummingbird just hover, or can it be described as, “Hovering stationary?” Excerpt from my new manuscript."Hooter Hornbuckle and Barnabus Belmont. The Best of friends. " _Then, with a buzz of her wings, and in the blink of an eye she had moved, hovering stationary once more in front of another grimy window pane."_ James A Bresco


title: Difference between "fluency" and "fluidity"

text: _Fluent_ seems to most commonly refer to language mastery, but in that context isn't it just saying that its delivery is _fluid_? If so, am I communicating something different when using one over another or are they essentially interchangeable?


title: Would anyone use "ramp down" as the opposite to "ramp up"

text: In the context, for example, of factory production I often read the phrase "ramp up production" or "a ramp-up in production". To me "ramp down" sounds a strange phrase to use as the opposite - does anyone have a more apt antonym?


title: Difference between "peddler," "beggar" and "hawker"

text: I am studying Middle Eastern migration to Latin America at the end of the nineteenth century. One of the popular practices among these people was peddling, and there is much research on those who sell their goods on the streets. Yet, _peddler_ is not the only word used for them. _Hawker_ and _beggar_ are also used by scholars. What is the difference between these words?


title: When would I use "might as well" instead of "may as well"?

text: If I understood the NY Times correctly, the words **might** and **may** are interchangeable except **might** is used to convey a greater level of uncertainty. Examples: > _I'll probably need gas for tomorrow's trip, so I **might as well** fill up > now._ (There's a sense of uncertainty: I don't know if I have enough gas.) > _I **may as well** get a car wash while at the gas station._ (There is no uncertainty here. I am indeed at the gas station.) On the other hand, this answer suggests to me that if I were "medium- confident" I had enough gas, I would use **may as well** in the first example above. Is that right?


title: Punctuating "etc." after a series of questions

text: How should I terminally punctuate _etc._ when it's used at the end of a series of questions? > How's your brother? Did you get the job? Are you feeling better? **Etc.?** Is this right, or do I use a period? > How's your brother? Did you get the job? Are you feeling better? **Etc.**


title: A single word for a secluded garden surrounded by a wall

text: Can anybody give me a single word for a secluded garden surrounded by a wall?


title: A suitable equivalent for the phrase 'give glad tidings'

text: Can anybody give me any suitable equivalents for the phrase 'Give glad tidings' as in the example ' Give glad tidings to those who strive - they always get the best results.'


title: A word to describe a day where I learned a lot

text: I want a word to describe a day where I learned a lot. I can't think of many good choices. I was thinking productive or industrious, but that describes more the act of doing rather than learning.


title: Can “thanks in advance” be considered rude?

text: Some argue that because “thanks in advance” is written before any help has been offered, it adds an expectation of help and thus can be considered presumptuous. Is this reasonable? Would it be appropriate to use this phrase in business correspondence? If not, is it possible to demonstrate gratitude without coming across as presumptuous? Thanks in advance.


title: Which is better grammar: "courteous of" or "courteous to"?

text: I saw this in a document today, and was wondering about which usage is more appropriate. > Please be courteous of others vs > Please be courteous to others I've seen it both ways. Is one correct, or more appropriate for certain situations?


title: What does the punctuation "//" mean?

text: What does the punctuation "//" mean? For example: > I think I owe myself a THWACK. //ashamed > > ... //run > > ... //head down I heard this is related to the comment in the programming language C. But still I don't get the actual meaning and purpose it tries to convey, not to say how to use "//". Is such usage of "//" informal?


title: How can I call the type of kicks in football (soccer) in one or two words?

text: Corner kick, free kick, penalty kick — how can I call those kicks? "Deadplay kicks", "fixed kicks"? Is there any special naming for this type of kicks?


title: Opposite of "to my credit"?

text: In writing a question for Programmers StackExchange, I wanted to write a sentence similar to "To my credit, I did foo, bar, and baz," except foo bar and baz are bad things so they are actually the opposite of being to my credit. What is a the opposite of the phrase "to my credit"? Possibilities I considered:   * "That said..." - This is what I used, but it required me to rework my sentence somewhat.   * "Not to my credit..." - Awkward.   * "Against my credit..." - Might work, but I've never heard it used before.   * "To my debt..." - Takes the credit/debt metaphor too far.


title: Is "no other" + comparative grammatically correct?

text: > There is no other harsher critic than yourself. I'm really stumped on this one. The more I read it the less correct it sounds. I think the word _harsher_ is making the sentence sound fairly off putting. Other variations include: > There is no harsher critic other than yourself. Any help would be greatly appreciated!


title: "Was" and "were", which is correct in this context? Can a mood be established in a terminating clause?

text: I'm not sure I understand what establishes a _mood_. Does a sentence have to establish a _mood_ at the begining or can a mood be established in a clause at the end? > And, that's if he could get elected after 35% of Americans turned out in > opposition to both parties and a new popular movement was seeded. Or, > And, that's if he could get elected after 35% of Americans turned out in > opposition to both parties and a new popular movement were seeded. In both of these we're talking about a scenario that doesn't exist. The top one clearly sounds _more_ right to me.


title: Are restaurants retailers?

text: Can I represent restaurants by the noun _retailer_? I also want to group the entities _hotels_ , _museums_ , _restaurants/cafes/bars_ and _retailers_. How do we group these cleverly? I am going to refer to them in a title of a paper so it shouldn't be too long. I don't want to write _in hotels, museums, restaurants and retailers_.


title: What was the original purpose and origin of complimentary closes?

text: Emails and letters commonly end with a closing phrase such as > Yours faithfully,   >  Jonny McJoe ...but I never understood the reason why such a thing would come up in the first place. Maybe it's because letters were (a long time ago) longer and better written, possibly a glorified form of communication that expressed more than just the message they contained, and closing them in a way that showed good taste, politeness, etc was part of that glorification? In modern usage they sound very weird to me, like > Hello. > > I've sent the PDF with the report, be sure to backup before the maintenance > this time! > > Yours sincerely,   >  Gregor McGreg So, why it was invented, or under what sort of influence it became the norm?


title: Is there an American term for a group of elitist schools, similar to the abbreviation “Oxbridge”?

text: I saw the word, ‘Oxbridge’, a portmanteau of Oxford and Cambridge, in a comment to a question asking for a better word for ‘invigilator’: > Whereas the situation is reversed in the UK, and one in a thousand would > recognize _proctor_ \-- although even the one in a thousand would be the one > who went to **Oxbridge** and would give it a different meaning altogether. We have the abbreviation “東大一ツ橋” (Todaihitotsubashi) combining the names of Tokyo University and Hitotsubashi University, both national universities, as a symbolic phrase of elitist schools, though I don’t know why Hitotsubashi University singly skewed to economics was paired to Tokyo University out of 783 universities and colleges (in 2012) in Japan. In the sports area, we have the word “早慶” (Sohkei), an abbreviated combination of Waseda University and Keio University, both private universities excelling in baseball, rugby, soccer and many other sports, as well as in academic achievement. Is there an American counterpart of “Oxbridge”, “Sohkei” and “Todaihitotsubashi,” or does “Yale-Harvard” suffice?


title: One word for "seemingly small but very important"

text: I need one word (if there is any) for "seemingly small but very important".


title: 36 thousands or 36 thousand?

text: I'm almost sure it's 36 thousands, since we're talking about 36 not 1. But I'm in doubt because 36 already indicates that it's more than 1, so maybe, just maybe, it could be 36 thousand?


title: Use of "that" in enumeration such as "Not only that, but also"

text: I think that the "that" in the following sentence might have to go. How would you beautify such a sentence? > Not only that the car was damaged, it had no gas either. vs > Not only was the car damaged, it had no gas either.


title: One word for shelter-giving

text: Is there a single word in English which can replace _someone/something who gives shelter_ or _shelter-giving_? I am not only interested in a person who gives shelter but something which gives a sense of shelter e.g. _shelter-giving earth._


title: Difference between 'where should' and 'where do'

text: What is the difference between "where do I eat?" and "where should I eat?" ?


title: Clothing Nomenclature between US and UK

text: Are a waist coat and a dinner jacket the same article of clothing? Are they worn both in the US and UK?


title: English tools for non-English-speaking people

text: Could you recommend your reference English tools useful to improve your English every day? I constantly use:   * Wordreference for translations    * Google with double quotes to test if my sentences are kinda correct   * Howjsay for English pronunciation


title: Noun phrase after "show"

text: The following sentences all involve the verb "show" followed by a noun phrase. Number 6 sounds a bit weird, and the last one is just wrong — but why is that? >   1. The video shows the differences between them. >   2. The video shows them being different/the same. >   3. The purpose of the video is to show the differences between them. >   4. The purpose of the video is to show them being different/the same. >   5. The video shows the effects of smoking. >   6. The video shows smoking being unhealthy. >   7. The purpose of the video is to show the effects of smoking. >   8. The purpose of the video is to show smoking being unhealthy. > These are "grammatically correct", meaning they meet the expectation (as of now) of how verbs/nouns/etc go together. I'm interested in the reason why the two sound _awkward_. In particular, I want to know what it is that people expect to hear after "show" which distinguishes 6,8 from 2,4, for instance.


title: Are words "Sophisticated" and "Sophism" logically connected?

text: I am not a native English speaker. The other day, I've had a conversation with an American, who claims my assumption to be wrong. I still think I am correct, so here it is: According to Wikipedia, the word _sophism_ has the meaning of "a specious argument used for deceiving someone". I read this as "something twisted enough to get the other person to lose your line of argument and just believe you". And we have, from what I believe, a word _sophisticated_ , which has a meaning of "elegant", "complex". I think that they both derive from the same root because they mean the same thing. _Sophism_ is a complex structure of logical conclusions, whereas _sophisticated_ is something so complex, that it is most likely to be a _sophism_ , despite the fact that it has a slightly different meaning in modern English. Is my assumption of these two words having the same roots and meaning practically the same thing correct?


title: Phrase/word that is a synonym to "Question Everything"

text: What are some phrase/word synonyms for the phrase **'Question Everything'**. My friend came up with **nullius in verba** , which I really like, and I was wondering what others are out there? Edit (from comments): Perhaps synonym was not a good word-my vocabulary is not the best. I am just looking for phrases that portray a similar idea. The context would be potential tattoo phrases.


title: How would you describe: Read a book, but not cover-to-cover?

text: As the title says. I'm looking for a good word or expression for saying something like "I have read only several chapters from random location of the book, but someday I want to read from cover to cover." I was wondering if there's a way to say like "I have ***ed the book, but..." **Addendum:** More specific context is as follows. I'm talking about a textbook that I have used for a class. The class covered only several chapters of the book, so I have read them rather thoroughly, but not much for other chapters that were not covered in the class. So "I haven't read it" is not very accurate.


title: Starting a sentence with "In which"

text: I sometimes see sentences that begin with "In which", but I can't seem to understand the meaning, e.g.: > In which James demonstrates the presentation he's been working on. Is this grammatically correct?


title: Is "grapple hooking" a correct phrase?

text: I want to say "using a grapple hook" as a verb. In context it would be like "sprinting, jumping, grapple hooking"—but that doesn't sound right. Is it correct? If not, is there a way to say it as a verb?


title: "nones" used to describe people who are spiritual, but not religious

text: I work for the Church and I've seen the term "nones" used to describe those who are non-Christian or those who are considered "spiritual, but not religious." I find the term belittling. What's the origin of the term? Is it from "none of the above"? Is there a better term out there?


title: Looking for a word to describe being shot by a sniper

text: Is there a verb that characterizes being shot by someone from a hiding place, perhaps at long range, like a sniper?


title: What's the difference between "distributors" and "resellers"?

text: I saw this in VMware's annual report: > We sell and market our products largely through a network of channel > partners, which includes **distributors, resellers** , system vendors, and > systems integrators. . . . What’s the difference between _distributors_ and _resellers_?


title: Origin of "hike" in American football

text: Both Wikipedia and TheFreeDictionary list the term _hike_ as an alternative term for snapping the football at the beginning of play. Where does it come from?


title: Are all English surnames-made-first-names masculine?

text: This may not be an English language question, but I've always wondered. In Sweden, it is very unusual to have surnames that can also be used straight up as first names. In fact, I can think of no such examples. But in English speaking countries, it seems to be rather common. List of examples: > Barry Lyndon – Lyndon Johnson   >  Dylan Thomas – Thomas   >  John Adams – Adam   >  Thomas Jefferson – Jefferson Davis   >  William Henry Harrison – Harrison Ford   >  John Tyler – Tyler   >  Chester A Arthur – Arthur   > (Yes, I used a list of US presidents as reference). With the exception of James Madison, whose surname is sometimes used as a female name, I cannot think of many other such surnames which are used as female first names. Is this the case? Is the tradition to use only male names as surnames, or reuse surnames as male first names? Of course, nowadays, people improvise a lot more, but speaking from a historical perspective. As a side note, in Sweden we used to have the -- rather curious -- tradition of giving surnames to children based entirely on the father's first name. E.g.: > Johan Davidsson's son was named Nils Johansson   >  Nils Johansson's son was named Bertil Nilsson   >  Bertil Nilsson's son was named Karl Bertilsson   > (Yes, two 's', as in "Johan's son") Something that surely makes genealogical research difficult. These surnames are used today as well. Either way, it seems to loosely be based on the same principle of using male names as surnames.


title: Word(s) to describe a set of things, which can't be empty

text: I'm a programmer, and in my case students need to pick from a set of exams. They get to choose which ones but they must select at least 2 and at most 3. I've been trying to find a way to refer to such exams. I've thought of:   * Elective Exams   * Opt-in Exams Given English is not my mother tongue, I was wondering if there is a better way to name these type of exams. PS: The title of the post is a bit strange, I just couldn't explain this in another way.


title: Articles in a list

text: > I saw a bear, a lion and a donkey. Is the usage of the article _a_ necessary before each word in a list like this? > Biggs set out Monday morning for one of his usual hiking and gold-panning > trips near Whiskey Flats when he came across a mother bear, yearling, and > cub sitting on a stream bank. Why is there no article before _cub_?


title: Is there an idiom or euphemism for when someone has an average/small penis but knows how to use it?

text: Really, what the question title states. In my language there's a more "flowery" phrase to say "size doesn't matter". It would roughly translate to "even a small clown can work in the big top" – I'm looking for something that tries to maintain the wit of the "small"/"big" antithesis.


title: Meaning of "nulled" in reference to software

text: I've seen so many links which have this title: > ioncube php encoder **nulled** What does it mean?


title: Reporting an event right after it takes place

text: When reporting an action that's just taken place, would it be okay to use simple present and present perfect? > She wishes to buy some clothes, so I've placed an order for her. I feel like I should talk like the above sentence, but would it be more grammatically correct to say "She wished to buy some clothes, so I've placed an order for her"? But I want to convey that she **just** wished to buy some clothes and that I placed the order soon after. **Edit** : Okay, how about this? Let's say that I'm writing an email to the merchant AS I'm placing the order because he/she is one of those merchants who only take email orders. Then will my above example make sense?


title: What term sums up the following situation?

text: What term sums up the situation in which a person does not feel (s)he has to weigh into (or put much effort) into an argument because the implications will not affect them? Thus, person X debates for the motion that group A are a worse bunch of people than group B. However, person X knows that the reality is that group A will be economically and strategically less better off than group B for a long time to come regardless of any debate. Therefore, in a formal debate, person X is not as motivated to persuade the debaters against the motion of the merits of his arguments because he knows that it will not affect reality.


title: What is the difference between "although that is" and "although it is"?

text: Currently I'm writing a thesis. I came over the although sentence several times. After reading through time after time my head started to hurt :P I tried to google it but didn't find any help. So the sentence goes like this: > Although that/it is true, it is not insensible since one rule alone cannot > classify the entire data. What comes before Although is a sentence trying to explain the bad results from a program shown in a table. What is the difference? Is it possible to use both? If so, why? Also the part with "it is not insensible since" sounds fishy to me. Is this one correct?


title: Is there a word for the uncanny ability to find one's way home when extremely drunk?

text: A small dispute broke out in the office today about this. Does anyone have any ideas?


title: What's the rule for punctuating quoted words or phrases?

text: Please bear with me as I am not an English expert, only an aspiring amateur! I'm mostly aware of the rules regarding punctuation and quotes. Something like the following sentence makes sense to me: > She was so rude that I felt compelled to say, "I hope you act that way > toward everyone." However, where I get confused is when quotation marks are used simply to emphasize a single word or phrase: > Nobody really knew what he meant by "feature". (I'm not really sure what to call this use of quotation marks. Is this still a quotation?) Should punctuation go inside the quotation marks? I should clarify that I am interested in the common or accepted American usage.


title: Meaning and usage of the swear word pronounced /ˈkʰʌnt/?

text: I’ve been hearing the word _cunt_ used several times now. What kind of situations do you usually use this word, and what sort of person does this swear word usually describe?


title: Provenance of 'deprecated' (in the programming sense)

text: What are some early uses of "deprecation" in computer science? When did the word enter common usage in the field of programming? Are there any particularly well-known examples of early deprecations (perhaps in Unix or Linux?)


title: Origin of "continental breakfast"

text: What is the origin of the term _continental breakfast_? Was it originally from British English and meant to describe a sub-par breakfast eaten by mainland Europeans?


title: How frequent is the use of 'Appropriation' in American English compared with British English?

text: How frequently is the word 'Appropriation' used in American English? In what contexts might young people commonly hear it?


title: Instructing someone to ask him/herself. Which is the correct use of punctuation?

text: Which is the correct form? > Ask yourself, is this really what you want? or > Ask yourself, "Is this really what you want?" or > Ask yourself. Is this really what you want? (Sorry for the title. I can't phrase the question properly. I don't know the areas in grammar associated with my question. If someone can give me a better title I'm more than willing to change it.)


title: Is ‘Political gold’ a cliché or just a compound noun?

text: I found the word, ‘ _political gold’_ in the following sentence of the article of Boston News (August 13) titled “Romney sees gain in ‘Corporations are people’ remark.” > “Romney's response that "corporations are people" to a liberal heckler > during an exchange over fiscal policy at the Iowa State Fair immediately lit > up the argument The Democratic National Committee jumped on the comment and > saw its own _political gold_ in trying to score points against a leading > contender for the GOP nomination.” As I was unfamiliar with the word, ‘Political gold,’ I checked Google and found a couple of examples of the word in use, e.g.   * Kathy Hochul found political gold in Paul Ryan plan. – Buffalo News May 25, 2011   * Belgian stalemate spun into political gold. - Financial Times – April 25, 2011  From the word “Romney sees gain in ‘Corporations are people’ " remark, I can easily guess ‘political gold’ means political gain, advantage or opportunity. However I wonder whether political gold is a intertwined cliché (or idiom) or just a compound word of ‘political and gold’ that allows application to any other compounds like ‘business gold,’ ‘scientific gold,’ ‘cultural gold,’ or ‘technology gold.’


title: What is more common "table booking" or "table reservation"?

text: What is more common and natural, "table booking" or "table reservation"? Is there a big difference between these two?


title: Do people with a lisp write in the same way they pronounce?

text: Just curious to know whether people having a lisp (speech defect) write in the same way as they pronounce the word. For example they pronounce **_s_** as /θ/ and **_z_** as /θ/. So, do they write 's' as 'th' like with the word _thick_ written as _sick_? Another example as Spanish is spoken with a lisp, like _pez_ is pronounced /peθ/. Is writing the same? I hope this question doesn't hurt any emotions, but I'm doing a research, so need an answer for it.


title: How to Reply That PASSPORT NUMBER is not in my remembrance at the moment

text: If somebody called me over phone and asked to give your Passport number / Pan card / Roll number something. If it is not in my remembrance , how can I apologies in best way for this ? NOTE -Please do not answer the straight forward English Sentences . i want to know best options to communicate my inability to provide something which is not in my remembrance. Thanks in advance.


title: How to pronounce the letter 'i'

text: Every time I read a new and unknown word containing the letter 'i' I wonder how I should pronounce it. What's very frustrating for me is that, when I look up the words, I find out that my gut feeling was wrong for most of them. A Google search only gave a few links talking about the pronunciation of this letter, but most times they are at a very low level. From what I found and read, finally I daresay that:   1. i is pronounce as /aɪ/ when i + consonant + e as in: _time, site, fire, to entire, ..._   2. i is pronounce as /aɪ/ when i is followed by gh as in: _sigh, sight, thigh, ..._   3. i is pronounce as /aɪ/ when i is preceded by a as in: _aisle, ..._   4. i is pronounce as /aɪ/ when i is written as y: _to try, to fly, to cry, ..._   5. else i is pronounce as /ɪ/: _to hit, ship, sick_ But there are many exceptions, too many in my opinion:   1. to give, to notice, clandestine (/ɪ/ instead of /aɪ/)   2. to fail, to contain (/eɪ/ instead of /aɪ/)   3. gravity, paucity, hierarchy (/i/ instead of /aɪ/)   4. pie, title, vital, giant, modifier (/aɪ/ instead of /ɪ/) The following words are very interesting, because the pronunciation is swapped to what I expected:   * indecisive   * library My vocabulary is very rudimentary, but yet I know a lot of exceptions. So, I know that it is hard to make pronunciation rules for English words. But how can I improve my gut feeling in pronouncing new words correctly?


title: When did we stop speaking Old English?

text: There is Old English, and there is the English we speak now. When did exactly did the British (or Americans) change from speaking Old English to speaking the current form of English?


title: What does "never a break" mean?

text: I was watching the movie "As good as it gets" and came across the phrase "never a break" in reference to a car. What does it mean? Also, what does the movie title itself mean? edit: replaced brake with break.


title: Is " .. the war on drugs has not, and cannot, be won." correctly punctuated?

text: The quote in the title of this post is an extract from the official report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, authored among others by Kofi Annan. To me the comma is clearly misplaced. But is the following any better? > The war on drugs has not, and cannot be, won. Or, to avoid incorrect ellipsis, must it be: > The war on drugs has not been, and cannot be, won.


title: Is 'pin-up' considered to refer specifically to glamorous/sexy images?

text: Some magazines often offer, as their center page, a pin-up poster. _Playboy_ 's centerfolds are an obvious example, but plenty of other magazines do the same, from celebrity magazines to children's periodicals. I'd always thought these were called 'pin-ups', but the Wikipedia article seems to consider the phrase primarily referring to "photographs of celebrities who were considered sex symbols," and the general sense that I get is of a very sexual connotation to the phrase. If this is the common understanding of the phrase, I'm concerned that using it in other contexts may be inappropriate or offensive. Is this the case? If so, what phrase could I use instead? It's important for me to convey the type of cheap, simple poster I'm talking about, so simply switching to "poster" wouldn't be enough.


title: The meaning of "the" in a standalone "the greater"

text: Often I read that "X's quality Y was _the greater_ by virtue of Z", which makes perfect sense as a result of me being used to this form of expression, but not when I am now trying to understand what is that "the" referring to. If we drop the "the", what precisely happens to the meaning? Which is the _the_ 's noun? In particular, I can't figure out which one to use:               "Because A is much greater than B, C is also greater."      or               "Because A is much greater than B, C is also the greater."      * * * **Update** It seemed quite clear to me at the time of writing, but now that I re-read the question and the answers, I can see that this is quite confusing, actually. Because I didn't provide examples. Example: from here (emphasis mine :) > The excitement was _the greater_ because constitutional, or quasi- > constitutional, issues were intertwined to an almost Tudor degree with the > personal and dynastic; indeed the wider significance is the more pressing > because of the passions with which recent events have been fuelled. This has the form:               A was the greater because B, C, D, E, blah blah      Pretty awful piece of pretentious writing if you ask me, but it does use language correctly. Example: from Mrs Daffodil Digresses (emphasis mine) > [...] husband [...] refused to revisit the scene [...] and remained > inexorable, when Alphonse F., entering while the discourse continued, > volunteered to spare his friend’s feelings by visiting the chateau and > obtaining the required papers. > > The marquis thanked him cordially, adding, that the relief was _the greater_ > , inasmuch as he would have been compelled to enter their favourite sitting- > room, in which their last, as well as so many happier, hours were passed. Example: from The British Magazine (emphasis mine) > [...] they broke open the doors, and were confounded at finding the > habitations abandoned. Their astonishment was _the greater_ , as they could > not comprehend in what manner the French escaped; and when they did, they > could not make use of their canoes pursue the fugitives, because the were > still encumbered with ice, which prevented that kind of navigation. So, this usage is usually to be found in literary works of archaic variety. I'm leaning to treat it as one of those language patterns that doesn't have an analytic explanation, and is to be learnt and used as a unit, by feel. I suppose that it can be interchanged with "greater still" in all of those examples, and feels about right. So my rule for its appropriateness would be: it's appropriate to use iff substitution with "greater still" preserves the meaning.


title: What is a question with multiple answers called?

text: A multiple choice question is the one with several choices of which only one choice is correct. What type of question is the following? It has multiple answers. > Which of the following are planets?   >  1) Jupiter   >  2) Moon   >  3) Mars   >  4) Earth   >  5) Sun   >


title: Meaning of "go speeding past"

text: > Sometimes days **go speeding past** I know every words of this phase, just don't know the meaning of this combination.


title: "Runtime", "run time", and "run-time"

text: The CLR under .NET is referred to as the "Common Language Runtime." It seems that the convention is "runtime" for a noun and "run-time" for the adjective. Is this correct or should it be "runtime" also? I'm inclined to think it should be like the following: >   1. The variable is typed at _runtime_. >   2. The _runtime_ variable is null. >


title: What tense is "would" in, "This attack would require the user to comply"?

text: The phrase: "This attack would require the user to comply" What tense is would require? Several thoughts were that it is somehow a present unreal conditional, but is it present?


title: Pencil you in on/for Sunday evening?

text: When planning an appointment for a specific day (and time), for example, should **on** or **for** preposition be used? See the context below, though, I am guessing, the rule should be universal: > Sure, I will tentatively pencil you in **for** Sunday evening. Is there change in meaning if I use **on** above? I picked **for** simply because it sounds better -- and more intuitive.


title: what´s the difference between I don´t mind and I don´t care

text: I am looking for the difference meaning between 'I don´t care' and 'I don´t mind' Thank you


title: Does this device to restrict access to roads have a generic name?

text: I'm sure we've all seen these devices which can "lock" and "unlock" vehicle entry and exit to an alley / road /etc. They consist of one or several hefty steel or concrete "pillars" less than a metre high which can be lowered into the road surface. ![Device to restrict access to a road.](http://i.stack.imgur.com/ZqZqF.jpg) They are strong enough that most vehicles couldn't just drive through them, at least not without substantial damage. But they let pedestrians and cyclists, perhaps even motorcycles, pass through easily. Some like the one pictured have a place where somebody in a vehicle can use a keycard or such to gain access. Others I assume can only be opened by some remote access technology or perhaps by mechanical means. In any case I don't know how to read up on them because all my attempts at Googling their characteristics to find a name have failed so far.


title: Can we use 'at' and 'by' together?

text: Is this sentence correct? "The demand of rent Rs.15000/- is arrived at by BSNL based on the prevailing rents in the area."


title: What “a man who is happy to lie in the gutter, and watch while other climb mountain” is like?

text: In Jeffery Archer’s fiction, “The Fourth Estate,” there is a scene Keith Townsend, one of two heroes featured as the owner of the largest communication empire in Australia responds the questions fired by a young female journalist (Kate Tulloh) about his sacking Sir Somerset, ex-chairman of Sydney-based newspaper company he aquired in the interview: > “Didn’t Sir Somerset suffer roughly the same fate when you took over the > Chronicle? -- > > He once described you,” said Kate, “as ‘ **a man who is happy to lie in the > gutter and watch while others climb mountains**.” > > “I think you’ll find that Sir Somerset, like Shakespeare, is often > misquoted.” > > “It would be hard to prove either way,” said Kate, “as he’s also dead.” – > P339 Though it must be a metaphoric expression, what does “a man who is happy to lie in the gutter and watch while others climb mountains” mean in a couple of words? What character is it like? Why in heaven’s name would an aggressive, ambitious young media mogul be happy to lie in the gutter and watch while others climb mountains? It should be the other way round. I have no idea.


title: looking for a word or expressing to express matching, symmetric

text: Background: > A packet has a source IP and a destination IP.   >  I set the source IP as `10.0.0.3`.   >  The destination IP can be set as `10.0.0.1`, `127.0.0.1` or `138.9.32.4`.   >  These 3 IPs belong to the same computer. My sentence is > The destination IP can be set as `10.0.0.1`, `127.0.0.1` or `138.9.32.4`,   >  but here we choose 10.0.0.1 for **formality**. My aim is to describe the reason why we choose `10.0.0.1` as the destination.   I just want to express that the reason is `10.0.0.1` looks symmetric, matching, comfortable or whatever when it is matched with the source IP `10.0.0.3`. I think **_formality_** is not suitable here. How to modify the sentence to express the reason? it is really abstract