title: Is "Race against the time" a well established motto?

text: According to "Your Time Starts Now" by Dr. Vijay Agrawal, it seems that "Race against the time" is a well established motto. > Today 'Race against the time' is the motto of success and the parameter of > ability. The expertise of a reporter is evaluated on the basis of getting > such a news item first, ' **Maharashtra's** chief minister has been asked to > submit his resignation.' In that book, however, the author also uses "run against the time", whose meaning is perfectly understandable but it doesn't appear so common in the English language, at least in written texts. So, my question is, are "Race against the time" or "Running against the time" well established mottoes? For what is worth, a quick searching on Google shows that one can run against "the clock", rather than against "the time". Nevertheless, how can the _clock_ version and the _time_ version lead to different interpretations? What are the reason why one should be preferred on the other, if any?


Is "as oft" a valid contraction of "as often"? If it is, then why doesn't it have an apostrophe at the end?


title: Why there is no "TO" in "having had nobody stand up for me"

text: I do not understand the following: > Having had nobody stand up for me Why it is not > Having had nobody **to** stand up for me Because: > There is somebody **to** stand up for me.


title: How should I say the "relationship" between the professor and student in America?

text: When I apply for the admission to the graduate school in America, I need to provide the "Recommendation Provider" in the online system.   * What should I write when I am asked "relationship to you"?    * Are there any specific group of words for such relationship?    * Is "teacher-student" a proper word?   * What if the professor is not only my teacher but also the thesis adviser? How should I write the relationship?


title: Is it technically incorrect to state something in this manner?

text: "I want to work at the same hospital as Tom." Tom isn't a hospital, so it might sound odd in that sense, but it's also clear that Tom isn't a hospital, and I get the feeling that this is how most people would say it in conversation.


title: Difference between "hypotyposis", "ekphrasis" and "iconotext"

text: What is the difference between _hypotyposis_ , _ekphrasis_ and _iconotext_?


title: What is the term for accusing a person of mischief through invented, twisting and changeable terminology?

text: What is the term for accusing a person of invented wrongdoing in such a way that he cannot respond or even clearly understand the accusations? For example, frequently reversing the definitions of the terminology used, or basing argumentation on hints and roundabout phrasings, metaphors, invented- on-the-fly floating definitions and rules to fit with the accusations. Update:   I think **inquisitorial** is the most proper term for context in which the result does not depend on the argumentation of one of the sides. Though, **jargonaut** was completely unheard by me and incrementally more useful.


title: Capitalization of names that begin lowercased, at the beginning of a sentence

text: > **Possible Duplicates:**   >  How Should Trademarks be Written?   >  How do you capitalize a proper noun such as "iPhone"? Many products these days have names that intentionally begin with lowercase letters. The most common examples are of the Apple "iDevice" variety, but there are some others - inSSIDer is one. When beginning a sentence with these names, should the name be capitalized?


title: Capitalising the t in Twitter / twitter

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  How Should Trademarks be Written?   >  How do you capitalize a proper noun such as “iPhone”? I'm writing a paper about the function of twitter as a news medium and I'm wondering about the capitalisation of the brand name. Normally one would start brand names with a capital letter, but the twitter logo made me doubt - it's such an explicitly lowercase t. Internet companies or standards often use quite _refreshing_ capitalisations in their brand names (WordPress, jQuery), and I was just wondering what your verdict was on 'twitter'. Should it be a capital T since it's a company name? The twitter website does not seem to provide much confirmation in either direction, as it seems like the differen authors (i.e. on the blog) tend to go by different rules. And what about words like _Tweet_ , _Retweet_ and _Mention_?


title: Upper or lowercase letter if name at the start of the sentence?

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  How do you capitalize a proper noun such as “iPhone”?   >  Capitalization of names that begin lowercased, at the beginning of a > sentence I have a product that is called xYZ. If I use this name at the beginning of a sentence, should I use upper or lower case letters? An example of such a sentence would be: > xYZ can be used to ... vs. > XYZ can be used to ... I tend to use the first one, since it is a name, but I'm not sure.


title: Would the first letter of the middle of a name such as Christian de Duve need to be capitalized

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Can a sentence start with a small letter? ... if you're beginning your sentence with it? Would it be like, "de Duev notes that the molecular world must necessarily... ", or "De Duev notes that the molecular world must necessarily..."? I'd also like to know why is the middle-name not capitalized in such French/European names?


title: Capitalising a sentence whose first word is explicitly lowercase

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Capitalization of names that begin lowercased, at the beginning of a > sentence Let's say that you have a word that should be typed with leading lowercase letter. Perhaps it's a computer command. Perhaps it's an Internet nickname. I can't find any more serious examples. When you put that word at the beginning of a sentence, should you capitalise it? > `cat` allows you to display contents of a file. The convention is that commands are typed in fixed-width font, so this doesn't stand out as much. > soccer_boy_89 turned out to be my sister's account. This does, though. Of course you could paraphrase the sentence such that the problematic word is not the first one, but that's not the point here.


title: Should a mathematical variable at the beginning of a sentence be capitalized?

text: If a sentence starts with a mathematical variable which normally is lower case, should that variable be capitalized? Or is it better to just avoid starting sentences with variables? >   1. _x_ and _y_ represent the width and height of the anticuboctahedron. >   2. _X_ and _y_ represent the width and height of the anticuboctahedron. >   3. The width and height of the anticuboctahedron are represented by _x_ > and _y_. >


title: How do you capitalize a proper noun such as "iPhone"?

text: I was always taught to capitalize the first letter of the first word in a sentence, and also the first letter of proper nouns. In the last few years it's been common for certain firms to name their brands something that is always spelled with a small first letter and a capital second letter. **It is almost as if they demand the rules of usage are changed.** What do you do about this? Where is the inquisition when you need it? Should you start a sentence with "IPhone"? Should you use "iphone" in the middle of a sentence?


title: Should you capitalise "eBay" at the beginning of a sentence?

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  How do you capitalize a proper noun such as "iPhone"? Which is correct? > On the internet you can buy stuff. **eBay** is one place where you can buy > stuff. > > On the internet you can buy stuff. **EBay** is one place where you can buy > stuff.


title: What is the correct capitalization of code examples when beginning a sentence?

text: I am writing a technical book and a lot of it is structured as explanations of code examples. For instance:               var links = data.map(function (d) {         return {source: nick_id(d.from),                      target: nick_id(d.to),                      count: matrix[nick_id(d.from)][nick_id(d.to)]};     });      Followed by: > `links` is a list of elements that tell us something. In all versions of the book "links" will have special formatting so it looks like code, the idea being that it's a direct reference into the code sample, which helps readers understand what I'm talking about. Question is, how should "links" be capitalised? It's at the beginning of a sentence so it should be "Links", but then it no longer looks exactly like the code sample and technically doesn't represent the same variable since the programming language is case sensitive. For a more extreme example, what if I want to start a sentence with `.map`, what are the grammar rules about starting a sentence with a full stop? I would like to avoid restructuring sentences like the above because `links` is the sentence subject's name. And a sentence like: > The variable `links` is a list of elements ... Is as silly as: > The person John went to the store.


title: Title Capitalization of Keywords in Programming Languages

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Capitalising a sentence whose first word is explicitly lowercase   >  Should I change the structure of a sentence/add filler words to make sure > that the sentence always starts with a capital letter? In programming language documentation, it is common for keywords to appear in titles. Assuming that the keyword is strictly lowercase in the language, how should that keyword be capitalized if it is used as the first word in a title? For example: **int**   `int` is used to specify an integer type. \-- or -- **Int**   `int` is used to specify an integer type.


title: Can a sentence start with a small letter?

text: > **Exact duplicate:**   >  How do you capitalize a proper noun such as “iPhone”?   >  **Also related:**   >  Capitalising a sentence whose first word is explicitly lowercase   >  Should I change the structure of a sentence/add filler words to make sure > that the sentence always starts with a capital letter?   >  Is it a good idea to begin a sentence with a number or a variable name? Is the following sentence alright? > _von Braun was a pioneer in space technology._ I am not referring to this sentence alone — most probably it's wrong (on Wikipedia, it would have been written as "Von Braun was a pioneer in space technology", in spite of the fact that his actual name was spelt as _Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun_ ). My question is more general: is there any grammatically correct sentence which starts with a small letter?


title: Are the words "mandatory," "obligatory," and "compulsory" interchangeable?

text: As a non-native speaker, I wonder what the rules are for preferring one of "mandatory", "obligatory" or "compulsory" over the others. The Corpus of Contemporary American English yields examples such as these: **Mandatory: 4865 cases**   * mandatory safety nets around trampolines   * mandatory health care reform   * mandatory sentence for first-degree murder   * Unemployment sent me a letter, said this was a mandatory class.   * To stave off matting, daily brushing with a paddle brush is mandatory.   * He believes he can fill the role of rangy wing scorer that seems almost mandatory for championship teams.   * "Self-deprecation is mandatory here", he said. **Compulsory: 1060 cases**   * compulsory health insurance   * states that prohibit compulsory unionism   * compulsory celibacy for the clergy   * added to the school curriculum as a compulsory second language   * U.S. imperialism can be thought of as a system of compulsory heterosexuality   * My landlord and mother made my weekly visits to the center compulsory if I was to continue running my business rent free from her basement. **Obligatory: 808 cases**   * the obligatory happy ending   * when the obligatory compliments were out of the way   * I would hang up on my father after the obligatory five minutes   * the laptop computer has become nearly obligatory on campus "Mandatory" is presumably related to "mandate" and used when it's a matter of law or regulation. "Obligatory" is presumably related to "obligation" and used when it's a matter of moral, social or other obligation rather than law. (Like "the obligatory happy ending".) "Compulsory" seems to mean that you are forced to do something, but the forcing mechanism is unspecified? Is this approximately correct, and are there other rules of thumb for when to use which term? There seems to be some cases where the terms are interchangeable: "Mandatory health insurance" and "compulsory health insurance" would be equally acceptable, wouldn't it? Would "school curriculum compulsory second language" read the same if we substitute "mandatory" or "obligatory"?


title: What is the simile for dust?

text: What is the simile used when comparing to dust? And what does that comparison imply? Something similar to "as slick as a fox"


title: "All you battery needs can be found here" Is this correct?

text: I found this on the battery stand in a supermarket: "All your battery needs can be found here". I don't remember the exact wording, but what surprised me is that _needs_ can be found on a supermarket stand. Now, from the point of view of my native language, the correct way to say this is "All your battery needs can be satisfied here", but English is not that language, so here is my question is the above sentence correct? **Edit** This is a question about word usage. In my mind _needs_ or _requirements_ are not batteries. Needs or requirements are _to have_ batteries. And as such you can't place these on a stand. Are there any examples in literature, that could back up that one can refer to material objects as to "needs"?


title: To not want to believe something has happened

text: I usually hear people use the phrase "I don't/didn't want to believe it," and I've always been curious as to what it meant. Does it mean that the person is in denial of something? Or does it mean that the person does believe something but doesn't want to? How's it different from when people say "I don't believe it?"


title: What do you call someone who balances work and personal life well?

text: > **Work–life balance** is a concept including proper prioritizing between > "work" (career and ambition) and "lifestyle" (health, pleasure, leisure, > family and spiritual development/meditation). > > Related, though broader, terms include "lifestyle calm balance" and > "lifestyle choices". So what would you call someone who has a well-balanced work and life (personal life)? Note: **"Well-balanced"** may fit but it has a broader sense and has other connotations as well. A single-word noun would be preferable but can be an adjective too.


title: What’s purportedly wrong with Strunk & White’s “The Elements of Style”?

text: I was reading the comments on this answer where several users claimed that Strunk and White’s _The Elements of Style_ was “misinformed, hypocritical, and wrong” and “flat-out wrong or totally misleading”, so I’d love to get a delineated list of where it is wrong. **Note:** I have no position on this or axe to grind; I’ve just used it for years and would love to learn what I’ve been doing wrong thanks to it.


title: "Arrogant" vs. "conceited"

text: I'm a bit confused as to the difference between _arrogant_ and _conceited_. From my understanding, _arrogance_ is the equivalent of being confident and letting everyone know how great you are. For example, achieving the top of a leaderboard and then boasting extensively about the victory. _Conceit_ , I believe, is similar in that you may be boasting, but it's based more on unfounded measure. For example, they may make third place in the a race against the arrogant man, but they feel they would have gotten first place if only they had gotten a little more sleep. Conceit comes in their coping with not being so great, while the arrogant individual will at least admit defeat and be unable to rub their greatness in someone's face. What are the exact differences between these words?


title: Should I use 'no' or 'know'?

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Is it "that's the same story, know?" or "that's the same story, no?" Which word should I use in this sentence, _no_ or _know_? > you also same college no? > you also same college know?


title: Use of ! to convey sarcasm vs. emphasis

text: One, two or even three exclamation marks are often added, especially in e-mail, to convey emphasis to phrases such as _Thanks!_ , or _No problem!_. My problem is that in British English, you could also use the exclamation mark to convey sarcasm such that _Thanks!_ could just as well be interpreted as _Thanks a bunch, why on earth did you have to do/say that!_. Is this just a simple regional difference? I make a point of suggesting workmates use the exclamation mark with great caution! (emphasis intended)


title: Referring pronoun in multiple clauses sentence

text: > "I have learned that when a newborn baby holds, with its little hand, his > father’s finger, it has trapped him for the rest of his life." \- Gabriel > Garcia Marquez (1927-2014) The word 'him' here at the last clause refer to the baby or father?


title: New sentence after semicolon

text: After a semicolon what follows isn't capitalized like at the beginning of a sentence. However, what if it were? Would that be incorrect?


title: Word for doing something only because it provokes a reaction from others

text: Some people act in ways that provoke surprised or shocked reactions from others, mainly because they enjoy getting those reactions and not because of any inherent desire to perform the action itself. For example, I suspect that this is a primary motivating factor behind the recent Brony phenomenon -- the My Little Pony show itself would probably not attract hords of adult male fans, were it not for the incredulous reactions which the fandom elicits. Is there a word to describe this sort of behavior? ("Provocative" seems off -- it refers to the fact that a reaction is elicited, but not that this is the motivation behind the behavior.)


title: Can "..." mean the same thing as a semicolon?

text: Can a semicolon be replaced with "..." (an ellipsis) in a sentence? Is there any difference at all?


title: Meaning of "game of thrones"

text: What exactly does _game of thrones_ mean? It is being translated into my native language (Czech) as _a game in which one might win one of the many thrones_ , but to me it sounds more like _a game in which different thrones play against each other_.


title: What would you (negatively) call a person who insists on repaying even a small amount of money?

text: Let's say you paid for a friend's bus ride, and he insists on paying you back rather than just let it be and stop worrying about it. You even find it rude on his part that he won't just forget about it. Is there an adjective or a phrase for such kind or a person, or for such kind of a behavior?


title: Word for 'make more frequent'

text: For example, how would you convert > He made cunning remarks more frequently. to > He **____** his cunning remarks.


title: Passivity as a passive activity?

text: I was reading "A fault in our stars" by John Green and he did something rather interesting. The scene is one in which the mother wants her child to attend support group. All the child wants to do is watch America's Next Top Model. The mother wants her to participate in activities to which she responds that television is an activity to which the mother exclaims that television is a "passivity". Is the mother's definition of the action of watching television linguistically correct? I tried to search for examples of where "passivity" was used this way, but I came up with nothing. Can anyone else find an example of this use? Either way I think this is a very interesting use of the word and one that describes actions that are not inherently active.


title: Salutation/Professional Addressing "Dy GM", what does it mean?

text: Found the addressing "Dy GM" in New Delhi area in the IT domain. What does it mean?


title: Should I capitalize "Chemical Engineering Curriculum"?

text: > The introduction of this course within the chemical engineering curriculum > is at this point in early stages of development. > The introduction of this course within the Chemical Engineering Curriculum > is at this point in early stages of development.


title: use of contractions (and some homophones)

text: Is it true that the current usage and spelling of words like we're/were, there/they're/their, your/you're, etc. is shifting? I heard that in the next generation the apostrophe may be disappearing in these words, the spelling changed, and the meaning made more fluid to circumvent the need for these homophones altogether.


title: "Out of pocket"?

text: I'm increasingly hearing the phrase "out of pocket" used in America as a colloquialism to mean "away from the office", "unavailable", or "incommunicado". > I apologize for not replying sooner; I have been out of pocket.   * What is the etymology of this usage?   It always sounds odd to me, since I had previously always associated the phrase with expenses, _e.g._ , "I had to pay for the service _out of pocket_ ," meaning, "I had to pay for the service using my own money."   * Should either of these usages be avoided?   * What is the extent of their acceptance?


title: What exactly does "President Obama will ‘fold faster than a lawn chair’" mean?

text: In today’s Washington Post’s “Today’s Quote,” picked up from the comment of Former Reagan Budget director David Stockman in an interview with The Daily Beast (hat tip to Political Wire), I came across the phrase “Obama will fold faster than a lawn chair.” As I could not get the idea of “fold faster a lawn chair,” or even “fold a lawn chair,” I consulted Merriam Webster, Cambridge Dictionary Online and The online Slang Dictionary in vain to find none of them carry the definition of the above phrases. Is David Stockman predicting that President Obama will withdraw his agenda easily like folding a lawn chair, (or give up lawn chair i.e. his stand) and succumb to Republicans to accept their budget reduction plan? What is the exact meaning of “fold faster a lawn chair”? Is this a well-established cliché, though I couldn’t find it in any of dictionaries available? The sentence containing this phrase is as follows: > Bring it on. I think the Republicans need to stand rigidly firm and shut the > government down for a few days. The Obama White House is weak. If the > Republicans hold the line, Obama will **fold faster than a lawn chair**. And > the Republicans will get their $60 billion in reductions.


title: What do you call exaggerations like "I'm starving"?

text: For example, when you are a little hungry and you say "I'm starving", or when you are so tired and you say "I'm dying". What do you call these type of expressions? Just exaggerations? I don't know how to explain this better.


title: "On the other hand" without the first hand

text: I have been criticized by colleagues in the past for using "on the other hand" as an alternative to "however" at the beginning of a sentence, because they said that you could only use it if a previous sentence featured "on the one hand". My question is: while their argument is logical, is it really followed by usage?


title: A single word noun for a "reusable object"

text: What is a single word noun that means "a reusable object"? I'm looking for something with as few syllables as possible, that is English vernacular. The word would also be abstract, so it encompasses any reusable object. For example humans, dogs, and cats are all _animals_. A friend (and a SO user) mentioned the word "durables" describes reusable objects, but I would like a more commonly used term.


title: Difference between 'sentimental' and 'emotional'?

text: What is the difference between the terms 'sentimental' and 'emotional'?


title: What is the correct term for someone who works on/with WordPress?

text: I'm trying to figure out what the best way to describe someone who works with/on WordPress. Some people use WordPresser but that seems a little bit clunky for me. It's easy to say WordPress developer, designer, etc but if you wanted to talk about how to talk about lots of people who work on WordPress what would be the best way for form the correct word? Example of usage: "he was the best WordPresser of them all" etc. I've been thinking it might be appropriate to formulate it like you would a person of a specific nationality - i.e. Italian, or whatever. But I'm not sure what would be right, both grammatically and to make sure it doesn't sound clunky.


title: How to pronounce "404 Not Found"

text: How do we pronounce the http status code _404 not found_ : _four hundreds and four_ , _four-zero-four_ or _four-four_? We usually use 200, 201, 302, 401, 403, 404, 412, 500. I have read How to pronounce "720p" and "1080p".


title: What does “the government picks winners and losers” mean?

text: I heard the phrase, “ _pick winners and losers_ ” in AP Radio News (aired on March 19), relating GOP presidential candidate, Mitt Romney’s attack on President Obama’s economic policy: > -Republican Presidential candidate, Mitt Romney says President Obama is > wrong to _pick winners and losers_ to try to boost the economy:   >  “Because he has not worked in the economy, he doesn’t understand when the > government _picks winners_ , they think, _and losers_ that the rest of the > free economy shatters.”- There are many “pick winners and losers” quotes in Google search, for instance; > “Aside from this disparity and the empirical evidence that suggests the > ineffectiveness of such efforts, it turns out there is one more problem with > _picking winners and losers_ : sometimes the winners you pick turn out to be > losers.” - www.ctnewsjunkie.com. But I find the definition of this phrase nowhere. I remember that Chinese government took 'winners first' policy once to try to make the rich richer first, then making the poor rich subsequently as if trickling its effect when they started to steer their economic policy toward the open-market. Does “the government picks winners and losers” mean to try to protect or benefit everybody, i.e. the rich and the poor equally?   What does it exactly mean?


title: the use of both to show emphasis and experimentalist and theoretician communities

text: In your opinion is _both_ superfluous in the following sentence? > Efforts from both experimentalist and theoretician communities, started to > increase over the last decades in order to turn the hydrogen energy from a > possible solution to a reality. I used _both_ , even if it seems superfluous, to show emphasis that, although at the beginning of hydrogen energy research, most of researches were experimentalists, it turns out in the last decades that theoreticians are interested in such fields as well. A second doubt I have is if the expression "experimentalist and theoretician communities" is correct in the way I'm using it. I've read many times expressions like: "Each session, devoted to a kind of spectroscopy, will include invited contributions from both experimentalists and theoreticians" or "time-scale motions remains a challenge to experimentalists and theoreticians alike". But in my sentence I'd like to make clear that theoreticians and experimentalist working in different fields, as for example catalysis, electrochemistry and computational chemistry, are now given attention to hydrogen energy. That's why I used _communities_. In you opinion, does it make sense?


title: North, South, East, West as Adjective or Noun in Street Signs?

text: I frequently see street signs such as “West America Street” or “North Carolina Avenue”. Grammatically, is there any way to say with certainty what is meant by “West America Street”? Is it a street named on honor of the western area on the US? Alternately, is it the west end of a street named in honor of the US for which there is also an east end?


title: The meaning of: "Why don't you just beat it?"

text: I would like to know what does this phrase means: > "Why don't you just beat it?" My dictionary says only that: beat it: get lost   Can you beat it? : Do you get it?


title: Tourism nomenclature help

text: I'm working in a software company working on an information system for travel agencies. Because we've grown big, we've decided to rename our internal project nomenclatore from Czech to English. I think I've translated all names well, with one exception. I will now try to explain its meaning before proposing my translations. In our system, there are "business cases" which are basically information containers containing a relation between a client and a travel agency. The simplest business case contains a hotel and a room that was reserved, names and ages of people that are going to spend their holidays there, generated contract and invoice documents to be printed etc. It could not be possible to make a reservation for any hotel if the travel agency did not know the "availability" of the hotel. That means, it's essential for a travel agency to know **how many** people can be accommodated in a hotel and **when**. Our information system just provides them with means to easily keep track of the hotels' availability. If a reservation is made, there are many complex interconnections, invisible to the employees of the travel agency. But a programmer working with the system has to know all of these connections. As I said, a business case contains people that are going to spend their holiday somewhere. Now imagine, that for the system to work, there must be some connection between these people and the hotel availability. This connection essentialy says "1 man takes 1 availability unit from the hotel". Now imagine that this connection is actually a single item with many implications. With this model, we can create much more complex situations and in agendas outside hotels, e.g. flight reservations or theatre/cinema reservations. Examples of complex models: "1 and only one children takes 0 availability if the children is aged from 0 to 2" "1 dog takes 0 availability in a flight" "1 man takes 2 availability if the room he reserved can be ordered for himself regardless the total capacity of the room" The question is, how would you call this connection? Something that is abstract and succinct enough. Word/phrase that basically says that **there is an X of "something/someone" that is taking and holding Y places somewhere under some conditions and for a specific time.**   * Using word-by-word translation from Czech, the result is "bound capacity" but that just doesn't sound well for me. Does it for you?   * Another suggestions I could think of are capacity holder, availability holder, space block, space binder ...    * It's also possible that there is a right word for this from the tourism industry which I don't know. (since I'm a programmer (IT industry), not a travel agency salesman) I'm not a native english speaker. Could you suggest what would you think is the best? :) (the question is probably a bit too complicated so if you're not sure you don't understand, please try to read the following explanations, they might help :) **THE WORD RESERVATION:** Someone proposed a "reservation" and for a second, I felt like a total idiot but then I realized that we already use this word - reservation is actually a state of the business case. And business case is in reservation when it has valid _connections_. When there are no connections at all, the business case might be cancelled (because it wasn't paid or for a client request etc.) or many other reasons (the hotel is not be available during storm seasons/state holidays etc. etc. etc.) **RESPONSE TO FIRST LYNN'S ANSWER**               Hotel California has 4 "availability spots".          Family Jones has 4 people plus a dog ... this takes 3 "availability spots"      -- 0 for the dog, 0 for the infant, 1 for the older child, and 2 for the adults          What would you call "availability spots" in English?      I'm not asking this :) I'm asking what would you call the thing that takes the availability spot. It can be a dog, an infant, a child, in some cases even a luggage! **EXPLANATION OF THE BOUND CAPACITY** The idea is that the occupant is _binding_ the single _capacity_ spot of the hotel to himself only. He's doing that by creating a "bound capacity" - a virtual unit that says how many places is he taking. Vast majority of these bound capacities are the simplest case: 1 man = 1 place. But there are also vast possibilities of how this bound capacity could be modified and how could it work anywhere else in the system.


title: Pronunciation of the word “reduct” as a noun

text: How should I pronounce the word _reduct_ as a noun?


title: What does this joke mean?

text: > You wanna know what line doesn't work on a harp player? > > “Hey baby, wanna pluck?” It's a joke from a sitcom. I think I understood its general meaning but I don't understand what a "line on a harp player" is. And pluck? Thanks for helping me.


title: Appropriate title case: 'em or 'Em or 'EM

text: It's a common practice to capitalize headings/titles of articles. But is there a correct or conventional way to capitalize words in titles that are ~~apocopated~~ apheresed at the beginning? E.g. > Disable Feeds (Make 'em Inaccessible) On Your Site Yes, I do understand that using _Them_ instead of _'em_ would be more proper, but I really wanted to know about this anyway.


title: Is there some rule against ending a sentence with the contraction "it's"?

text: I heard this lyric in a song the other day and it just sounded so wrong that I assumed it must be incorrect grammar, but I can't find any specific prohibition that applies. > That's what it's. That rolls off your tongue with the grace of a moose in a tutu, but I can't figure out why. There is clearly no problem with ending other sentences with a contraction. These sound fine. > I thought I could, but I can't.   >  Stop touching that, it will fall off if you don't.   >  You say that the sky is green, but it isn't. Also, it sounds just fine if you remove the contraction: > That's what it is. So what's up with this construction? Should it be avoided?


title: When can one use a contraction at the end of a sentence?

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Is there some rule against ending a sentence with the contraction "it's"? Sometimes it's fine to use a contraction at the end of a sentence: "If you're thinking about starting a land war in Asia, just don't!" **(Sounds fine!)** Other times it sounds wrong: "Mr Vizzini is smarter than I'm." **(You must say, "... than I am.")** I am unaware of any rule that prescribes when it is okay to use a contraction at the end, and when it is not (or maybe I'm ascribing too much importance to the position of the contraction over some more significant attribute?). In any case, if there is a rule, I have no idea what it's.


title: Can you end a sentence with a clitic like "they're"?

text: I saw someone write the sentence "Of course they're". As a native English speaker, this instantly seemed wrong but I couldn't come up with a good reason as to why. I did a bit of research and there seems to be a rule called "stranding" where if there's an object before the clitic then it can't end like that but I don't entirely understand it.


title: Is the sentence "Do you know who I'm?" grammatically correct?

text: If so, why does it sound so awkward?


title: Using "it's" vs. using "it is" at the end of a sentence

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Is there some rule against ending a sentence with the contraction "it's"? Why is it that the following sounds incorrect: > "Would she know where it's?" But this sounds fine: > "Would she know where it is?"


title: Why does the contraction of "I will" sound strange in certain sentence constructions?

text: Recently, while chatting with a friend via text, my friend asked me, "Can you ask them tomorrow?" I responded with: > I will when I go. It occurred to me when writing this response that it would be really _weird sounding_ to say: > I'll when I go. However, it would have been normal sounding if I had said: > I'll ask when I go. Is there any formal reason why the version without "ask" following "I'll" is incorrect? Or maybe it is correct, but merely awkward? I suppose there may not be any explanation deeper than, "it just sounds weird," but any informative insights into why, ideally with examples of similar cases, would stand as an answer.


title: Is there a rule for when contractions are not possible?

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Is there some rule against ending a sentence with the contraction "it's"? In conversing with non-native English speakers online, I saw someone type: > Do you know who *** _I’m_** ? This is obviously wrong to a native English speaker, but I don’t know why. Is there a rule that tells when contractions are not allowed? Here are some more similar examples where the contraction doesn’t work (with the expansion of the contraction in parentheses following each):   * Can you tell who * _I’m_ by my voice alone? (I am)   * Please, tell me who * _he’s/she’s/they’re_. (he is/she is/they are)   * If you want to go to the movie, * _we’ll._ (we will)    * Will you have some? Yes, * _I’ll._ (I will)    * I won’t have any, but tell me if * _you’ll_. (you will)   * I didn’t have the same thing for supper as * _you’d._ (you had)   * Would you like to go? Sure * _I’d._ (I would)


title: Why people don't use "Where it's?" question?

text: Why > "Where it's?" is incorrect while > "Where is it?" is considered correct? Was it like this all the time in English? Because the word oreder is wrong here too:               Why it's there? = Why it is there?      it is incorrect too. So, why `Where it's?` is wrong and `Why it's there?` is OK?


title: Is it okay to say "Yes you're." instead of "Yes you are."?

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Is there some rule against ending a sentence with the contraction "it's"? I was having an SMS conversation with a friend and somehow "Yes you're" came into play in retaliation to a comment. Example: > Person 1: "You are bad at English". > > Person 2: "No I are not.". > > Person 1: "Yes you're". Is that acceptable? I would assume that it is. Think of "don't". You can say: > "No, don't." or > "I don't." and it is a contraction like "you're". So, is it okay?


title: "If you don't do it, I'll". Why does that sentence feel so awkward?

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Is there some rule against ending a sentence with the contraction “it’s”? Earlier today while writing a very informal email, I expressed: > If you don't do it, I will. Upon looking at it, I realized that "I will" could be contracted to "I'll", however, this is completely unheard of and feels quite awkward. I am now quite curious, is there a reason why ending a sentence with "I'll" feels (or is) so inappropriate? I understand that the use of contractions is generally an informal use of language so rules of usage can be a bit loose. Therefore, this is a case that to me doesn't make logical sense and I'm a bit confused. Why does it feel wrong when an "I'll" is placed at at that end of a sentence, even though such an expression is informal and not, technically, an incorrect usage of the contraction "I'll?"


title: How to pronounce "aa" vowel pair?

text: The word in question is "thraal", a species from the Dr. Who universe (http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Thraal) and coincidentally also a species from the Transformers universe (http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Thraal). The only similar word I know of is "Baal" and I've heard "bal", "bail" and "bawl" for that as well... so that doesn't help. Any guidance?


title: Indefinite Plural VS Indefinite Singular for stating general facts, properties, etc

text: Is there any nuance in the two sentences below if I want to state a general fact about **cars** ? A) **Cars** have 4 wheels. B) **A car** has 4 wheels. The question above is also a question to itself. So can I say "...if I want to state a general fact about **a car** " instead of "..... **cars** "?


title: be expected from vs. be expected by

text: Would you let me know the difference between the following sentences? >   1. The company’s third loan payment is expected from ABC Bank on Friday. >   2. The company’s third loan payment is expected by ABC Bank on Friday. >   3. The third loan payment is expected from the company on Friday. > I think #2 and #3 have almost the same meaning, but I can't understand #1. I don't know why 'from' is used in #1. #2 and #3 is much more clear than #1. (Sorry, there is no context, so please make up some contexts for the above sentences.)


title: What is the origin of "settle your hash?"

text: I understand the phrase "settle your hash" means to subdue someone through the use of threats or violence. For example, a heated argument between two individuals where insults were being lobbed to and fro might lead one to exclaim: > If you keep disparaging my mother like that I am going to settle your hash. What is the origin of this idiom?


title: What do you call a person who conducts seminar workshops?

text: If a _resource speaker_ or _guest speaker_ is someone who makes usually formal public speeches; a _trainer_ is someone who trains; how about someone who conducts seminar workshops?


title: What is the word for a surrounding sequence?

text: A pattern that begins a word is generally denoted as "prefix", one that ends a word is generally denoted as "suffix". Is there a word that indicates a pattern that surrounds a word. For instance (hello), is there a word that indicates the parentheses? So if I have several patterns i.e.: "hello" (hello) {hello} [hello] etc. What word do I use for the surrounding pattern?


title: Is it IQ or IQ score?

text: What's the correct way to use the term **_intelligence quotient_** in a sentence? > Jim's IQ is 130.   >  _–or–_   >  Jim's IQ score is 130.


title: What do you call a manager that can't hire or fire personnel?

text: Jon Taffer calls him a Stupidvisor. But I'd like to think that's what you call a phony supervisor. But is there a more direct word to refer to a phony manager? I mean my work has phony supervisors and phony managers. I say that because only the owner can fire/hire so we don't listen to them. We like to call the supervisors; Stupidvisor. But I would like to call the managers a different name, to distinguish them.


title: Is this expression correct?

text: Is it right in English to say: > It is nice a day. instead of > It is a nice day. Is any sentence of this form correct?


title: What is the origin of the use of "hate" with the preposition "on"?

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Origin of "hating on" Recently I've noticed an increasing use of the phrase **to hate _on_** [someone]. From what I can tell, the addition of **_on_** implies a jealousy or dislike for another person's talent or status. It doesn't appear that **_to hate_** and **_to hate on_** are directly interchangeable; one wouldn't say _"I really hate on the taste of fish"_ for example. The verb _to hate_ was previously sufficient as far as I was aware, so where has the addition of the preposition **_on_** come from? My guess is America, but does anyone know where and when this originated?


title: Can I use "better" as a verb?

text: As my title, can I use "better" as a verb? I have read and known that the word "better" can be used as a verb. For example, to better your business productivity, you should use ABC technology. I've also searched in Google and found out some examples regarding the word "better" can be used as a verb. Can someone explain this to me?


title: Which one is more correct: "works at a university" or "works in a university"?

text: > My relative is a fairly big academic and works **at** a university. Is this correct? or should I have used **in** instead?


title: What is the difference between teaches "at" and "in" xxx university

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Which one is more correct: "works at a university" or "works in a > university"?   >  "In college" versus "at college" versus "at university" He teaches at xxx University. He teaches in xxx University. What's the difference between at and in here?


title: "In college" versus "at college" versus "at university"

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Which one is more correct: "works at a university" or "works in a > university"? It seems that only in the U.S. one says that they are or were "in college", even though the person attended a university, such as the University of Iowa. You are either in college, or majored in such and such while in college. You hear the phrase "at college" less often, but never "at university" in the U.S.   Elsewhere, even next door in Canada, the equivalent phrase seems to be "at university": "I majored in English while at university." I don't think I have ever heard or read the phrase "in university" used.   Likewise, in the U.S., one says, for example, "I will be going to college next year" whereas elsewhere one seems to say "I will be going to university next year." Is there anywhere else in the world besides the U.S. where the phrase "in college" is used instead of "at university"? How did the American English usage come about?


title: Difference between "pain" and "ache"

text: What's the difference between _pain_ and _ache_? I often see the two words used (almost) interchangeably. At the same time the phrase "aches and pains" is pretty common, and seems to suggest that the two words aren't exact synonyms. The dictionary definitions I've seen ("ache is a continuous dull pain") don't really help in understanding many of the usages I've come across, such as this one from the NHS: > Back pain [...] usually feels like an ache and also this title: > Stomach ache and abdominal pain It would be particularly interesting to see examples where one of the two words is appropriate when describing physical suffering, and the other isn't.


title: Proper translation/explanation for business sector, business field

text: I am German. I am currently developing a system which acts like a data provider for company infos. A company needs to be assigned to one or more "business sectors". I currently deal with companies doing the following:   * Repairing vehicles   * Towing services   * Handicraft businesses   * Motor vehicle experts The above types I called "business sectors". Below these can be "business fields", like: Handicraft businesses   * mason   * carpenter, etc So my question is, how would a native speaker call these two levels? So far I've seen industrial sectors, branches, etc... I am confused ;)


title: How can we check if a noun is concrete or abstract?

text: To put it simple, a concrete noun is a noun with mass (for all concrete nouns), and a non-concrete noun is a noun without mass (for all non-concrete nouns). Is this true, or false? Is _sunlight_ a concrete, or abstract noun?


title: Alternate word for impersonate in terms of Items or things

text: Well actually I'm searching for the right word for a particular scenario or maybe behavior. Suppose I go to a shop and ask for an item but they don't have it. Now the sales person's priority is to make a sale and he **_impersonates_** (I know it's not the right word) another item and tells me it's what I'm looking for. What word do I use in place of impersonation?


title: 'much better' spoken rather than written English?

text: Is it grammatically correct to use in a publication, that something is (a) 'much better' way of doing something?


title: Is there a difference between "anatomic" and "anatomical"?

text: I want to say "anatomical context". Google tells me that _anatomical_ in that context is preferred. An online dictionary claimed that American English does not have _anatomic_ but only knows _anatomical_.


title: call vs invoke - informatics context

text: Particularly in computer science and informatics, when should one use them? Is call the preferred form? For instance,               call function          invoke method      Googling for "call operation" returns +300 000 returns, whereas, "invoke operation" about +100 000. **EDIT:** For further context, the doubt came to my mind when working with Cucumber's Gherkin language "a Business Readable, Domain Specific Language that lets you describe software’s behaviour without detailing how that behaviour is implemented." Eg:               Given some precondition     And some other precondition     When some action by the actor     And some other action     And yet another action     Then some testable outcome is achieved


title: Why is the term "touched" no longer commonly used?

text: I’ve heard the term _touched_ used to refer to someone who is “not quite right”. I’m curious as to where this term came from, what it really means, and why it doesn’t tend to be used often anymore. Is it seen as offensive now, or does it just seem dated because it might be seen as religious or something (as in “ _touched_ by an angel” or “ _touched_ by God”)? I’ve also heard someone say that “ _on the spectrum_ is the new _touched_ ”, indicating that both terms are intended to be “delicate” ways of saying the same thing (with the further implication that “touched” was often used to refer to a person with autism, before many people knew what autism was). Is there any truth to this? What got me thinking on this is the new Kiefer Sutherland show _Touch_ which is about a kid who is diagnosed as autistic, although clearly there is something else (supernatural, presumably) going on. I was curious if the name was partially in reference to the term.


title: "having", "with" or "who have" - which is preferred for an attribute conferring group membership?

text: I need to provide a label in my software's user interface that describes about the list of members having private access to a document. So which one will suit best from the following?   1. Members having private access   2. Members with private access   3. Members who have private access Note: The label will be suffixed with a colon.


title: Joining homogeneous parts of the sentence

text: How can I join homogeneous parts of a sentence that determine each other? Can I use commas or should I also use some linking words such as _that is_? > **Example:** > > _By “circumstances” I mean not just the world around, but the society, (that > is) the mob able to make anyone behave in any way, the mob that influences > on our decisions, actions and individuality._


title: Which is correct, "dataset" or "data set"?

text: I keep writing _dataset_. Is that correct, or should I write _data set_?


title: Is the tense shift here problematic?

text: > See a raccoon and pungent isn't what you think. But **if you** put the > animal close to your nose, **you'll** find . . . Just a reworded example. Is there a tense shift here? One that shouldn't exist? Does the tense shift get removed if you write: > See a raccoon and pungent isn't what you think. But put the animal close to > your nose and you find


title: Meaning of "would that I might forget him"

text: > "Would that I might forget him," Ned said bluntly.   >  -- _A Song of Ice and Fire_ Does the sentence in quotes mean, "I would forget him if I could"?


title: Troubled by a sentence in a Reuters article

text: I am troubled by the following sentence > According to Khanh, Vietnam has 0.7 passenger aircraft for every 1 million > people in its population, compared with 7 in Malaysia and 15 in Australia. which appears in the following Reuters article http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/27/us-vietnam-dreamliners- idUSBRE98Q12H20130927 I don't think it's my fault however. In this case, it's fairly obvious that Malaysia and Australia have 7 and 15 aircrafts for every 1 million people respectively. But assume the statistic is slightly different so that the statement becomes > According to Khanh, Vietnam has 1 passenger aircraft for every 1 million > people in its population, compared with 7 in Malaysia and 15 in Australia. And assume we have no idea about the economy of the 3 countries, then the trouble becomes Is it > Malaysia and Australia have 1 aircraft for every 7 and 15 millions people > respectively. Or > Malaysia and Australia have 7 and 15 aircrafts for every 1 million people > respectively. Do I have a valid point here?


title: What is the correct romanization of the Russian name "Андрей" — "Andrey" or "Andrei"?

text: What is the most preferable: "Andrey" or "Andrei" for the Russian name "Андрей"? Wikipedia gives both variants.


title: Logic behind "at most"

text: Does the term 'at most' mean there is at least one?


title: Does "All" imply one or more?

text: Does _all_ imply that there is one or more of something?   * Does the statement "all of the books are red" imply there is at least one red book?    * Could there be zero books and the statement still be factually correct?   * Is it inherently ambiguous? Not sure if this is an English question or more of a math or logic question.


title: Where do East End / Gangster slang terms for numbers relating to money originate?

text: Words like 'monkey', 'pony', 'ton' and so on are used by East End villains and Cockneys to denote numbers - ton is one hundred for example. Examples abound in popular culture (The Krays, Only Fools and Horses, Guy Ritchie movies). Where do these terms come from? And how could the words possibly connect to the amounts?


title: Is there any rule of order for time, date, place, building, and etc?

text: I sent an email to confirm my meeting with a person which specified time, date, place, and building on the email like below: > I would like to meet you at 5pm this Sunday in KFC on the first floor in USA > Shopping center. There are two things about this sentence. (It's just my opinion.)   1. It's overly complicated for me.   2. The order of time, date, place, and etc doesn't look right. I wonder if there is a rule of order when writing about time, date, place, and etc.


title: Word to describe "when sensitive information is given to a trusted proxy in case of untimely death"

text: What's a good word to describe the situation when sensitive information is given to a trusted proxy (such as a lawyer), to be released only when a certain event occurs, such as a person's untimely death?


title: Is there a term for "*cough*<something>*cough*"?

text: What I mean is the act of "coughing" something that you don't actually want to (or rather dare) say outright. So instead of writing, say, "Miss Parker", you'd write "*cough*Ms Parker*cough*" or fake a cough that sounds very much like "Miss Parker". Written and spoken differ in that of course, when written is absolutely clear what that "coughed" term is, while when spoken it's "hidden" in the cough (which the written form tries to express). Never heard it in conversation, only heard it in movies or read it in books, though my contact to actual English native-speakers is (sadly) limited. Is there a linguistic/rhetorical term for that?


title: What do we call this kind of recursive expression?

text: > A metaphor is like a simile. Is there a name for the kind of statement that suggests an infinite recursion? It is in a way similar to a paradox such as the one with a statement written on each side of a piece of paper. Side one says "The statement on the other side of this page is true"; Side two says "The statement on the other side of this page is false." But the quotation above is not a paradox, an endless contradiction, but an endless reinforcement. What do we call that? I'm finding it hard even to come up with adequate tags for this question. And remember: All generalizations are false.


title: Nouns constructed out of an adjective and a suffix?

text: I experienced a bit of interesting language-building this past weekend. A post about "subtle -isms" (i.e. subtle sexism, subtle racism, etc.) had various commenters who used the phrase "subtle-ism" (no space), and even one person who used "subtleism" as a noun on twitter: "... 'subtleism' = lowlevel *-ism that hurts in aggregate" Obviously "subtleism" is a long way from being a "real word", but I do think it has a very interesting and unintuitive construction: subtle (adj.) + -ism (suffix) -> subtleism (noun). I'm wondering if there are any other words constructed similarly (through rebracketing, de-hyphenation, etc) in the English Language. Edit: I don't think "subtleism" is a particularly well-constructed or intuitive word, but someone did use it and I'm interested in seeing if there are any similar words. Thanks!


title: Properly refer to the turn of the year

text: During a meeting I was explaining a problem that only occurs once year: when one year ends and new one begins. Specifically during the first few days of the new year. Unfortunately, I was lost for words to describe the phenomenon, and, in the midst of stuttering, uttered, "Well the problem only happens during year turning, umm, well when 2010 became 2011..umm.." I got my point across, with mild sense of embarrassment, considering that a fairly large audience was attentively listening to my poorly formed narrative (I'd better stop now with this extraneous information). **What is the best way to describe what I was trying to telegraph --that is, the issue only occurring during the turn of the year?**


title: Can you place "so" after an adjective for emphasis?

text: Normally you write, for example,               Life is so fleeting.     She's so beautiful.      "so" is used for emphasis. Can you invert it with an adjective to have more emphasis?               Life is fleeting so.     She's beautiful so.      I think I have seen this kind of use before. Note this question is for written, literary English, not spoken English. Thank you.


title: Prepositions to use when indicating locations

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  When should I use "in" or "on"? I am always confused with the prepositions to use when indicating an event happening at a place. Should I use "at" or "in" or "on"? For example: > We had our dinner at the McDonalds _at/in_ the shopping centre _at/on_ Sixth > Avenue. The McDonalds restaurant is in the shopping centre. The shopping centre is located at Sixth Avenue. So am I right to say "the McDonalds _in_ the shopping centre _at_ Sixth Avenue"? Now, what if it was a street instead of an avenue? Say for example: > We had our dinner at the McDonalds _at/in_ the shopping centre _at/on_ Coral > Street. Here, somehow, I find it natural to say "the McDonalds _at_ the shopping centre _on_ Coral Street". How do I determine the right prepositions to use? And how would the different prepositions give different meanings to the sentence?


title: 'On a swing' vs 'in a swing'

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  When should I use "in" or "on"? Would you say: > A child is sitting in a swing. or > A child is sitting on a swing. Is it the same case as: _in a chair_ vs _on a chair_?


title: how to use "in" and "on" different things

text: There is a really big confusion in me when it comes to using "in" and "on". If I am describing a position of an object I know how the two words differ, but when it comes to other things it really confuses. e.g > in photo or on photo   >  in website or on website   >  in phone or on phone   >  in the movie or on the movie   >  in his account or on his account How do we figure out which is the word to use in such occasions? What are the rules to get them right?


title: When should I use "in" or "on"?

text: As it is common with people from my country, I have an immense difficulty with prepositions in English, especially with the use of _in_ and _on_. When the preposition indicates the position of the object it is a bit easier to decide which one to use, but as it requires thinking from me, I still say things like "I put the bill _in_ the fridge", "my pencil is _on_ my bag", etc, even though if I think about it, I would know how to say it correctly. Of course, even in those cases where the preposition indicates position the decision is not always clear, as is the case for example with "on the bus" (you are not on top of the bus, you are inside the bus) or "he is _in_ bed" (you are not inside the bed, you are on top of your bed). Other cases are even less clear, and I believe there is no real rule to decide what should be said; the person should just know it. Two examples are " _in_ a bad mood", "you are _on_ my mind". So my first question is whether there is really no rule to help me. The second question refers to two of the cases where I still don't know whether to use _in_ or _on_ :   * good luck on/in your exam   * in/on the list The last one is especially important to me, as I have asked a number of native speakers, and each time I get a different answer. The only consensus seems to be the case where you say "on top of the list". Apart from that, some people will say that I should say "his name is in the list" whereas others think I should say "his name is on the list". And yeah, a couple of people did tell me that I can use either. Can someone help me?


title: "Inspect" vs. "control"

text: Which of _inspect_ or _control_ is more appropriate when referring to action checking the operational state of something? Context: Workers are checking the operational state of a billboard with regards to its cleanliness, lighting, etc. Their sole job is to report their findings, they are not required to act on their findings. Is the difference just cosmetic for my context, or is there some subtle difference in meaning between using _inspect_ and _control_?


title: Describing features that are included in a service

text: When writing about more than one feature. Would you write "The service _includes_ features such as A, B and C" or "The service _include_ features such as A, B and C"


title: Is the expression, "having a good time" too personal?

text: Me and a colleague were jointly writing an email to an English speaking business partner when a discussion arose on how to formulate a sentence. The business partner is currently on vacation, so I thought that the sentence "We hope you're having a good time on your vacation" was a good and appropriate way to address this in the beginning of the email. My colleague on the other hand said that the phrase "having a good time" is more personal and something you say to people you know more personally and something along the line of "We hope you're enjoying your vacation" would be more appropriate. What would you say the correct semantic of this phrase is?


title: "Moving house" vs "moving houses"

text: Which is more natural between the two of these sentences? > I plan to move house next month.   >  I plan to move houses next month. Are there any places where _move houses_ should be used over _move house_ or vice versa?


title: Is there are term for when you believe that because something hasn't happened, it won't or can't happen?

text: I was having a conversation with someone about whether or not robotics and AI will cause problems by eliminating jobs. They said: "People worried about joblessness when we started to mechanize farms, their worries never panned out, therefore your worries now are misplaced." Or to use another example: "The last big asteroid that came close to earth didn't crash into us, therefore we'll never be hit by one ever." Without any justification as to why the two situations are similar this line of thinking seems like it is a fallacy. If so, what is the name for it? If not is there any other word or term that describes the line of thinking?


title: Meaning of "Put an egg in your shoe and beat it"

text: > Go on! Put an egg in your shoe and beat it. What does "Put an egg in your shoe and beat it" mean?


title: "Undertake" and "overtake"

text: _Under_ \- and _over_ \- seem to be prefixes with contrary meanings. But with the example of _undertake_ and _overtake_ , I don't see contrary meanings between them. Am I missing something?


title: Is this sentence correct English?

text: I am not a native English speaker. But I would like to know if the following sentence is correct? "Choose a password at least 6 characters long." Or should it be something like "Choose a password that is at least 6 characters long."?


title: Meaning of "binge"?

text: What does it really mean? And what do _binge-watching_ ; _binge-reading_ ; _binge-eating_ mean?


title: Grammar: 'dangerous to' or 'dangerous for'

text: Looking at the health warning on our beers, I'm sure the grammar is incorrect. > "Alcohol abuse is dangerous **to** your health." Shouldn't that be: > "Alcohol abuse is dangerous **for** your health." Used as a verb, we'd say: "This is **a danger to** you." Used as an adjective shouldn't we say: "This is **dangerous for** you"?


title: Image in article

text: What would you call an image in a newspaper article that appears in the flow of the article with text wrapped around it? For example an article with two columns — on the right column there's an image with wrapping around it. What would you call it? In-line image? Article in-line image? Paragraph image?


title: Do we compile the source or the binaries?

text: When programming, we usually write text files in some programming language. These source files are fed into a compiler that compiles them into binary files. My question is whether to say:   * we compile the source files, or   * we compile the binary files? Is one of the two more correct than the other?


title: Synonym for "heavy use"

text: Like this sentence: > A heavy use in X taught me how to X. What are the other sayings of "heavy use"?


title: What is meant by "pun intended"?

text: I am not a native speaker of English. I came across many articles which used the phrase "pun intended". In many cases I am not able to grasp the meaning of the sentence as what this phrase mean in the context. For example, > Behavioural experts say it is not just the wiring that causes the > ‘differences’ (pun intended). I am totally clueless about what the meaning of the phrase inside the braces is. What does it mean?


title: What word should I use when I want to say someone said?

text: * A said that "if you want to get this job, you must know about computer hardware."   * B state that "you must finished this task within this week, otherwise we will have problems" I know and use only 2 words, "said" and "state" and I don't like when I write a long email and use same word over and over again. I want to know an alternative words to express someone say something.


title: What does "at best" signify in "this slowly becomes annoying at best"?

text: What does this mean: > This slowly becomes annoying at best I cannot understand what the last two words of this phrase signify.


title: Why is there a comma in "Man discusses his, wife's experience"

text: Why is there a comma after "his" in the headline? Does this mean his AND his wife's experience? Is it correct english, or slang? "Man discusses his, wife's experience being injured during the Boston marathon bombings." Source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/video/boston-marathon-explosion-video-attack- victim-hard-mad-18969745


title: Word for "translating" English to English

text: Is there a specific word for "translating" a work from period Modern English into contemporary English? For example, if Locke's philosophies were rewritten point by point in contemporary English, would you say they had been translated? Rendered? Adapted? Something else?


title: Can I write "cupcake sprinkle"? -- Google searches are bringing up "sprinkle cupcakes"

text: I'm writing a text where the object of the text is the sprinkle on top of the cupcake, "cupcake sprinkle". But I've searched it and it all turns up "sprinkle cupcakes".


title: Meaning of "I'm a disaster"

text: What does _disaster_ mean in the following sentence? > I'm a disaster.


title: Where to put the "+" in "200-word" to mean "200 or more words"?

text: I wrote this: > Write a 200-word essay. However, I need to indicate that it should be at least 200-words. For brevity, I'd like to place "+". I've tried these:   * 200+-word   * +200-word   * 200-word+ Which way is correct in formal or technical writing?


title: Would you use the term "looker" to describe a man?

text: Both Merriam Webster and Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary define _looker_ as a word used to describe an attractive person, usually a woman. http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/looker http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/looker The operative word is "usually". Urban Dictionary, however, tends to be a bit more liberal, and the term's used to describe both men and women (but, then again, it's Urban Dictionary). So I'd like to know the opinion of native English speakers coming from different parts of the English-speaking world: How unusual would it be to call a handsome man a "looker"? E.g., "Joseph Stalin was quite a looker in his youth". ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/J2kyz.jpg)


title: I am glad to have met you

text: If I met a person yesterday, could I say, now, `"I am glad to have met you"` ? Or is it better to say: `It's been a pleasure to meet you`?


title: Should there be a hyphen in 're-rate'?

text: If you have already rated something and then you want to rate it again, what is the correct term? > _Rerate_ or _Re-rate_?


title: "Security was a privilege of expensive locks"

text: Can I say "security was a privilege of expensive locks"? I am rechecking a translation, and the use of _privilege_ in this context seems too weird to me. Isn't "privilege" used only with people?


title: "Indexes" or "indices"?

text: A table can have one index, or it has two or more ind...? Is it _indexes_ or _indices_? I'm just asking since I've noticed that they're both used quite often. Even Wikipedia seems to support both variants, although it prefers to use _indexes_. Simply put: Which plural is the preferred one?


title: When should cooking, cuisine, and cookery be used?

text: I have never really understood when the words _cooking_ , _cuisine_ and _cookery_ should be used, and to what level they are synonymous. For example, in each example below, which could you use and why (or why not)? >   * Sicilian cuisine is based on seafood >   * the local cuisine is just fine, but their wine is terrible >   * my wife is much better than me at cooking pasta >   * Greg is more skilled than me in cookery >   * I am taking cooking classes after work >


title: Should I use 'to'?

text: I have two verbs in a sentence. I know I have to use 'to' before each verb. But in this case it sounds a little bit strange to me. Should I use _to_ there? > Test that this method returns right data and to works correctly.


title: A word to express the idea of "human traits"

text: Is there a single word that can succinctly express the idea of "human traits" or "human behaviours" or "human habits"? Words that I have thought like race, species are not good because the sound too general and have too little link to the idea of "human traits"


title: "to throw someone something" vs "to throw something at someone"

text: In the following sentence, the need for the at preposition is clear: "He threw something at him" However, if I started the sentence the other way round, it would feel (at least to me) as if the preposition was no longer needed: "He threw him something" The question is: Is it correct to omit the preposition when the person (indirect object?) is mentioned first? UPDATE: This would seem at a first glance as a normal Dative Alteration, as many of the responses told, but a Dative Alteration also implies the use of "to" or "for" prepositions, because the indirect object should respond to "to whom" and "for whom" questions. So, since in this case the preposition at use is "at", what happens to the alteration? Is it still a valid Dative Alteration? UPDATE: After the overwhelming responses that stated that what follows the preposition "at" is not an indirect object, then the case of the Dative Alteration does not apply, apparently turning the alteration from "He threw something at him" into "He threw him something" invalid. Nonetheless, I've googled a lot on this matter looking for appearances of "threw him a" (expecting a following noun) and found no contradicting results. In all cases what followed was a noun that always meant some kind of help or utility but no harm (a slice of bread, a coin, a handkerchief, a smile, a kiss). The only exception I've found was in the case of baseball, where pitchers "threw batters a slow or fast ball", in an attempt to make the batter miss the ball, instead of actually catching it. All things considered, I'm closing the question, and finally accepting John's answer (and comments) as correct. Thank you.


title: "Participate at" vs "Participate in"

text: Can we use both "participate at" and "participate in" interchangeably? Is there a difference between the two if any?


title: Relative clauses: integrated, restrictive, non-restrictive, supplementary

text: H. W. Fowler established a terminology (I do not know if it originates with him), where clauses that are related to another clause through a pronoun are called _relative clauses_ ; he further drew a distinction between _restrictive_ and _non-restrictive_ relative clauses to explain his famous rule about when to apply that vs. which. The _Cambridge Grammar of the English Language_ rejects this terminology in favour of another terminology:   * Instead of restrictive relative clause, the _CGEL_ prefers _integrated relative clause_ ;   * Instead of non-restrictive relative clause, the _CGEL_ (always?, usually?) prefers _supplementary relative clause_. Why does the CGEL, reflecting the preference in Anglistics, follow this alternative terminology?


title: "Blind" is to "sighted" as "Deaf" is to..?

text: What is the opposite of the adjective deaf? e.g. > The seats close to the interpreter are reserved for the hearing impaired. It > is imperative that all [not deaf] people sit in the remaining seats.


title: Name for words created from mispronunciations?

text: Is there a name for the process by which words are created out of mispronunciations of other words, or for the words themselves? Examples that come to mind include _ain't_ for _isn't_ and _prolly_ for _probably_. I suppose these words would be called _slang_ words, but they're a particular kind of slang that comes from the original words being more difficult (or just taking longer) to say. Also, is this the same phenomenon that gives us more casual, abbreviated versions of longer words, like _comfy_ for _comfortable_ or even _ˈkazh_ for _casual_?


title: What is meant by "treading water" in this context?

text: In an article, I came across the following expression: > I don’t have to pick up a textbook. I don’t have to talk to my friend. I > don’t have to eat. When I wake it feels like I’ve been **treading water** > for an eternity, I ache and my eyes are heavy. Wikipedia describes _treading water_ as a method of swimming, but how is it being used or supposed to be understood in this writer's context? Is it common expression, or just used as a simile here?


title: Meaning of "boosting cat food from someone"

text: In the 'The Panic in Needle Park' movie, one of the actors tell someone the following on the phone: > No, man. I didn't boost any cat food from you. What does it mean? It doesn't seem to be a very common expression either.


title: Device used to count number of customers that enter a store

text: What is the name of the device used to count the number of _anything_ (e.g. the number of people that enter a store)? I'm thinking of a.. thing.. that fits in the palm of your hand and it has just one button, so that when you click it the number on the screen increments by 1.


title: Trapezium/trapezoid — why are the US/UK definitions swapped around?

text: These are the US definitions... Trapezoid _— a 4-sided flat shape with straight sides that has a pair of opposite sides parallel._ Trapezium _— a 4-sided flat shape with straight sides and NO parallel sides._ The meanings of the two words are exactly reversed between the US and British interpretations. I don't know how relevant this is, but in general the -oid suffix _(humanoid, android, asteroid)_ means _"similar to (but not **actually** )"_, whereas -ium _(consortium, auditorium, emporium)_ is a "noun-forming" suffix, sometimes having the sense of bigger or more complicated. The British definitions therefore seem more "logical" to me - our _trapezoid_ is superficially "like" a _trapezium_ (it has four sides), but it's not actually the same (no sides are parallel). It's also tempting to think Brits were using the words first. Is there any explanation for how this US/UK difference came about?


title: Phrase concerning "concealing a weapon"

text: I am having trouble finding the right way to describe the following: _a man not having a revolver "tucked away in the pants."_ I would like this to include the idea that _"if he had one, you wouldn't see it anyway, but he doesn't,"_ I also need to include the _"in the pants"_ or _"in the belt"_ (?), as this is for a translation. Is there any phrase describing this situation?


title: What's an alternative for "Where the rubber meets the road"

text: In the past, I've been at a loss to explain the idiom "where the rubber meets the road" to a non-native English speaker without resorting to a similarly confusing idiom. Is there a way to express the same meaning that doesn't use idioms or other non-literal language?


title: Origin of "eat my hat"

text: I recently came across this expression: _**eat my hat_** I googled and found some results. I agree that eating a hat is not easy. But why hat? They could have chosen shoes, gloves, shirt, to name a few. What is the origin of this idiom? And are there any alternatives? * * * The "why hat" was addressed in a comment by **mplungjan** In 1876 most men in the US wore hats. Not all wore gloves and you do not want to eat a shoe. a) it is not very hygienic, b) you need it on your foot.–


title: Season 2 Episodes 1-10 is/are now available. Which is correct?

text: Which is correct? Season 2 Episodes 1-10 is/are now available.


title: Is there a single word that defines time is on your part/side/favor?

text: These past few days I have had this kind of "luck": every time I'm not ready for something, it has ended up being cancelled. For instance, a surprise quiz came up for which I was not at all prepared, but by some "luck" there was a sudden suspension of class. Just out of curiosity, I want to know if there's a single word to describe this kind of luck in which time is in your favor.


title: Grammatical word for feeling related

text: There is a specific word for charaterstic of sentences which are not objective and are somewhat related to feelings , there was some "be" property in sentence.i mean there was a sentence example and in that sentence "be"was used instead of another word.I had read this word in one of the comments,I am getting really restless to know this word .


title: Statistics terminology: Is there a word for a flat bottom?

text: I'm wondering about the opposite of a plateau. I mean, I tend to associate "valley" with a downward spike, as in peaks and valleys. I want to talk of "a flat bottom on the data graph" in the same way that you might talk about a plateau in the graph.


title: Etymology of "end up" and "wind up"

text: What is the etymology of the phrase "end up", and of the meaning of "wind up" that means essentially the same thing? To clarify, I mean the _specific_ meaning of "wind up" that means the same as "end up" Like, you would say "[something] ends up [somewhere]" , and in at least some dialects you could say "[something] winds up [somewhere]" with the same meaning, and same with "[someone] ends up [doing something]". In Merriam-Webster, this sense is (intransitive verb) 1.b: "to arrive in a place, situation, or condition at the end or as a result of a course of action " - and while "end up" has no dictionary entry, I've always thought of it as the "less unusual" way of saying the same thing.


title: "In charge of" for "under the care of" in AmE

text: Checking on the validity of "to charge" as a correct fit for "to claim", "to assert" in some previous OP, I came across the expression "in charge of" pointed up by the Collins dictionary -- besides its shared meaning [having responsibility for] -- as an Americanism for "under the care of". > http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/in+charge+of > > _**34\. In charge of** : **a.** Having responsibility for -- **b.** US: > under the care of_ > > Collins English Dictionary, complete and unabridged, Ed. 2003 The funny thing to it is both meanings of "in charge of" obviously go in opposite directions, to such an extent that -- with an unclear or unspecified context -- saying "The old lady was in charge of her grandchildren" could mean that the old lady had responsibility for her grandchildren (for instance, because both parents are dead), but also just about the contrary, i.e the old lady was under the care of her grandchilden (both parents are dead and the old lady [their gramdmother] suffers from severe Alzheimer's). Which of those meanings of "in charge of" is actually more common to modern day AmE? E.g. > Parents can safely leave their children in charge of the babysitter. source


title: Meaning of 'use' in this sentence

text: From MSABC TV show 'community' season 1 > Hi, Senor Chang.   >  What, a community college Spanish teacher can't **use** 80 bucks? 'Use' here seems should mean 'earn', Because the teacher here is a model and He will be paid 80 bucks.


title: How widely is “catch-22” used?

text: I have known for a long time that there is noun called “catch-22” in English. In some cases, I really would like to use it but I'm not sure if it is a well known term. AFAIK, it is used when you are stuck between two things. For instance: > You can't get a job without any experience and you can't get any experience > without a job. It is catch-22. How widely is “catch-22” used?


title: Meaning of the word 'tight'

text: What's the meaning of “tight” in the following sentence? > This is the least tight thing that's ever happened for me.


title: Usage of "expect to" and "expectation to/of"

text: I've written: > I expect to see you on Monday. I'm counting the days. To improve it, I've changed it in: > With the expectation to see you on Monday, I'm counting the days. A friend told me: No! You should write the following. > With the expectation **of seeing** you on Monday, I'm counting the days. Who's the smart one? My friend or me? Is there a general rule to apply here? Like with _expect/expectation_ , but also for _willing/wish_ , etc.


title: English Communicative Functions

text: Perhaps it is difficult, if not impossible, to list all the communicative functions available in the language, but I wondered if there is such a thing so that we can evaluate sentences, and more specifically utterances, according to a set of functions already determined and categorized. By functions I mean the different realizations of sentences/utterances well beyond their actual or explicit meaning, the communicative intent of language. The thing is that I would like to do some practice by looking for communicative functions within different types of texts, and I would also like to check to what extension overall textual function determines communicative functions as independent segments of information. Thank you very much for your time. Appreciate any comment on the issue,


title: Is "The reason is so..." redundant?

text: I know one should never use _The reason is because,_ but does the same apply to _The reason is so?_ It would make sense, because when someone asks you "Why (insert question here)?" , it's common to reply, "So that (reason here)." I'm not certain about this though and have not found anything online.


title: How to pronounce 3:1 ratio?

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  How do I pronounce "ratio 1:1"? What is the correct pronunciation of 3:1 (as a ratio)? I know this might be simple enough to be answered by any native speaker of English. Is it "three to one ratio"? Or can I skip the word 'ratio'?


I just want to know **_I would like to kindly ask you could you check......?_** could be a right structure for asking question? regards


title: Word for "the process of becoming a taboo"

text: I'm looking for a word that would be roughly equivalent to "the process of becoming a taboo," specifically in the context of film/literary criticism, where the "taboomanization" of sexuality serves as a common literary theme in the type of fiction I'm writing about.


title: Which is correct: 'Drafty' or 'draughty'?

text: I have been changing 'drafty' for 'draughty', or because of my confusion, removing the word altogether while subbing online articles. I'd appreciate guidance on which term is correct for UK English.


title: Is the word "data" now considered singular, or still plural?

text: I know that the singular of data is datum. I know that data is a plural. However, common usage of the word "data" suggests it is used as a "collection of data". > Here is [the collection of] data. In which case, is the word _data_ now a singular again, or still the plural? If so, what is the correct use of the word _data_ and _datum_ now?


title: What is the deciding difference between "field", "industry", and "sector"?

text: I have seen the three words frequently used to express similar meanings. But what exactly is their difference that tells me which is the most suitable one in a certain case?


title: Meaning of "function" in "I cannot stay here. I have a function tonight."

text: > I cannot stay here. I have a function tonight. What does _function_ mean here? Is it oftentimes related to church activities?


title: Is the usage 'was to have done' correct

text: > ... Washington intervened Tuesday and “advised” NAM participants as well as > Ban to turn Tehran down on its nuclear tour, **which was to have included** > the suspected nuclear-related explosives testing lab ... Is the usage 'was to have included' correct? And if so, how is it different from 'was to include' or 'would have included'?


title: Disorder: can't recognize who the voices belong to due to certain damage in the brain?

text: When a person can't recognize faces due to some damage in the brain, it is called **prosopagnosia**. When a person can't recognize colors due to some damage in the cerebral cortex, it is called **cerebral achromatopsia** (a type of color blindness, different from color blindess that is resulted by the abnormalities in the cells of the retina). So is there a technical term for the disorder of not being able to recognize voices due to certain damage in the brain? [Can't know who is speaking just from hearing but do understand the content]


title: "Stop a loophole" vs. "fix a loophole"

text: Which is the preferred usage — "to stop a loophole" or "to fix a loophole"?


title: What is the correct possessive genitive for "media"?

text: I hope I've used the right terms in the title; I'm not a native speaker. The singular of _media_ is of course _medium_. So when talking about one _medium's_ content, the genitive s and apostrophe are easy enough to use. Late edit for clarification: I mean media as in recording media. A CD, a cassette, a book are all media. The correct singular, I guess, is medium, although media seems to have become acceptable as well. How about three _media_? The three _medias'_ content? The _media's_ content? I guess I could use the latin genitive, but that would probably be wrong and make me sound like a smartass. Or even _Media'_? Or just cop out and say _mediums'_? That doesn't sound better to my ear, and I'm also talking about information containers,not seers.


What do you call a person who started something that is later followed by everyone? For example, someone started to stay late at night till 8 p.m. and later everyone started to stay till 8 p.m..


title: The children are creating

text: In the lyrics of _Friends Will Be Friends_ by _Queen_ : > Another red letter day   >  So the pound has dropped and **the children are creating**. What does the phrase highlighted in bold mean?


title: use of no or not

text: I came across a sentence : "I met this person about a month ago. I remember his name, what he was wearing, and his hair texture but no his face." Shouldn't "not" be used instead of "no" in the above sentence? Please explain. Thanks in anticipation


title: What is the etymology of the word "spell" when used to mean a short period of time?

text: Every now and then - usually when talking with an older individual or someone from the United States Midwest or South - I hear the word "spell" used to mean a short period of time, such as: "Come sit down and rest a spell." I've also heard it used as a verb, like, "When Pete arrives he will spell Tito, who has been working since dawn." What is the history and origins of this meaning and use of the word spell? And is it a colloquialism or can it be used in more formal settings?


title: Hypernym for “import” and “export”?

text: What word could describe an operation of either importing or exporting? _X_ is to _import_ and _export_ as _migration_ is to _immigration_ and _emigration_. _Porting_ isn't the word I'm looking for, I don't think, but that's what I'm getting at. Cheers!


Is there a word meaning both import and export? So I can ask "Is this product both importable and exportable?" like "Is this product ____?"


title: Is there any difference in meaning between "All these" and "All of these"?

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Is it correct to use “all this” instead of “all of this”? Are they fully interchangeable, or do they have a somewhat different usage? Common sense suggests that "all these" would refer to a group of objects as a _group_ , and "all of these" would refer to _each and every_ object inside the group. Also, here is a link to google ngrams, which shows an interesting thing: "all of these" had almost no use before 1960s. It is a little bit confusing, because I always thought it is grammatically fine, and I would expect it to be used at leas as much as "all these". ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/ojOlK.png)


title: "All of the above" usage

text: My spelling tool suggests that I should fix "All of the" to "All the" in the following statements:   1. If we take all of the above notes into account...   2. All of the methods described above shorten your path to...   3. Next step will be just to execute all of the statements above...   4. ...but there is no single answer to all of them. What would be the correct variant?


title: Is this a relative pronoun or conjunction?

text: > I want to know everything (that) there is to know about you. I chanced to come across ‘expletive there’ in a syntactic textbook. It says in this type of sentences: _there_ is an expletive, _to know about you_ is the argument for the verb. Then [there is to know about you] is a complete sentence and there is no grammatical place for ‘(that).’   Then, ‘ _(that) there is to know about you_ ‘ is not a relative clause but complement for the noun _everything_ (adjective clause), and so ‘(that)’ is not a relative pronoun but a conjunction, I think. Can this be a possible and appropriate thought?


title: What is the difference between "As far as" and "As much as"?

text: What is the difference, for example, between "As far as I know" and "As much as I know"?


title: to look into to find vs to look up?

text: Considering the two following sentences :   1. List directories **to look into to find** ml files.    2. List directories **to look up** ml files. The number 1 is the original one, the number 2 is the modified one, then have I been well inspired to do this modification? Do they still have the same semantic meaning?


title: Apostrophe position for plural possessive

text: Which of these two are correct? > Ada and Julia are **girl's** names. or > Ada and Julia are **girls'** names.


title: ABC, NBC vs. the BBC and the ABC

text: I am writing a style guide at my company, and for the life of me, I can't explain why U.S. broadcasters "ABC" and "NBC" seem to need no article as a noun, while the U.K. broadcaster "BBC" always gets one. And when I think about the Australian network "ABC," my instinct tells me that an article is needed. One difference is that the BBC is a corporation, while ABC (U.S.) and NBC are companies, but that's not part of the thought process. And by themselves, "American" and "British" are opposites again: "He is an American, but she is British." Simply considering the first word in NBC -- National -- would confuse the issue even more. Of course "British" and "Australian" are more specific in location than "National" and "American" -- three Americas as in north, central and south -- but I naturally associate "American" as being the U.S. Can someone please tell me what I am missing?


title: Can “refute” be used with “that” clauses, and if so, what is the meaning?

text: > I refute that A is B. If this structure is ok, which of the following does it mean:   1. I argue that A is not B.    2. I argue against some other position (such as X is Y), by arguing that A is B.


title: Incented or Incentivized?

text: What is the correct adjective to describe someone who has been given an incentive? Incented or incentivized? I have heard/seen both.


title: Meaning of "medicine bringeth double care when the malady is past cure"

text: This is an excerpt from John Lyly 'Euphues: the Anatomy of Wit, does anybody know what does it mean? > Search the wound while it is green; too late cometh the salve when the sore > festereth, and _the medicine bringeth double care when the malady is past > cure_.


title: "A position in which" vs. "a position where"

text: Given these two: >   1. I’m seeking a position **in which** I could score many goals. >   2. I’m seeking a position **where** I could score many goals. > Which one is better than the other?


title: What's it called when you switch the order of two words around?

text: What's it called when you switch the order of two words around, completely changing their meaning? For example, _simply childish_ becomes _childishly simple_. Or _wonderfully sarcastic_ becomes _sarcastically wonderful_.


title: "Be in a dilemma" vs. "have a dilemma"

text: What is the correct form? "We have been in a dilemma" or "We have had a dilemma"? Or are the two of them incorrect? I'm a non-native English speaker discussing this with another non-native speaker.


title: Ending a sentence with an abbreviation

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Punctuation around abbreviations When a sentence ends with an abbreviation, should there be two periods or one? > Welcome to ACME Inc. We are glad to have you on board. > > Welcome to ACME Inc.. We are glad to have you on board. I would assume that only one is appropriate because I've _never_ seen two used (and it looks awful), but if so, does the period "belong" to the **end of the sentence** or the **abbreviation**? I ask because I came across this while writing HTML, and the last word needs to be a link, so I wasn't sure if the period belongs within it. > Welcome to ACME Inc. We are glad to have you on board. > > Welcome to ACME Inc. We are glad to have you on board. > > Welcome to ACME Inc.. We are glad to have you on board. Usually a link should not include punctuation at the end of the sentence, but _should_ include it as the end of an abbreviation in the middle or beginning of a sentence. Which of these links seem more appropriate? If only one period is used, who "owns" the period: the abbreviation or the sentence?


title: Punctuation around abbreviations

text: I always stumble when using abbreviations in a sentence, as they inherently contain a period in them. How do I use a comma or a semicolon after an abbreviation? How about a period? E.g. (This is an example of my quandary)


title: If a question ends in the abbreviation of et cetera, do you still add the period before the question mark?

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  When “etc.” is at the end of a phrase, do you place a period after it? Example: How do I pay for the bananas, oranges, etc.? or How do I pay for the bananas, oranges, etc?


title: What is the correct format for using commas after periods?

text: Basically, I wish to write something along the lines of > Bob, C.J., Greg and Charles all went to the store. I'm not sure about the use of the comma after the _C.J._ Is this correct punctuation? Are there better, less awkward, alternatives?


title: How would we punctuate a sentence which ends in an abbreviation and exclamation mark or question mark?

text: I was wondering what to do if I have abbreviation at the end of a sentence which ends in a question mark. > What is Google inc.? > What is Google inc. > What is Google inc?


title: Punctuation in my sentences

text: I am a learner of the English language and especially I am learning the punctuation marks in the English language. I have written two sentences. Please give your two minutes and let me know, which sentence is correct? My question is "when we use p.m. at the end of a sentence should we use full stop (.) after p.m. or not". Please check the example sentences and let me know your valuable feedback. He will be running after five p.m. He will be running after five p.m..


title: How should the end of a question be punctuated if the last word is an abbr.?

text: The question itself is an example, but it isn't the best example               Have you ever visited D.C.?      or               Have you ever visited D.C?      Both look wrong to me. The former has double punctuation, which is against the rules, at least most of the time. The latter doesn't have a period indicating that the C is an abbreviation.


title: Is it correct to use two consecutive dots indicating an abbreviation and a full stop?

text: A quote from "Bad tendency" (Wikipedia): > The principle, formulated in _Patterson v. Colorado_ , (1907) was seemingly > overturned with the "clear and present danger" principle used in the > landmark case _Schenck v. United States_ (1919), as stated by Justice Oliver > Wendell Holmes, Jr.. Is the usage of two consecutive dots at the end of the sentence correct?


title: How to deal with abbreviations at the end of a question?

text: In a sentence like > Should we host them on imgur et cetera? where I want to abbreviate the "et cetera", what is the correct punctuation? Using a period after the "etc." like mid sentence usages seems wrong as it looks like a full stop when I read it. > Should we host them on imgur etc.? Or is this the correct usage?


title: Should a taunt, which is grammatically correct as a question, be treated like a question or a taunt

text: I am confused if a question which is placed like a taunt can be taken like a question or like a taunt. Examples: >   * Are you saying so because you built it? >   * Is it too much to ask for? > These are grammatically correct questions, but do they sound provoking? Are these necessarily questions, not just grammatically but the way they sound?