title: What is a semantic script?

text: Recently, there was a question about 'semantic roles', and someone explained them to me here. It was great. So, I was hoping someone may also know what "semantic scripts" are. I've tried searching Google and some dictionary websites, but they aren't coming up with anything. Actually, I am only able to find the term used in a theory of humor. I need to have the term defined to understand that theory, though. So, the context is poisoned.


title: Is there a term for "mains power" in American English?

text: I'm not sure if this is a case of selective memory, or if it's real. It seems that Americans do not use the term "mains power," which is common in British English. The closest synonym I know is "wall power," which is imprecise. As an American electrical engineer, I don't want to flip-flop dialects, and "wall power" is both naive-sounding and awkward when referring to 120 V inside a device or otherwise far from a wall. Is there a better term I should know, or should I assume that "mains" is mainstream to my fellow Americans? **Edit:** According to Wikipedia: > In the US, electric power is referred to by several names including > household power, household electricity, powerline, domestic power, wall > power, line power, AC power, city power, street power, and grid power. This insinuates that "mains" is not an American term, and that the alternatives are all equally imprecise. **Conclusion:** Americans are likely to use _mains_ as a synonym for _grid_ , which isn't baseless. So really the British style only seemed better because I hadn't yet considered whether the word already has another meaning.


title: What's the meaning of "on notice" and "under advisement"?

text: Can someone please give a clear definition and distinction of these terms, as when a public figure is asked a difficult question and says: "I'll take that on notice" or "I'll take that under advisement."


title: What does "child of reflection" mean?

text: From _Venus in Furs_ of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (full text): > And yet a restless, always unsatisfied craving for the nudity of paganism," > she interrupted, "but that love, which is the highest joy, which is divine > simplicity itself, is not for you moderns, you **children of reflection**. > It works only evil in you. As soon as you wish to be natural, you become > common. To you nature seems something hostile; you have made devils out of > the smiling gods of Greece, and out of me a demon. You can only exorcise and > curse me, or slay yourselves in bacchantic madness before my altar. ... What does "children of reflection" mean? I'm aware that reflection has meanings like: "careful thought or consideration", "consideration of some subject matter" among others. From the context, it looks like its meaning is close to "modern" or perhaps "children of reason", but I cannot be sure. P.S.: The original German phrase is "euch Kinder der Reflexion" (can be freely downloaded from Feedbooks)


title: "Oldest son or oldest daughter"

text: Contract states > Upon the death of the stockholder his interest shall pass to the **oldest > son or oldest daughter**. I am the oldest daughter and have a younger brother. Who gets the interest?


title: What does “candid” mean besides being honest?

text: According to various unnamed dictionaries, _candid_ means "being honest, telling the truth". However, when I googled the word, a lot of pictures of women in bikinis popped up! Can someone tell me why Google thinks the word _candid_ is related to pictures of scantily clad women?


title: What are the common English mistakes that native Russian speakers make?

text: I've lived in the US for 10 years. I've never learned grammar formally and usually rely on intuition to guide me. What really bothers me as of recently is my tendency to really get stuck on a specific type of grammatical concerns during writing. I have no knowledge of the formal term for this class of mistakes. Can someone point out to me the common mistakes us Russians make? Also, what are the proper terms for these mistakes? Is there a good book or an exercise set to learn from? This is a sample of my writing.


title: Does a recursive procedure "recur"?

text: In programming, a recursive procedure is defined as a procedure which refers to itself in the code. The question is, is "recur" the corresponding verb to the adjective "recursive"? Can I say that a recursive procedure "recurs"?


title: Unusual usage of "do" in "do you follow your path", in a sentence that is not a question

text: I don't understand the structure of this sentence: > “Well, well, Inspector,” said he. “ **Do** you follow your path and I will > follow mine. It is from _The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge_ , part 2, a Sherlock Holmes short story. Why is there a "do" there? shouldn't it be "you follow", or "you do follow"?


title: What does "God sends meat and devil sends cooks" mean?

text: What does the quote **_God sends meat and devil sends cooks_** by _Thomas Deloney_ mean? And if it doesn't have a specific meaning, in which situation can I use it?


title: Is it correct to say "Me and my friend, we..."?

text: I know normally to use: > "My friend and I went shopping." But what about when we make it into: > "My friend and I, we went shopping." It seems to me that in this structure, we could or should change it to: > "Me and my friend, we went shopping." My reasoning is that it "sounds correct" to say "Me, I went shopping." What's correct?


title: What are people who 'flee' called?

text: So as far as I understand 'to flee' is the verb, derivative noun from it is 'a flight' (as the process of running away), but what are the people who flee called? (And I don't mean cowards and other words of this kind.)


title: Is this sentence proper grammar?

text: Is this sentence using proper grammar? - "The money was and is not a loan."


title: Synonyms to "teach a course"

text: I'm a non-native English speaker who sometimes teaches topics like programming and development practices but I haven't found a good way to express that in English. "Teaching" and "educating" sound too school-like. The courses are for professionals, typically one or two days long. "Mentoring" sounds like something longer, more continuous, not in lecture/exercise form. "Lecturing" sounds boring and doesn't include the exercises part. And the thing that I teach, is that a "course" or a "class"? I sometimes use the expression "hold a course", but I've found no reference online where it is used for something other than navigation (often metaphorically) so I guess that's Swenglish. What would be the conventional way to say this?


title: What word is this?

text: In the film Gangs of New York, what is this word spoken?   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADmX9eMEV9U&t=1m38s It sounds like benay. What does it mean? The subtitles don't have anything for this word.


title: "Steamroller" to describe a person as very determined

text: Can "steamroller" be used to describe a person like in the following sentence? > He is like a steamroller; nothing will stop him from getting work done. Or are there any other meanings to the word I don't know of? (English is not my mother tongue.)


title: How to correctly express “I don't like it too”?

text: What are correct ways to express that one also feels the same way with statement such as, “I don't like it.” or “I can't do it.”? E.g., do all of these have the correct form and same meaning?   1. I don't like it too.   2. I don't like it also.   3. I don't like it either.   4. I don't like it neither.   5. I also don't like it.   6. I too don't like it. Are there any other ways to express this meaning, which don't change the form too much?


title: When listing species of plants, what does "var." mean?

text: Sometimes within the Latin names of plants, I will find the word "var.", which I assume is an abbreviation, e.g. _Ursinia chrysanthemoides var. geyeri_.   * What is the meaning of this?   * Is it sometimes abbreviated in other ways, such as "v."?   * Should it be written in italics along with the other Latin information?


title: The use of "'rat out on"

text: To leave or abandon. Can this expression be used to indicate an ordinary instance of leaving or abandoning like: I rat out on the party after midnight. I rat out on the city before noon. Or has this expression a specific meaning with a more restricted use?


title: Does the etymology of the word "government" mean "to control the mind"?

text: I've heard some conspiracy theorists say that _government_ , when broken down into its root Latin words, means "to control the mind". I'm wondering if this is really true or not. Is it? **Edit:** My own research. Regarding the _-ment_ suffix, Wiktionary says "from _-mentum_ via Old French _-ment_ ". _-mentum_ doesn't support this claim, but _-ment_ might: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-ment#French Only etymology 1 supports this claim. Etymology 2 links back to _-mentum_. I am unsure whether this morpheme, as used in _government_ , draws from etymology 1 or 2.


title: What does "suite your self" mean?

text: I have heard from some of TV series. They are saying "suite your self", what does it mean?


title: Punctuation usage safe practice

text: Is it acceptable to use an exclamation point after a question mark to emphasize the question?


title: "Stop working" vs "stopped to work"

text: I want to know, is there any difference between "stop + v.(ing)" and "stopped to + v.". These are example sentences. > _I stop working for a month._ vs _I stopped to work for a month._   >  _I stop watching movies._ vs _I stopped to watch movies._   >  _I stop cooking for a year._ vs _I stopped to cook._ I read “I like to do (be) something” vs “I like doing (being) something” but I still don't understand what is the difference or when and how to use them.


title: Word for "heating food in pot without heat on"

text: What's that verb to describe "to heat food in a lid-covered pot without heat on"? For example, when preparing food such as pastas you typically boil it in water for some time maybe 10 minutes or so depending on the amount, then afterwards you turn off the heat and just let it sit with the lid covered while it's being cooked inside. What's that word to describe that process, that process of letting the food cook inside the lid-covered pot while the heat is turned off? Like, "boil the pasta for 10 minutes then turn off the heat and [that word] for another 10 minutes.


The couple holding hand with intertwine finger. The couple intertwine their hand. Intertwine hand or finger. Which is correct?


title: Is it appropriate or polite to say 'I am here to educate you'?

text: When doing a presentation, is the following introduction > I am here to educate you   >  (or)   >  Let me educate you considered polite to say to an audience?


title: What word denotes a belief that apparently inanimate objects actually express a malicious, autonomous will?

text: I came across this word a few years ago, but can't find it now. I do not mean _deodand_ , _animism_ , _pathetic fallacy_ , _scapegoating_ , _anthropomorphism_ , or _personification_ (Word for attaching blame to inanimate objects). If I recall correctly, this particular word sounded like a religion but looked like a phobia; it may well have been coined by the creator of the content in which I encountered it. Any assistance is greatly appreciated.


title: Can the word 'fluently' be interchanged with 'fluidly' in this sentence, "I see I can't write fluidly either."

text: I was asking a question concerning the use of the words 'fluently' or 'fluidly' in a particular sentence. I did not mean to post it as an Answer.


title: What are some old-world alternatives or precursors to 'WTF' (expressions of frustration or surprise)?

text: Such as 'what on Earth' or 'what in the world', etc. I'm trying to come up with a list of witty alternatives. Note: I'm not looking for alternatives to the letters W, T, and F. I'm looking for alternative phrases such as the ones I listed above.


title: How to insult a Tory (or people holding a conservative viewpoint in general)?

text: I am writing a contemporary theatre play where one character - a senior businessman - first introduces himself as a not particularly conservative person. Later in the play, his protégé finds that the businessman is in fact deeply conservative and wants to express his anger over the deception. I'm therefore looking for a british word that can insult Tories or conservative persons in general, emphasising that it is the conservativeness that the insulter takes objection of. I started with "Twit", which might remind of Monty Python's "Upper Class Twit of the Year", but I have the feeling, that this is not a particularly strong insult these days. Since I'm not a native speaker, I have trouble in general estimating the strength of insults.


title: Pronunciation of UI

text: I heard someone pronounce UI as _yooey_. I guess this comes from the pronunciation of GUI, which is _gooey_. How common is this compared to _yoo- eye_ and _user-interface_?


title: Nested parentheticals -- restructuring for clarity

text: > It's widely known that the name "JavaScript" is trademarked by Oracle > (formerly a trademark of Sun, formerly a trademark of Netscape). What was formerly a trademark of Netscape?   Sun?   Oracle?   JavaScript? How would one recast the sentence to unambiguously give each of the alternate meanings? * * * [EDIT]   The sentence is merely an example. The question relates to correctly structuring a sentence for clarity.


title: The meaning of "reserve of living"

text: What might be the meaning of the phrase "reserve of living"   The quotation comes from Maeve Gilmore's, _A World Away_. > How foreign to the spirit's early beauty   >  And to the amoral integrity of the mind   >  And to all those whose **reserve of living** is lovely   >  Are the tired creeds that can be so unkind   >  [...] It is this "reserve of living" what troubles me. I am not sure if "reserve of living" might mean "to keep one's living to oneself", in the sense of not living life as most people do, to remain uninvolved, to refrain from life... PS. I am not a native speaker and I do not know what this "of" does to the "reserve".


title: Can you use "has" instead of "contains"?

text: If I say: The new ipad has a 4.5" lcd screen and a microUSB slot. instead of: The new ipad contains a 4.5" lcd screen and a microUSB slot. Is it better or worse? Is "contains" necessary, am I losing some meaning by simply putting a broader "has".


title: How is justice served?

text: _Serve_ is a ditransitive verb: “I served him; I served him dinner.” Dinner is served when it is delivered; and a person is served when food is placed in front of him. In which sense is **justice served** in American English? Say for example in the sentence “He was led away for justice to be served” which occurred in an American documentary recently broadcast in the UK? It appeared to mean that he would be served with justice. Does it primarily mean that the offender receives his just deserts, or that justice is honoured by what happens to the offender? * * * Meta: I've tagged this american-english because it seems that using _serve_ with _justice_ is more American than British, particularly when an offender is punished. Brits are more likely to have justice _done_  (“and seen to be done”) or _carried out,_ or even _meted out_. Those verbs make the usage clear: justice is delivered to the offender. If justice is _served_ in the UK, it could easily mean that a defendant is acquitted (that is, justice is satisfied with a just result). The _CSI_ episode “Justice is Served” (Season 1, episode 21) played on this dual meaning.


title: What is the word for unconsciously blocking out background noises?

text: What is the word for the phenomenon where your brain blocks out background sounds, because they are constant? For example when you don't hear the air conditioning whirring away until it stops.


title: "A depends on B and C" or "A depends on B and on C?

text: I know that, in some cases, it can change the meaning. For instance, > "The delay depends **on** how the cpu handles the processes and the network > load." is ambiguous and could mean that the cpu handles the network load, while > "The delay depends **on** how the cpu handles the processes and **on** the > network load." is more clear. But, what about: > "The travel time depends **on** how fast you walk and the distance to your > destination." Would it be better to put an "on" preposition before "the distance to your destination"?


title: Source of "-bie" in "freebie"

text: _Freebie_ means free things. Why is there a post-fix _-bie_? Does it have meaning itself?


title: To crumple up a paper

text: Is "crease up a paper" an idiomatically correct expression for the action of taking a piece of paper in your hands and pressing it into a ball? The action you would do, for example, if rejecting something you have written on a paper, before throwing it into the trash can. Are there other idiomatic expressions for the same thing, and when would they be used? Is there a word for the result of this action – the "ball" of paper? **Edit:** The title now reflects the correct expression.


title: What does “rock on Wayne” mean?

text: Could anyone tell me what does _rock on Wayne_ mean? The context is > Classes don't usually have data, but if they do, rock on Wayne.


title: What’s wrong with “… enforce that …”

text: The following sentence seems grammatically incorrect to me as a native English speaker (should be _ensure_ , not _enforce_ ): > People then create laws to enforce that these regulations are being > followed. That said, I can’t quite figure out what is wrong with it. _Ensure_ and _enforce_ are both verbs, and are often grammatically interchangeable with one another.   1. Is there something grammatically wrong with the given sentence, or is it just a strange wording?   2. What exactly is wrong with it?


title: Adjective for "terrified yet calm and capable"

text: What is an adjective to describe the duality of a first responder (such as an EMT responding to a terrorist attack) who is terrified for the wounded, yet simultaneously calm, detached, and capable enough to give aid?


title: What does "you'll be in your whack" mean?

text: Another colorful expression from that British movie I mentioned earlier. The context of the quote here is that there are these guys trying to smuggle ecstasy pills, and there's another guy hosting their meeting in exchange for a below-the-table bribe, though he's not directly involved himself. The host is anxious and wants them to move on quickly from the spot he's providing, as he's a civilian -- he doesn't "want to get nicked." One of the smugglers retorts back to him, "Don't worry, you'll be in your whack", in what sounds like a Cockney English accent. So my questions are: What does this phrase mean, exactly? What does the _whack_ add to the meaning? Is it common amongst certain types of British English speakers?


title: Using "the" before ordinal numbers

text: When learning English I was told that ordinal numbers should always be used with "the" before them. But I often see that this is not always so strict, for example I heard the phrase "April first" instead of "April the first". Or when installing OS Windows we could see "Setup is preparing your computer for first use" phrase on a screen. When should I use the definite article "the" before "first", "second" and so on?


title: "Is" with singular and plural nouns

text: I came across the sentence > My biggest grievance is grammar mistakes. I'd be inclined to write it as > My biggest grievance is _with_ grammar mistakes. or > Grammar mistakes are my biggest grievance. What is the correct way to write this, and why?


title: What is the correct pronunciation of the name Ceri?

text: Is it incorrect to pronounce the name _Ceri_ — which is of Welsh origin I think — as _seri_ instead of _keri_?


title: Is this a subject verb agreement error?

text: My English teacher says that the following is an "agreement" (which I assume means subject-verb agreement) error. He underlined the bolded parts of the sentence. > **According to** Political Research Associates, who used data gathered by > the FBI, **recorded** hate crimes against Muslims increased by almost 1800% > from 2000 to 2001 (Political Research Associates). I've studied stuff online on subject verb agreements and cant find why this is an error. Could anyone help and maybe suggest a better sentence if this is wrong?


title: "What could X do besides Y?" or "What could X do, besides Y?"

text: Example: > But what can a tree do(,) besides turning carbon dioxide into oxygen? Should I place a comma there? Why or why not?


title: Does English have a name for padded/insulated trousers worn over your regular trousers when outside in extreme cold?

text: I'm currently travelling in Northern China and Mongolia and about a month ago I spent a few days hitchhiking with some local truck drivers. I've been wearing long johns under my regular jeans because the temperatures are getting to -20 celcius and below. But one of the drivers when he had to be outside for longer periods had something the opposite of long johns, special trousers that were worn _over_ his regular trousers that were padded with insulation. I'm from Australia where it never gets so cold so hadn't seen anything like them before. But I know in other English-speaking parts of the world such as parts of USA and Canada it can easily get this cold. So I have to assume these trousers are also used in such areas and therefore must have a name. **What do we call these in English?** (Sorry I don't have a photo. I don't care if it's a single word or a phrase.)


title: I find that this monologue is very hard to understand

text: This is monologue from Caddyshack movie, which's become pretty famous internet mem. And some points of his speech are hard for understanding for me. > So I jump ship in Hong Kong and make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a > **looper** at a course over in the Himalayas. A looper, you know, a caddy, a > looper, a jock. So, I tell them I'm a pro jock, and who do you think they > give me? The Dalai Lama, himself. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing > robes, the grace, bald... striking. So, I'm on the first tee with him. I > give him the **driver**. **He hauls off and whacks one** \-- big hitter, the > Lama -- long, into a ten-thousand foot crevice, right at the base of this > glacier. And do you know what the Lama says? Gunga galunga...gunga -- gunga > galunga. So we finish the **eighteenth** and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, > "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you > know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on > your deathbed, you will receive total consiousness." **So I got that goin' > for me** , which is nice. Hard parts are bold.   1. I didn't find that kind of profession 'looper' can mean?   2. Gave him 'driver'? What should that mean?   3. I don't understand that following sentence means at all   4. Finish the eighteenth? Again, no idea. Eighteenth as 1980 or what?   5. And finally what does **I got that goin' for me** mean?


title: Difference between "get rid of" and "rid of"

text: What is the difference between the two? Would the following sentence work with "get rid of"? > We need to rid the world of hunger.


title: Positive and negative clause comparison in the same sentence

text: What is the right way to perform a positive and a negative adverb comparison in the beginning of the sentence? As an example, which of the following ways is correct:   1. Similarly to yesterday, and opposed to tomorrow, we are eating dinner together tonight.    2. Similarly to yesterday, and as opposed to tomorrow, we are eating dinner together tonight.    3. Similarly to yesterday, but opposed to tomorrow, we are eating dinner together tonight.    4. Similarly to yesterday, but as opposed to tomorrow, we are eating dinner together tonight.    5. Like yesterday and unlike tomorrow, we are eating dinner together tonight.    6. Like yesterday but unlike tomorrow, we are eating dinner together tonight.  I know that like/unlike are not supposed to be used in case of comparing clauses, or am I mistaken?


title: What are "How to ... ?" questions (errors) called?

text: I see questions formed like "How to do this?" every day. They are so frequent that I wonder if there is a name for grammatical errors of this kind.


title: What is the meaning of not in "as often as not" and "as likely as not"?

text: Am I failing to get a point here? > Collins English Dictionary: > > as often as not: **quite** frequently > > as likely as not: **very** probably Considering the meanings of these phrases, to my eye, they come to have connotations not in line with their real meanings. Before consulting my dictionary I envisaged that **as often as not** would most probably mean **just about never** rather than _quite frequently_ , and that **as likely as not** would be associated more with **impossibility** than with _high probability_.In short, I expected **not** , in the phrases above, to have the same implication as **nothing** does in, for example, **as good as nothing**. Do you think **not** in these phrases is of some connotation different from what its commonplace definitions convey? Do you ever believe the component words preserve their meanings after these phrases are broken down and thus, are we supposed to treat the phrases the way idioms are treated? I found one answer, but with no reference so far.


What is the proper word/phrase for SMS style language? Then one's which are commonly used while sending text messages, containing shortened words, phonetic spelling, multiple punctuations ( _?????????????_ instead of _?_ ) etc. Something like: > i dun feel the same way about any1 else + i kinda hate galz now , ......i > dun want any of em now......my parents want to but i dun ....... I was guessing _improper_ but wasn't sure.


title: What is the meaning of "pole to pole" here?

text: In the poem _Invictus_ by William Ernest Henley (Youtube) I failed to grasp the meaning of the line "black as the pit from pole to pole": > Out of the night that covers me,   >  **Black as the pit from pole to pole,**   >  I thank whatever gods may be   >  For my unconquerable soul.   >  In the fell clutch of circumstance   >  I have not winced nor cried aloud.   >  Under the bludgeonings of chance   >  My head is bloody, but unbowed.   >  [...] What does it mean? What does _pole_ refer to here?


title: Which concept in physics is closest to the general concept of power?

text: The general concept of power, as in social and political power, but also as in "power levels", is very different from the concept of power in physics (where it refers to the rate of doing work). Since power is a bad fit, which concept in physics is closest to the general concept of power?


title: X beats Y beats Z

text: On one of my pages, I have the following text: > If a tie occurs, the tie is broken as follows: Spicy beats Dry beats Sweet > beats Bitter beats Sour, and Spicy beats Sour. This text explains how ties are broken, for example, Spicy wins over Dry, and Dry wins over Sweet. Is it good style or usage to chain each item with "beats" this way? It's not mentioned in Garner's Modern American Usage or in Pocket Fowler's, as far as I can tell. Does the chaining of "beats" make the text confusing or otherwise not ideal? * * * I'm also interested in learning the origin of this form, "X beats Y beats Z", which is a so-called "anti-grammatical" form. When did it start? Why did writers use this form rather than "X beats Y, which beats Z"? Is this form mentioned in any reference works? * * * Here are some examples I've just found:   * http://www.dragonflycave.com/faq.aspx   * http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/misc/11387_SCG_Daily_The_Process_of_Choosing_Your_Deck.html   * http://www.comicvine.com/myvine/joey_ravn/forums/?page=2   * http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/4926492991   * http://www.rpgdl.com/archives/509


title: Does a laser “etch” things, or does it “engrave” them?

text: Which (if any) of these adjectives would you use for describing a surface that has been cut using a laser beam:   * a _laser- **etched_** surface   * a _laser- **engraved_** surface   * a _laser- **(something else)_** surface   * a _something else_ surface So far I have found out that _etched_ is generally lighter and made with acid, while _engrave_ refers to a deeper trace, usually done with some physical tool. But in the context of lasers, I have seen both words used. Are they interchangeable, or is there some difference in nuance?


title: Can anyone come up with two names whose pronunciations are respectively same as "who" and "how"?

text: I would like to find out occidental names whose pronunciation are close to my names in my native language. The first name and second name contain preferably only Latin alphabet. In order to state the question properly, I already found out two ordinary words whose pronunciation are very close to my names. First name is "how" and the last name is "who". Are there two names whose pronunciations are respectively the same as "who" and "how" in English phonetics? "How" in mandarin means "immense as the sky".


title: Confusion with alphabetical order

text: ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/w5NWA.jpg) If my last name was **Lin** , where would I fit?


title: Is "burst oneself laughing" a valid expression?

text: My friend recently used the phrase: > She nearly **burst herself laughing**. Is this a valid expression. I've certainly never heard it before, but he insists it is in common use.


title: What does "pay the graces" mean?

text: Have the Three Graces actually been paid? Is that the origin? I found it in the lyrics for a song, where it doesn't seem to make sense at all: > I had an impulse to clear it all away   >  oh I used the tactics, make everybody pay   >  just something that I knew I had to do   >  But through it all I kept my eyes on you > > Oh, I keep it all clean   >  I've paid the graces there   >  No Kings of Misuse   >  No sellers of flesh   >  Just something that I knew I had to do. The Song's called "The Kill", so I guess someone's been killed and the killer leaves the scene clean, or didn't kill the person too gruesomely, but how does that have anything to do with paying the graces?


title: Does the 18th century contraction "on't" survive phonologically in English today?

text: The February 18th-24th edition of _The Economist_ has an article titled "Neurons v free will" in which the author, Anthony Gottlieb begins by quoting Dr. Johnson's statement about free will: > "Sir ... we know our will is free, and there's an end on't." Gottlieb echoes the archaism (?) in the last paragraph of his article: > Stepping back from investigations of the brain to look at our actions in the > context of everyday life isn't quite the clincher that Dr Johnson would have > liked. But it is a good beginning on't." Clearly the writer uses the contraction _on't_ here as part of a stylistic bookend to the opening quote. Just as clearly, though, the apostrophe was meant in print to indicate the spoken suppression of an unstressed syllable: _ont_ vs. _on it_. From Google NGrams I observe that the printed use of the contraction was never great and is in fact dying out, although it has maintained a surprising persistence nonetheless, waiting till the last 30 years or so before flatlining completely. ![Use of on't vs. on it in English](http://i.stack.imgur.com/jjcdC.png) Still, the large disparity could be due to other factors, such as the arguable preference of book editors and writers to favor spelling out clearly the words involved in many phonological contractions. Consider how often a phrase that is pronounced _it was raining cats 'n' dogs_ is rendered in print as _it was raining cats and dogs_. Even more to the point, words ending in _-ing_ are normally printed with the final _g_ but often spoken without it: _something's going on_ is often heard as _somethin's goin' on_. My question, mainly to speakers of British English since I have never heard the contraction used in the U.S., is whether this phonological "short'nin'" survives in the speech of any British dialect today. Can anyone put an end on't for me?


title: What word describes a house without anyone inside?

text: If all occupants left a house for a short period of time (not longer than a day), how can that house be described?


title: Charles Dickens' "for good and for evil" and "superlative degree of comparison"

text: Charles Dickens' "Tale of Two Cities" starts with the words: > It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of > wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was > the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of > Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had > everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to > heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so > far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted > on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of > comparison only. I have a problem with understanding the last part of that, _ie_ > the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest > authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the > superlative degree of comparison only. What does he mean by "for good or for evil" and "in the superlative degree of comparison only"? I understand every single word he says but not that part.


title: Usage of "to find out"

text: > Your father climbed to some rough rocks near the coast to find out that > under the rocks, our friend Lake lies severely wounded. Is this usage of "to find something by chance (as a result of climbing)" correct?


title: Listing two opposite opinions in an academic paper

text: My spouse is writing an academic paper about artificial intelligence. She wants to list some arguments that support the idea that a certain algorithm is intelligent, and some arguments that resist the idea. Each list of argument is about one page long, and every argument is a passage. I think that a one-page gap between `On the first hand` and `On the other hand` would be excessive. What's the appropriate way to start each list in a way that shows the contrast?


title: Idiom to say something beats something else greatly in a rivalry situation

text: Say for example we are comparing the hotness of weather of two countries or cities. They are both hot, but one beats another one to a great extent. Lets say we are comparing Dubai to Death Valley. How can we say in short that Death Valley beats Dubai in hotness greatly? Something maybe in the form of:               Death Valley ____ Dubai in hotness!      But not necessarily confined to the form above, if there is a better way to deliver the meaning. **EDIT:** In Persian for example we say something like:               Death Valley is so hot, it puts Dubai in its side pocket!


title: "Not realizing" vs "not having realized"?

text: "In a humorous gaffe, President George W. Bush once said that Ian Fleming was the discover of penicillin, not realizing that Ian Fleming was in fact the creator of James Bond." "In a humorous gaffe, President George W. Bush once said that Ian Fleming was the discover of penicillin, not having realized that Ian Fleming was in fact James Bond's creator." 1 is correct. Is it because of the "creator" or because of the "not having realized" thing?


title: Anglicization from Hebrew

text: How should one transliterate the well-known Jewish Holiday that usually takes place in December (or late November)?               Hannukah      or               Chanukah


title: Is "on one hand, on the other hand" a cliche?

text: > We should find a Way of long peace instead of living just for today. On one > hand, we have to prevent the community from coming apart and suffering the > disasters caused by it, on the other hand, to find a way of long peace for > the society.   >  (my own translation of a Chinese article) An American friend told me that we should sift through more the original structure of the Chinese sentence in order to give a fluent translation. ALthough correct, it is awkard in English.The main problem, he says, is "on one hand..on the other hand". This is really a big problem for me, because in the article I am going to translate, there are abundant "on one hand..on the other hand". I am aware that it comes from English. But now in Engish it has become a cliche? Whereas in Chinese we desperately need it to clarify the logic in our thinking. It seems to me, "on the other hand", if used independently, is acceptable. But when being used together" with "on one hand", is actually boring and dull. I donot know which phrase substitute perfectly for "on one hand..on the other hand".Please give me some advice.


title: Are there any rules in grammar as to why the letter 'r' is silent in some words?

text: How do I know when to keep _r_ silent in pronunciation? Examples: Not silent   * cry   * free   * friend  Silent   * German   * iron   * learn


title: The difference between "look at" and "see"

text: What is the difference between _look at_ and _see_? For example: >   * Can I look at it?   >  Can I see it? >   * Let's go to look at him.   >  Let's go to see him. >


title: Difference between "question" and "query"

text: What is the difference between a _question_ and a _query_? It seems that in certain circumstances, the words are interchangeable: > I have one further **question**. > > I have one further **query**. But, other times they are not: > The police officer **questioned** the man. > > The police officer **queried** the man.


title: (Inanimate) Nouns being used in a personal sense

text: Is there a word to describe when a noun is treated as a person, usually in marketing prose, e.g. "iPhone is capable of..." (rather than "the iPhone is capable of...")?


Is 'honest' a suitable synonym for 'sincere'?


> You throw no low blows and rise above the rest. What does it mean?


title: What are "excess deaths"?

text: > Study Claims Iraq's **'Excess' Death** Toll Has Reached 655,000 Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2006/10/10/AR2006101001442.html


title: When is it appropriate to refer to someone as Dr. [Surname]?

text: I know that the title _Dr_. is often used to refer to those who practice medicine. For example, _today I am going to see Dr. [Surname]._ But are we in general expected to use the title when we refer to the following other professions too?   * Psychoanalyst   * Veterinarian   * Lawyer   * Any other?


title: Is "song spoiler" a correct word?

text: There is a friend of mine who sings the song, she isn't a professional singer. It's just that she likes singing. But she ruins the lyrics, comes up with her own, she sings one stanza correctly but, make up the second on her own. So my question is , what will she be called? A "song spoiler/ ruin-er" ?


title: Have I correctly use the word RATHER?

text: **_what is the difference between the following?_** **_I'd rather you went home now. I'd rather you go home ._**


title: Changing a statement into a question

text: Consider the following sentences:   * Every day I want to:     1. read a book     2. do my homework     3. go jogging for 20 minutes     4. be nice to my mom To convert these into the following questions:   * Did you:     1. read a book today?     2. do your homework today?     3. go jogging for 20 minutes today?   * Were you:     1. nice to your mom today? You would change:   me --> you and   be --> were I need to write a program which does this, are there any cases where this would fail? What are the general rules? I know for long sentences this would make no sense, but only 50 characters are allowed.


title: "The" before superlative

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Do I need to put “the” before “most” in this sentence? I've always thought you need the definite article 'the' before the superlative of an adjective, except when the comparison is made within the same subject: The swimming pool is deepest here. Some people say 2 is the more idiomatic. Is this true? >   1. The most tuna are caught in early November. >   2. Most tuna are caught in early November. >


title: Does the comma here draw special attention to an additional fact?

text: In the latest issue of The Economist there is the following sentence:- "And in China, unlike India, you can shop at Walmart, most of the time." Firstly, shouldn't it be "...unlike **in** India? Else it could also mean that India, or someone called India is not able/permitted to shop at Walmart. Not that we'd interpret it thus, but just clarifying the technicality. Secondly, with or without the comma, the meaning would be pretty much the same. But it seems to me that the comma seems to additionally draw attention to the fact that Walmart shopping in China is not as widespread. The implication would be there without the comma, but I think the stress then would be only the fact that India hasn't opened up to Walmart yet; here it means that, plus the fact that China itself is no great host to it. Agree?


title: What is the adjective for the attitude displayed in this situation?

text: I'll describe a situation that might sound random and sudden, but I'm sure we keep seeing now and then; I'd like to know if there's any suitable adjective that you can think of. 'Oily' and 'smarmy' were suggested by a friend, but perhaps there is a better word? Say I donate an expensive machine to a nearby grocery shop, or I perform some huge and helpful favour that really makes them indebted to me. They, out of gratitude, offer to keep giving me free products. I insist otherwise, that they mustn't be so conscious of me, and that I insist on paying each time. One day I buy something and don't have the whole amount. I sweetly request them if it's okay by them if I pay the remainder in the evening. They know I'm good for it, it's _obviously_ okay with them, a ridiculous request perhaps, and even I know that they'll say yes. Nevertheless I have a polite and humble way of asking for the credit. It's not a genuine query, but I still make it sound like I'm earnestly requesting. Any adjective for the forced humility/politeness in such a situation where one knows one can't be refused? Perhaps similar 'benefit of doubt' is displayed by superstars — say, when Tom Cruise walks up to a hotel rece and says "Excuse me. Hi, my name is Tom Cruise..."


title: Origin of "Fits [x] to a T"?

text: The above phrase is something I've known for as long as I can remember, though I don't know from where. What is its origin and usage?


title: What's the meaning of "down to a T"?

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Origin of "Fits [x] to a T"? What's the meaning of _down to a T_? > So what about you, what do you do for a living? > > Me, I'm a stay at home dad and do a few odd jobs here and there. Man, that's > me down to a T.


title: Why do we say 'He is Fred to a t'?

text: I used to think it was only a British idiom. But I read an article in the New York Times stressing how important tea was to the British army in Iraq. Apparently there is even a special attachment on a Challenger Tank for making a decent cup of tea. But the article was headed, punningly: THE BRITISH TO A T. Sometimes people will say of a child 'He is his father to a t'. Why a 't'?


title: "To a T" or "To a Tee", and where does it come from?

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Origin of "Fits [x] to a T"? I frequently hear the phrase "To a T[ee]", but I'm not sure that I've ever seen it written. What is the correct way to write this phrase, and what are its origins?


title: What are the differences between "manual", "guide" and "instruction"?

text: What are the differences between the three, especially in this context: > User manual > > User guide > > User instruction


title: Word regarding a lyric remembered wrongly

text: I remember having come across a particular word long ago. This word means a part of lyric that has been remembered wrongly, i.e., a section of lyric that has entered one's memory with the words mangled up in some way (Spoonerism, for example). The word remembered could be differing from the original word in a facetious way. Does anyone know of this word?


title: Why are integral probabilities read as "n to 1" and not "1 to n"?

text: Why, when the chances of a certain event are 1/10, it's read as `the probability is ten to one` and not "the probability is one to ten"? Like there's a `10/1` probability of occurrence, which is not possible, since it's limited within `0~1` range. The way it's written in arithmetic notation is pretty straightforward, reading it backwards doesn't make sense to me. How did it come to be like that?


title: What is the noun for either a file or folder?

text: We have files, we have directories; what is the noun that we could use to generically describe either of these? For instance, an apple or a pear can generically be described as fruit. Is there such a word?


title: What preposition to use with "enamour"?

text: What preposition should follow _enamour_? Is one enamoured with something, or enamoured by something or enamoured of something or is it anything else? If more than one of the above is possible, is there any difference in their meanings? Or is one of them more prevalent or commoner than others?


title: "By overlooking" vs. "with overlooking"

text: What the difference is between "by overlooking" and "with overlooking"? Example: > It is calculated with/by overlooking variables with low value.


title: Words that describe the repetitive sound of machine

text: I'm looking for words that can describe the repetitive sounds that machine produces (For example an engine). Those droning, looped and long-lasting sounds. Patterned sounds of various parts of an engine or an engine as a whole machine.


title: Is there a word for accidentally stealing something?

text: Is there a single English word to describe when someone has appropriated property that doesn't belong to them unintentionally? For example, say I borrow a pen from someone and absentmindedly put it in my pocket after I finish writing. I discover the pen much later. Did I steal it, or is there a term with less harsh connotations?


title: What is the meaning of 'an expression of such smugness that Harry thought it ought to be fined'?

text: > Harry took the hint and sat down next to Percy, who was wearing brand-new, > navy-blue dress robes and **an expression of such smugness that Harry > thought it ought to be fined**. (Harry Potter 4 [US Version]: p.415)[Bold > font is mine] I thought at first ‘fine’ in this sentence meant ‘to make somebody pay money as an official punishment’. However, I’m starting to doubt my first judge; I couldn’t find any examples of the ‘fine’ which accepts blamable things, like smugness, as its direct object. Would you give me the true meaning of the sentence?


title: What does 'a beautifully-proportioned room' mean?

text: > “Oh I would never dream of assuming I know all Hogwarts’ secrets, Igor,” > said Dumbledore amicably. “Only this morning, for instance, I took a wrong > turning on the way to the bathroom and found myself in **a beautifully > proportioned room** I have never seen before, containing a really rather > magnificent collection of chamber pots. When I went back to investigate more > closely, I discovered that the room had vanished. (Harry Potter 4 [US > Version]: p.417)[Bold font is mine] A dictionary says proportioned is > (used especially after an adverb) having parts that relate in size to other > parts in the way that is described Considering the above explanation, I tentatively understand ‘a well (or beautifully) proportioned room’ has nicely balanced lengths of each side, as one large box. Also, I’m thinking ‘beautifully proportioned’ is a kind of compliment. To be frank, however, I’m feeling a little strange about my understanding. The relation of three side lengths in a room doesn’t matter so much to _me_ , because Japanese rooms are basically made of unified standard of _tatami mat_ or _fusuma screen_ , which automatically make rooms some-extent-proportioned ones. When I speak my mother tongue, I wouldn’t bother to explain how the room is proportioned unless I am an architect or unless the room is a special art. I would praise not the proportion of the room, the container, but the color or material of the accessories mainly (or only). So, I’m curious about what “a beautifully proportioned room” really means. Here are my questions;   1. Does it mean that the room has golden ratio in three sides?   2. Does it mean the room is a great artwork which you would like to put in a museum?   3. Does it describe (or praise) only a room as a box? (I’d like to know if the concept of a room includes the accessories of the room; furniture, border, curtains, or fireplace. If so, does it refer to only their layout?)


title: "Why you no...?" or "What that no...?" — are those grammatically correct?

text: > Why you no come?   >  Why you no talk English?   >  Why you no have a girlfriend? What kind of English are these sentences? Are these types of sentences grammatically correct?


title: Hyphenation of the word "interferometer" in British English

text: How is the word " _interferometer_ " correctly split at the end of a line in **British English** , i.e. what is the correct syllabification? I found two contradicting syllabifications:   * " _in·ter·fer·om·e·ter_ " in Merriam-Webster (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/interferometer)   * " _in·ter·fe·rom·e·ter_ " in the American Heritage Dictionary (http://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=interferometer). Is there any authority for British English (possibly accessible online)? **Background:** I am writing a scientific article using the typesetting programme LATEX with Babel for British English, which automatically carries out the word splitting at the end of lines. The word "interferometer" is split as > We are using an interfer- > > ometer for our measurements. which apparently follows Merriam-Webster (see above). However the referee of the article is the opinion that the word is "strangely cut".


title: Which is correct? in my folder/on my folder

text: So I am writing an email to my peers. So I wrote: "I am having troubles creating files in my folder". Or it should be "on my folder"?


title: "When all you hear is fear and lies"

text: The first time I heard it ( _When You Believe_ by Leon Jackson), my grammar instinct screamed "When all you hear **are** fear and lies." But then again, I feel that the phrase "all you hear are" sounds a little odd, "all you hear is" sounds perfectly fine to me. But maybe I am wrong. Would you use _is_ or _are_ in such a phrase?


title: Natural tendency that adults have to take care of their small ones

text: I'm looking for a word or expression, either everyday or scientific, for the natural tendency that adults (people or animals) have to take care of their small ones.


title: Incidences vs incidents

text: I will analyze the number of incidents of traffic accidents which occurred last year. I will analyze the incidences of traffic accidents which occurred last year. Are these sentences using the words correctly?


title: What is the word for something that is non-divisible?

text: I'm looking for a generic word, an adjective, that means non-divisible. Like the opposite of compound. I am looking for a word I can use in the context of programming, where you can have data types that are compound of other data types. I want a word to identify the "indivisible" data types.


title: Perfect tense usage

text: When is the Perfect tense used? All examples illustrating Perfect are always answer to the some question. So there is no way when i can simple said:               "I have written a note" or "I had written a note"      ,right? I need to say that instead:               I wrote a note      But if someone asking me, like : "Did you finish a note?", then i need to use Perfect:               "Yes, i just have written a note" or "Yes, i had written a note yesterday"      Am i right?


title: Looking for a phrase similar to "outlive" but in alcohol drinking context

text: I'm wondering if there is a phrase that has similar meaning with "outlive" but in alcohol drinking context. Example sentence: "I have a very high alcohol tolerance, I will **[phrase]** you all". Meaning, "You all will get drunk before I do".


title: 'Closest Healing' or another phrase for a book title?

text: I have written a book and will publish it. I have suffered a lot from a disease over a decade, but after I prayed to God in fasting I found its healing was very close, not far from me. Therefore, I am going to publish the book to help patients not to be suffered as me but to find true healing that is nearby. I just can consider its title such as "The Closest Healing" or "The Nearest Healing." I neither know what others are available nor know which is better among the two above. As English is my second language, I cannot figure out their nuances. Which one is better, or other word? I like to use Healing than cure or remedy as its concept contains Whole Person Healing. Please help me to find out a good English title. Thank you.


title: What are the reasons that its decision to open itself automatically or not is based on?

text: Is the following phrase grammatically right? "When Twitter shows a notification, what are the reasons that its decision to open itself automatically or not is based on?" This question is probably banal to most of you, but I'm Italian and I think this phrase has something strange, isn't it?


title: What is a word to describe the character of someone who plans his actions in advance?

text: I am looking for a word to describe some individuals who cautiously plan for the future all the time.


title: Word for an object's "desire"

text: I'm looking for a word used in interaction design and probably in other fields as well. It's used for the following purpose: > If a door has one handle which is a flat surface and another hanlde which is > a bar then the bar has a _**___ __**_ for being pulled, and the flat surface > has a _**___ __**_ for being pushed. What is this word? It would be used to describe that an object complies with its "desire" or not to be able to make the user experience as intuitive as possible.


title: Is "what on earth" still commonly used in real life? Is there any alternative that is not cursing or obscene?

text: I'm a non-native speaker. When I was at school, we were taught that "on earth" is used for emphasis in questions such as: > What on earth are you talking about? However, from my experience (English movies, TV, online discussions, etc.), I seldom see people actually use the phrase "on earth". From what I see, the most commonly used phrases that express basically the same meaning are "What the fuck..." and "What the hell...". I don't like cursing or obscenity (call me old-fashioned), so here are my questions: Is "on earth" still commonly used in real life? Is there any alternative that is not cursing or obscene?


title: What's the word for the property of being divisible by a particular number?

text: Example: > Since x is even (i.e., divisible by 2), its _\--word--_ is true.   >  Since y is odd, y's _\--word--_ is false. The description suggests 'moddity', but there was another word for it... BTW, I don't know if I should've asked this on Math on SE, so sorry if this violates this site's FAQ (my first question here).


title: What is the opposite of ad hominem

text: What is the opposite of ad hominem. I mean when something is given more credence than it deserves because of who's saying it. "Appeal to authority" comes to mind but is not exactly what I am looking for. Edit: Appeal to authority is not what I am looking for because the person making the statement is not the "authority" on the subject, for example Einstein making a statement about optimal seating arrangement in his office.


title: Pronunciation of 'desktop'

text: Could it be that the 'k' in 'desktop' goes often unpronounced? Listen to this example. Although the phonetic transcription clearly shows a k to be pronounced, it is not audible at all in the sound rendition.


What's the relation of the word "fallout" with the hypothesis of a nuclear disaster? There is that famous game called "Fallout", and all the post- apocalyptic environment has its roots and causes in the word "fallout". Is it corret to say: > The ideia of a **nuclear fallout** frightens everyone. ? "fall + out" reminds a nuclear disaster? It makes no sense at all! Maybe the word "fall" carries some negativism by itself (downfall, for example), and the adjective "fallen", and everything related. But it's still strange. What are the meanings and usage of the word "fallout"?


title: reestablish vs. re-establish

text: Which form of this word is more appropriate for general use? I would expect someone to misread _reestablish_ more often than _re-establish_ , however it is more consistent in context with _renew_ , _reconnect_ , and _retry_.


title: Official e-mail

text: How should I begin an official e-mail if I don't know who I am writing to? I mean, normally I would write "Dear x", but when I have to send an e-mail to an institution, what should I write?


title: Is there a word for exactly one hour starting on the hour?

text: The period 10:00 to 11:00 is a complete hour. So is the period 10:08 to 11:08. Yet the first, 10:00 to 11:00 is somehow special in that it covers the exact clock hour of 10. Is there a word or shorter phrase for this? One that I could use in a sentence such as "Only [fully complete clock hours] count towards your hours worked." with the word replacing the bracketed phrase.


title: What’s the difference between “to VERB” and “to be VERBed”?

text: What is the difference between these two statements:   1. A new version of Java is ready **to install**.   2. A new version of Java is ready **to be installed**.


title: Looking for words similar to "lagging" and "ahead of"

text: In computer networking, assume that I'm waiting for packets which are ordered by sequence number. First I get sequence number 1, and then 2, then 3 … Assume that I now have 99 packets and I'm waiting for the packet with sequence number 100. If I get a packet with sequence number 50, since I have received it already, I say this packet is an _obsolete_ packet or _lagging_ packet. But if I get a packet with sequence number 200, how do I describe it? An _advanced_ packet?


title: Parenthesis and quotations having punctuation before AND after them

text: I'll have to come up with some examples to show you my question: I know if a sentence is inside either, the punctuation is inside (I also know I use a lot of comma splices. I think of the way the sentences sound in my head and break them up that way.). I'm stumped. Would when I say, "break them up that way.)." be correct? Or if I say, "break them up that way.).", be correct? Or if I say, "break them up that way.).," be correct? I'm also using the entire sentence as an example, so please take that into consideration. For the paraphrased items at the end of a sentence should it also just be separated into a completely new sentence? Like: "I know if a sentence is inside either, the punctuation is inside. (I also know I use a lot of comma splices. I think of the way the sentences sound in my head and break them up that way.)" I'd also like to know the British vs English(American) rules on this.


title: What do you call the process immediately after peeing?

text: Despite a provoking title, I am looking for a word, phrase or _eloquent_ sentence to describe the process a male performs after taking a piss, that is, shaking off remaining pee off the tip of his penis. I apologize for being vague, and I am sure you're getting the drift.


title: Is it correct to say "a friend of X and mine" if both X and I know each other and the friend?

text: As I understand it, if X and Y independently have the same friend Z, we should write > Z is a friend of X's and Y's but if X and Y collectively have Z as a friend (e.g., X and Y are a couple), then we should indicate that by making the possessive "'s" refer to "X and Y" collectively: > Z is a friend of X and Y's But if Y is me, how do I write the latter? I think the answer is > Z is a friend of X and mine but it sounds awkward to me (maybe because the possessive in "mine" sounds like it only refers to me, not to X and me). It sounds better to my ear to write > Z is a friend of X's and mine but this loses the subtlety that X and I collectively have Z as a friend.


title: Position of adverb 'globally' in sentence and meaning of sentence

text: Please help me make sense of this sentence with regards to 'globally'. > In the global arena, xxxxxx has been described as the solution to the > challenges facing the commodities market globally as a result of the market > situation caused by the current global economic crisis. Would placing _global_ in front of _challenges_ change the meaning of the sentence? > In the global arena, xxxxxx has been described as the solution to the global > challenges facing the commodities market as a result of the market situation > caused by the current global economic crisis. Are there other ways of writing this sentence to make the different meanings clearer?


title: what is the meaning of these in an academic paper?

text: I was searching some academic publishes on a site. And their search result are like below. I want to know what the numbers means. For example what is the published date ? What does 2010 Oct;(5):522-5. Epub 2010 Jun 2 mean ? Sildenafil in the management of the failing Fontan circulation. Reinhardt Z, Uzun O, Bhole V, Ofoe V, Wilson D, Onuzo O, Wright JG, Stumper O. Cardiol Young. 2010 Oct;20(5):522-5. Epub 2010 Jun 2. * * * Oral sildenafil for persistent pulmonary hypertension early after congenital cardiac surgery in children. Nemoto S, Sasaki T, Ozawa H, Katsumata T, Kishi K, Okumura K, Mori Y, Umegaki O. **Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2010 Jul;38(1):71-7. Epub 2010 Mar 4.** Free Article


title: Given "recoup lost ...."; Is "lost" implied/redundant, self-cancelling, or optional?

text: > Rains have helped recoup _lost_ water. or > I would like to recoup _lost_ time. It seems to me that _recoup_ is to _regain_ something, thus _lost_ would either be implied, or inclusive. So would saying "recoup lost ..." act like a double-negative, in that you're actually re-losing [something]? * * * I guess I am wondering if it is more proper to say: > Rains have helped recoup water. or > I would like to recoup time.


title: Why "Koran" changed to "Quran"?

text: According to the article Quran or Koran?, in 2000, AP started to use _Quran_ instead of the more familiar _Koran_. Does anybody have information as to why this happened, and why newspapers today are using _Quran_ instead of _Koran_?


title: When did it become incorrect to use apostrophes with possessive pronouns?

text: I'm reading Jane Austen's _Sense and Sensibility_ , and I notice that she invariably uses an apostrophe with possessive pronouns — in a way that would be considered incorrect now. For example: (Elinor is speaking to Colonel Brandon) > _My_ gratitude will be insured immediately by any information tending to > that end, and _her's_ must be gained by it in time. Pray, pray let me hear > it. (Volume II, Chapter IX, page 153 of the Oxford World's Classics edition, > emphases in original) Assuming that Austen is a reasonably good yardstick for proper style _of her time_ , I'm wondering _when_ this practice came to be considered incorrect. (Note that there are some related questions, especially this one. But that question's answers don't get into any real detail about the _when_ part of the question.) **Edit** : @FumbleFingers points out in the comments that my example may be a bad one. In the original, the sentence would have had "HERS" (and no apostrophe). My larger point stands, and here are a few other examples without that problem: > When they stopped at the door, Mrs. Jennings recollected that there was a > lady at the other end of the street on whom she ought to call; and as she > had no business at Gray's, it was resolved, that while her young friends > transacted their's, she should pay her visit and return for them. (Chapter > 33) > > But at last she found herself with some surprise, accosted by Miss Steele, > who, though looking rather shy, expressed great satisfaction in meeting > them, and on receiving encouragement from the particular kindness of Mrs. > Jennings, left her own party for a short time, to join their's. (Chapter 38) > > That conviction must be every thing to you; and he is undoubtedly supported > by the same trust in your's. (Chapter 24) Those examples are all taken from the Gutenberg edition online. **Edit after closing** : It's funny that this should be closed so soon after the blog post about The War of the Closes. The alleged duplicate does not talk about my question, namely _when_ did good usage shift forms like _her's_ , _their's_ , etc. to _hers_ , _theirs_ , etc. Nor does the only answer to that question address the _when_ question. That other question and its answer are about whether forms like _hers_ came to exist by analogy with the possessive of nouns, such as _John's_. It's a completely different question. In addition, this question now has a reasonably good answer. There's no reason for this to be closed.


title: Dialog with an ok and cancel button

text: I'd be interested in your analysis of the following sentence (from program documentation): > ... dialog with an ok and cancel button... [correct] Would be correct. However, why not: > ... dialog with an ok and a cancel button... [correct] And why not: > ... dialog with an ok and cancel buttons... [incorrect] And why not: > ... dialog with an ok and a cancel buttons... [incorrect] And why not: > ... dialog with ok and cancel buttons... [correct]


title: "Repetitive" vs. "repetitious"

text: I have heard both _repetitive_ and _repetitious_ used in everyday speech to describe something that repeats, and I'm wondering what the real difference between the words is. Does one have a different connotation than the other? Do they describe different things?


title: Why do we use "executed" in referral to carrying something out?

text: The wording, given the standard meaning of "executed" - which is often in a negative light, as per the term - seems strange.   Has the term been adopted into it's current (stated) usage or has it always been defined to where you can use it like that?


title: Another definition for 'to go on a diet'

text: What other words or expression could be used to say _to go/ be on a diet_ , meaning to follow healthy nutrition rules mainly to lose weight.


title: What is the meaning of "on" in this sentence?

text: I saw this sentence "I go on a picnic." What is the meaning of "on" in this sentence.


title: Quintology or Pentalogy?

text: Recently I was looking at the X-Men box set and saw that currently five have been released. I had it in my head that these would be called a _quintology_ but I have seen them being called a _pentalogy_. I assume both words are interchangeable, but is one of the terms preferred over the other, or is it a matter of taste?


title: What is the difference between "sheer" and "utter" in the sense of enphasis if there is any whatsoever?

text: English is not my first language. I don’t know the difference between _sheer_ and _utter_ used for emphasis. For example, instead “That’s utter nonsense” can I say “That’s sheer nonsense” instead?


title: "By/before/until/through" in the past

text: I need to express how an event occurred before-or-at a certain time in the past (non exclusive or, which of the two alternatives is the actual one is left open). For the future I would have used "by", but what about the past? "Until" is for prolonged actions/states only, just like "through", "before" excludes the cutoff moment, and an expression like "by yesterday" seems to me intentionally wrong ( _both_ syntactically and semantically). Or can I actually say something like > Last weekend we went skiing, we had bought the equipment by then. This is still a special case, as it involves the completion of a "pending" action, not just an event. Does > The concert was held by September. make sense? What about: > Please provide a list of all his books published before 2000 included. or is it wrong: are "before" and "included" mutually exclusive? Are there any other possibilities?


title: Relating to multiple possessions of multiple objects

text: Is it correct to say `doctors specialties` when referring to the (multiple) specialties of multiple doctors?


title: British upper-class pronunciation of words like "what" and "when"

text: More from the BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' _Bleak House_. I've noticed in these sort of movies, when some very upper-class speakers talk, like the lawyer in the series, Mr. Tulkinghorn, they have a distinct way of pronouncing "wh" in _what_ and _when_ ; the "wh-" sounds seems to be prefaced with an almost sharp whistling "h", so that it sounds like they are really saying _hwat_ and _hwhen_. I'd like to know three things: First, what is the specific name of this phoneme, as would be given by linguists? Secondly, what's the difference in articulation, in terms of tongues and throats, between this _hwh-_ and _wh_ -? And finally, the most difficult question of all: Is the _hwhat_ these upper- class speakers produce a direct-line preservation of Anglo-Saxon pronunciation, through these many centuries? [I ask because I have seen the construction "hwæt hwæt" used playfully as an example of Anglo-Saxon speech, and figured that the "hw-" sound must have prominent in that language.]


title: What’s the meaning of “hit him round the head”?

text: > Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head > for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer > in his sports bag. (Harry Potter 1, Scholastic Paperbacks p41) My guess about the meaning of this sentence was his father hit his son’s head with his palm once. However, the more I think about it, the more ideas I get from it. I’d like to know if the following guesses of mine are correct or not. **1\. hitting times** Dudley's father hit Dudley **only one time** because the writer uses the verb “hit” instead of “beat, etc.” and because “round” doesn’t add some information, like times, to the verb, since it’s not an adverb but a preposition. **2\. Why does the writer use “round” instead of other prepositions? -- because** **1).** the head is **cylindrical** (or spherical), not flat. In other words, **the shape of the target** goes well with “round.” **2).** the father hit his son’s head not with his fist, but with his **palm** which is along the head for a short moment. That is, **the easy-to-bend quality of the hitting tool** agrees with “round.” **3).** the target area for the father to aim at is **vague** , not pinpoint. So, **the hitter’s intention** requires “round.” **4).** as the father swings widely his hand (fist or palm whichever he likes), the path from the launching point to the head describes a **circle**. That means **the shape of the orbit** needs “round.” **5).** Nope. 1-4 don't matter. **British English** sometimes uses **”round” for “on”** , so there’s virtually no difference from “hit him on the head”. Take it easy. Other ideas are always welcome. I’d appreciated it if you could help me.


title: “aware” vs “know”

text: What is the difference between _aware_ and _know_?


title: "that things were suspicious"

text: Is the following sentence grammatically correct? > I began to notice that things were suspicious. If I google "that things were suspicious" it only comes up with 5 things.


title: Origin of the "Rule of thumb" phrase

text: Where does the phrase rule of thumb originate from? Why thumb of all possible body parts ;-)


title: A Word that means "to adapt or improve, to conform to a higher standard"?

text: I need to find **_or invent_** a word that suggests a system might be "adapted or improved to conform to a higher standard". A verb, noun, adjective or even adverb would be acceptable, but so far I haven't found quite what I'm looking for. **Context Examples:** "We are upgrading the current system for greater Enterprise [conformity to a higher standard]." "I believe we need to change our approach. We need to [adapt to conform to a higher standard]." "It will take some time to write an article that's more [improved to conform to a higher standard] than I've written before."


title: What's the word that combines inclusion/exclusion?

text: Like visibility combines show/hidden, what's the word that combines inclusion/exclusion? EDIT: The problem is inspired by the VIM reference manual: > A character motion is either inclusive or exclusive. When inclusive, the > start and end position of the motion are included in the operation. When > exclusive, the last character towards the end of the buffer is not included. > Linewise motions always include the start and end position. I want to know what's the right word to use for describing the inclusive/exclusive property of a character motion, which I thought is like visibility to show/hidden. As RegDwight said, I am looking for the hypernym for inclusion/exclusion for this content/condition. Sorry for my poor and misleading English.


title: Election or Elections?

text: I'm a little confused about when I should be using the singular form of **election** , and when I should be using the plural form.   * Did he win the **election** or win the **elections**?   * Did I vote in the **election** or vote in the **elections**?   * Is 1 in 4 years the frequency of the **election** or of the **elections**?   * etc. Which form should I be using, and when?


title: Is 'handshaking' a legitimate word?

text: In microprocessors, handshake signals are issued by a microprocessor in acknowledgement of a request by another device. This process has been repeatedly referred to as 'handshaking' in my lectures. Is it a commonly used term in general English?


title: Is "substract" (versus "subtract") a proper word?

text: I read an article recently where the author used "substract" instead of "subtract". I'm more familiar with the latter word but after doing a bit of googling, it seems that both words are being used, although "subtract" seems more mainstream than the other. Which of the two is more appropriate? Is "substract" even acceptable?


title: "Thou" or "You"? This is the problem!

text: In some eastern Indo-European languages like Persian specially in its northern accent Gilaki, the words "thou", "thee", "thy",... have a same meaning and pronunciation as English. But there is a difference. In these languages the usage of "thou" is much more frequent than English. They have no "you" (in singular forms) and they use "thou" everywhere. My question is about this ancient word. **Question:** What are the main differences between the words "you" and "thou" in English language in usage, grammar, etc? Is there any difference in meanings of "thou" and "you" up to special circumstances? Can one use "thou" instead of "you" everywhere?


title: What's "mutton sleeves" or "leg of mutton sleeves"?

text: I'm reading a book and came to this term... it's a bit strange to me... so I searched on internet but can't find a definition. There are some pictures on internet and wiki mentioned it in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1890s_in_fashion , I roughly guess it means the sleeve style for ladies, that has a big part on the shoulder, am I right? or is there somewhere an accurate/official definition?


title: "X of 1 Points" or "X of 1 Point"?

text: I am trying to express credit earned toward a total number of points, and I'm considering two ways to write it in the case where full credit is only one point:   * X of 1 points   * X of 1 point My opinion is that the first one sounds more correct, but I'm not sure. I am using these standalone to display as titles over something and it is possible to get a fractional amount of points. Would it make a difference what the first number is? For example, if they get full credit would it be "1 of 1 Point" but otherwise it's (for example) ".5 of 1 Points"? I should make note that full credit isn't always worth one point and the actual number of points it is worth is important to make known (since it can be different for each question) so the total points has to be there.


title: Why is "bicycle" pronounced differently from other obviously related words?

text: The word _bicycle_ is pronounced /'baɪsɪkəl/ (bahy-si-kuhl), like _sickle_. However, the words _unicycle_ and _motorcycle_ both have the _-cycle_ pronounced as /-'saɪkəl/ (sahy-kuhl). Is there some sort of reason for this, or is this just a vagary of English pronunciation?


title: Should the words "internet" and "web" be capitalized?

text: There seems to be some inconsistency on whether people capitalize the words _internet_ and _web_ (as in _World Wide Web_ ) as proper nouns. What is the official ruling on when or if these words should be capitalized? Obviously, I am not asking about when they are the first word in a sentence or in the title of a book or other publication. Example: > "The **web** is the most commonly known feature of the **Internet**."


title: The centrality that does not need to be named

text: Suppose we are looking at Internet domain names. Every country has its own two-letter abbreviation (.fr, .uk, .ca, .za, etc.) — except for the US, as far as I know. They have .com, .org, .edu, .gov. I assume there's an historic reason for this, but what I'm wondering is: is there a term to describe the assumed centrality of the US in the domain-name world — the country being so "central" that it does not even need to be identified. Only the _other_ needs to be identified. Now suppose we are in Europe or North America. I'm asked to describe a man. "He's five foot eight, brown hair, wearing a beige suit..." I know in North America and I presume in Europe, that unless I specifically state otherwise, he is assumed by most of my listeners to be white. In other words, _whiteness_ like the US, is assumed to be so central that it does not need to be identified. I could give many more examples of the margin vs. the centre, but hopefully these two illustrate what I mean. _My Question:_ Is there a term that describes this centrality — the centrality of not needing to be labelled, if you will? I don't know how to research the question either on this site or elsewhere.


title: Is it common to say "late girlfriend"?

text: I know _late wife_ is a common term (dead wife). How about _late girlfriend_? If that's not the case, what's the most used term?


title: Synomym for untrue love

text: What is the word that can be used to describe a person who has something in heart and speaks something. Specifically showing fake love and affection.


title: Word for people who are not on good terms with someone

text: They won't be called one's 'enemies' because they are not _actively_ opposed or hostile to one. They won't be one's _adversaries_ , _opponents_ or _rivals_ either since there is no contest, conflict or dispute between. But they are people who are not on good terms with someone for any other imaginable reason. For example, religious intolerance or feelings of general dislike due to differences of social class or standard of living, language, lifestyle etc. There is a specific word in our native language to match the description that I have given above and I am interested to know if there is an English equivalent of it. P.S.: Please feel free to edit this topic if it's not clear enough.


title: What is the appropriate usage of "attentions"?

text: I recently wondered what the difference between _attention_ and _attentions_ was, as I've heard both, but couldn't think of or remember when someone would use _attentions_. One definition for _attentions_ gives "acts of courtesy, consideration, or gallantry, especially by a suitor." So now I remember that _attentions_ always seems to be used romantic contexts. I've personally never heard of it used in other ways. So would it be appropriate to use _attentions_ in a sentence such as: > His neglected daughter just wants his attentions. And would it be incorrect to say, "He wants his mom's sole attentions" to mean that he wants his mom's focus to solely be on him? I just think it's weird because sole, meaning 'one and only' is describing a plural word; just as "sole focuses" would be weird. I don't know if it's just me.


title: I don't know which boy?

text: Is it correct to say: > I don't know which boy you meet. For me _which_ here makes sense but grammatically I think there is something wrong by using _which_ to refer to the boy.


title: Usage of "to" and "from" in my sentence

text: Is my sentence grammatically correct? > I asked from the friend who took this picture, had you ever seen anything > like this before? or should it be: > I asked a friend who took this picture, had you ever seen anything like this > before?


title: meaning of "little low"

text: This is the conversation in the book "Revolution 2020" > Hey How are you? > > I am little low. she said what is the meaning of little low. it means she is unhappy ?


title: Origin of the term "eating your own dog food"

text: I'm trying to find the first usage of the term "eating your own dogfood", as a reference to companies, especially software companies, using their own products in house in order to more effectively troubleshoot. I'm fairly certain it originated with Microsoft, but I'd like to find out which year they first used it, if possible.


title: Question:Is this hotel selling cigarettes?

text: I am confused with this question: "Is this hotel selling cigarettes?" or   "Does this hotel sell cigarettes?" "Is this computer working?" or   "Does this computer work?" Which one is correct? Is there any other way of saying it?


title: Usage of "have a good run"

text: Is "the album _had a good run_ " correct to mean that it was an enjoyable listen? Or will it be confused with the idea that many copies were sold of the album?


title: How to use the word "petrichor" in a sentence?

text: What are the ways in which the word _petrichor_ which means scent of the rain, might be used? Can we use a phrase like "the pleasant petrichor"?


title: Term for partially abbreviating names

text: Is there a name for the tabloid media practice of part-initializing, part- abbreviating people's names? E.g. Jennifer Lopez -> J-Lo, Robert Pattinson -> R-Patz and so on.


title: Is the "hand't we" in "hadn't we better have a process?" grammatical?

text: Is the above question correct? I am not sure if the use of the phrase "hadn't we better" is correct or not.


title: "Drinking water" or "drunk water"

text: Why do people use _bottled drinking water_ instead of _bottled drunk water_? I am puzzled by the two sentences. > I am drinking some water. > > Some water is being drunk. I know they are the same meaning, within just one family of objects and subjects. Clearly, water can only be _drunk_ , it cannot be _drinking_.


title: Why is the OED's first reference to *irredentism* as late as 1886?

text: _Irredentism_ (from the Italian _irredento_ , 'unredeemed') has a first reference in the OED as late as 1886. Yet irredentism, the problem which had plagued European statesmen for generations was deeply at issue in the unifications of both Germany and Italy in the mid 19th century. Ethnic populations were never conveniently demarcated by lines on the map. It affected Germans living in Poland, Germans in Denmark, Austrians in the Italian states, Italians in the Balkans, Serbs in Bosnia, and was endemic to a continent of empires comprised of countless nationalities. The Austro- Hungarian Empire had a score of different ethnicities. And the problem is still with us, and has emerged spectacularly in the last few days with the shooting down of an airliner by Russians living in an ostensibly Ukrainian territory. Following the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 Europe was destined for becoming a continent of nations, rather than one of Empires. So 'irredentism' was an issue from the start. Why does it not appear in English until 1886?


title: Is there a rule in British English about how to pronounce "either"?

text: There are two common pronunciations of "either": British /ˈaɪðər/ and American /ˈiːðər/. If Americans are more or less consistent in this regard, then the Brits seem to be freely using both. In fact, from what I can tell, "either this or that" is more often in the first form, whereas "me either" is in the second. But I may be wrong. Is there any kind of an informal rule in the modern British English with regard to this?


title: Pronunciations for "Either"

text: In general, EFL students are taught the two main ways of pronouncing the determiner "either" are the British [ˈaɪðə] and the American [ˈiːðər] varieties. However, I've repeatedly heard from specific North American individuals (face-to-face and on TV) another pronunciation: [ˈaɪðər]. My specific question here is: does that phenomenon take place because of some dialectical/idiolectical/sociolectical background? Thanks!


title: What does it mean to "frame an argument"?

text: I have asked this same question on Yahoo! Answers before, but I didn't quite understand the meaning of it. The phrase is used like so: "See how the author framed his argument?; What is he doing up there? Just framing, just framing" This is such an odd phrase, but my English teacher uses it all the time. I am more mathematical and logical, so please try to explain it as such.


title: "number of books" or "book count"?

text: >   1. The number of books is nine. > >   2. The book count is nine. > > Which is more natural? What's the SUBTLE difference between them?


title: How can one co-relate "does not" and "shall not" for the purpose of exclusion

text: Example: > Value of Investments — income from which does not or shall not form part of > income. To my understanding "does not" means investment which did not yield any income in the current year whereas "shall not" would mean investments which might give returns in future and thus not part of total income. Can one say that investments which do not yield income would not fall in the second category being investments which if yield income shall not form part of income?


title: simple word choice ,unabridged or unedited version

text: I don't know I whether I need to use _unabridged version_ or _unedited version_ for a radio podcast. Please explain the difference. Also, is "said" the right word in the clause below? "As he **said** in unabridged/unedited edition,...".


title: What are alternative expressions being taken place with “pull off the upset”?

text: I came across the phrase _“pull off the upset_ ” in the following sentence of Washington Post (January 4) article titled “Eight lessons the Iowa caucuses taught us.” > “In the early going last night, it looked like Paul might _pull off the > upset_. But as votes streamed in, it became clear his ceiling was simply > lower than his rivals. Paul wound up with 26, 219 votes - more than double > the 11,817 he received in 2008 - but it still wasn’t enough to keep pace > with Romney and Santorum." As I am unfamiliar with the phrase "pull off a (the) upset,” I searched the definition online: Cambridge Dictionary defines ‘pull off’ as a verb, meaning ‘If a vehicle pulls off, it starts moving.’ Oxford Dictionary registers "pull-off” as a noun meaning ‘an area on the side of a road where a motorist may park.” Merriam-Webster defines ‘Pull off” as a verb meaning ‘to accomplish successfully against odds,” from which I can guess what “pull off the upset” means. Although I found no dictionary carrying “pull off the upset” as an idiom, there were a lot of quotes using this phrase in the Google search. On the other hand, Google NGram shows the usages of “pull off a (the) upset” emerged in around later than 1960 and its noticeable rise around after 2000. I’m curious to know (1) how widely or dominantly this idiom is being used today, and (2) what were popular alternative expressions (e.g. snatch victory from the rival’s big jaw) to “pull off a (the) upset” that were taken place with this idiom.


title: How does “found-in-a-cabbage-patch look” look?

text: There was the phrase “ _found-in-a-cabbage-patch look_ ” in the article of Time magazine (October 3, 2011) titled “Playing Favorites,” that dealt with the results of recent researches on the prevalence of parents’ favoritism toward particular one of their children. The author, Jeffery Kluger writes; > “I was the second of four in an all-boy brood, and by almost any measure, > the third in line, Garry, should have been the favorite, simply because he > was gorgeous, born with extravagantly long eyelashes, absurdly perfect > features and platinum blond hair that completed his ‘ _found-in a-cabbage- > patch look_.’” I can vaguely imagine how a cherub-like boy with ‘found-in a-cabbage-patch look’ looks with the association of “Cabbage-Patch Kids” dolls. But I don’t think the author is referring to “Cabbage-Patch Kids” character here. What do ‘the baby found in a cabbage patch’ and ‘found-in-a-cabbage-patch look’ mean? What is the origin of the word, “found in a cabbage patch”?


title: Meaning of "She'll get you in Dutch"?

text: In the lyrics of the Coasters' 1959 song "Poison Ivy" there are the lines > She comes on like a rose but everybody knows   >  She'll get you in Dutch   >  Now you can look but you better not touch The song is apparently about a woman who transmits a venereal disease and my question is: > What does "she'll get you in Dutch" mean?


title: "Lifting a ban" — why does "lifting" mean "removing"?

text: In all other cases "moving something up" means creating or increasing something, like in "rising concern" or "erecting obstacles". At the same time "lifting a ban" means effectively removing the ban. What is a historical explanation of appearance of such expression? I can only suggest that this came from the lifting a castle's gates which allows passage. Is this true?


title: Alternative to priority value

text: Given two states in the diagram, each of them has a ? value, if state 1 ? value > state 2 ? value, we choose state 1, otherwise, we choose state 2. We can replace ? by "priority", is there any other words that can fit into this sentence? Basically ? value is assigned randomly to both states (each state has different number) with the reason of choosing of state. Is "dominant" good here?


title: Opposite of "infinitesimal"

text: What is the opposite of "infinitesimal"? Infinitesimal means a value smaller than the minimum possible measurement. For example, if we have a ruler with 1 centimeter intervals, then any length measured shorter than 1 cm is infinitesimal for that measuring instrument - smaller than the smallest possible measurement, but still greater than zero. The opposite of infinitesimal means a value larger than the maximum possible measurement. Analogously, if we have a 100 centimeter ruler, then any length measured longer than 100 cm is that opposite term. "Infinite" is **not** the opposite of infinitesimal, although that term is commonly (mis)used. Infinity is an abstract concept for something that never ends, not merely a value above measuring capability. For example, the question "how long is this road?" may have the answer "the opposite of infinitesimal" if we lack the capacity to travel along a straight road in its entirety and measure its length. On the other hand, if the road is short enough to see in its entirety but loops in on itself, we could say that its length is "infinite". A term I came up with for this is "supermaximum"; above the maximum possible measured value. I would like to know if an official term exists.


title: What does the following sentence mean [ From The Invisible Man , Ch 1 ]

text: I'm a little confused by the following sentence. I know all the nouns here, but I don't understand the phrase "a turn them bandages" > What a turn them bandages did give me, to be sure!


title: Why can't I put 'a' or 'the' before 'different clubs'?

text: Is there a specific rule saying that 'a/an' and 'the' should not followed by the word 'different'? "I go out to different clubs with my boyfriend". I know there are some fixed expression for using articles (eg at 'the' weekend ; or in 'the' afternoon ; or take 'a' bath) , but how about putting article in front of the word 'different' in the sentence quoted above?


title: Any difference between "protest" and "protest against"?

text: I've looked up in my _Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary_ and _New Oxford American Dictionary_ , it turns out that the difference (if any) between **"protest sth"** and **"protest against sth"** looks very hard to tell. Examples are as follows:   1. Students took to the streets to **_protest against** the decision_.   2. They fully intend to **_protest** the decision_.   3. Doctors and patients **_protested against** plans_ to cut services at the hospital.   4. The workers were **_protesting** economic measures_ enacted a week earlier. In addition, I'm wondering if the object following them really matters to the choice, but examples 1 & 2 seem to prove me wrong. Any more explanation on this?


title: Wash Hands to Serve Safe Food?

text: The other day I saw a sign in a restroom saying: > Wash your hands thoroughly to kill bacteria and serve safe food It struck me as wrong somehow, since it gave me the immediate humorous mental picture of the _very act of washing_ somehow actually serving food _at that moment_ , just like the bacteria killing. I also think the point is not to "serve safe food" but rather " _safely_ serve food." Am I correct that this is wrong, or at least awkward? What would be a better way to say it?


title: Ellipsis that results in one word serving as both subject and object

text: Quoting from Jeff Atwood's blog: > [I expanded the team] by adding Kevin, who I didn't know, but had built > amazing stuff for us without even being asked to, from Texas. And again by > adding Robert, in Florida, who I also didn't know, but spent so much time on > every single part of our sites that I felt he had been running alongside our > team the whole way [...]. These two sentences struck me as odd. In each of them, the _who_ is "overloaded", for lack of a better word. It serves as an object ("who[m] I didn't know"), but also as a subject ("who had build"/"who spent"). Obviously, this is a deliberate ellipsis1; the author didn't want to use "who" twice, as in: > I expanded the team by adding Kevin, who(m) I didn't know, but who had built > amazing stuff for us. I constantly run into this type of ellipsis1 on the Web. I've also noticed the pronoun "that" being overloaded in the same manner on countless occasions. My question is threefold:   1. What is the term for this kind of ellipsis1?        2. Is this a "valid" thing to do in formal writing? Do any manuals of style address this, or can you perhaps even quote, say, Twain pulling off this stunt (other than in jest)?        3. How recent is this phenomenon? I would guess that it probably wasn't anywhere as widespread back when English was still wearing a tight corset of grammatical cases. * * * 1 Edit: nohat makes a strong case for this not being an ellipsis, but I am leaving my original wording as a courtesy to future visitors who might have a similar question without knowing the correct term.


title: Is this a valid sentence? "Money makes us grow and happy"

text: "Money makes us grow" and "Money makes us happy" are both legitimate sentences, but together like that it makes it sound like "we" are busy "happying," which is obviously invalid. Obviously there are ways to make it sound better, but I'm wondering if there's technically anything mechanically wrong with this sentence. Consider also that "Money makes us happy and grow," does not sound incorrect at all. EDIT: Ellipsis that results in one word serving as both subject and object This question is answered here. Syllepsis.


title: Is the phrase, "a bloody altercation" an accurate way to describe the Officer’s killing at the MIT campus?

text: I was caught up with the word, “the bloody altercation” in the following statement of New York Times (April 25) article titled “Officer’s killing spurred pursuit in Boston attack.” http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/us/officers-killing-spurred-pursuit-in- boston-attack.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130425&_r=0 > -It was just a little after that routine interaction, the police said, that > a pair of men approached Officer Collier’s squad car from behind and shot > him to death, in what some law enforcement officials said appeared to have > been a failed attempt to steal his gun. > > -The killing of Officer Collier, who was mourned Wednesday at a campus > memorial at which Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. spoke, was the first > **bloody altercation** in a nearly 24-hour chain of violent events that left > one of the brothers suspected in the Boston Marathon bombings dead and ended > with the capture of the other. Was there an enough time to allow an “altercation” when the culprits approached the squad car from behind and shot the officer to death? Was the (noisy) argument "in public"? As I'm unfamiliar with the word, altercation, I consulted with dictionaries. OED defines “altercation” as “a noisy argument or disagreement, especially in public.” To me the showdown of the campus officer and Boston Marathon bombers was more than an “altercation” though it being preceded by the adjective, “bloody.” CED defines it as “a loud argument or disagreement” as well. So my simple question: Is the word, “bloody altercation” really pertinent to describe the critical scene where the culpits shot the officer no sooner than they approached the squad car from behind? In other word, is it 'phisically' possible for both the officer and culpits to get engaged in "an altercation" in such an instant? By the way, the New York Daily News of the same day uses the word “Confrontation” for describing the killing scene: > Two people embrace in front of a memorial to MIT Police Officer Sean > Collier, who was killed during a **confrontation** with the suspects in the > bombings of Boston Marathon.


title: Meaning of "Crises involving a tick."

text: Here is the place where I saw this: http://feltron.com/ar11_04.html (in the right-bottom corner of the first page).