title: What is the difference between "Must" and "Must be"?

text: I saw the following sentences in an advertisement.   * Graduation must be in computer science.   * Graduation is must.  I want to know the meaning of Must and Must be and the difference between them.


title: Meaning of "leave on a full basis"

text: When I was reading News of Real Madrid - Di Maria set to be released, I saw following sentence: > Real Madrid management seem to have decided to let Di Maria leave on a full > basis. What does this mean(especially **full basis** )? Does that mean Di Maria will leave Real Madrid?


title: Word describing a person's momentary pleasure, but overall discord

text: I once read an article that used a single word to describe a frame of mind in which a person experiences momentary pleasure amidst overall discord; or perhaps the word was describing the opposite: A unified, holistic mind without discord. The word may be related to _dysphoria_ or _equanimity_. Any ideas? As an example of such a frame of mind, in the discussion of the OCD condition Trichotillomania [1] here [2] there is a phrase: _“Immediate pleasure may be experienced but in the long run the person feels frustrated and embarrassed.”_ This is a good example of the sense I’m looking for in this single-word- request. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichotillomania [2] http://www.biobehavioralinstitute.com/viewarticle.php?id=7


title: Does the word “skyfall” (or “sky falls”) exist in English?

text: I found the word, “skyfall” being used in the article of April 18 Nikkei.com. under the title, “What the collapse of the gold bubble tells” with the following lead copy > “International commodity market represented by gold collapsed on April 15th. > The collapse was triggered by the dropdown of the economic growth rates of > China which turned out far below the economists’ expectation. The “ > **Skyfall** ” broke out in the gold market may foretell the economic boom of > new developing countries is coming to a turning point. The word “skyfall” is used in English in Japanese text as if it is a stock market jargon. There is a Japanese word “杞憂-kiyu” – worring about the fall of the sky,” which we borrowed from Chinese proverb, “杞人憂天-Qi ren you tian” that derived from the ancient story of the people of the Qi country very much worried about if the sky should fall on their heads suddenly. I checked if the “skyfall” is English word or not with CED, OED, Merriam- Webster English Dictionary to find none of them carries this word, nor does Google Ngram register it. Is “skyfall” used as an English word other than James Bond “007 Skyfall” and its theme music? If it is, can the word, “the sky falls” be associated with anything like a panic or catastrophe as used in the Nikkei article among Anglophones?


title: Computer terms tip

text: Here is a tip to notice the users what's going on   "This directory contains one folder named as Program Files in which a specialized virtual machine is used to crack WiFi passwords, Don't modify it!"   Q: Where is the virtual machine?


title: Which one is the proper alternative ? niche / field / area / domain

text: I'm developing a software that asks user to specify a `niche / field / area / domain` of the document he is uploading. It can be business proposal, technical documentation, official stuff, correspondence, complain whatever. How do I call this field ? There will be a suggestion form field that will contain the most frequent expressions.


title: What does "with a thing for" mean in this context?

text: It comes from an episode of "The Big Bang Theory." Here's a transcript found on the Internet:Big Bang 15. I was befuddled by "with a thing for"; it looks like "have something" to me.


title: What does "let's go with that" mean here?

text: What does Howard from _The Big Bang Theory_ mean when he says "let's go with that"? I think the meaning was "let's just keep thinking it's true." Am I right?


title: To put more "weight/power" into a conclusion

text: I am trying to find an expression which would meet my needs. In the report that I am currently writing I would like to explain that I have done a certain action in order to "put more weight/power" into a conclusion. There is an expression for this purpose in the French language ( _mettre du poids dans_ ), and I know that translating an expression from a language to another nearly never works. I tried to find the solution by asking Google but I guess I am not using the correct keywords... Does anyone would have any ideas? [EDIT] I am actually trying to say that my action will _carry more weight_ (thanks Rant) but I do not know how I should formulate it. I have started my sentence like this: The investigation will also draw a timeline of activities in order to add **expression** to the previous arguments. I have moved from **conclusion** to **argument** as it make more sense in the current context. How can I add an expression which means _carry more weight_?


title: Which punctuation should be used for spelling out acronyms?

text: Is "COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)" more correct, or would "COPD [Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease]" be right?


title: em dash followed by a comma

text: > I have three cars -- blue, red, and green -- , two motorcycles, and four > bicycles. Is this a correct use of comma after an em-dash? It seems quite weird. How should I use an em-dash and a comma here?


title: Describing event with “greatest” date value

text: I'm struggling with a way to describe one of a series of datetime values that has the greatest value. My first thought would be to call it the "latest", but the suggests that the event is in the past, not possibly in the future. How would you describe an event at a time which is after all previous events in the series, and can have already happened or is possibly in the future?


title: How can I identify the role of an infinitive in a sentence?

text: Infinitives may function as nouns, adjectives or adverbs. Since infinitives are derived from verbs, they do express actions or states of being. However, there is some difficulty in identifying the particular **_role_** of the infinitive in a sentence. Is there a generic test available to determine whether each infinitive is serving as a noun, adjective, or adverb? I will be taking the GMAT exam shortly, and this is an area that I am particularly weak in. It is necessary to identify the role of Infinitives in order to get answers right for questions related to Parallelism and Verb Tense. **Example:** "Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save." - Will Rogers


title: "The judge is god" or "The god is judge"?

text: In a scene in _The great debaters_ , Denzel Washington's character asks his students to reiterate some lines. He asks: > Who is the judge? And the students reply: > The judge is god. Now, why is the answer not "the god is judge" instead? I think the former one is not appropriate because "The judge is god" means in a general sense that each judge is god, doesn't it? And this was not being asked anyway. The question was asked in more specific way and "the god is judge" means that god is the judge, emphatically god is the only judge but the former answer is not emphasizing that. Am I correct? Or are these two equal with not even the slightest of differences? If they are different, then how?


title: Favoritism granted in politics or business regardless of merit?

text: I'm looking for a word that describes _favoritism granted in politics or business regardless of merit_ , but not just towards relatives.


title: Why are these questions structured differently?

text: > How many rooms **does** your apartment _have?_ > > How many rooms _have_ carpeting? I'm a native speaker of English teaching at a language school. Recently I was stumped by a question made by a student. It was: > How come in the first sentence, the question is structured the "regular way" > i.e. auxiliary (does) + present simple of the verb (have), whereas in the > second sentence we don't use an auxiliary. I have a feeling that it might be related to subject / object, but honestly I'm not sure. Any help would be appreciated.


title: Usage of "is when"

text: In grade school, when writing stories for English classes I recall being gently corrected whenever I handed pieces in that contained sentences with a structure similar to this: > "A debate _is when_ a group of people get together and argue for fun," or more generally "noun _is when_ description" or "metaphor _is when_ philosophical prose." I don't recall the justification for not employing _is when_ in sentences, but even now, I find myself avoiding its usage simply because it "feels" clumsy. Is there any legitimate justification for avoiding this grammar?


title: Irish English use of "college" for secondary schools?

text: I've been filtering locations in Ireland from a list that comes with Google Maps location data for each, selecting those that are close to a "college". I just checked on one of those locations manually, and found a "Killorglin Community College", and the place's webpage says it is "a co-educational and multi-belief _Secondary School_ under the governing body of Kerry Education Service". **Is this common in Ireland, to use the term "college" for a secondary school?** In the Wikipedia page for "Education in the Republic of Ireland", I can only find "college" associated with "higher" or "third-level" education (I would say "post-secondary", coming from Canada)...


title: subconscious vs unconscious

text: A friend of mine believes that a thought that is underlying, and not the main focus of the mind, can be described as a thought had "unconsciously". I am convinced she is incorrect, and the word to use is "subconsciously". The word could also refer to an action that is instinctive and not thought through? Any input as to which (or both) is correct would be appreciated.


title: Et cetera vs Et al

text: Probably one of the most used word around is et cetera. I also come across people substituting et al for etc. Google says me that both of them more or less give away the same meaning 'and the others'. Is there a particular context and usage for each of these? Are there any situations where in one should prefer et al over etc or vice versa?


I've found this sentence in a grammar site : "you'll surely pass the exam if you studied hard" (independent clause in the future and dependent clause in the past) Wouldn't be more natural : "...if you study hard" ? Does the original sentence express doubt about the willingness to study? Puime


title: Is the phrase 'have something down' the same as 'have something down pat'?

text: Once we **have** the functional mechanics **down** , we’ll customize the display of fields using properties and then using richer data templates for the edit, add, and display modes. This sentence is extracted from a tech book titled 'Silverlight 4 in action'.


title: and/or question

text: If I were to write buy 2 blue and/or red towels, would I be saying: > Buy 2 red towels, 2 blue towels, or 1 red and 1 blue? Or > Buy 2 red towels, 2 blue towels, or 2 blue and 2 red towels?


title: Does "Japanese tourist" have any meaning other than a tourist from Japan?

text: I was under the impression that "Japanese tourist" had a meaning more than just a tourist who happens to be from Japan. For example, TV Tropes has an entry on Japanese Tourist, and French fashion boss offends Chinese over elitist Paris hotel describes the reaction when "Chinese tourist" (which I assume is the same as "Japanese tourist", but updated for the new century) was interpreted literally (tourists from China) rather than figuratively (mass tourism). However, others seem to be skeptical of this. One person commented > I don't think there is a special term - just as in English, "Japanese > tourist"/"Chinese tourist" could be a neutral descriptor in many contexts. > It's more a stereotype than a figurative meaning. Does "Japanese tourist" have any meaning other than merely a tourist from Japan, like "Polish plumber" means something other than just a plumber from Poland?


title: What is a word similar to "multiplier" but for addition (or subtraction)

text: A _multiplier_ is a number by which another number is multiplied. What do you call a number by which another number is added or subtracted?


title: "unaccounted for externalities" vs "unaccounted externalities"

text: Which of the two formulations is correct or preferable? > Alienation of consumer from producer allows the existence of unaccounted > **for** externalities. > > Alienation of consumer from producer allows the existence of unaccounted > externalities. I would say the first is correct while the second isn't. What do you say?


title: A bit niche - noun? adjective?

text: I came across this sentence while I was reading an article and it got me very confused as to the definition of the word " _niche_ " > The bitter, terrible reality of the media world was clear to me even then. > My pudgy face didn't fit. I didn't have enough glamour for Anna. In > retrospect, perhaps my suggestion that The Blues Brothers should be shown > every day at midnight was **a bit niche**. But that didn't matter. I don't think I understand understand the definition of " _niche_ " here. Is it a noun or an adjective? What does it mean in this sentence?i don't seem to be able to understand it... Does it mean it was not the correct time slot on TV? or that it was not the right tip?


title: The difference between "heathen" and "ungodly"

text: My student needed an adjective which means "irreligious" or "does not believe in God/a god." I suggested the words "heathen" and "ungodly". Would you say there's a difference between the two sentences below?   1. My student has the impression that the Poles, a deeply religious nation, think of their Czech neighbors as a heathen lot.   2. My student has the impression that the Poles, a deeply religious nation, think of their Czech neighbors as an ungodly lot. Thanks a lot!


What is the single word that describes a person who always gossips? (For example, telling things about others which are not true.)


title: What do you call someone who gives you the wrong advice?

text: I have a co-worker at work who I have figured has given me the wrong advice or wrong impression more than once (like "oh its ok to come by this time" while I found out later it was not permitted by company policy). What do you call such a person? EDIT: Thanks to everyone for the answers. I was looking for someone doing this deliberately.In my opinion the word I would use would be a "deceiver" or a "misleader", as they convey the sense of deliberately giving a false impression or leading in the wrong direction.


title: Capitalising the first letter of a reference to God?

text: like "He", "His", "Thy", "the Creator", "the Omnipotent", etc. What is the origin of this practice? When should I capitalise words like this? for any deity? only the deity of the Abrahamic faiths?


title: What does "fringe meeting" mean exactly?

text: I'm aware of that 'Fringe' means 'not major', 'not mainstream'. I hardly understand how 'fringe' and 'meeting' meet as one vocabulary.


title: Is "it is a fun game" correct?

text: "It is a lot of fun," sounds correct, but not, "it is a fun game."   Isn't **fun** a _noun_? Then why is it used as an _adjective_?   I have heard this usage even by literary giants, so this cannot be a common mistake.   Should "funny" be used in stead? **EDIT** Moral of the story: _Fun_ has become an adjective colloquially, hence it is impossible to see it as wrong.


title: difference between "engage with someone" and "engage someone"?

text: What is the difference between "engaging with someone" and "engaging someone"? For example, what is the difference between these two expressions:   * How do you engage with your employees?   * How do you engage your employees?


title: "Neither" and "either" usage in negative sentence

text: I would like to make sure I understood the usage of these: _Do you want A or B?_ >   1. I do not want either. [none of them] >   2. I want neither. [Can I say that?] >


title: Should these questions be split?

text: I have these two questions: >   * Could you give me a call please as I need to speak to you about > something? >   * What is the name of the reference because there is something important > that I need to look up? > The actual question stops at the word 'please' in the first question. The actual question stops at the word 'reference' in the second question. Should these two questions be split into two sentences like this: >   * Could you give me a call please? There is something I need to speak to > you about. >   * What is the name of the reference? There is something important that I > need to look up. >


title: What does this idiom mean and where did it come from?

text: What does the expression "being drug up on the carpet and then run up the mast" mean and where did it come from? It could very well be the person who said it made it up on the spot.


title: What is the real difference between dilation and dilatation?

text: In the medical profession we use the terms **dilatation** and **dilation** with great frequency. Dilatation is defined as a region of dilation, an area of abnormal enlargement, or the surgical enlargement of a region (noun describing the verb). Dilation is defined as the act of dilating (stretching out), the state of being dilated, and confusingly: _dilatation_. Both definitions cross-refer to one another. And, yet I've never gotten a sufficient answer as to why we use one vs. the other. Some, try to claim that dilatation is an active process (like _dilatation and curettage_ ), and dilation is a passive process. But, we dilate people's pupils by giving medications. Or using balloon angioplasty we dilate a stenosed blood vessel. Other sources claim that dilation is a uniform enlargement compared to dilatation. And, other sources claim that there is, in fact, no difference between the two. In research of this question I sought out clues from the etymology And, I found that dilatation is the older form. That dilation was a mistaken assumption in the 1590s that -ate was the Latin Verbal suffix (and not part of the root). So, my question: Is there really a difference between the two terms? Or are they truly interchangeable as the etymology would suggest? Has there been a shift in meaning within, say, the Engineering world?


title: Should one use an indefinite article after 'kind of'?

text: If the noun after _kind of_ is singular, do we use an indefinite article or not? For example, >   * That kind of an answer is teasing. >   * That kind of answer is teasing. > Which is correct?


title: What is the name for "pronunciation spelling"?

text: Dictionaries often have "pronunciation spelling" listed next to the word. For example: > **port·man·teau** \- noun `\pȯrt-ˈman-(ˌ)tō\` What is the name for this alphabet/system? Is it a universal system, or does every language have their own "version" of it?


title: using and/or for two equal things

text: Which sentence is preferred? > The value of A or B is 50% each > > The value of A and B are 50% each > > The values of A and B are 50% each


title: What's the meaning of "in the spirit of"?

text: The following is a passage from this article: > In the spirit of full disclosure, the texter in question turned out to be my > editor at Salon. (Hi, Sarah!) She has not texted me again. What does _in the spirit of_ in the passage mean? I have looked it up in the dictionaries, but couldn't find a definition for it.


title: What's it called when one is so familiar with a language that phrases just "sound" right or wrong?

text: Native speakers, especially those who have read a lot of writing or literature for a given language, acquire the ability to "know" whether something is grammatically correct (or not) just from their recognition of patterns and phrases and not necessarily any specific rules of grammar or language usage (i.e. transitive or intransitive verbs, conjugation, etc.) Is there a term for this?


title: A word for somebody who supports things fleetingly and whilst they are popular

text: I'm looking for a word for somebody who supports things fleetingly and whilst they are popular, for example a sports team on a winning streak, or something which is currently in fashion.


title: "Criticism" vs. "critique"

text: What is the difference in meaning between _criticism_ and _critique_?


title: How did "chopped liver" come to mean "of little value"?

text: Where did the phrase "chopped liver" originate? Why does it mean "of little value"?


title: Words to describe human beauty?

text: I am listing down words that I can use to compliment a special someone. So far, I have a few like "gorgeous", "stunning", "mesmerizing", "ineffable" , "pretty" , "charming" , etc. These are common and far too few. Are there more words that can be used to describe the beauty of a young girl in her late teens? If the words are context-sensitive then please do mention that also.


title: How should I thank someone for considering my job application?

text: My girlfriend is writing a cover letter for a job application and wants to thank the recipient for taking the time to review the application. She wrote the following closing sentence: > Thank you for your consideration of my application. I suggested that this would be better: > Thank you for taking the time to consider my application. Which sounds more professional and fluent? Can you please explain why one is better or why they're both equal? Thanks!


title: Guidelines for selecting suffix when making an adjective out of a proper name (-esque, -ean, -ian,

text: Examples: For (Michael) Jordan, we often see Jordanesque. Why? Perhaps because he is His Airness (and the _-esque_ suffix is associated with fanciness)? Maybe also to avoid confusion with Jordanians? Plato -> Platonic. Why? Do names ending with an "o" generally get the suffix "-nic"? If so what do we do with Michelangelo? And here are some for which there does not seem to be consensus: Tolstoy -> Tolstoyian? Tolstoyan? Toylstoyean? Something else? Any guidelines? Schelling -> Schellingian? Schellingesque? Is this just mostly arbitrary and a matter of convention?


title: Was/were exception rule

text: My kid's English teacher is teaching that there is exception in use of was/were "WAS she and her sister at the zoo?" is right. "WERE she and her sister at the zoo?" is wrong. AFAIK "She and her sister WERE at the zoo" is supposedly right. There is no explanation on that exception in the book. Can someone explain this rule or at least point to a source where such rule could be found? Thanks.


title: What is proper sentence structure?

text: I've got a problem with this structure: "Under this term are meant all things that belong to (...)" I wish to know if it's correct and what kind of structure actually it is. I believe it's probably more of general problem with sentence structure in English. I've got similar problem with this kind of constructs: "There is/are sth in somewhere" vs. "In somewhere is/are sth". Example: "There are two tomatoes in the fridge." vs. "In the fridge are two tomatoes." Are the above structures correct? Can they be used interchangeably?


title: Pronunciation of "Celt": /kɛlt/ vs. /sɛlt/

text: Both `/kɛlt/` and `/sɛlt/` are considered acceptable pronunciations of the noun Celt and similarly of the adjective Celtic. Is there a reason for the different pronunciations? Which is the more common? Is each variant perhaps particular to a geography? Scottish vs. Irish, maybe?


title: Is there any word for people who are strongly against artificial intelligence?

text: A group of people who strongly oppose the idea of having humanoids, robots, expert systems and claim they are degrading and insulting to human intelligence. Is there a word for a group strongly against artificial intelligence?


title: What's the name of the color

text: Can any body tell me the official name of the color? I want to say light blue, but people may not be able to get the closest image in mind.![Color](http://i.stack.imgur.com/V3TkX.png)


title: Polemic/controversial in noun form

text: what would you call the putting forward of a controversial debate? i.e. something is polemic when controversial but you can't say 'i am developing a polemic' (that is, use polemic as a noun) is there an equivalent noun that would fit the case?


title: Why are there exceptions for the i before e except after c rule?

text: The exceptions such as"foreign" and "weird" seem abnormal to me because most of the rest of the ie or ei words follow the i before e rule. They don't have a "c". Why does that happen?


title: "e" before "i" in the word "weird"

text: In elementary school, I was taught the rhyme: > "i" before "e" except after "c", and in words like "neighbor" and "weigh" Obviously this means that "ei" is used in "deceive" (it comes after "c") and "sleigh" ("gh" follows it). The word "weird" does not follow this rule, and I have always thought that to be weird (please pardon the pun). It has neither a "c" nor "gh", so why does it have this "ei" vowel combination instead of "ie"? * * * While writing this post, I noticed that "neither" also disobeys the rule, just like "weird". At first, I thought that maybe the "English gods" thought it would be a funny meta-joke to let "weird" have a weird spelling (like how "awkward" awkwardly has a "k" surrounded by two "w"s), but apparently there are other words as well!


title: Why do you write "receive" with "ei" but "retrieve" with "ie"?

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Why is it true that “I before E, except after C”? Both words are similar in pronunciation but different in spelling. Why is it that _receive_ is written with _ei_ but _retrieve_ has the diphthong the other way round?


title: "Either your dog or your cat eats" vs. "Either your dog or cat eats"

text: Version (1) seems correct to me, but I cannot explain why it is correct grammatically. Could someone explain please? >   1. Either **your dog or your cat** eats my garbage. >   2. Either **your dog or cat** eats my garbage. >


title: "I have been reading your letter with pleasure"?

text: Is this a correct choice of tense? If yes, what conditions would justify the use of Present Perfect Continuous? It seems much more natural to say > I have read your letter. (I have recently finished) or > > I read your letter with pleasure. (I finished in a string of events not > related to now) I wanted to explain to my student where her choice of Present Perfect Continuous ( as in the title) might do. Here is what I think: > I have been reading your letter with pleasure. does make sense when the reading is recent or still lasts. Adding "with pleasure" does not make any difference, contrary to what I initially thought. That's my answer to my question that has been modified several times for clarity. Thanks.


title: XX inch round - radius or diameter?

text: I am looking for some circular labels on eBay ("Warranty void if removed" - I guess you know these things stuck on computers). ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/d0slS.jpg) The listing states: > 100 round bright silver tamper evident hologram labels - Warranty Void If > Removed with unique sequential serial numbering. > > Dimensions: **.65 inch round** Does "XX inch round" customarily refer to the radius or the diameter circular things?


title: Origin of “not for quids” phrase

text: At various times I've supposed the informal Australian phrase “not for quids” (which apparently is analogous to “not at any price”) derives from _quid_ , which refers to sovereigns, or guineas. At other times I've imagined it derives from _quid pro quo_ , “This for that”. What evidence is available about the origin of “not for quids”? Note, quoting from the _Cambridge Idioms Dictionary_ , thefreedictionary says the following of “not for quids”: > If you say that you would not do something for quids, you mean that you > would hate to do that thing [ _eg_ ] I wouldn't do your job for quids.


title: Antonym of "comfort zone"

text: What is a good antonym of "comfort zone", or an expression replacing "outside my comfort zone"? I'm writing an essay and don't want to repeat myself too much.


title: Do words for male animals include those which are castrated?

text: English has distinct words for the male and female of many common animal species. For example, we have _bull / cow_ , _rooster / hen_ , _ram / ewe_ , _stallion / mare_ , _boar / sow_ , _man / woman_. However, we also have words for castrated male animals (those which have had the testicles removed): _steer_ , _capon_ , _wether_ , _gelding_ , _hog_ , _eunuch_. Do the male terms include or exclude the castrated case? If I refer to a male sheep as a _ram_ , and it later turns out to be a _wether_ , have I spoken incorrectly or merely imprecisely? I would be interested in common, technical, and historical usage.


title: Confusing adverbs, "still" and "yet"

text: Which of these sentences is correct, and why? >   1. It's yet stopped raining. We will be able to leave soon. >   2. It's still stopped raining. We will be able to leave soon. >


title: Should common foreign phrases such as "vice versa" be italicized?

text: I am writing a document in which phrases such as " _et al._ ", " _in vitro_ ", and " _ex vivo_ " are to be italicized. However, is a very common English (yet foreign) phrase such as "vice versa" to be italicized? Is there a general rule of thumb for determining this?


title: What is a 'beater restaurant'?

text: I was reading an article in the Denver Post and I ran across the term "beater restaurant." I didn't know what it meant, and I wasn't able to find the term via a Google search. The article is in the newspaper's cold case section, talking about a murder that took place in 1947, so possibly it is an older colloquialism. From the article, "Founder of Denver school murdered with sister", K. Mitchell, 23 February 2013: > To help in the discovery of Lundy, authorities said he “likes good steaks” > that he eats at **beater restaurants** and stays in good hotels. “He dresses > fastidiously.” The article is rife with inaccuracies and poor grammar/spelling/editing, so it is equally possible that it is some form of misprint. Any insight would be appreciated.


Why are "put" and "but" different in their pronunciation?


title: '-gate' as a suffix to coin words related to scandals and corruption cases

text: I noticed that for corrruption/scandals the usage of '-gate' suffix is pretty common, as we have recently seen with 'datagate' and before with 'watergate' Can anyone explain what the relation between '-gate' and scandals is and why this relation arose? Also, is this '-gate' used with the same sense in British English, too?


title: What does “it took one away” mean in the line, “For each superpower his brain gave him, it took one away” in encountering a gun attack?

text: There was the following sentence in the article of Time magazine, titled “Your brain in a shootout: Guns, fear and flawed instincts” dealing with the brain’s function in a life-or-death situation. As Jim Glennon, a lieutenant in the Chicago Police, found himself placed in, one autumn day in 2004 when he was assaulted by a gun-shooter:- http://swampland.time.com/2013/01/16/your-brain- in-a-shootout-guns-fear-and-flawed-instincts/ > “As happens for most people in life-or-death situations, his brain began to > manipulate his perception of time, slowing down the motion as he fled down > the corridor. But for each superpower his brain gave him, **it took one > away**. In a flash, his brain reprioritized, shifting finite resources to > the cause of survival. I’m not very clear with what the line, “it took one away” means? What do ‘it’ and ‘one’ represent? Is ‘it’ a substitute for his brain or ‘a superpower’? Is ‘one’ “one of those superpowers” or “him”? What does 'for" of 'for each superpower' function for? Is it grammatically or rhetorically wrong, if I take ‘for’ away from the line, and say “His brain took away each superpower it gave him”? How can I rephrase it in a clearer way, without using substitutes, “it” and “one,” (even if the end result includes redundant expressions)?


title: What are "discursive politics"?

text: I'm not a native English speaker. I have been reading Rousseau's "The Social Contract", and the phrase "discursive politics" showed up. I'm not really sure what it means... So, what does it mean?


title: Present Perfect after "before"

text: I've been watching a TV show recently and in one of the episodes the following is being said: > I don't want half my army killed before I've crossed the Narrow Sea. In the second part of the sentence, after "before", the Present Perfect tense is used, which made me think about the meaning of it. How does "before" influence the meaning of this part of the sentence?


title: How was "assassin" brought into English?

text: According to etymological dictionary the word "assassin" is derived, "via French and Italian", from a word translating as "hashis-eater", the name given to certain members of the Nizari Ismaili, a tribe originating in twelfth- century Syria during "the time of the Crusades". Can anybody explain the reason why the word was brought into English "via French and Italian" rather then directly by returning Britons crusaders? Or, maybe, etymological dictionary is wrong?


title: Is "regardless" a word I shouldn't use?

text: Is it true that "regardless" is a word I shouldn't use because it is obsolete? If it is, what shall I use instead?


title: What is a "hood" in this context?

text: A forum poster was giving an account of his visit to his friend who is an owner of a burger shack, and in one part he said: > We smoked some of the Mr. Nice I brought along to give him and his employee > for the trouble and blew it up into the hood in classic poverty restaurant > style :coolface:. What is a hood? Is that the ceiling of the restaurant? I was thinking this couldn't be the folding hood of the car. Edit: This is the picture of the kitchen he posted (couldn't scale it down unfortunately I'm on iPad :(), not sure if that device on the top left corner is the extractor or not, but could possibly be since I think there's what it looks like a fryer on the far right below it. ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/KTUZ7.jpg)


title: French speaker here — How to pronounce "r" and "l"?

text: I'm a French speaker and actually I have some problems with the sounds _l_ , _r_ and _o_ in _lawyer_. Do you have any advice for me on how to place the tongue and so on?


title: What would you call someone that you ask for directions?

text: I'm driving around and I stop to ask someone for directions to my destination, is there an English word for that person?


title: "Give the real temperature" vs. "give real temperature"

text: I would like to know if I should use the second the in the following sentence. >   * The thermometer does not give **the** real temperature. >   * The thermometer does not give real temperature. > And I would like to know if there's a criterion, a rule to know when I should use *the or if I'm abusing it.


title: Right format for time of day when corresponding with Germans

text: I'm writing to some German folks in English, and I'm referring to the time of day -- an event that starts at 10 o'clock in the morning. I know that if I were writing to other Americans, I'd use _10 am_ , _10:00 a.m._ or _10 o'clock_. But for Germans who have learned English there, what is the right format? I've seen everything from _1000_ to _10h00m_.


title: When has the phrase "dirty sex" started to be used?

text: We say 'dirty sex' nowadays,quite often. When we're referring to hardcore sex that includes role play, bondage, sex toys and whatever else goes beyond the simple act of copulation, we say 'Dirty sex'. But when has this phrase first started to be used? Is it something people would say in North America at the beginning of the 20th century?


title: What does the phrase 'I feel like a pig in a wig' mean?

text: I heard this phrase in an interview: > I feel like a pig in a wig. I understand from the context that it is like nothing, ugly or something similar. I have read that they use words that sound good together to express a feeling or so. Could you help me understand this better?


title: What is the most common word for indicating a source of the citation? (e.g. Source:/Reference:/From:)

text: For example, > The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. > > **From** : Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun What is the ~~best~~ most common word for the above bold part? From, Reference, Source, or else? Not depending on the certain genre or style guide. The context is a PowerPoint slide like this: ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/FcqV7.jpg)


title: difference between American and British /ӕ/ sound

text: When I presented British /ӕ/ sound to three Korean English-familiar persons online - they are doing answering English-related questions activities [case 1; case 2], and asked what sound it’s like /ӕ/ or /ɑ/, astonishingly all three of them without hesitation checked out /ɑ/. That shows how difficult it is to differentiate the two sounds for Koreans.   I can perceive both British and American /ӕ/ are made at the front. But the former sound is far more similar to Korean’s “ㅏ” sound. That’s why the Koreans all hear /ɑ/. And this definitely shows, I wonder, that there’s some difference between British and American /ӕ/. Would you let me know the difference?


title: Correct way to phrase something that varies by type and degree

text: In the first instance, what are the grammatically correct ways to phrase the statement below? Second, if more than one is correct, which one seems the more appropriate or natural-sounding? > Typhoons [differ/vary] [in/by] the degree and variety of damage (they > cause)"


title: Would have done

text: Please read the following passage. I will post my question at the end of it. Here is the passage: > At home I locked myself in. Jason, my lawyer and lyn sent texts > simultaneously at the point the announcement was made. Lyn **would have been > sending** texts consecutively for 15 minutes. Apparently 35 newspapers in > the world carried the news on the front page, including the New York Times. > There were 10-and 12 page supplements in the British papers. My question is this: Why is it "Lyn _would have been sending_..." and not "Lyn _would be sending_..."? In other words, isn't **would have done** used in conditional sentences such as > If you had taken a taxi, you would have arrived here in time.


title: Could I address someone by first name in business emails if he/she addresses me by first name?

text: I am really not sure about when it is appropriate to use someone's first name in business emails. If someone addresses me by my first name, but signs his email officially — full name, plus title, department and contact information —, should I address him by first name or still by "Mr. X"?


title: Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

text: Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one.


title: Alternate spellings and modern usage

text: There are accepted alternate spellings for English words and phrases, example: pajamas -> pyjamas. This is an assumption, so please correct me if I'm wrong: The editors of the OED and other dictionaries do accept changes to spellings, meanings, and word usage. The acceptance is primarily based on "the commonly used" criterion. I think this means 'extensively used and understood' equals 'primary criterion' for inclusion or modification of items. Cartoon character Homer Simpson's "doh" is an example of a recent OED addition. In Albuquerque New Mexico the State Department of Transportation has erected billboards with 3m high letters consisting of single words: "DNTEXT", "ENDWI" This campaign is aimed at young drivers to curb texting while driving and drunk driving. Question: Can this kind of semi-phonetic text-spell eventually qualify for dictionary inclusion on the grounds of common usage? Or, do you see this "stuff" appearing in any kind of standard reference? It is undeniably common.


title: Enjoys his fair share to work hard and smart to meet commitments

text: Received a resume lately. One of the sentence, in summary section, doesn't look right to me. It may be not a very obvious mistake, or may not be a mistake at all. But I can't say anything for sure, as I am not a native speaker and neither I find myself eloquent in writing English. > .... blah blah. A reliable team member who gets work done and enjoys his > fair share to work hard and smart to meet commitments. blah blah .... Now, if you tell me to correct it, because I think it's not well written. Then I would make something like below, using the same words without trying to make it spiffy, > .... blah blah. A reliable team member \-- very smart to meet commitments, > who gets work done and enjoys his fair share in working hard. blah blah .... What do you folks think? Is there something wrong with the original sentence structure?


title: What does "have nothing on someone" mean here?

text: From what I know "have something from someone" means to know secret or damaging knowledge about someone, I was reading this article on espn.com and it is an excerpt from that article > Carl Pavano for $40 million, A.J. Burnett for $82.5 million and Kei Igawa > for $20 million have nothing on Rodriguez for $275 million. I don't understand what "have nothing on" means here. Even though it is fairly obvious what the article is about, and what the comparison is here, but I cant quite figure out the meaning.


title: Cool rush of air uphill

text: Do you know the word to describe a cool rushing current of uphill air? I think it has something to do with the air coming from a cool place on a warm day.


title: When using complete sentences in parenthetical e.g. or i.e. situations, should the first word be capitalized?

text: In a bulleted list of very technical sentences, where each bulleted item has one or two parenthetical examples or restatements which are complete sentences, should the first letter of each e.g. or i.e. sentence be capitalized or not? Example:   * Here is my technical sentence. (e.g., **S** hould the first word of this e.g. be capitalized like this?)   * Here is another technical sentence. (i.e., **t** his really isn't a i.e. different example to highlight whether the first word should or should not be capitalized after a parenthetical i.e.)


title: Usage of "accrue" in "it accrued to me to gently ask"

text: A newage hippie Facebook friend just sent me this. I was just wondering if it was syntactically correct, > It accrued to me to gently ask if you could consider extending the same > respect, you would obviously extend to this man, to Theists in general. _Accrue_ is supposed to be a transitive verb, it doesn't seem to be operating on something though. I take it, this is incorrect? Or, am I wrong?


title: To lose someone something

text: A headline today reads _UBS Says Rogue Trader Lost Firm $2 Billion In Unauthorized Dealing_. Apparently, the meaning is that because of this trader, UBS lost $2 Billion. Yet, the headline somehow sounds strange in my ears, but that could of course be because I am no native English speaker. I realize that it's okay to say _Someone gives someone something_ , so maybe this is the same construct ( _Someone loses someone something_ ). Anyway, is this headline correct and proper English?


title: Parenthetic Apposition or not?

text: Please settle a debate for me. Here is the sentence in question: > Excessive, incorrect, use of the word "like" is unbelievably irritating. The criticism is against the comma following the word "incorrect". The defense was made that it is parenthetical apposition. Wikipedia says that apposition's are "normally noun phrases", is it ever acceptable for them to be non-noun phrases? If so, is this an example of that? Would you judge this sentence as Poor or Acceptable?


title: Can a remote conditional have "might" in the protasis?

text: In the _Cambridge Grammar of the English Language_ by Huddleston and Pullum, the authors write: > A remote conditional must have a modal auxiliary as the apodosis verb > (usually _would, should, could_ , or _might_ ) and a modal preterite or > irrealis _were_ in the protasis. (p.739) A remote conditional is a conditional sentence using past or past perfect subjunctive mood. I'm wondering if "might" can be used in the protasis of a remote conditional. I could find examples of remote conditionals whose protases use "would, should, or could", but could not find an example using "might" in the protasis.


title: Why Abraham and not Avraham?

text: In the Hebrew scriptures Abraham's name is _Avraham_ and not Abraham ( _אַבְרָהָם_ ). Is has a _v_ and not a _b_. The same goes for Rebecca, who is called _Rivka_ in Hebrew. Both _v_ and _b_ sounds are represented by the same letter, the letter _ב_ , but the sound _b_ is represented by the letter with a dot inside (known as dagesh) and then it's called _bet_ , while the sound _v_ is represented by the letter without the dagesh and called _vet_ (Wiki article for the letter). Here is how they look: _בּ_ vs _ב_. In Arabic, Abraham is called _Ibrahim_ , also with _b_ , but the Arabic language has no _v_ sound so it's understandable that it's replaced. What is the source for the change is the sound?


title: What is the noun to describe whether a word is subject or object?

text: Just as "number" describes whether a noun is singular or plural, is there a noun that describes whether a pronoun is subject or object? For example: > The number of the first-person pronoun "I" is singular. > > The ___ _ of the first-person pronoun "I" is subject.


title: The meaning and usage of "be against this background"

text: The sentence I saw it in is: > It was **against this background** that Mitsubishi approached KFC with a > proposal to start a joint venture in Japan. It seems to mean "in the case", but I'm not sure and I cannot find a clear definition of it.


title: What's the difference between "colloquium", "seminar", and possibly other such words?

text: I was wondering what the differences are between   * _colloquium_   * _seminar_   * and some other possibly interchangeable words you might think off top of your head ... I get such notifications regularly from a certain person, and get confused when and why he uses which.


title: Changing "abroad on permanent accommodation" to sound better

text: Is it correct to say "to go abroad on permanent accommodation"? It doesn't sound right to me. What's the right way to say that? My pupil has written "some people go abroad on permanent accommodation". I assume he means that the people don't come back to their home country but become residents of other countries.


title: "I was wondering what/which are ..." or "I was wondering what/which ... are"

text: I can understand saying "I was wondering how is A doing?" is not grammatically correct. Instead we should say "I was wondering how A is doing?". On the other hand, I was wondering which one or both is grammatically correct:   1. "I was wondering what are the differences between A and B?"   2. "I was wondering what the differences between A and B are?" In my opinion both are correct, and the first one seems more balanced the the second, as A and B can be long.


title: "Everyone" or "everybody"

text: Are the words _everybody_ and _everyone_ interchangeable?


title: Where is "pejorative" pronounced " ˈpejəˌrātiv"?

text: Upon looking up the word _pejorative_ , I noticed two rather distinct pronunciations: > pəˈjôrətiv   >  ˈpejəˌrātiv I naturally assumed the first (which is apparently the more common), but was wondering in what parts of the world the second pronunciation is commonly used.


title: Contentment with "Settling for Less"

text: I'm looking for a word to describe an emotion in fictional lawyer Horace Rumpole. Several characters try to goad him into finding a better-paying, more prestigious job in law. He entertains the idea momentarily but looks at his life, ideals, and principles and then decides he's better off where he is. What I understand Aristotle's _eudaimonia_ to mean -- happiness derived by living according to virtue -- is close. But it does not always imply that there was cost (or loss of gain) in living so. For generality, I would rather the word not have the religious connotations of _righteousness_ or _martyrdom_. Ideally it could be used to describe a "He didn't take the money" situation that I see in some films: The hero agrees to do a job for money, but later (usually privately) refuses the agreed pay because of his principles. The hero (maybe reluctantly) understands that ultimately this is the way he wants it to be. Is there a single word to describe "contentment in a choice that costs you"?


title: Can I use indefinite article with superlative adjectives?

text: In most russian grammar books there is a rule saying that definite article must be used with superlative adjectives. However from time to time I see people using indefinite article. For example, a title of the film "A Most Wanted Man". Can somebody explain this?


title: Is the phrase "in common" a noun?

text: Is "in common" a noun? Some dictionaries say adjective, but some (Longman) have a 2nd definition for "in common" as a noun.


title: What is the closest match to 'Ignore' that keeps the passive nature?

text: The closest question searching found was Connotatively neutral alternatives to "ignorant"? which doesn't really help me. I'm trying to find synonyms for the word "Ignore" that don't change the meaning pretty drastically. Looking on http://thesaurus.com/browse/ignore pulls up the following as the top choice: > Avoid But in context this don't seem accurate to me, take: > I ignored the dog while I was walking. > > I avoided the dog while I was walking. One has a certain active feeling to it. I actively avoided the dog. Ignore is much more passive. By definition: > Ignore: refuse to take notice of or acknowledge > > Avoid: keep away from or stop oneself from doing Which confirms the idea. Ignore is without notice or acknowledgement. Avoid must have noticed or acknowledged to then keep away from. So, the question is what would a better synonym be for Ignore that keeps the passive nature? For the sake of question what I plan to use it for is along the lines of: > Unlike RF Tags, our advanced laser system ignores all RFI. > > Our advanced laser system was developed to ignore all duplicate tags. You can quickly see that Avoid doesn't work: > Unlike RF Tags, our advanced laser system avoids all RFI. > > Our advanced laser system was developed to avoid all duplicate tags.


title: Is there a symbol I can use as a substitute for a word or part of a word (similar to how ◌ is used for diacritics)?

text: I am making a chart that illustrates prefixes, suffixes and middles of words in Braille, and I was wondering if there is a symbol I can use to represent word, part of word or rest of word, similar to how `◌` is often used in diacritics examples. I would like to avoid the hyphen as there is some specific Braille for dealing with that. For example (just using ◌)   * ◌tion   * dis◌   * ◌dd◌


title: How can I rephrase "enough rope to shoot yourself in the foot"?

text: Some time ago I have a read a very famous book of Allen I. Holub "Enough rope to shoot yourself in the foot" (this book on openlibrary.org). I have read it in Russian and the book was titled with exact, i.e. word-by-word translation of the original English title. And, as you can imagine, it was totally nonsensical. Then I became interested in the meaning of the original title. I found out that this is a nice play of two idioms: **_give somebody enough rope (to hang themselves)_** meaning _to allow someone to do what they want to, knowing that they will probably fail or get into trouble_ **_to shoot yourself in the foot_** meaning _you do something that damages your ambition, career, etc._ I started to think about better translation, but the question is: can you think of a short phrase in English without idioms to keep the same meaning? It would be also interesting if there are proverbs or set expressions with the same idea.


title: Should thin spaces be used between numerals and units

text: After starting to use the siunitx package for typesetting units (and the numerals before the units) in LaTeX, I noticed that it typesets a single space between a numeral and a unit (a space that is not as wide as a normal space). I have tried unsuccessfully to find a proper reference that calls for this. Wikipedia mentions it on Space (punctuation), but the external reference given on the Wikipedia page, which is in this online .pdf brochure, does not say anything about thin spaces. It only mentions that there should be a space between numerals and units, but says nothing about the size of that space (in which case I think it is reasonable to assume that a normal space is referred to). I have added a question about this in the talk section for the Space article. What is the proper size of spaces between numerals and units? It would be interesting to know the source for the usage of thin spaces in siunitx, and if that is the way it "really should be".


title: Colloquial definition of "douchebag"

text: Obviously "douchebag" has a literal meaning - however if we see someone wearing sunglasses indoors, we would call them a douchebag. I'm trying to explain this to a friend. How do you verbalize this meaning of the word?


title: Do these adjectives refer to ice?

text: In this sentence from Wuthering Heights > I declined joining their breakfast, and, at the first gleam of dawn, took an > opportunity of escaping into the free air, now **clear** , and **still** , > and **cold** as impalpable ice Do the adjectives "clear", "still" and "cold" refer to "ice" which is used as a comparison to the air? Or is it only the adjective "cold" that refers to ice because it is preceded by a comma which separates it from the adjectives? What if the sentence went like this > I declined joining their breakfast, and, at the first gleam of dawn, took an > opportunity of escaping into the free air, now **fragrant** , and **light** > , and **cold** as impalpable ice Would you say that it is clear that "cold" only refers to the phrase "as impalpable ice" or is it possible that a reader would think all those adjectives are like impalpable ice?


title: Is there a difference between a "way" and a "means"?

text: From my workbook: > If you think that this is the most effective **means** of conveying our > brand name ... Does using _way_ instead of _means_ make sense? Also what is the difference between those two words and why _means_ is preferred in that sentence?


title: Grumbling vs Grumble (as nouns)

text: According to my dictionary, "grumbling" is a complaint about something, but "grumble" is also a complaint about something. I am used to using the "normal nouns - verbs as nouns" not gerund form as a noun. Someone told me that in the following sentences, "grumbling" must be used instead of "grumble", but they can't say why. > We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. > > She paid up with some grumbling. Again, I would use "grumble" instead.


title: What better way?

text: With this sentence > **What better way to** celebrate the peace **than** with a fight? Is "what better way to" an informal phrase? Would it be better to write > What is better than fighting as a way to celebrate the peace?


title: Is this a complete sentence?

text: There was an ad on telly I saw, saying > Relax, knowing your home is safe Is this a complete sentence that is grammatically correct? Could this go in an essay? What is the technical word for "knowing"? I know it's a verb. Would you call a present continuous verb and that's it? What about this sentence > Become part of this website, exploring new worlds and games Is this an okay sentence?


title: What is the difference between "He seemed to be angry." and "He seemed angry."?

text: I want to know the difference between the following sentences:   1. He seemed to be angry.   2. He seemed angry. I heard that when I use "to be" in the text like in above sentence, "to be" means "subjective". When without "to be" means objective. When somebody says "She seemed to be beautiful", It means she is beautiful to someone." When somebody says "She seemed beautiful?, It means that everybody thinks she is beautiful. Is that right?


title: What does "Suit yourself" mean?

text: I found this on SO and googled the idiom "suit yourself", but I couldn't find a matching translation. The context was that the questioner was nitpicking and the answerer lost his patience.


title: Should I use a singular or plural "one" here?

text: Sometimes I get confused over how and when we should use plurals. For example, should we say: > They are the only one who _is_ capable of doing this Or > They are the only one who _are_ capable of doing this When to use is/are? Why?


title: "flavorx" v.s. "flavors"

text: I wrote something about the food. And I use **flavors** for plural flavor, however my foreign English teacher corrected it as **flavorx**. And he considers that I also should read 'flavors'. I googled the word 'flavorx', but I almost can't find it used in the articles. Is 'flavorx' the right spell in that context? **Update on Jan 18** , I'm communicating with teachers via email. So I don't know who answered me. I raised my concern to the teachers again. The new reply says I can only use flavor or flavors (plural) as in taste or tastes.


title: Are the abbreviations IMO and IMHO synonymous to each other?

text: Is there a difference between IMO (In My Opinion) and IMHO (In My Honest Opinion)? You see both forms frequently being used in online conversatiosn. Do they mean the same, or is there a slight difference in meaning?


title: What's the longest monosyllabic word? And disyllabic?

text: Another question on the site made me take notice that _through_ is monosyllabic, but quite long. Are there longer monosyllabic words? What's the longest disyllabic word in English? **Edit:** so, Wikipedia has a page for monosyllabic words, but none for disyllabic ones. Anyone can think of any long disyllabic example?


title: Meaning of "one order of magnitude improvement"

text: > There is no single development, in either technology or management > technique, which by itself promises even one order of magnitude improvement > in productivity, in reliability, in simplicity. What exactly is the message trying to say? What exactly does it mean by _one order of magnitude improvement_?


title: Are there any other English syllables without vowels, besides "thm"?

text: As far as I _knew_ *, all English syllables have a vowel sound and all of them are spelled accordingly, except for "thm" as in **rhythm** and **algorithm**. Are there any others? And are there any etymological reasons why this / they exist(s)? * See JSBang's answer.


title: Etymology of “dude” and progression in language

text: On this one, etymonline really let me down. It says: > **dude**   >  1883, "fastidious man," New York City slang of unknown origin. The vogue > word of 1883, originally used in reference to the devotees of the > "aesthetic" craze, later applied to city slickers, especially Easterners > vacationing in the West However, Google Books research shows prior use in a few cases, including _Wit and humor of the age_ (1880): “There are three kinds of dudes in New York”. So, knowing not whom to turn to, I ask you: what more can be said of the origin of _dude_? Why was it first introduced to refer to “devotees of the ‘aesthetic’ craze”? And, how did it later progress in the language?


title: What's the difference between a 'Sourcer' and a 'Recruiter'?

text: In HR terms, what's the difference between a 'Sourcer' and a 'Recruiter'? Why is one preferred over the other?


title: When did "Pensylvania" become "Pennsylvania"?

text: On the Liberty Bell, it's spelled _Pensylvania_. Likewise on plenty of maps from the colonial days. When did it become _Pennsylvania_ (with three _n_ 's)?


title: What is the difference in usage between "lethal" and "fatal"?

text: This cropped up when I was in a conversation with a friend. I guess _fatal_ must talk of something which has necessarily resulted in death, while _lethality_ is more about potential to cause death. Yet I am not convinced by this explanation, because _lethality_ is associated with specific agents of death, like injection, dosage of medicine, weapons, etc. Could someone pin the exact difference in usage between these words? Are the following sentences alright, for instance?   * He has been diagnosed with a lethal type of cancer.   * He died after getting hit by the fatal weapon.


title: Are "excerpt" and "excerption" interchangeable?

text: Can _excerpt_ and _excerption_ replace each other in a particular sentence without changing its meaning? For example, given these two sentences: >   1. He presented **excerpts** from William James' philosophical writings. >   2. He presented **excerptions** from William James' philosophical > writings. > Do both these nouns give the same meaning or change the sense in any way? Or is either of these two sentences wrong?


title: Origin of the phrase "filthy rich"?

text: What is the origin of the phrase "filthy rich"?


title: Bachelor thesis or Bachelor's thesis

text: During my final year at university, I wrote what I thought was a "bachelor thesis". Right before printing it I stumbled upon several documents stating the name "bachelor's thesis". (Here we do not call it a dissertation just yet, so this question is only about the possessive _bachelor's_ vs. _bachelor_.) A couple of Google search queries later, I had not found out which of these terms is correct. Which should I use?


title: Can I use excluding at the end of expression of interval?

text: I want to express the fact that first part one of an XML file extents from the beginning to the Parameters section, but it does not include Parameters section. Can I express it like this: > The first section extends from the beginning of the file to the Parameters > section excluding? If not, is there some other way of using word **excluding** in such expression?


title: Hypocrisy, sincerity, and?

text: By definition **hypocrisy** is: > the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's > own behavior does not conform To illustrate an analogy, hypocrisy means that you claim to be 100, when you're 50. (higher number means better) Search for hypocrisy's antonyms and the most mentioned word I could find, was **sincerity** , which is: > the quality of being free from pretense, deceit, or hypocrisy. Again, using numbers illustration, it means that if you are 50, you show 50. I'm searching for a word to describe that you're 50, but you show 25. I can think of **modesty**. However, just like hypocrisy which is a negative trait (with negative connotation), I'm searching for a negative word. **Modesty** is good. I would enjoy being called a modest person. Maybe modest can be compared with **self-confident** , which is to show yourself bigger, but in a positive and welcomed way. What word can describe _showing less, but in an unpleasant way_ best?


title: The delivery may be accelerated?

text: I'm writing a quotation and have to estimate a delivery date. My estimate is that we will make the delivery at January 1st. However, this will be impacted by when the project starts. It is in our interest to start as soon as possible and want to express this in a subtle way. > The delivery date is estimated 01.01.2015, but may be accelerated if the > commencement of the project is earlier than 07.07.2014. According to my good friend, google translate, the "delivery may be accelerated" is the proper way to express this. Google returns 62000 hits for this phrase, so I won't be the first to write it that way, however, I'm not so sure it's the best way. Also "commencement of the project is earlier than" feels a bit wrong. I would actually like to write accelerated there, but in that case I can't use accelerated in the first part..? I don't want to write: "The delivery date will be impacted by the commencement date" as I want to focus on the positive (it can be done sooner but not later). Any views on this?


title: Is it possible to say so very and very so?

text: I know that it is correct to use: > Thank you **so very** much. As much as I know an adverb can be theoretically used to modify another adverb, so my question is: > Is it possible to say **very so much**? Or even, if something is "so very red", can it be "very so red"?


title: Using short adjectives as adverbs, such as "easy" & "short"

text: I know that some adjectives (such as easy & short) can be used as adverbs in some situations, but when can this happen and what adjectives does this apply to? This definitely works: "He stopped short" But does this?: "He fell pretty hard"


title: "Its" as a Possessive Pronoun

text: Since _its_ can be both determiner possessive pronoun and nominal possessive pronoun, an example of _its_ as determiner possessive pronoun would be: > We saved this question for last because of _its_ complexity. Because _complexity_ is a noun, so _its_ must be a determiner possessive pronoun in this sentence. I'm looking for an example where _its_ is used as nominal possessive pronoun in a sentence as above.


title: "cost incurred before" vs "cost incurred until"?

text: I am wondering which of the following is correct/preferable: > We need to take into account the cost incurred **until** action is finally > taken. vs > We need to account for the cost incurred **before** action is finally taken. For a bit of context: this passage refers to an hypothetical scenario where someone procrastinates until they finally address the issue at hand. The sentence wants to draw attention to the fact that there **are** costs associated with this delay in taking action.


title: Usage of the Past Perfect of "to be" for 2 (discrete) past events?

text: >   1. He **wasn't** resolute thus he confabulated with her. > How would I rewrite this sentence using the past perfect tense, because I sense that the sentence above currently is flawed? The first action was his lack of resoluteness, so **wasn't** should be in the past perfect. Yet this sounds wrong. Is it? > `2.` He **hadn't been** resolute thus he confabulated with her.


title: Is "public" plural or singular?

text: I wonder if the word "public" is plural or singular. Does anybody know?


title: Actual hours [is/are] greater than the estimates

text: Should I use **is** or **are** in this sentence? > Actual hours **[is/are]** greater than the estimates.


title: How did the "double consonant to shorten vowel" thing come about? ("furry" vs. "fury")

text: In English, a doubled consonant most commonly means "shorten the previous vowel", where "shorten" means map phonemes like this:   * [aɪ] -> [i]   * [oʊ] -> [ɔ]   * etc For example, fury is pronounced [fjʊri] but add another 'r' and you get [fəri]. Now, obviously this doesn't make much orthographic sense. So there must have been some historical reason for it. Anyone know? Relatedly, when a [k] sound shortens the previous vowel, the doubling is not even written 'kk', but rather 'ck' ('cracking') - why? This feature is in many Germanic languages too.


title: Is "redact" an acceptable substitute for "delete" or "omit?"

text: I am constantly reading comments and documents from people who use the verb _redact_ to refer to the act of _deleting_ or otherwise _censoring_ content. This never _seemed_ correct to me, but until today it never actually occurred to me to look up the dictionary definition. I just did, and this is what it says: > _**–verb (used with object)_**   >  **1.**   to put into suitable literary form; revise; edit.   >  **2.**   to draw up or frame (a statement, proclamation, etc.). Nowhere does this seem to indicate anything about _deletion_. I suppose that, in a very limited set of circumstances, redaction in the context of "editing for publication" might indeed involve the deletion of certain content, but that aspect seems incidental rather than fundamental. That said, I accept that plenty of "common English" hasn't made it to the dictionaries or style guides yet, so I'm wondering if maybe I missed a memo, because the "delete" definition seems to come up almost everywhere I look. For example:   1. > ...before sharing board minutes (or shareholder or committee minutes) with auditors or other third parties, carefully review the minutes and **redact (delete)** sections containing privileged information to avoid waiving the attorney-client privilege. [AllBusiness]   2. > The term **redaction** may not be a household term, but is often used in the legal community. **It's the practice of removing confidential or sensitive data before giving the document to others.** [ProductivityPortfolio]   3. On synonyms.net, it is actually defined as "edit" but has several "delete" synonyms listed: > cast, **edit out** , edit, blue-pencil, **cut** , redact, put, frame, couch, > **delete**   4. Adobe Acrobat even has a feature named Search and Redact that _deletes_ results. So... what exactly is going on here? Is this usage:   * Inane corp-speak parroted by people who have no idea what it means?   * Jargon that escaped from the legal profession and made it into common use?   * The result of most types of redaction being deletion, leading to natural confusion due to frequent use?   * A more mundane form of confusion - possibly with the similar-sounding _retract_?   * Just another case of the dictionary being at odds with the informal/spoken language? Basically, what I'm trying to understand is: **Is this really an acceptable usage of the word, and if so, then what is its real origin and/or justification?** Note: I'm having a little trouble making sense of the tagging conventions here, so please feel free to retag this if necessary.


title: What does "oi to ___" mean?

text: In the No Doubt song Oi to the World are the following words spoken: > He'd say "Oi to the punks and Oi to the skins > > But Oi to the world and everybody wins" So what does the phrase mean? It seems to mean "screw them" in the first 2 instances, but that doesn't fit in with the last one.


title: "Lick on a trick for a Rolex" — meaning?

text: I heard this line in the rap song _Ghetto Bird_ by Ice Cube (full lyrics here) and I'm completely puzzled by its meaning. > My homey's here to **lick on a trick for a Rolex**   >  And let me try the four next   >  Now the four I was driving was hotter than July   >  looked up and didn't see it whippin' in the sky   >  Saw a chopper with numbers on the bottom   >  "Calling all cars, I think we've got em." I learned that _lick_ can mean "easy money", and _a trick_ can mean "a naive person", "a sex act with a prostitute", or "a robbery". I could come up with several combinations of these meanings that would make sense on their own, but none of such combinations makes sense together with the following lines. Could somebody enlighten me what this line really means?


title: Why did only English undergo the Great Vowel Shift, making pronunciation stray so far from spelling?

text: Lots of people have wondered why English seems to be one of very few languages with such irregular spelling, far from its pronunciation. The answers include the Norman invasion, and the Great Vowel Shift. Ok, cool. But why did all those _other_ languages not have the same thing happen to them? German, Spanish, Italian, all Slavic languages, etc. They don't have a silent 'e', they don't have the day/date poke/soak treat/tree vowel dualities, etc. They still ascribe vowels the same sounds they ascribed them many centuries ago. Is it because England had more trade contact and colonies? Or because they're on an isolated island? Or why?


title: "Decision" vs. "resolution"

text: I read the following sentence: > We can defer a resolution, but not a decision. ...and I would like to know what the differences are between "decision" and "resolution" in that context.


title: Can the word Gentoo be used in a derogatory way?

text: I was reading a Wikipedia article on Gentoo Penguin and came across the following Paragraph. > The application of Gentoo to the penguin is unclear. The Oxford English > Dictionary notes that Gentoo used to be an Anglo-Indian term used as early > as 1638 to distinguish Hindus in India from Muslims. The English term > originated from the Portuguese gentio (compare "gentile"); in the 20th > century the term came to be regarded as derogatory. I am particularly interested to know why the Portuguese word gentio from which the English Term Gentoo originated is regarded as derogatory. In the similar context does the same English Term would also be regarded as derogatory similar to the root word? **Context** We have named our baby "Gentoo" and now I have realized that the term may be pejorative.


title: Event: "archived" vs. "filed" vs. "shelved"

text: I'm coding a database that has an Events table with a status field. When an event's date has not yet passed, the status is _Published_. I would like to use a term to mean that the date of the event has passed, something like _Archived/Filed/Shelved_. Which is the correct way to express it?


title: 'Seen as' or 'seeing as'

text: Look at these examples: > You should clean the milk **seen as** you spilt it.   >  You should clean the milk **seeing as** you spilt it. Which one is correct, and how is it grammatically defined/termed?


title: "Game money" vs "Play money"

text: In this blog post Tobold uses the term "play money" to indicate money that is used in games such as MMORPGs. Is this a correct term to name such money? If not, what is the correct one?


title: reporting statements: that-clauses

text: How would you write the negative statement of: > She declared the item to be faulty, the police reported the girl to be > missing. Would it be: > She declared the item not to be faulty, the police reported the girl not to > be missing. or > She declared the item to be not faulty, the police reported the girl to be > not missing. or > She declared the item to not be faulty, the police reported the girl to not > be missing.


title: Term for someone who keeps rejecting ideas without specifying what they want

text: Is there a particular word or phrase for when you keep giving suggestions and advice to someone about a broad topic and that person keeps rejecting the ideas but won't specifically say what they want to hear? Example: During a brainstorming session, I offered a couple of ideas, which were dismissed. Months later, it turned out the group leader only intended to pursue one avenue. (I wish he would have said so at the meeting.) What do you call a person who is deliberating coy about something and allowes others continue to labor under the illusion that they're being productive when they are secretively not really interested in suggestions that don't align with his idea?


title: Is it correct to use 'against of' in the following sentence?

text: Please read the following sentences. > 1) We are against of removing our resource when there is no work. > > 2) We are against removing our resource when there is no work. Which sentence is correct? Also: I think 'sacking' is not a polite word. Am I right? Thanks,


title: What is the origin of "Couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo"?

text: This picturesque expression, meaning 'not a very good shot with a rifle' or (of a footballer) unable to score any goals, has cropped up a few times recently in my reading. Does anyone know where it originated?


title: Indicate title without italics or underline

text: How do you indicate the title of a major work if neither italics nor underline are available? Would you fall back on quotes or should you use something else? Text messages are an example of where this may come up.


title: Causative infinitive “get”

text: I have the following sentence: > I've got a lot of things to get done by this weekend. Is it correct? Is _to get done_ a valid causative form?


title: When to use under and over as prefixes rather than adverbs with past participles

text: Is there a rule on when under and over are used as prefixes rather than adverbs when attached to past participles (and whether or not they are hyphenated)? In general, it seems that both words are sufficient as adverbs, e.g., "this paper is under cited." However, we often see under and over attached as a prefix, e.g., "this paper is under-cited." In addition there are certain words where under/over are "built-in", e.g., "this company is understaffed." Is this simply a matter of convention or are there clearer rules on how the words should be paired? Are there differences in meaning when under is used as an adverb rather than a prefix (e.g., does "under cited" mean something different than "under-cited")?


title: came/come to an end

text: I am writing a letter, but got confused with "come/came to an end". Here is my scenario. Few years back I was working for a company then switch to another company. Right now I am writing a letter about it. > My tenure at XYZ **came** to an end, when I decided to broaden my knowledge > by working for ABC. Is this statement correct?


title: Pronounciation of with

text: For me its quite hard to pronounce 'with' correctly, especially when I try to speak faster. For example saying 'with sauce" nearly breaks my tongue. Do you have any advice for me? Can I reduce the with somehow? Like saying "wi.. sauce"?


title: When can I use an interrobang‽

text: I have only ever seen the interrobang discussed as a novelty; I've never seen it used in context. Is there a situation in which its use is acceptable?


title: How to say "the quality of being accomplished"?

text: "to tire" is to become exhausted. "tired" means exhausted. "tiredness" is the state of being exhausted. Similarly, "to accomplish" means to complete a goal (let's say), "accomplished" means completed, "*accomplishedness" is the state of being accomplished? What should go there? More generally, how do you noun adjectives that you can't add `-ness` to? Related to this question.


title: What do you call a subordinate clause that follows its main clause but is wrongly punctuated as a separate sentence?

text: “This compelled the chancellor to shut down the whole program. Which was an outcome no one really wanted.” I suspect that what underlies this error is the sense that in spoken English a substantial pause (or even a change of speaker in conversation) might well precede the subordinator. If this suspicion is correct, then the correction most true to the writer’s intention would be to combine the two sentences into one, perhaps with a dash instead of just a comma, rather than to edit the second sentence into independence (here, by substituting “This” for “Which”). I find this sort of thing lamentably common in student writing lately, and have accordingly felt the need of a term for it. The term I came up with is “continuation fragment”—that is, a continuation of the preceding sentence wrongly punctuated as a separate sentence. Is there, however, a more established or usual term?


title: actual / wise or both

text: We had an exam today and here is the question on which I was confused. > Fill in the gaps. > >> Justin is a very hardworking student. His ideas and words are ___ __and useful. There were 2 options: _wise_ and _actual_. As you might guess, about 50% of us chose _wise_ and others chose _actual_. We want to know that which one of these can not be used in this sentence?


title: “On the principle” versus “Under the principle”

text: Is there a significant difference between the two? As far as I can tell, they seem to be used interchangeably.


title: Word for words expressing utterances

text: Is there a term for the sort of words that sometimes precede dialogue or quotations, like _say_ , _ask_ , _write_ , _answer_ , _cry,_ and _reply_?


title: Other ways to say "I have a bad hunch"

text: I'm looking for ways to say "I'm having a bad hunch", or more like a bad feeling about something upcoming. The gut-wrenching feeling that something bad will happen.


title: Is the word 'request' by itself as polite form of asking for something?

text: Is there a difference in the degree of politeness between saying 'I request that you...' and 'Could you, please, ...'? I realize that I could say 'I kindly request...' or 'I would like to kindly request...'. WHY I ASK FOR CLARIFICATION: Someone is using word 'request' on a regular basis without words 'could you', 'would you', 'please' or 'kindly' and whom I suggested to consider using softer forms of language in communication with others (not necessarily with me). That person sent me back the following explanation: * * * re·quest /riˈkwest/ **Noun** An act of asking politely or formally for something. **Verb** Politely or formally ask for. Nothing "rough edge" about that, is there? This is actually a word used often everywhere, as I had received communications with it from my OT school and jobs and from friends. So perhaps maybe it's just rough edge for you? * * *


title: Name of the high pitch sound produced when objects are hit against each other underwater

text: For instance, when a spoon or ice cube hits a glass of water


title: meaning of "grunt" when it comes to towing

text: The title of the humorous story is "The Sun got stuck" > “I don't suppose you could give us a tow, could you, sister?” > > Luna's eyebrows shot up, “How? With what? The sun's 400 times larger than > the moon, and even if I could give you a tow, it'd take me 8 light minutes > to get there! And besides, I may have lowered it and put a supercharger in, > but I'd never have enough **grunt** to tow it! Sorry, sis, but you're on > your own. You can fix it, can't you?” I tried the usual (Wiktionary, Merriam-Webster, The Free, Dictionary.com) and none of the definitions (foot soldier, sound, menial worker, fish, dessert), seem to match this kind of usage. What does _grunt_ in this context mean?


title: Capitalising when starting sentence with digits

text: This might be more a typography related question than actual language question, but I didn’t know where else to turn. First of, I am perfectly aware that it’s generally considered bad form—regardless of style guide—to start a sentence with digits. However, therein lies the problem; it’s a date The style guide in question specifies that in this instance, one should use digits. So what does one do in such an instance, where you have to start a sentence—for whatever reason—with a digit. The options, as I see them, are;   * Capitalise the date, lead with a titling figure and keep the rest in text figures.   * Use only text figures, and breaking the rule about starting a sentence in the wrong case.   * Use only titling figures and make your body text look silly.   * Toss the style guide and avoid the problem. (Albeit a perfectly valid option, I don’t want to do that, mostly because _I really want to know how one should capitalise digits_.) The date format in question, using today’s date: 21 October 2013. For the sake of argument, let’s exclude the “prefixing the date with ‘the’,” option, shall we? Edit: Examples illustrated as per request, in order mentioned. ![examples](http://i.stack.imgur.com/38yzG.png)


title: "I care for you" versus "I care about you"

text: I would like to know if there is a semantic difference between _I care for you_ and _I care about you_.


title: Is there a better term for a male pig [literal sense--the animal] than "boar"?

text: I googled `male pig word` and got results that said the word was _boar._ I thought, "That's odd; I thought that was the word for a _wild_ pig!" So I visited Dictionary.com and sure enough, it has both meanings: > boar [bawr, bohr]   >  noun   >  1\. the uncastrated male swine.   >  2\. wild boar.   >  adjective   >  3\. South Midland and Southern U.S. (of animals) male, especially full- > grown: a boar cat. So I was wondering, since there exists a term that _only_ means _female pig-- sow,_ does such a word exist that _only_ means _male pig_ and nothing else? I'm looking for a unique term.


title: Can I use a colon twice in one sentence?

text: Can I use a colon twice in a sentence. For example, 'These are hugely important factors for S. Oliver Canada as we’re dealing with a brand: 1) that is unknown in our market and: 2) that is known for low prices.'


title: What is a term for using a large word that the speaker/writer clearly thinks means something other than what it does?

text: A lot of times I'll hear a politician or see a commenter in a public forum where they clearly think the meaning of one or more words they use is something other than the real meaning. Is there a term for this type of "near miss?"


title: A general word for weapons which are not considered firearms

text: Is there a general word for an assault weapon which cannot be considered firearm? For example knives, knuckles, a piece of metal, etc. Could 'Stabbing' be the right word for it?


title: What would you call a former criminal who has been released from prison?

text: What do you call a former criminal who has served their sentence and been released from prison? I thought of “convicted criminal”, but that might imply the person is still a criminal and/or serving a sentence.   * Does “convicted criminal” fit this definition?   * Are there other--better--words that are more accurate?


title: Origin of the term "fat chance"

text: The phrase "fat chance" can be used as a way of sarcastically describing the impossibility of something, but where did it originate from? I've googled it several times, and it always comes up with the definition, not the origin.


title: Is it "flavor saver" or "flavor savor"?

text: I recently got into an oddly heated discussion about whether a specific style of facial hair around a man's mouth is called > Flavor saver, as in "saving the flavor for later" or > Flavor savor, as in "enjoying the flavor over time" Urban dictionary has both spellings. Is there a definitive answer out there? Are both really correct? Or is it, as someone else suggested, neither of these. Rather, it's `flava sava` and the ambiguity "makes it more delicious." (Although when I looked up Flava Sava, I got Flavr Savr, which is apparently a breed of tomato.)


title: Is it true that "tuppence" refers to a woman's vagina in British English slang? If so, why?

text: I was looking up a definition online, as I often do, in this case the British slang word _tuppence_ ; I got the standard "a slang reference to a coin denomination" definition from Wikipedia, but stumbled on these interesting ones given at The Urban Dictionary: > **tuppence** > > Olden day word for a little girls [vagina]. Was once also slang word for > money in ye olde england. > > _Fanny wiped her tuppence with a dish rag. Tally Ho._ > > * * * > > Another word for a females Vagina. > > _A man has a winkle and a woman has a tuppence._ On one hand, those are two presumably independent contributors giving the same definition. On the other hand, you often can't trust The Urban Dictionary on some types of words, especially ones that have sexual meanings, because it's titillating for some people to give outrageous sexual definitions. Some my questions are: Are the definitions given by these two correct? If so, what's the thinking behind the term?


title: What is the meaning of the name Zacharias Mulletstein?

text: I saw the name Zacharias Mulletstein in a newsgroup and thought "what a peculiar yet interesting name." When I mentioned this name to a friend (because the post by this fella was amusing) they said "Oh come now. That person really needs to get a better name." So I'm wondering, what is the meaning of this name? I couldn't find anything useful from Google aside from more postings by this person, and I neglected to ask my friend why they thought that about this name. Thanks a lot for any insight you can provide, even if only for one half of the name.


title: Which one is better, a matter of urgency, or simply urgency?

text: > It becomes a matter of urgency to establish the accountability of the public > officials. > > It becomes an urgency to establish the accountability of the public > officials. Which one is better? I think “a matter of urgency” is both redundant and unclear.


title: Is "morality in conduct of .."" a natural expression?

text: Which one is better? > There is a deep gap between morality in personal conduct of the officials > and the public expectation for it. vs. > There is a deep gap between the behavior of the officials and the public > expectation for it. I doubt that the expression “morality in one’s conduct” is redundant. It occurs to me that behavior and expectation can be a pair to form a good contrast.


title: Ophthalmic usage in Great Expectations

text: In chapter 10 of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, it says: > Yet I do not call to mind that I was ever in my earlier youth the subject of > remark in our social family circle, but some large-handed person took some > such **ophthalmic** steps to patronize me. I searched up the word "ophthalmic" and I got "of or relating to the eye and its diseases." What does this mean in the sentence?


title: Which question tag below is correct? Apparently the second is correct but I want to put emphasis on first part of the sentence " I take it ..."

text: 1. "I take it that your question has to do with what my perception is of being a good teacher, isn't it?"   2. "I take it that your question has to do with my perception is of being a good teacher, hasn't it?"


title: Is the word “comparator” widely used outside of IT and computing — say, in statistics?

text: I came across the word “comparator” in the report of International Monetary Fund under the title, “Can women save Japan?” (WP/12/248) co-authored by Chad Steinberg and Masao Nakane   “Japan has FLP rates similar to comparator countries for women in their early twenties, but the participation rate drops off sharply for women in their late twenties and thirties.” As I have never heard of such word as “comparator countries / territories/ companies,” I checked Google Search, and found out definitions; ●www.weblio.jp Computer /IT terminology Dictionary: Generic term of precision measurement. Comparative measurement devices that determine the length of the object by comparing measuring object and standard scale by using microscope. ●Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia (Electronics term)An element that can switch power output by comparing two different voltage or electric current. The word is also applied to the apparatus that compare two different data. ●dictionary.goo.ne.jp › A device designed for measuring minimum length with extreme precision. Comparative measurement instrument to determine the difference of the length of object and standard gauge by using high powered micro-scope. ●www.kab-studio.biz Interface for class comparison processing. To me, none of the above definitions seems to be applicable to the quoted line, “Japan has FLP rates similar to comparator countries for women in their early twenties.” At the same time, I don’t believe the writers of authoritative organization like IMF makes misuse of word. So, what does “comparator countries” mean? Does it mean the object countries of research, or simply the countries surveyed in this specific survey.? Is it **very common** usage of the word “comparator” in comparative, or vital statistics, or even in daily conversation? If possible, I’d like to listen to the specific opinion from statistic specialists.


title: Is ‘misunderestimate’ a received (American) English word?

text: I found the word ‘misunderestimating’ in the article written by Peter Catapano under the caption 'Don't stop believing' in Opinionator’s Column section of New York Times (April 29). The word is not entirely unfamiliar to me, because I think I’ve seen it in Sarah Palin’s speech before (if my memory is correct). However, as combination of ‘mis’ and ‘under’-estimate seems to me somewhat redundant, I checked up several English Japanese dictinaries at hand together with Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Cambridge Online Free Dictionary, and found that none of them carries the word, ‘misunderestimate.’ Are ‘misunderestimate’ and ‘misunderestimation’ received English or received American English? - - because, it’s been used by big guns like Sarah Palin and NYT columist. The word appears in the following ending line of the above article: > “Or what does it say for us? Are we misreading the man that Spy magazine > famously dubbed the “short-fingered vulgarian” way back in the 1980s? Are we > _misunderestimating_ the man who has monopolized an outsized portion of a > vast media space in recent weeks and forced the hand of the President of the > United States?


title: What's the difference between "finance hub" and "financial hub"?

text: Though the phrase "financial hub" is much more widespread (according to a Google search), I have seen "finance hub" as well on news sites. Does the second have a different meaning?


title: "It is" + present simple

text: > If **it is build** here, it will be next to a large housing estate. Can anyone tell me if "it is build" in the above sentence is correct? And if so, why isn't it in the form "it is" + past participle? Shouldn't the correct form be "If it is _built_ here..."?


title: Logical fallacy brain-freeze

text: There must be a name for this sort of after-the-fact non-argument. Sorry, this is the only way I could find to describe it. * * * Debbie finds a kitten. Kitten has been burned over half its body, but it's alive. Debbie says, 'The kitten wants to live!' and takes it to a vet. Bob says, 'The kitten is suffering and will continue to suffer horribly, the kindest thing would be to euthanize her.' Debbie refuses; the kitten continues to suffer for months but in the end manages to survive. Bob says, 'The kitten suffered unnecessarily.' Debbie then says to Bob, 'The kitten would now be dead had it been up to you. You have no respect for life.'


title: Use of the word "beeves"

text: In what sentence would you need to use the plural of _beef_? The plural is _beeves_. > Plural form of _beef_ (sense 1 of the noun). I have tried every sentence that it could be necessary but I cannot find one.


title: Should we avoid a "double passive"?

text: Does it sound strange to say "An emergency meeting is expected to be held soon." or "The new highway is proposed to be built across the swamp." Should we avoid this type of construction ?


title: What is a good synonym for "badass" that would be usable in a high school setting?

text: I'm looking for a better way to say "orchestral brass musicians are badass" that doesn't use any words that could be considered profanity. (If you're not sure what I mean by orchestral brass musicians, as far as I'm concerned they're the equivalent of Samuel L. Jackson.)


title: "Scheduled to" vs. "scheduled for"

text: If there is this: > source   >  He is **_scheduled to_** a confirmation hearing on January 24, 2013 before > the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the same panel where he first > testified in 1971, and of which he is currently the head; he must then be > confirmed by the full Senate. Could "scheduled **to** " be an error? Should it be replaced by "scheduled **for** "?


title: Words having two prefixes incorporated

text: There are prefixes of time and order (pre-, post-), of location (sub-, super-), for expressing the reversing of an action (de-, dis-), and go on. English words may take prefixes from one or two of those groups. Words of the latter types are, for example, _unpremeditated_ or _antidisestablishment_. Is there a name for words, like _unpremeditated_ or _antidisestablishment_ , having two prefixes incorporated?


title: Quantification of Frequency Adverbs

text: This is a list of common frequency adverbs in English with rough estimates of their absolute frequency someone has posted on an ESL study site: > Always (100% of the time)   >  Frequently (about 90% of the time)   >  Usually (about 80% of the time)   >  Often (about 70% of the time)   >  Sometimes (about 50% of the time)   >  Occasionally (about 40% of the time)   >  Seldom (about 20% of the time)   >  Rarely (about 10% of the time)   >  Never (zero percent of the time) Clearly, the usage of "never" (0%) and "always" (100%) as it relates to an absolute frequency would never be in question, but it is unclear if it is possible to say a given usage of a frequency adverb was correct if the exact absolute frequency or range of frequencies it represents were known. For example, take the word "sometimes" - how would you know that 20% or 80% "of the time" would be a poor usage of the term, but 50% would be okay? Clearly, statically speaking there is a huge difference between 20% and 80% of the time, but it is unclear how a given frequency adverb's usage with an absolute frequency or frequency range would be accessed to be appropriate, or for that matter, inappropriate. Is it ever possible to prove that the usage of frequency adverb is valid or invalid based on knowing the absolute frequency or range of frequencies it represents, and if so, how? Which is to say, is it possible to assign a range of frequencies to a frequency adverb and know they're correct, and if so, how? If so, is the list referenced above correct, and if not, why?


title: “Is this understanding correct?” anything more polite than this?

text: Do we have a more polite way to say “Is this understanding correct?”. I often find it a little tough question to ask to clients. Anything that sounds more polite and means the same? And also, is the above question grammatically correct?


title: He has just been offered or he was offered

text: What are the differences in meaning between the below two sentences: >   1. He _was just offered_ a well-paid job with Radio Four. (Past Simple > Passive) >   2. He _has just been offered_ a well-paid job with Radio Four. (Present > Perfect Passive) > Both are grammatically correct, but what are the real meaning if I use #1 / #2?


title: what does drew imply in the following

text: Consider the following: > She _drew_ the curtains. What does drew mean here? Does it mean that she closed or opened the curtains? According to _American English Thesaurus_ , draw could imply both _open_ and _close_. >  4\. she drew the curtains: close, shut, lower; open, part, pull back, pull > open, fling open, raise. If it implies _close_ , what will be the opposite of _drew_? I am looking for something better than _open_.