title: What is the act of self-referencing?

text: Ok, so something can be _self-referencing_. "This sentence contains thirty-eight letters." or "This is not a pipe." ![The Treachery Of Images \(1928-29\) by René Magritte depicts a pipe along with text stating "This is not a pipe."](http://i.stack.imgur.com/fpv6N.jpg) But what is "doing that" called? Along the lines of how _self-deprecating_ is _self-deprecation_. Thought maybe… _self-referenciation_ , but that doesn't seem to exist. How ironic.


title: Alternative to "We'll just have to agree to disagree"

text: Is there a polite alternative to "We'll just have to agree to disagree" that can be used as an exit strategy from a relatively friendly debate when a person feels they've said all they have to say and no longer wishes to press the point, but doesn't wish to "walk out of the room and slam the door" or imply "having the last word"? My issue with the phrase is that it seems very cliché / overused, to the point of almost having a negative connotation (to me, it has a subtle ring of "superiority" that I can't quite put my finger on -- it almost has a "weasel word" quality to it due to its overuse).


title: Single word to describe positive, matured, or loving attitude towards life

text: I am planning to create a new Twitter or Facebook account and my own website, which will be used to share happiness, awareness, positivity, motivation, related images/quotes to the people who follow/subscribe it. I want to decide a good name for the website domain or you can say Facebook page/Twitter account username. I need some suggestions to show following qualities:   * I love to face challenges, I never give up   * I love life **a lot**   * I love family,social friends and **strangers** too   * I believe in constantly progressing in life, I never regret In short, **I don't have any single complaint to life; it is very beautiful and amazing, I love to live _each second_ of the day**.


title: How do you properly punctuate a list of expresssions?

text: If I'm listing expressions in a sentence, do I put the proper punctuation for the sentence _as well as_ a comma after the expression? For example: **Objectives** To learn to use the expressions "Would you like to run?", "Yes, I would.", and "No, I wouldn't." OR **Objectives** To learn to use the expressions "Would you like to run," "Yes, I would," and "No, I wouldn't." * * * Additionally, should there be any punctuation after the word "expressions"?


title: Citing a book where no formatting of text is possible

text: In forums such as this, where it's not possible to format the title of a question, is there an appropriate way to refer to a title of a book? For example, in this question I enclose the title of a textbook in quotes. Is that okay?


title: What is the most popular buzz word spoken in this year in U.S., U.K and other English speaking countries?

text: In Japan, people are keen about what word is chosen as the Grand Prix winning word of the Most Popular Buzz Word of the Year -MPBW. The contest was initiated in 1884 by a publisher, Jiyukokumin-sha, well-known for its long life best seller, “The Basic Knowledge of Contemporary Words - BKCW” that is updated every year. The candidate words are selected by panelist members from thousands of new words registered in BKCW and put to public vote. The result is announced on December 1st every year, and reported and televised by major newspapers, magazines and TVs. Many people join the vote for MPBW, and what word is selected as the Grand Prix word of MPBWY is a sort of national interest nowaday. This years’ Grand Prix word voted as the most popular buzz word was "Nadesiko (fringed pinc flower, an alias of beautiful but courageous Japanese women) Japan", All Japan team of professional female soccer that won 2011 Women’s World Soccer Cup. 2nd Kizuna – Human bond: possibly evoked with Great Earthquake association. 3rd Kodama de shoka? – Is it an echo?: the phrase of famous female poet used in a public organization's TV commercial to support and cheer up victims of Eastern Japan Earthquake. 4th 3.11: the day Eastern Japan M9 earthquake took place. 5th Sumapho: smart phone. Reflecting the tide of time, this year's top-ranking MPBW words are mostly and specifically associated with Eastern Japan earthquake. Do you have the same event as MPBWY? If you have, what is the most popular buzz word that prevailed in this year. If you don’t have, what do you think is the most popular buzz word that came up to people's mouth in this year, in your country?


title: Why does the verb 'have' require 'do' or 'got' and cannot be used alone?

text: When I began to study English, about 50 years ago, I was taught to ask, for instance, 'Have you a car?' and, if the answer was negative, to answer 'I have not a car.' However, when I came back to study English, I learnt that now I should ask ' **Do** you have a car?' or 'Have you **got** a car?' and reply 'I **do** not have a car,' or 'I have not **got** a car.' When _did_ this change take place and why?


title: Is "Cost savings" a singular term or plural terms?

text: Can I use _Cost savings_ in the following sentence as a singular term? > Cost savings is often seen with these program.


title: Do you use "pick nits"?

text: Recently I have been watching **What's my car worth?** One person said several times, "I like to pick nits.", as in being a nitpicker. Do you use or have ever heard "pick nits"? It is used?


title: What's the difference between a half-truth and a half-falsehood?

text: According to Merriam-Webster, a half-truth is ' _a statement that mingles truth and falsehood with deliberate intent to deceive_ ', yes, but a bit of searching shows that on-line dictionaries don't have an entry for _half- falsehood_ , and so, in the lack of this definition, the first thing to come to my mind is that one could define it the same way a half-truth is defined ' _a statement that mingles truth and falsehood with deliberate intent to deceive_ '. Maybe it is so, however a doubt arose as to whether in a half-falsehood there is a ' _deliberate_ ' intent to deceive. I don't know why, but I'm under the impression that one utters a half- falsehood in order to save themselves rather then to deceive other persons, let alone to _deliberately_ deceive them. Therefore, what's the difference between a half-truth and a half-falsehood?


title: Can the verb 'be' be modified?

text: Comments on this question, now closed, considered whether the verb _be_ could be modified by an adverb. This seems a question worth pursuing in its own right, so may I ask what _completely_ modifies in the following sentence, if it doesn't modify _be_? > Whatever you choose to be, be completely. **Edit:** And how about these? > He is almost a doctor. > > Finally he is a doctor.


title: Usage of 'if' and 'if not' to mean 'and perhaps even/also'

text: Consider the sentence: > While this assumption, on its own, is relatively innocuous, if implausible, > in practice, it is supplemented by assumptions... The 'if' here really means something more like 'but perhaps also'. Another sentence: > He appeared very happy, if not exuberant, at her arrival. 'if not' here means something like 'and perhaps even', as if the latter statement should be a more extreme version of the former. But it also feels like an exclusive disjunction. That is, it is one or maybe the other, but not both. On the other hand, 'if' by itself feels like both statements could be true. I can conjure up many examples where both 'if' and 'if not' violate my above descriptions and many more which just seem malformed and awkward but fit them, e.g., ' _He seems happy, if not a little confused'_. or _'The proof appeared correct, if sloppily constructed,'.._. Adding further confusion, if I make a small change to the previous example: _'The proof appeared correct, if a little sloppy, .._ , it feels correctly formed although the semantics or grammar have not changed substantially (although I could be wrong as I am thoroughly confused now). **So my questions are: are there any concise descriptions of how to use 'if' and 'if not'? Does this grammar usage have a name? When are they interchangeable and when not?** Thanks


title: Expression for "intend to help but instead making things worse"

text: I want to say "someone (or something) intends to help, but instead it makes things worse". Is there any succinct expression or phrase for this? Thanks.


title: What is the word for moving your lips without making a sound?

text: Is there an English word to describe the act of moving one's lips as though speaking but without making a sound? One would do this with the expectation that the person he is attempting to communicate with will read his lips. As an example, if I walk into my boss's office while he is on the phone and he tells me to "wait a sec..." while wrapping up his phone conversation but without the person on the other end of the phone hearing. Is there a single word for that?


title: Is there a proper way to quote something someone said in a press release without using the form: said Nate?

text: For example: > "The English StackExchange site will pwn the crap out of all the other > English language resource sites on the interwebs," said Jeff Atwood, CTO of > Stack Overflow. Though I can't find a reference at the moment, I feel I have also seen this form before: > "The English StackExchange site will pwn the crap out of all the other > English language resource sites on the interwebs."   >  -- Jeff Atwood, CTO of Stack Overflow Is the second form acceptable? Is it proper? Furthermore, is the person's title in the second form proper? Or should it be: > -- Jeff Atwood, CTO, Stack Overflow _PS. No, it's not a real quote._


title: Picked, perked or pricked up?

text: I hear and read these three words used in the same context in English, but is one of them more correct than the others? "The witch's cat picked up his ears" "Last year, when Mahmout heard that EGA would pay for several thousand mules for Greece, he perked up his ears." "As they were speaking, a dog that had been lying asleep raised his head and pricked up his ears."


title: What do you call it when people mix truth and lies?

text: A common tactic in the deliberate spread of misinformation such as is common in chain emails, is to state something true and easily proven in order to gain the reader's trust, then follow it with a lie that the trusting reader will not bother to verify. An example is the Obamacare/dhimmitude email, which correctly defines the term "dhimmitude" as a Muslim tax on non-muslims, and encourages the reader to "Google it." Then the email claims that the word appears in the Obamacare law, which it doesn't. But the email gets passed around anyway, because people never bother to check. So my question is, is there a name for this tactic?


title: Fodder - idiomatic meaning

text: Source: http://news.yahoo.com/little-sign-progress-obama-putin-speak-231431925 --politics.html > While U.S. officials denied those accusations, confirmation of Brennan's > visit could provide **fodder** for Russian officials to create a pretext for > further incursions into eastern Ukraine. What are the authors trying to suggest and what does in this context the word **fodder** mean?


title: how to conjugate verb in dependent clause inside subjunctive mood

text: In the sentence > I pretended that I understood, lest he think I am stupid or deaf. the "he think" part is definitely present subjunctive, but I'm not sure how the "I am" part should be conjugated. I'm thinking it might also be present subjunctive: > I pretended that I understood, lest he think I **be** stupid or deaf. or past subjunctive: > I pretended that I understood, lest he think I **were** stupid or deaf. All three sound all right to me. Is there one correct conjugation to use in this case?


title: Part of speech: "early"

text: What part of speech is _early_ in "I had my lunch early"? Is it an adjective or an adverb?


title: Surely *some* wordsmiths must love America[ns]?

text: People who like/admire English or French (the languages and/or the people and their culture) are easily identified as _Anglophiles_ or _Francophiles._ I'm not sure there are so many _Germanophiles,_ but that might be because they're diluted by the presence of _Teutophiles_. My problem is on the (not ridiculously rare) occasions when I want to express positive feeling towards _American_ people (or their linguistic peculiarities), I don't have a similar word. Am I missing something obvious? Or is there a little-known term?


title: How do you call someone whom you ship your product to?

text: This person receives your product but they MAY or MAY NOT be your customer (maybe someone who can deliver it to your customer like their relative or friends BUT NOT some delivery company). Also, their details are added to under 'Shipping Details' by the customer maybe because your customer doesn't have a permanent address yet. How do you call this person? Some names I could think of are 'receiver' or 'referee' or 'trustee' but I don't think they're accurate enough in business terms.


title: On being golden

text: Saying that _[someone] is golden_ means that person is in a desirable situation that will likely lead to some sort of success. I am trying to find out the origin of this phrase. So far, I have found sites that suggest that:   * It is used mainly in spoken informal American English   * It may have originated in the military Does anyone have a more definitive and reputable explanation for the origin of this expression?


title: "Hurry, give me anything that will hold water!" What verb tense is this?

text: In the following sentence, "Hurry, give me anything that will hold water!" What verb tense is "will hold" ? Not future simple, I presume.


title: What is the meaning of the phrase "picking up friction"?

text: Earlier today, I used the phrase "picking up friction" thinking it was a common saying. Later intrigued by the possible history of the phrase, a Google search turned up pretty much no results for the phrase as I used it. I consulted a friend who also believed the phrase sounded familiar, and agreed that the meaning went something like "to rise in popularity". > Ever since people realized how cute squirrels were, the squirrel market has > been picking up friction. Is there a reason as to why it feels completely natural for me to say it, and why other people may possibly understand it?


title: How should I pluralize MSDS?

text: Should _MSDS_ be pluralized with an _s_? My initial reaction is to say No, because MSDS indicates it could be plural or singular — it stands for “Material Safety Data Sheets”.


title: What do you call a person who is constantly busy yet always willing to go the extra mile?

text: What do you call a person who is constantly busy with his or her workload but is willing to go the extra mile to do more than what is needed? Is hardworking good enough or is there some other better words that could be used to describe this person?


title: How to understand the word cascade in CSS?

text: Why it is called cascade, instead of `inheritable`, or `derivable`, or `chained`, or something else? Maybe I have misunderstood the word? And, when should I use the word cascade in my own software architectures?


title: Why is there a slash within "n/a"

text: _not available_ is not _not/available_ , and _not applicable_ is not _not/applicable_. Why is it _n/a_?


title: Two terms showing perceptible difference in comparison owing to triangle in the sentence

text: Do the following two sentences have the same or different meaning? >   * I love you more than Tom. > >   * I love you more than Tom loves you. (Or, I love you more than Tom does > you.) > > My concern is that both the sentences seem to differ considerably in their meaning, particularly when three people are mentioned in the sentences. I feel unable, however, to help advanced learners of English to understand why the two sentences seem to have different meanings. Thanks in advance.


title: How are multiple, alternative direct objects governed by multiple, alternative verbs?

text: Title 18 USC Sec. 1519 begins: Whoever knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object . . . Question: Syntactically, must ALL the verbs be capable of applying to ALL the direct objects? (Or may the reader "mix & match"?) Note the disjunctive OR used to relate both the verbs and the objects.


title: What does "It must be the pizza" mean ?

text: Is there an idiom such as "it must be the pizza" ? If so, does that mean something other than what it is ? very much Appreciated, : )


title: "As on 16 May" vs. "as of 16 May" — which is correct?

text: I updated a cost sheet and I want to specify that it's a newly updated cost sheet. For this situation, which one is correct? > cost sheet as **on/of** 16 May Before specifying a date, which will come first, _on_ or _of_?


title: What does the word "Fresh" mean in everyday conversation in America / UK / Australia? I am confused?

text: I am from Asia & English is not my first language. When I was watching some TV ads in Australia, I often heard that "buy fresh meat in our supermarket" or "try our fresh apples" or "we cook fresh chicken". Then I feel confused. In my country, the word "Fresh" means "have just harvested" (for vegetables or fruit) & means "have just slaughtered" (for meat). Ex: In my country, if you say "I eat a fresh apple" means that u eat an apple that have just taken from the tree 5 mins ago". if you say "I cook fresh chicken" means that u slaughtered an alive chicken & then immediately (maybe after 1 or 2 hours) u cooked it then it is said that "you are cooking fresh chicken". That makes sense cos in my developing country, refrigerator is very limited, not many people have equipment to store meat, so they have to cook meat immediately & thus they define "Fresh" ="have just harvested or have just slaughtered". However, i asked some English people in Australia & in America, they means "Fresh" differently. For them, "Fresh" means "have not spoiled". Ex, the supermarket killed a chicken & then they put it into the fridge for 2-3 days, they then take the chicken out & sell it to you. Then the supermarket is saying that "I am selling a fresh chicken to you". It means "I am selling not- spoiled chicken to you though the chicken was dead for long period of time, it just has not spoiled cos the supermarket stored it in the fridge. Likewise, the supermarket can use some preservatives to store apple for many months & now they are selling not-spoiled apples to you, then they can say "I am selling fresh apples to customers". But How English people define "Fresh" in old time when fridge has not invented yet? Do they mean "Fresh"="have just harvested or slaughtered"?


title: Is "goodnight" the right wish to say in the evening, say 5 pm?

text: In the evening, when we part after the day's work, my colleagues wish me "goodnight" and I don't feel it right. What is the right thing to say in the evening (5 pm) when we part with our colleagues?


title: where should we use has/have been and had been?

text: Where should we use **"has/have been" and "had been"**? What is the difference between them?


title: Shut your mouth

text: I’m confused regarding these expressions: > Shut up > > Shut your mouth > > Shut your mouth up > > Shut up your mouth After some research, I’ve come to believe they are all correct except “Shut up your mouth”. Am I right? Even if not correct, is “Shut up your mouth” still commonly used? Are all four expressions common to some extent? I know they are all rude, but are they equally rude or they could be ranked by level of rudeness?


title: Why is it “earn a livelihood at one’s own calling”, not “with/by” one’s own calling?

text: Both the usage of prepositions and articles are always the biggest headache for non-native English language learners—I think you’ll perhaps experience the same bewilderment when you first face complexity of the usage of prepositions called ‘te-ni-o-ha’ in Japanese language. I was caught up with an primitive question, why it should be “earn a livelihood **at** one’s calling,” not “with/by one’s calling,” in the following sentence of the New Yorker’s (May 3rd) article titled “In Prague,” describing the hardship the thinking segment experienced under the Soviet- backed totalitarian Czech regime during 1970s. > Once they had been thrown out of the Writers’ Union, they were forbidden to > publish or to teach or to travel or to drive a car or to earn a proper > livelihood each **at** his or her own calling. For good measure, their > children, the children of the thinking segment of the population, were > forbidden to attend academic high schools. As the text is from Philip Roth who received the Literary Service Award at the PEN Gala recently, it should be infallible. But I as an English language novice tend to associate the preposition “at” with a speciffic working place rather than generic profession and job. Do we have to say “I earn my livelihood at my calling (writer’s/sales/guardsman’s job),” and no choice of other prepositions?


title: About verbs and their objects

text: Some verbs take their object directly, some don't. For example: > you **bounce** into a programmer's cubicle with a huge grin on your face the word "bounce" here cannot have its object, so we have to use "into" to help it with its object. Is there a formal name for this grammar phenomenon, then I can search Wikipedia for it to learn more about it.


title: What preposition does "rate ... criteria" take?

text: I'm writing up specs for a website with learning materials for our alpha testers to comment on. Among others, I'm describing the rating system: the materials can be rated (...) several criteria (such as usefulness, quality), e.g. by giving 3 stars for usefulness and 5 for quality. Is "according to" the only proper way to link "rate" and "criteria" in this case? Can we _rate **by** quality_? _rate **on** quality_? _'rate **in** quality'_? I would usually just say _'rate **the** quality'_, without a preposition or anything, but I can't really use that in a passive sentence about the materials, and I know that even if I change this specific sentence into an active one, I'll need the passive at some point as well... (please note that I mean the act of rating (ie. giving stars or votes or whatever), not the act of sorting things by their ratings - which is I suspect why the **_'by'_** and **_'according to'_** options don't sound right to me)


What are the uses of Iambs, Trochees, Spondees, Dactyls, and Anapests (in poetry? are they forms of different units in poetry?)? I'm looking for clear definitions and some relevant examples that do not blur their differences. Only examples were available and they didn't make sense so any definitions (if they were available at all) would probably be confusing if not misleading.


title: is "purile" a word?

text: I can't find it on any dictionary. It could be spelt wrong but google doesn't correct it. it could be obsolete but any such (outdated) record doesn't seem to be in existence. the word could either be extinct or unreal. but I could have sworn I've read it somewhere


title: "In its entirety" vs "in entirety"

text: Where should "in its entirety" be used in place of "in entirety"? Consider the following paragraphs. Which usage is correct, and is the alternative incorrect / less correct, or simply not as common? "We received a lot of information. Therefore, we elected to relay it in entirety." "We received a lot of information. Therefore, we elected to relay it in its entirety."


title: Which one is correct: "communications device" or "communication device"?

text: Is there any difference between "wireless communications device" and "wireless communication device"? Which one would be more appropriate in the following title: > Motion programming of spatial manipulator using wireless communication(s) > device


title: What’s the correct usage of “modulo”?

text: How would we rephrase the following sentence to be grammatical? : > 10 **modulo** 3 equals 1. By "grammatical", I probably mean something along the lines of _standard American English_. Initially, I'd thought that its grammatical, but dictionary.com claims that _modulo_ is an adverb and not a verb, so it seems that the above usage is wrong. What’s the standard and accepted usage of the word _modulo_?


title: What's another word for "perfect analogy" / "non-analogy"?

text: Is there a word to mean an analogy so _perfect_ that it is no longer considered an analogy? For example, what may be a suitable word in the sentence below? : > ...The analogy eventually breaks down, as all analogies must. If it didn't > it wouldn't be called an analogy, it would be called a **___ __ ___ ___** .


title: What is the difference between ‘silviculture’ and ‘forestry’?

text: What is the difference in usage? What associations does the former word trigger that the latter does not (and vice versa)?


title: Equivalent for "at the heart of our society"

text: I want to say "XXX is at the heart of our society," but I feel it's such a cliche! Any suggestions for a somewhat equivalent sentence?


title: Irony - Alanis Morisette Song

text: This is old news ...but I am having trouble understanding why some of Alanis Morisette's examples from her song 'Ironic' are not ironic. For example: "An old man turned ninety-eight. He won the lottery and died the next day." In this case, isn't there an incongruity between what he expected and what happened? He was hoping to win the lottery his whole life...but when he finally did, he ended up dying. Isn't there an outcome in this case that was opposite to what was expected? Another example: "It's meeting the man of my dreams and then meeting his beautiful wife." Isn't this ironic because she tries hard to find the right guy but then finds him and that he is married. Isn't his married status opposite to what was expected? Thank you for answering these questions.


title: Co owns with me in official letter to Home Office

text: I have couple of sentences as, > I confirm that my brother, Name, DOB 01/01/0001, Nationality Indian co owns > property 00 Same Road, Manchester, UK with me and I have no obligations for > his wife to live at property with him. > > I also confirm he has an exclusive bedroom for himself. Now I am concerned about words as if they fits in the sentence or grammatically correct "co owns" and "property with me" ? I am also concerned authenticity of the sentences as they sound to be wrong grammatically or because of words usage.


title: What do Americans call a 'double-barrelled surname'?

text: I refer to someone whose family name is, for example Fortescue-Smith; or Birchall Hughes. Sometimes they are hyphenated, sometimes not. But they are known in Britain as 'double-barrelled'. One senses that they must be growing in incidence, as increasing numbers of mothers who are not married to the father of their children, as well as married women, decide to include their own family name as part of their children's names. Is the attitude of society to such names changing in any way?


title: In soccer, is there "a goal" or "goals" at each end of the pitch?

text: Being a non-native speaker, I don't quite have a good feel for this. Is it usually referred to in singular or plural? For example, is it "We painted the goal white" or "We painted the goals white", when referring to just one side of the pitch? P.S. I think I know why I was unsure: Russian for "goal" behaves the same as "scissors" does in English, i.e. it has no singular.


title: Difference between "presently" and "shortly"

text: What is the difference between _presently_ and _shortly_? They seem to have rather similar meanings.


title: "At the least" to start a sentence seems right but

text: The sentence I am trying to construct will be read with the assumption that finding that a bug exists in unfortunate. This is what I want to say, paraphrased: > We found a bug in the code. **At the least** , it causes this negative > effect, but it might cause others. My question is on the use of "at the least." The reason I am questioning this is because I have not heard this phrase very much. The two other similar phrases I have heard do not seem to convey the idea in the same way. > We found a bug in the code. **At least** , it causes this negative effect, > but it might cause others. When the reader gets past "at least," he or she will be in the mindset that a negative thing has happened (the bug was found), but there is a bright side. Generally, after a negative statement, "at least" is used to "look on the bright side" and mention a positive aspect of the situation. However, this is not what I am doing, so the sentence will read weirdly. > We found a bug in the code. **At the very least** , it causes this negative > effect, but it might cause others. Reflecting on the way that I am familiar with this phrase, I feel that, when the reader gets past "at the very least," he or she will think that I am about to suggest the least that we should do to fix the problem, but that is not what I am doing, so the sentence will read weirdly. Also, personally, I think this phrase is over-used and is a bit sensationalist with the "very" in there. For those reasons, I feel "at the least" is the best option. However, I am still stuck on the fact that it is an uncommon phrase. This makes me hesitant to use it and makes me wonder whether it (or even "at the very least") is grammatically correct. Is this grammatically correct? If so, does it read so strangely that it rivals the magnitude to which the others read strangely? _I would appreciate most an answer concerning the phrase "at the least," but alternative ways to phrase the sentence would be helpful as well. Also, this is my first post, so any suggestions on my posting behavior/style would be helpful._


title: What would be your reply if someone asks you, "How do you do?"

text: What would be your reply, if someone asks you   * How do you do?


title: Provoke in a good way

text: What is the word for provoking some one in a good way to do something good? My research shows provoke is means to induce anger in a person to do something. I have found "inspired" but it doesnt give the same provocative :) effect. Cheers


title: What is the correct usage of 'formerly' as time adverb?

text: _PLEASE NOTE: JDK6 [is|was] formerly known as Project Mustang_ In the previous sentence what is correct ' _is_ ' or ' _was_ '? and why? While reading a bug report I found this sentence with 'is' and now I'm wondering what is correct. BUG 6399361


title: Another phrase for "dealing with people you wouldn't normally want to deal with but you do"

text: Has anyone got a nice phrase for "dealing with people you wouldn't normally want to deal with but you do because they perform a function that you would not want to do or are not able to do"? I have in mind the situation in the _Merchant in Venice_ where the Venetians tolerate the Jews, even though they dislike them, because they need them as moneylenders, since Christians were officially not allowed by the Church to collect interest (this despite the fact that countless Christian countries, including Venice, had commercial banks with networks operating all over Europe by the early Renaissance).


title: Word for special/fancy/unusual/awesome recipes

text: Hey i am searching for a word, which fits the meaning i want to spread. It is about recipes that are unusual and fancy.. So they are more sophisticated and more awesome than other recipes. I am from germany and not sure which word fits the best.. Something like Fancy Recipes, does that work or is it uncommon? thanks a lot


title: Ironic question "Do you now?"

text: From time to time I encounter the sentence "Oh, do you now?" which I suppose expresses some kind of irony. Is the question grammatically correct? * * * The question was asked also here: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=796384


title: What're websites I can search/request native speaker to speak some word?

text: I want to know good website that I can search or request native speaker to speak some word. I usually use Merriam-Webster but it has only once sound.


title: Synonym for 'description'

text: Preferably a short one. 'Description' fits my purpose very well, but is longer than I'd like ( **3 - 5 letters are ideal** ). It's going to be used as a heading, umbrella-term, button or similar for image-metadata of some of the ones in Dublin Core; subject ("husband and children") and description ("family in front of waterfall"). And also tags ('Ben', 'Jeremy', 'Sarah', 'waterfall', 'holiday', 'Iceland') Recognisable acronyms and abbreviations would also work, but usability goes first, so if nothing better is found, 'description' it is. Edit: Clarification: 'Description' (as it is called for now) is the name of only one category in a **software program for image-metadata**. Other categories are 'Cam' (camera; shutterspeed, ISO, aperture etc.), 'GPS'/'Geo' (longitude, latitude) etc.


title: What is the meaning, and origin, of the phrase "breaking windows with guineas"?

text: Regarding the phrase: > Breaking windows with guineas What is its meaning, and origin? The 'guineas' part of it might mean more to the British audience on this site than the others.


title: Could you elaborate how to use the pattern adjective + to infinitive?

text: I am still confused in using the pattern `adjective + to infinitive`. The 2 sentences below are given for examples.   * I am lazy to study.   * It is lazy for me to study. Could you elaborate how to use the pattern ?


title: What does "pike hoses" mean?

text: I'm reading James Joyce's _Ulysses_ , and while there are enough things I don't understand in it I keep crossing the phrase "pike hoses," or "met him pike hoses." Can anyone enlighten me as to the meaning? For example: > Mr Bloom moved forward, raising his troubled eyes. Think no more about that. > After one. Timeball on the ballastoffice is down. Dunsink time. Fascinating > little book that is of sir Robert Ball's. Parallax. I never exactly > understood. There's a priest. Could ask him. Par it's Greek: parallel, > parallax. **Met him pike hoses** she called it till I told her about the > transmigration. O rocks! And: > Poor fellow! Quite a boy. Terrible. Really terrible. What dreams would he > have, not seeing? Life a dream for him. Where is the justice being born that > way? All those women and children excursion beanfeast burned and drowned in > New York. Holocaust. Karma they call that transmigration for sins you did in > a past life the reincarnation **met him pike hoses**. Dear, dear, dear. > Pity, of course: but somehow you can't cotton on to them someway.


title: "Experienced in" or "experienced of"

text: What is the correct use of experienced, with _in_ or _of_? For example, > I have experienced **in** system development. > > I have experienced **of** system development.


title: Is "laid down" a proper term?

text: Which sentence is correct? Why?   1. He was laid up with fever yesterday.   2. He was laid down with fever yesterday.   3. He was laid down by the malaria parasite last month.


title: Find or invent a term for "Completely intersecting minus one"

text: I'm writing a paper that frequently references regions on a string, and these regions often intersect. I need to succinctly describe regions that almost completely intersect. For example, given the string ACGT, suppose I have two regions described by [start,end] coordinates as follows: R1=[0,2]="ACG" R2=[1,3]="CGT" Such that if these regions were laid side-by-side, we'd see that they intersect over the characters "CG":               ACG-     -CGT      This particular situation arises a lot. I get two regions of equal length that intersect completely minus one. That is, I get two regions of length _n_ that intersect by _n-1_ characters. It would make my paper immensely clearer if I had a succinct way of stating this relationship. For a while I simply shoved "mis-" and "overlapped" together and said "mislapped". Thus instead of saying, "R1 and R2 intersect completely minus one," it would say "R1 and R2 are mislapped," or "R1 mislaps R2". But "mislap" is clearly awful. Would the brilliant minds of English.StackExchange help me find or invent a better term?


What is the role and historical context for "come" in "Kingdom come"? I've heard this said before but it seems to stick out grammatically. Is it correct?


title: Why do they call the counterpart “that woman” to press corps after parting from a female?

text: Further to my question I posted yesterday on the significance of the term “woman driver” used by Rush Limbaugh, I have another question: Limbaugh’s use of ‘woman driver’ in a derogatory context reminds me of when President Bill Clinton referred to Monica Lewinsky as “ _that woman_ ,” not Ms Lewinsky, that lady, or even “she or her” when he admitted to having an affair with her before the press corps. When male celebrities are involved with an “improper relationship,” and have to acknowledge the affair in front of the press corps, they often (almost always to me) call the other side “ _that woman_.” Isn’t this insulting to not only the counterpart woman, but women in general? Why do they use “that woman” to the lady they were once intimate with?


title: What is the correct way to pronounce 'router'?

text: Merriam-Webster lists both _ˈrüt_ and _ˈrau̇t_ as possible pronunciations for _route_ but only _ˈrau̇-tər_ for _router_. Is it really wrong to pronounce _router_ as _'rüter_ ?


title: "We're not" vs. "we aren't"

text: I'm just curious if there are any "official" rules (or opinions either way) about what form to use when three words can be contracted on either side.


title: Can more options use "is"

text: So I've been learning German on Duolingo (great app by the way if you want to learn a language). **I know you guys don't want translations here, but this is more about the English.** Of course, not all translations can be word for word. The German sentence was > Mehr Optionen sind immer besser. I put this and got it wrong > More options is always better. Now, "sind" means "are" in German, but that's beside the point. Some things just work differently in different languages. I can understand "are always better" being right. But I think that **the concept of having more options** is always better. And I also think that you can shorten **the concept of having more options** to **more options**. To me, "more options" is a state that you are in in which you have better leverage and control. Am I right? Does "More options" here take a singular verb?


title: What does "circumstantial consequence" mean?

text: How can of the phrase "circumstantial consequence" be explained? I vaguely understand the probable meaning, but it doesn't quite come into focus. Is it something like (unintended) side effect?


title: He is also..., writes... - sentence structure, grammar

text: > Ed is also Technology Editor for Certification Magazine, **writes** for > numerous TechTarget Web sites, and writes a twice-monthly newsletter, “Must > Know News,” for CramSession.com. In his spare time, Ed likes to shoot pool, > cook, and spend time with his wife Dina and his son Gregory. He also likes > to explore the world away from the keyboard with his trusty Labrador > retriever, Blackie. To me it feels like there needs to be the preposition **and** placed before **writes** for grammatical consistency. What do you think?


title: The difference between "parts of speech", "word classes", "word categories"?

text: As a foreign language speaker, I find it hard to distinguish these terms. I've searched on the net; on wikipedia, on grammar.about.com, and some other pages, yet still having difficulties. One just lists   * Noun   * Adjective   * Verb   * ... Other lists   * Content words      * Noun     * Verb     * ...   * Functions words      * Articles     * Pronouns     * ... Also what is the term or topic header for these "subject, object, predicator, adverbial"? * * * _PS: I'd appreciate if you could recommend a good English linguistics book. Something that offers just want I need to know, not redundant information._


title: How to conjugate the verb in a sentence that starts with "I wish..."

text: I generally find it hard to construct some sentences that start with "I wish, ..." Example: (Background:) Due to an incomplete technical documentation, we chose the wrong path, and ran into an unforeseen limitation. What's the correct way to state my frustration?   * I wish, the documentation _would warn_ about that limitation.   * I wish, the documentation _had warned_ about that limitation.   * I wish, the documentation _would have warned_ about that limitation.   * I wish, the documentation _warned_ about that limitation.   * I _would wish_ , that the documentation _warns_ about that limitation.   * ...


title: Are the verbs that are conjugated to end in "-n" in the past related?

text: There are many words that in English are conjugated in the past tense to end in "-n": _grow_ goes to _grown_ , _sew_ goes to _sewn_ , _throw_ goes to _thrown_ , etc.. I'm guessing it was probably the regular ending in English in some long past time. But as every growing child knows, the more common form has become conjugating the past tense to end in "-ed": _jog_ goes to _jogged_ , _flog_ goes to _flogged_ , _clog_ goes to _clogged_ , and so on. Even completely foreign words are usually regularized in English to have their past tense end in "-ed"; _abet_ goes to _abetted_ , _blink_ goes to _blinked_. I was wondering two things: Did all the words that are conjugated to end in "-n" in the past tense come from a shared language family, or was it a "regularization" procedure as well back when it was more common? Did something precipitate the change from "-n" to "-ed", like a conquest, or some other notable historical event?


title: Should a hyphen be used when constructing words using suffixes such as "-ly" and "-wise" when the resulting word isn't in the dictionary?

text: Should a hyphen be used when constructing words using suffixes such as _-ly_ and _-wise_ when the resulting word isn't in the dictionary? For example: > money-wise   >  moneywise Which one is better?


title: Interpretation of paragraph in Homer's Iliad Book II [56] translated by Samuel Butler

text: I'm having some problem understanding the phrase "but do you others go about among the host and prevent their doing so" in the context of the following paragraph: > The dream then vanished and I awoke. Let us now therefore, arm the sons of > the Achaeans. But it will be well that I should first sound them and to this > end I will tell them to fly with their ships; but do you others go about > among the host and prevent their doing so. The phrase "I will tell them to fly with their ships" seems to contradict the phrase "but do you others go about among the host and prevent their doing so".


title: What does the word "cinemaddict" mean?

text: Please explain to me (non-native speaker) what the word "cinemaddict" means. What synonyms does it have?


title: What do we call the "repetition" construct (if it's even proper English)?

text: I've sometimes seen this construct, used to avoid repetitive handwriting, but I don't even know if it's proper English. If it is, what is the name of this construct? I have no idea what to search for when looking it up... >   * Don't forget to buy eggs. >   * " " " " yogurt. >   * " " " " milk. >


title: Is the [ʊ] sound pronounced with lip rounding?

text: This [ʊ] sound is the vowel sound for words like _hook_ , _pull_ , and _good_. When I began to learn English a bit more seriously two decades ago, I used a book that taught me to pronounce it shorter and more relaxed than the long sound of [u], the vowel sound in words like _pool_ , _food_ , and _cool_. It also told me to round my lips too. My pronunciation is fine (I hope, at least people around me seem to understand me perfectly), however I found a strange tendency in recent years, especially from Americans. (I can watch them on TV and video clips.) Many of them seem to not round their lips when pronouncing this [ʊ] sound. The first time I noticed this was the time I heard an ESL teacher pronounced it with the [ɯ] sound (she is not a native English speaker, by the way). There is no [ɯ] sound in English, but there is one in Thai language. The [ɯ] sound, though being a **close-back** vowel, is always unrounded. So it sounds very strange to me at first, since [ʊ] is a **near-back-near-close** vowel, and I thought it is supposed to be **rounded**. Wonder why she pronounced it that way, I started to watch native speakers on TV closely, and found that only some of them pronounce [ʊ] unrounded in normal speech. Most of them seem to round their lips a little (how much the little is little is another matter). But when they exaggerate the word, most of them don't round their lips, e.g., I saw one judge on a vocal-focused reality show exclaimed _Good!_ for maybe three seconds long, and in that entire three seconds _there was no lips rounding at all!_ I consulted Wikipedia, and found that the matter of this rounding is unclear: > "Its vowel roundedness is generally rounded, which means that the lips are > rounded to a greater or lesser degree, but is sometimes rather ambiguous. > Because no language is known to contrast rounding with this place of > articulation, the IPA has not created separate symbols to show this." So which pronunciation is standard for the [ʊ] sound? Rounded or unrounded?


title: Does "refrain" only mean to choose to do or not do something?

text: Here is the place I saw this usage: > (Paraphrase) Mr. A's refrain that Law L be invoked against dishonest and > incompetent legislators presents an interesting case. My dictionary tells me > (irrelevant) refrain ~ noun   >  1\. the part of a song where a soloist is joined by a group of singers > > refrain ~ verb   >  1\. resist doing something   >  2\. choose not to consume My understanding tells me that Mr. A obviously wants to invoke Law L against these legislators, but the dictionary tells me that he is resisting it (himself?) What am I missing here?


title: Interpretation of "which must be widely open to tourist visits"

text: > Particular care should be devoted to preserving and upgrading monuments, > shrines and museums as well as archaeological and historic sites which must > be widely open to tourist visits. Interpretations: 1)The care should be devoted to only those sites that are visited a lot. I mean **the sentence puts an emphasis on preserving the sites that are necessarily exposed to tourists, not all existent sites and monuments and the other mentioned**. Since restrictive clause has been used I jumped to this. 2)The mentioned should be preserved and upgraded and these places must be open to tourists. So **first they should be safeguarded. Then they need to be prepared for visitors and be open to them**. I mean the texts implies an obligation to provide the possibility of being visited. They should not be banned for visitors. A translation of this text into an Asian language conveys this meaning!


title: "She did not report for work" vs. "she did not report to work"

text: Which of the two is grammatical or is better in style — "report for work" or "report to work"? I've always used the first, "report for work", following the pattern of "report for duty", which I always hear law-enforcement folks use.


What does it mean when someone says, "I bid you no evil"? Does this mean may good things come your way?


title: Origin of the term "grounded"

text: What is the origin of the term "grounded", as in "it keeps me grounded"? Does it simply come from the ground itself, which is to say keeping one's feet on the ground, or does it refer to "ground" in the electrical sense?


title: "On the third floor stood a salesman with [number] artificial legs"

text: > On the third floor stood a salesman with _one_ artificial leg. > > On the third floor stood a salesman with _two_ artificial legs. > > On the third floor stood a salesman with _three_ artificial legs. > > On the third floor stood a salesman with _four_ artificial legs. I'm not sure whether the preposition _with_ can be interpreted as 'in possession of' or 'characterized by' and whether the interpretation can be influenced by the number of legs. I did an exhaustive and exhausting search before asking here, but search results suggest that the interpretation depends on what the relation is between the 'salesman' and the 'legs' and I don't understand how this can be helpful on the linguistic plan. Can anybody explain, please?


title: Apostrophe `s` and adjective

text: I'm a bit confused if I can use adjective after a noun with apostrophe `s`.               I broke Jim's fragile figure.     I broke fragile figure of Jim.      For example, which of these two sentences is correct?


title: What word describes people who attack those doing the same thing as them?

text: Basically, the long description is: A attacks B for being X or acting in X manners. But, while A might not be aware of this, from the outsiders' point of view, A also is X or acts in X manners as well. So, how would you, in a few words, generalize/describe people like 'A'? The first English word that came to my mind was 'hypocrite' but after checking with Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, I'm not so sure if it is the right one for the described situation anymore...


title: Is there such a term as "dinner box"?

text: From my understanding, a _lunch box_ is food packed from home to eaten during lunch time either in school or the office. Is there such a term as _dinner box_? If there is no such term, how can I describe food that is packed from home and is to be eaten during dinner time in school or at the office?


title: Why do we say ‘I have "a" husband (wife)?

text: Though it may sound a very primitive question to native English speakers, the use of ‘article’ is always the greatest headache to me because we don’t have this part of speech in our language system (I don’t think Chinese language has it either). I’ve vaguely learned the rules of articles in English grammar books, but am not really familiar with it. So when I found the following sentence in the New York Times’ article (December 21), titled, “Looking for a Place to Die,” I was puzzled whether I can say “I have a wife/ She has a husband,” or "I have wife / She has husband." > The patient was a fairly young woman and she’d had cancer for as long as her > youngest child had been alive. She _had_ another child, too, a few years > older, and _a husband_ whose drawn eyes and tense frame bore the strain of > trying to keep it all together. Extended family lived far away and couldn’t > be brought closer. The husband and kids lived more than an hour’s drive from > the hospital. When I come across the phrase “ _She had_ another child and _a husband_ , I felt like she had one of several husbands she had. Theoretically, you can’t have multiple husbands (or wives) at a time. When you simply say “I have (she has) husband,” what article should I use, a, the, or non-article? **Follow-up question:** Which is correct, “I have _a_ husband who keeps saying ‘I love you.’ to me," and “I have _the_ husband who keeps saying ‘I love you.’ to me.”? I’m asking this, because I still remember that I was told at English class of high school more than 60 years ago that the definite article should be used for antecedent (husband in this case) whenever followed by modifier (that) clause.


title: using past perfect in a 'by the time' clause instead of simple past

text: How would using past perfect in a 'by the time' clause affect the meaning differently compared with the common formula (past simple in the 'by the time clause' plus past perfect in the main clause).For example, what could the following mean: 1.'By the time he had finished dinner, it was time for bed.'


title: Alternative to "double entendre"?

text: Does anyone know another word or way to say _double entendre_ — in the non- bawdy sense of the word — as this phrase was only invented in the latter 1600's and so not around when Shakespeare wrote his plays, specifically as ever, the _Merchant_ … **it is a straight statement... he is a good man... just one that two people take to mean two different ways is there a nice word for that when used purposefully?**


title: capitals or not for "open source"?

text: Quite a simple question (I hope). Which is the correct way to write this within a sentence*:   1. Open Source   2. Open-Source   3. Open source   4. Open-source   5. open source   6. open-source   7. some other way? (*By within a sentence, I mean there is at least one word before the usage meaning that no beginning-of-sentence capital is required)


title: Usage of the word 'coordinate'

text: Have a look at the context:               Contents        |        |--- 1. Fundamentals        |          |         |          |--- 1. Browsers        |          |         |          |--- 2. Servers        |          |         |          |--- 3. Security        |        |--- 2. Introduction        |          |         |          |--- 1. Lists        |          |         |          |--- 2. Tables        |          |          |        |          |          |--- 1. Rows        |          |          |        |          |          |--- 2. Columns        |          |         |          |--- 3. Forms        |          |         |          |--- 4. Frames        |        |--- 3. Basics        |          |         |          |--- 1. Arrays        |          |         |          |--- 2. Functions      If I want to locate `Rows`, I can always say "Chapter 2: Part 2: Section 1". But,   1. what is a common noun for "Chapter 2: Part 2: Section 1", "Chapter 1: Part 2", etc.   2. if I want to use a small convention here and call (2,2,1) as a coordinate of `Rows` and similarly (2,2) as a coordinate of `Tables`, will the word 'coordinate' be appropriate here? If not what is the better word here?


title: attributive clauses puzzle me a lot sometimes

text: Are the following two sentences interchangeable? > "I keep her photo on my desk, which means I do not forget her. versus > "I keep her photo on my desk, meaning I do not forget her. If not, how are they different?


title: Using a tilde with currency

text: I think this is quite a simple question but one I have found no answers for. In regards to a tilde, I believe it can be used as an abbreviation for "about". For example ~5 translates to "about 5" (an approximation)! Assuming this is correct, in regards to using the tilde with a currency, should it come before or after the symbol when the currency symbol comes before the value. For example, should it be ~£5 ~$5 or £~5 $~5 I assume the first approach is better (the second approach seemed unnatural whilst writing it out) but I can't find anything which states this to be so.


title: What do you call the thing you get at the hospital when you break your leg, etc.?

text: When you break your leg or any of your appendages you get a binding, you know, the white thing to fix your arm or leg. What is that called? I find the words _gypsum_ , _cast_ and _plastery_ in the dictionary but from searching pictures on Google these don't seem to be the right words. (Also, in what context do you use these?) I want to find a picture on Google where a group of people got these bindings on their legs, arms, necks, etc. What is the right word?


title: Direct object and indirect object in the sentence "Bill promised Mary to fix her car."

text: In the following sentence > Bill promised Mary to fix her car. Maybe I can write this sentence like this: > Bill promised Mary **(for Bill) to fix her car**. Bill is the subject of the verb `fix`, and also the verb `promised`. So, `promised` will have two objects: _`Mary`_ and the clause _`(for Bill) to fix her car`_ , one is the direct object and the other is the indirect object. Which is the direct object and Which is the indirect object? Why? (By the way, I don't know if it is right to analyse this sentence in this way.)


title: Expression to justify choice of user interface

text: Is it correct to say "for optimal user experience" when referring to how web interface has to be designed? I just need to explain why I chose specific colour scheme.


title: "Separate procedures for every combination" vs. "a separate procedure for every combination"

text: Which form of this sentence is correct and why? >   * Therefore, in a real life system with multiple source and output data > formats, **_separate procedures_** would have to be written for every > combination of source data format and output data format, resulting in the > number of such procedures being the product of the number of source and data > formats. >   * Therefore, in a real life system with multiple source and output data > formats, **_a separate procedure_** would have to be written for every > combination of source data format and output data format, resulting in the > number of such procedures being the product of the number of source and data > formats. > I'm leaning towards the latter, but don't have a concrete reason. UPDATE: Thanks for the feedback. Exactly one procedure is required for each combination. So, I guess the latter version is correct. Looking at this sentence more carefully, maybe **_each_** would be more correct than **_every_**.


title: "How far" vs "How long"

text: I am not clear how to use "How long" and "How far". Suppose I got in a taxi or cab to my hotel, how should I say to the driver if I want to know the distance to the hotel? Which of the following is correct? > How far is it to the hotel? > > How long is it to the hotel? Then,if I need to know the time it will take to the hotel, may I say: > How long is it to the hotel? Or are there any other more appropriate expressions for the above two scenarios?


title: Etymology of "on the blink"

text: I was wondering where the phrase "on the blink" comes from. According to the OED the first recorded usage is from > 1901 ‘H. McHugh’ John Henry 83 A stranglehold line of business that will put > Looey Harrison on the blink. But what is the relationship between the word "blink" and its usage in this phrase?


title: History of "asylum seeker" versus "refugee"

text: What is the history of the term "asylum seeker" as a slightly pejorative replacement for the word "refugee"? The first reference to asylum seeker I can find is > 1959 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 53 990 Small and medium-sized countries most > exposed geographically to the influx of asylum-seekers must needs watch out > for the slightest policy reaction of stronger powers.


title: Elision in the pronunciation of "probably"

text: A student of mine has pointed out that in casual speech, my tendency is to pronounce the word "probably" as something like _prah-lee_. I am a native speaker of American English without a specific regional dialect, as I moved frequently when young, both within the country and abroad. I'm curious as to how widespread this pronunciation is, or if it's merely an indication that I'm a lazy speaker. Is this a regionalism I've unknowingly picked up? There is a Wiktionary entry for _prolly_ , which indicates that I'm not alone in this pronunciation, but there's no indication of how common it is or where it's most prevalent. **Note** : I'm familiar with the common tendency to skip the _ba_ portion of the word, pronouncing it _prob-lee_ ; I'm specifically curious about the elision of both of the _b_ sounds and the vowel between them. **Edit** : I've been repeating the word over and over to myself since asking this question and realized that in particularly quick speech I seem to elide the L-sound, as well: _prah-ee._


title: "On the last week" or "In the last week"?

text: I'm planning a trip. My plane lands on the 29th of August. Should I say: > I'll arrive _on_ the last week of August. or > I'll arrive _in_ the last week of August. Web searches show that both prepositions are used; reading a reference website made me more inclined towards "in", though I am still not sure.


title: What does "proverbial" mean?

text: This word _proverbial_ has been bothering me a lot lately. I cannot understand it even after translating it into my native language. I would like to know its meaning as well as its origin.


title: What does “You can’t lead an organization whose case officers must be impervious to blackmail” mean?

text: Time magazine (November 9) carries an article dealing with the reason why the CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus had to resign under the caption, “Resignation at the CIA: Why Petraeus had to go.” There is a paragraph: > “In the world of spies, there is a short list of weaknesses you can exploit > in your opponents: People have spent centuries figuring out how to get > people to commit treason. Arguing the other side is better for humanity, > offering to help someone who’s deeply in debt or paying hard cash to the > greedy are classic methods. But few are more effective than blackmail, and > even in the post-Lewinsky era in Washington, infidelity leaves officials > vulnerable. > > You can’t lead an organization _whose case officers_ must be impervious to > blackmail if you’re vulnerable to it yourself.” I cannot understand what the last line, “You can’t lead an organization _‘whose case officers must be impervious._ ’ “means? What does “case officer" mean?


title: Human body with "skin peeled off" or "without skin"

text: My art teacher used a word when describing a sculpture of a human without his skin (exposing muscle beneath). What was that word?


title: What does "Bunk over" mean?

text: Here ia a quote from The Avengers, 2012 film.   * Stark : The next building is gonna say "Potts" on the tower.   * Pepper : On the lease.   * Stark : Call your mom. Can you bunk over? Q. "The building is gonna say "Potts" on the tower" What does exactly it mean? Maybe it means "The buliding is gonna be hung out a sign written her name, Potts on the tower? Am I right? Q. Pepper said "On the lease". She meant "You should sign on the lease contract"? Q. Lastly, I have no idea what Stark's last line means, specially "bunk over" And why Stark wants Pepper to call her mother suddenly. Do you have any idea on this?


title: Why is "para" not used consistently?

text: I've been told that the prefix "para" means "against".   * Parachute (against falling)   * Paramilitary (against military)   * Paraply/umbrella (against raining) But, other words does not make much sense to me:   * Paramedic (against medicine?)   * Paraglider (against gliding?) Pardon my Ausberger, but why isn't "para" used consistently?


title: Does "in particular" have the meaning of "for example"?

text: I have seen many textbooks and scientific literatures at least at college level, frequently using "in particular". I was wondering whether it (always) has the meaning of "for example"? If yes, does it have other meaning besides that and what differences do they have?


title: A word meaning "going south to get north"

text: I want to describe a situation when to get a south bound route you need to drive north. I'm looking for a noun. A couple possible suggestions I've seen: "It is quite a bit of a diversion" and "It is quite a bit of a detour" One could call it an "indirect route", but I'm looking for a noun, not an adjective.


title: Are "ectypes" inherently flawed?

text: While browsing the tvtropes.org entry for Archetypal Characters, this sentence jumped out at me: > A related concept is the 'ectype', a distorted or flawed version of the > archetype. _Ectype_ does not appear in my local dictionary and online searches seem to provide a completely different definition: > ectypal -- Copied, as contrasted with an archetypal original. Has a > specialized sense when used by the philosopher George Berkeley. (wiktionary) This does not seem to be a common word and I get the feeling that it is still jargon from one field or another. The tvtropes article considers an _ectype_ a specifically flawed copy; the dictionary definitions don't mentioned the quality of the copy. I have no idea what Berkeley's philosophies are -- is this something he coined?


title: Origin & history of name "she oak" or "sheoak" (a Casuarina tree)

text: In wikipedia's _Casuarinaceae_ article (and somewhat similarly in its _Casuarina_ article), one finds: > The most widely used common name for Casuarinaceae species is sheoak or she- > oak (a comparison of the timber quality with English Oak). Other common > names include ironwood, bull-oak or buloke, and beefwood ... [Cox & Freeland > say] the name 'she-oak' is derived from Native America _sheac_ \- beefwood. Unfortunately etymonline shows nothing on the etymology of _sheac, sheoak, she-oak, ironwood, bull-oak, buloke,_ or _beefwood_. Questions: What are the actual origin and history of the name _she oak_ or _sheoak_? How is "a comparison of the timber quality with English Oak" relevant to the name? Was there actually a "Native American" influence in forming the name of an Australian tree? And for extra points, explain why the Ngarrindjeri have a separate word, _kula_ , for male she oak trees.


title: What is the difference between complacency and condescension?

text: Sometimes I get confused between **complacency** and **condescension** , thinking they are the same thing. I am trying to understand the difference. Both seem to be attributes of a person who is more confident than others, or think less of others. It seems to me that acting in a condescending manner and acting complacent are very much alike, although complacency seems to be a little bit more about _carelessness_ than _smugness_. Can someone explain what is the difference between these two? How can I recognize that someone is acting some way or the other?


title: Can programmers be called code authors?

text: Can programmers be called code authors or any other term similar in meaning to a book author?


title: "Good to hear" vs "Glad to hear"

text: Which one is correct: **Good to hear you enjoyed the radio show.** or: **Glad to hear you enjoyed the radio show.**


title: is it correct to say "though" in this context

text: I want to ask my manager something. i tried this > I have some questions, though I do know that I have asked you a lot and I am > so sorry for losing your time. is though correct in this context?


title: More friendly word for "enterprise"

text: This is a toughy, but I'm looking for a word that doesn't have the connotations of "enterprise," "corporate" or "national account." Something that will get the idea of multi-unit businesses across in a simple, pleasant way (doesn't necessarily have to be a single word.) Appreciate any input!


title: Is there a word that means capable of being made brighter?

text: Is there a word that means "capable of being made brighter"? A word that means capable of being made stronger or more intense would work too. _Brightenable_ would be perfect if it didn't provoke as much laughter as understanding. _Intensifiable_ is about the best I can come up with.


title: Single word for something that is harmful, yet necessary

text: Can anyone please help me to substitute "something that harms us, but we which also we depend on" with an equivalent word or phrase? An example: "Every year, river water causes flooding in its vicinity, but the people living nearby are continuously dependent on the river to make their living".


title: What is the function of "that" in this sentence?

text: What is the funcition of "that" in this sentence? > The paper notes _that_ conditions in the last warm period in the Atlantic > are broadly similar to those observed now.   >  -- BBC News, October 7, 2012.


title: What is a 'civic institution'?

text: The term appears in the _International New York Times_ : "Radical Pope, Traditional Values": > As a result of its work in basic health and education — and despite its > obtuse views on birth control — in the last 50 years the church has probably > lifted more people out of poverty than any other civic institution in > history. Internet (I forgot where) suggests that a 'civic institution' by definition cannot be a government (or a market participant). However, we also have > **civic** Of, relating to, or belonging to a city, a citizen, or > citizenship; municipal or civil. and > **civil** (not comparable) Having to do with people and government office as > opposed to the military or religion. This could be construed as _excluding_ the Catholic Church (and _including_ government). So, what, if any, is a good definition of 'civic institution'? Or is the term ambiguous?


title: How to use 'dogly' correctly

text: Recently, as it is shown in previous questions, we learn how to use _asininely_ and how to use _bovinely_. Now, along this line, I would like to learn how to use _dogly_ properly. In particular, I would like to know whether phrases like > Our friends looked at us _dogly_. > > Our friends worked _dogly_. are good English. Are they? I know that there are better or more idiomatic words to replace 'dogly' there, but, thinking to the audience I have to talk to, I would prefer, if acceptable, to use 'dogly'.


Is there such an expression like cheat somebody into doing something or cheat somebody to do something? If not, is there a good replacement?


title: Can I use the verb "attached" for a piece of information supplied in the email body?

text: > Please find attached the detail for my application. Is this sentence correct if I supply the detail in the email body, not in a separately attached file?


title: sentence structure: S + 'was that' + independent clause

text: Is the structure ' _was that_ ' + independent clause correct? Example sentence: > The major difference about these two groups **was that** they were composed > entirely of young children


title: What does *players* mean in the context?

text: > Clay just nodded, seeming rather uncomfortable about something. “Yes, so > keep your hands off! She doesn’t need **players** like you chasing her > around,” he growled with a threatening tone to his voice. Does it mean something like a womanizer? Because the phrase _football player_ is senselessly in the context.


title: Is there a named category for nouns that are not 'agent nouns'?

text: Please note that this question is not about the 'opposite' of an agent noun, or the 'passive noun' corresponding to an agent noun. My question is: if we could split the set of all nouns into two sets, and one of them were that of agent nouns, what would the remaining set be called? Is there a name for such nouns? Would 'non-agent noun' be appropriate? Thanks,


title: What is the equivalent of sub/super sonic for the speed of light?

text: We have subsonic and supersonic for speeds below or above the speed of sound. What is the equivalent for the speed of light?


title: "Reference" vs. "credit" — which word to use when we have to mention sites we referred to?

text: _Reference_ or _credit_ — which word should be used in which context when we are talking about blog entries? If we have taken the information from ten different sites, and put it all together in one place, which word out of the above would be appropriate then and why?


title: Where can I find a list of synonyms and hyponyms for different food types?

text: I'm trying to find a list of synonyms between various food types for a programming project I am working on with searching English language phrases. I was originally going to ask this on Stack Overflow, but this question wasn't necessarily related to programming. In the list I'm looking for, I'd like to be able to know the synonyms and hyponyms for food types. For example:   * Synonym: sandwich — sub   * Hyponyms: Mexican — taco, burrito; fruit — orange, apple, banana Are there any lists that exist that might help bootstrap my efforts?


title: Is there any word alternative for "compared to"?

text: I'd like to find an alternative for "compared to", in order to avoid repeating the same phrase in my scientific paper. Is there any alternative for this expression?


title: Meaning of "would" in "the men of Gotham would have kept the Cuckoo so that she might sing all the year"

text: A fairy tale begins: > Once upon a time the men of Gotham **would have kept** the Cuckoo so that > she might sing all the year, and in the midst of their town they made a > hedge round in compass and they got a Cuckoo, and put her into it, and said, > 'Sing there all through the year, or thou shalt have neither meat nor > water.' The Cuckoo, as soon as she perceived herself within the hedge, flew > away. 'A vengeance on her!' said they. 'We did not make our hedge high > enough.' What does "would have kept" mean in this context? How do you paraphraise it? Is it something like "they were likely to have kept"?


title: Was the verb "bring" once used as a noun?

text: In the book of Amos (KJV, Amos 4:1), we find the verb _bring_ is capitalized in the middle of a sentence. This is in sharp contrast to the same verb written in v. 4 in lower case letters. Finding a verb thus capitalized seems to defy all known rules governing English capitalization in print. This specific phenomenon dates back to the Wycliffe Bible and seems to have been perpetuated in many if not all subsequent translations. Since _Bring_ was coupled with the place names of Bashan and Samaria in v. 1 (also capitalized), _Bring_ as a verb seems definitely out of place. Is this simply an error in printing, or was _Bring_ meant to be used as a noun within some form of steganography?


title: Capitalization: "Our Planet"

text: In the following sentence, "Science has made navigation to all parts of our planet possible," what are the capitalization rules for the words _our planet?_ > our Planet > > Our Planet


title: Etymology of the word "generator" when used in the context "random name generator"

text: I'm also curious to hear synonyms for this meaning-in-context; the idea that "this is a thing which generates other things algorithmically." Sorry for the pathetic definition that uses the word itself. :(


title: gourmand and gourmet

text: "gourmand" means someone who is excessively fond of eating and drinking, while "gourmet" someone who is a connoisseur of food and drink. Does "gour-" mean food?, "-mand" command and demand, and "-met" enjoy? Etymology says "gourmand" is not connected with "gourmet".


title: The efficient use of space

text: I'm looking for a word that means the study or practice of the efficient use of space, something ending -omics. I used to know it but I've got ergonomics stuck in my brain and that's not quite right.


title: How do you pronounce "cURL," the computer utility?

text: Are there programmers here? I'd like to know how you guys pronounce cURL. Because I don't live in a country that uses English, I haven't heard it yet.


title: Identify the subject, object and verb

text: In the sentence below I want to confirm whether I have correctly identified the subject, object and the verb (It's a sentence I made up as an example and hope it's correct, and if not please correct it too). > He wants them to be go away from the team. Subject: He   Verb: Wants   Object: Team or Them? Does "go away" also a verb in here? What kind of a work "Them" in this context?


title: Can ‘as’ be replaced by ‘which’?

text: In the following sentence, can "as" be replaced by "which"? If so, is there no difference between the two, in this case? Do we call ‘as’ in the example as relative pronoun, or just pronoun? > There was a lot more to magic, **as** Harry quickly found out, than waving > your wand and saying a few funny words. > > (Harry Potter book 1)


title: "Hi ladies" -- Is it rude to use this greeting for 3 people?

text: In addressing three people in an email isn't it more polite to use their names rather than "Hi ladies"? Also when you walk into a quad cubicle isn't it more polite to address people by their names? Grouping people together when there are only three is treating them as interchangeable, and is disrespectful isn't it?


title: Meaning of "Chase a Crooked Shadow"?

text: What is the meaning of chasing a crooked shadow? I read _Chase a crooked shadow_ in the Times of India newspaper, 10 Feb 2012, but could not understand the meaning of that title. Some context from article: > There was a man who was so disturbed by the sight of his own shadow and so > displeased with his own footsteps that he decided to get rid of both. The > method he hit upon was to run away from them, so he got up and ran, but > every time he put his foot down, there was another step, and all this while > his shadow kept up with him too without the slightest difficulty. ... This > parable is from the Chinese philosopher, Chuang Tzu. So many of our > experiences, particularly during the impressionable years of childhood, are > based on negative feedback on who we are ...


title: When is it acceptable to start a sentence with an "-ing" word?

text: Here's my example. It is a sentence that begins in the middle of a paragraph and I'm using it as a transition. "Living in Costa Rica also gave me the opportunity to interact with the local population." Or can I re-write the sentence like this: "Additionally, living in Costa Rica also gave me the opportunity to interact with the local population."


title: I am getting a drink from refrigerator

text: I am getting a drink from refrigerator. I take a drink out from refrigerator. Which is more accurates? Can I just simply say I take out the drink?


title: What does “Don’t squat with your spurs on” mean?

text: My friend e-mailed me a couple days ago a dozen of cowboys’ proverbs included in the book titled, “Don’t squat with your spurs on” by Texas Bix Bender. Though I presume this proverb (Don’t squat with your spurs on) admonishes not to do everything impetuously, I can’t figure out what’s wrong with squatting spurs on, as I’m utterly ignorant of cowboys, horse, riding boots, spurs, et cetera. The question may look naive to you, most Americans, but I don’t honestly understand the "figurative" meaning of the phrase. Does it mean projections of spurs can hurt you when you squat inadvertently with spurs on? I was unable to find out a concrete answer in Google Search, though I find the phrase in a row as a heading.


title: Meaning of 'fastidious'

text: Can this term be used to indicate a 'complainer', someone who is never satisfied with anything.


title: Verb question and use of am versus is

text: Is it correct to say: > . . . and she like I am happy that. . . . or would you say: > . . . and she like I, is happy that. . . . Microsoft Word spellchecker lets either of these be used.


title: What's the meaning of "root" in "you root for the favorite"?

text: What's the meaning of _root_ in this context? > You root for the favorite. You cry when they go away.


title: Tense Confusion in "If they have to/If they were to/If they had to"

text: Which is correct and what is the meaning of each sentence? >   1. Wickets will keep falling if they had to. >   2. Wickets will keep falling if they were to. >   3. Wickets will keep falling if they have to. > My guess is it's the second one because both "had to" and "have to" implies obligation or something necessary to be done in the past and present respectively. I don't know about the second case. Although I know I can write... > Wickets will keep falling inevitably no matter how much one tries to stop > it. But still if I want to write it in the above-mentioned ways then which one is correct?


title: "Commitment" vs. "work ethic"

text: I am writing a paper for a squad leader audition for marching band. We have to describe our strengths and weaknesses for each subject. The different subjects   * Leadership   * Commitment   * Attitude   * Punctuality   * Work Ethic   * Performance   * Lesson Attendance   * Marching Band When I got to the paragraph about commitment, I was trying to think of how it was different from work ethic, but I couldn't think of how it was. What are the differences between these two words?


title: Is "sustain the tuition fee" correct English?

text: Searching for it in google yields just 9 miserable results. So, I am puzzled - is it bad English, or is the opposite true - too good to be widely used? **EDIT** The complete sentence is: > However, having our children attend a good school is also very important to > us, so I have been using the School Report Cards by Fraser Institute as a > guiding tool in my search for a good public school (unfortunately, we are > unable to sustain the tuition fee for a private school). English is not my native language, so Google is my primary guide to what is widely used and what is not.


title: What's meaning of "get to the meat of"?

text: For example, "let's get to the meat of the problem"? When could I use this phrase? Does this mean "let's get to the most important part of the problem"?


title: "Lowercase", "lower-case", or "lower case"

text: Is it _lowercase_ , _lower-case_ , or _lower case_?


title: Which one is more British: "car hire" or "rent a car"?

text: I am wondering which one is more commonly used in the United Kingdom: _car hire_ or _rent a car_?


title: Is "many fewer combinations" correct?

text: Is the expression "many fewer combinations" correct? It only gets about 600 hits on Google, against 1,200 for "a lot fewer combinations". What would be a correct way of expressing the idea contained in "many fewer combinations"? would it be best rephrased using something like "a large reduction in the number of combinations", or something similar?


title: Single word for "product or service"

text: Is there a single word that can represent the phrase "product or service" as in this sentence: Companies won't succeed unless they can provide a wanted **product or service** at a fair price.


title: What's the term for siblings born 1+ years apart on the same day?

text: What is the term for two siblings born on the same calendar day, one or more years apart? I know there's a term, and I'd know it if I saw it, but I can't for the life of me remember it.


title: Synonym for force-feed?

text: I can't find one anywhere and can't think of one either, but this is a clever group and maybe someone has a synonym for force-feed, in the sense not of forcible indoctrination, but physically forcing someone to eat something.


title: Is a predicative adjunct part of a noun, or is it part of the sentence?

text: I just recently learned about predicative adjunct which is present in the following sentence by the "ready to race" adjectival phrase. I wonder whether the phrase that functions as a predicative adjunct is actually part of the predicand, or the sentence? > John, ready to race, started the car. I'm asking whether "ready to race" should be considered part of the subject "John" or whether it's a phrase that interrupts the flow of the sentence. I'm comparing this with the following sentence, which has a relative clause: > John, who was ready to race, started the car. which, as far as I know, considers the relative clause "who was ready to race" as part of the noun "John". More technically, if we're discussing in Penn Treebank parse tree format, would it be parsed as the following first option or the second?               (S       (NP (NNP John)         (, ,)         (ADJP (JJ ready)           (S             (VP (TO to)               (VB race))))         (, ,))       (VP (VBD started)         (NP (DT the) (NN car)))       (. .))                    (S       (NP (NNP John))       (, ,)       (ADJP (JJ ready)         (S           (VP (TO to)             (VB race))))       (, ,)       (VP (VBD started)         (NP (DT the) (NN car)))       (. .))


title: Any website to look up words with similar pronunciation or spelling?

text: Is there any website(s) to look up words with similar pronunciation or spelling? For example: _stack_ , _steak_ , _stake_ , _stick_. (It can help me as a non-native English speaker to learn confusing words.)


title: What does "The Quality of Mercy is not Strained" mean?

text: I think I know what Shakespeare meant for Portia to be saying when he wrote this dialog between Shylock and Portia, and I found a decent discussion on the web here. What I want to know is, what do people mean, when they quote this figure-of- speech by itself. It seems to have acquired a meaning of its own, a proverb that in the end, embodies some meaning which maybe is supposed to be clear to everybody, but which is not clear to me. Is it used by those who quote it, for example, meant as a rejoinder or insult against someone who seems stubborn, recalcitrant, and uninterested in the mores of the larger society? Has anyone seen a cataloging of other places in literature where this quote is used, or is the quote largely used in conversation only?


title: What does "Way out of a paper bag" mean?

text: What do they mean when they say "He can't find himself way out of paper bag?" Or "Couldn't manage himself out of paper bag?" Also what is the history of this statement? What is the origin?


title: Are there any better (perhaps business-oriented) alternatives to "pitting against" for this situation?

text: Recently a colleague demonstrated a shared Microsoft OneNote notebook in which he and other members of his team posted their weekly accomplishments in sort of bulleted lists. The idea was that they could monitor one another's bandwidth so they could assist one another. I saw it differently however: to me it seemed that it sort of pitted them against one another to see who could have more bullets on their list of accomplishments. Is there any better term than "pitted against" to describe this method of trying to motivate someone by guilt or by always trying not to seem the team's weakest link? It isn't quite the stick, but it definitely isn't the carrot.


title: What would be the proper term for the head of an Academy?

text: I'm reading a book, and I'm constantly seeing the name 'Chairman' appear to describe the head of an Academy that students of all grades can attend. An "Elevator School" if you will. The problem I face, is that to me, in English, a Chairman is someone who deals with businesses, not Academics. I can potentially see alternate uses such as 'Director,' or even 'Principal,' but I'm not certain which one would be more correct? I tried to do some research through Google, but I couldn't find any one place that solidified the titles of Academic places, as it seemed more to be a "What sounds more important? Let's use that." sort of deal. In the UK I've heard that Charter Schools call them 'Chairman,' but in the United States I've heard 'Dean' or 'Headmaster.' What is the difference? **EDIT** : This is a Semi-Private School, basically, for students from Primary through to Graduation, but not including University/College. It does include Student Dormitories as well. Thanks!


title: Is this a paradox, oxymoron, or irony?

text: The sentence is > Laughter was his way of expressing his alarm and despair. I know this is the definition of an oxymoron: > a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in > conjunction And that seems like a reasonable fit; however, is it better to say that this is a paradox? Or should I just stick with irony?


title: "Multimedia" or "media" for menu name

text: I'm developing a website on which photos and videos will be shared. But I couldn't decide on the main menu name to use under which there will be two subcategories _Photo Gallery_ and _Videos_. Which one do you think makes more sense to visitors: _multimedia_ or _media_? Once they see it, they should immediately realize this menu is all about photos, videos and things related to graphics.


title: "Any English I have learned" vs. "All the English I have learned"

text: Is it correct to say: **_Any English** I have learned has been from movies and the Internet_ or is it better: **_All the English** I have learned has been from movies and the internet?_


title: Word for someone unaware they are different or disabled

text: There is a word that describes someone who is unaware that they are different or disabled.For example, someone who can't smell but is unaware of what smelling is so they think they are the same as everyone else. What is this word?


title: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

text: The usual question and answer seem to be of the form > What do you want to be when you **grow up**? > > I want to be a singer when I **grow up**. Should it not be > What do you want to be when you **have grown up**? > > I want to be a singer when I **have grown up**. Here we have interpreted _grow up_ as the process at whose end one becomes a singer. Should the first pair be considered correct simply because of its accepted usage, or is there an alternative explanation for this?


title: Does the phrase "The hills have eyes" predate the movie?

text: I'm under the impression that the phrase "the hills have eyes" predates the movie (including the 1977 one), but I can't find any use of it on Google. How can I find out if the phrase existed first?


title: Meaning of "one of the most XXX"

text: One frequently hears something being described as _one of the most important XXX_ or _one of the best XXX_. Isn't _most important_ or _best_ (any superlative really) unique by definition? How can something be one of a set of most important things?


title: Is "blah blah blah" the most common spelling?

text: What is the most common or correct spelling of "blah blah blah"?   * blah blah blah    * blah blah   * bla bla bla    * bla bla My question stems from when I first wrote it as "bla bla bla" in an English text, but a friend told me it should have been written as "blah blah" so I decided to ask here. Before that I had checked it out on some online English dictionary and Google search but I wasn't able to clear it out.


title: Is "I'm dead serious" formal?

text: In a movie I heard an actor saying "I'm dead serious". I looked up the dictionary and found that "dead" in this context means "really". Is it formal? Can we use it in business meetings?


title: "to comment out" before the era of programming

text: I think many people here are programmers since stack sites started out as stackoverflow originally, which is about programming. My question here is about the phrasal verb "to comment out". It makes a lot of sense to those who know that in programming you can easily turn some part of the code (usually a line) into simply a comment that would have no bearing on the code's execution. For example,               print: Hello world       can be easily turned into a comment in this way:               ; print: Hello world        Programmers would say in this case, "I have commented out the line." It is absolutely logical and makes sense to me. However, I wonder if this phrasal verb ever was used before the programming came about. Did it exist in those times? If yes, in what situation it was normally used then?


title: Plural indefinite pronouns?

text: Can some indefinite pronouns be plural? One commenter on Mr K's Grammar World says they cannot. He also says the following examples contain quantifiers, and not indefinite pronouns. >   * _Many have_ expressed their views. >   * John likes coffee but not tea. I think both are good. >   * I'm glad to say that _fewer are_ smoking these days. >   * I'm sure that _others have_ tried before us. >   * _They say_ that vegetables are good for you. >   * _All is_ forgiven. - _All have_ arrived. >   * There _is more_ over there. - _More are_ coming. >   * _Here is_ some. - _Some have_ arrived. >


title: Past perfect or past simple in combination with present perfect?

text: Suppose I received a document from my colleague, studied it and then gave him feedback in a letter. How should I construct the following sentense? > I have examined the document you _gave_ me and... or it should be > I have examined the document you _had given_ me and... and just in case (though I hardly believe it is correct) > I have examined the document you _have given_ me and... From one point of view both he and I know when he gave me the document so one should use past simple. On the other hand past perfect might be used here to indicate that the moment he gave it to me occurred before I read it.


title: What is the correct capitalisation of the word "sonar"?

text: What is the correct capitalisation of the word "sonar" (and why)?


title: Is it right to ask "Where is the world's most fresh water?" without using the word found or located?

text: Is it right to ask this question: > Where is the world's most fresh water? Can I ask this question without using the word "found" > Where is the world's most fresh water found?


title: If the sun rises at morning, what to say about the moon?

text: If the sun is said to rise at **morning** , should I say 'the moon rises at night'? Or is there another expression?


title: "Ask me anything" and "Ask anything to me"

text: There are some sentences I hear regularly: >   1. **Ask me** anything >   2. Ask anything **to** me. >   3. If you **ask me whether** he was right, I would tell you "No". >   4. If you **ask me about whether** he was right, .... >   5. If you **ask to me whether** he was right, I would tell you "No". >   6. If you **ask to me about** whether he was right, ... > So I hear the construction between ask + me + something but I like to know which sentences are correct above? And also could you please explain the grammatical rule of these sentences? And more quick thing, I told my native english speaker friend this "Do you know whether Eric asked me today". And his reply was "I don't know what Eric asked you about." However I meant to ask whether Eric ever looked for me or not. Was my question wrong?


title: Could the term "elephant" have derived from "olfactory?"

text: The online etymology dictionary gives " _Oliphant_ " as the predecessor of " _elephant_." Dictionary.com defines " _olfactory_ " as "pertaining to the sense of smell." Given the similarity of " _oliphant_ " and " _olfactory_ ," could the first word be derived from the second? I'll close the loop by noting that an elephant is noted for its "nose" (trunk).


title: Are these sentences grammatically correct?? How to correct?

text: "Control of magnetic multidomain states is a central challenge in developing multilevel spintronic devices. Due to the random domain nucleation process, it is hard to be achieved in a normal ferromagnet.", "We demonstrate that both traditional spin transfer torque and spin-orbit torque play the essential roles in the controllable domain nucleation.", and this one "Compared with previous reports that the magnetization can only be switched between two uniformly magnetized states, we show that the current induced magnetization switching can be achieved between any two multidomain sates.". The referee says that these sentences are grammatically incorrect, but i cannot find. Thanks a lot.


title: English word similar to Unagi

text: I am looking for a word (or two words) that means something similar to "unagi" as it is used in the TV show _Friends_ (i.e., the concept they were trying to go for, not the fish!) - a total sense of awareness of yourself and your surroundings.


title: Is it proper to use ordinal suffixes on fractions?

text: I know in more formal writing, spelling out fractions is preferred (e.g. two- thirds), and in math no suffix is used, but I frequently see ordinal suffixes being used on fractions (e.g. 2/3rds), even from reputable news sources. _2/3_ is already pronounced _two-thirds_ and, to me, the addition of _rds_ just looks weird and is certainly unnecessary. Google turns up millions of examples: > https://www.google.com/search?q=2%2F3rds Even legit news sources: > http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57369226-503544/florida-primary-exit- > polls-2-3rds-say-debates-mattered/ Wikipedia has nothing to say about it: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraction_(mathematics)#Pronunciation_and_spelling Is this proper English or just an undefined grey area?


title: Do plaza and square have a different meaning?

text: Do _plaza_ and _square_ have a different meaning, when referring to a place?   From my English studies, I recall that I was taught that plaza and square were two different kinds of "square". Is it true? Are the words used as synonymous?


title: What to call the lump on skin from mosquito bite?

text: What word can I use to describe the small lump on the skin seen after a mosquito bite?


title: Would a restaurant name of "Punjab House" be offensive?

text: We are looking for a good name for an Indian restaurant that specializes in Punjabi food. We have heard that naming the restaurant "Punjab House" would be offensive. What specifically makes it inappropriate or offensive? I was told it is a derogatory reference, but I don't see examples of that anywhere. I'm specifically asking for any ways that it may be taken offensively, or any explanations why it would be regarded as an offense.


title: Can a participle contain a comparison to other object?

text: Can a participle contain a comparison to another object in the same sentence? For example, is the following sentence grammatically correct? "I can't see any vehicle moving at higher speed that travels on the left lane compared to the vehicles on the right lane". If it is not correct, please suggest another form for comparing two (or more) objects when it is needed to mention at least two actions that first object is performing. I would like to avoid using twice (or more) the same relative pronoun such as: "that". Thank you in advance.


title: Is "thank's" an alternative correct spelling?

text: My colleague who is American spells "thank's" (with an apostrophe) and when I ask him why he said because it's "more formal" and "he uses American English". Is this true? Can you really spell "thank's" in American English and is it really considered more formal? EDIT: Well, I _do_ know it's not true. I just wanted to have someone _native_ explain it so it is more persuasive. And I have seen this incorrect spelling so many time that judging _just by usage_ \- it is correct :) Just Google search gives about 2,500,000 occurrences... You may even be easily mislead by a dictionary title and it doesn't say it's wrong!


title: Considering - meaning in this sentence

text: What is the meaning of considering in this sentence? We're just fine, **considering**.


title: Do both of these introductions mean the same thing and make sense?

text: I work with someone whom I have not yet introduced myself to; someone usually introduces a new person around the office but I wasn’t in on this person’s first day, so I missed that. Anyway, on introducing myself, I was wondering if the following would make sense? > I don’t know that we have been introduced. Does it mean the same thing as: > I don’t think we’ve been introduced.