title: Word for a person being used

text: I'm looking for a word to describe someone who is being used. This person would be the subject (a noun) not a verb or or adjective. Maybe like a pushover.


title: Formal way to describe sexual acts

text: I'm writing a statement of events that happened between me and my ex. It needs to be written formally but I don't how to write the following words in that way: "blowjob" and "eating her out." Thanks for any help you can offer!


title: What does "someone figures someone" mean?

text: What does "he figures you" mean? I mean in this sentence: "He figures you get more overtime that way, being at a cheaper rate or whatnot."


title: Is hierarchial a word?

text: I've found one reference that says hierarchial is an alternative form of hierarchical, but it's an unreferenced resource. Some wiseacre wrote a bug fix for my software saying hierarchical was the only spelling of the word and I'd like to prove said wiseacre wrong. So, can someone crack open the Oxford English Dictionary with the tiny print and help me out?


title: Word for when something turns out to be the opposite of what you believed?

text: I've been wondering for a while, if there is a word for when something turns out to be the complete opposite of what you believed. So, something that would fit in a sentence like below would be great: > It was so **____** , he was at the complete opposite end of town.


title: Wish + tense agreement + subordinate clause

text: * I wish I knew what he did/does for a living   * I wish I knew what he had/has bought her   * I wish I knew what he would/will do in this case * * *   * I wish I'd known what he had done for a living   * I wish I'd known what he did for a living   * I wish I'd known what he would do in this case Are they correct and what the situations are like when hear them?


title: Next week, in particular, is my wife(')(,) Liana's(,) show

text: I was writing an email to my department, and was informing them about an art show my wife was having. So I wrote: > Next week, in particular, is my wife Liana's show. But then I realized that I usually would write "my wife, liana, ...", but the apostrophe made it look strange. Then it occurred to me that maybe I should be putting the apostrophe on "wife" instead. After thinking about this for more than a few minutes, I decided to drop all commas and send the email, since I was wasting time. But I wanted to know what the correct punctuation would be in this case. Also, I apologize if this seems trivial or is a duplicate. I could not find a decent answer to this elsewhere.


title: Problem with sentences structures?

text: I have problem with sentences structures. I have a sentence: > When reviewing [Name of Bank] reports, the conclusion can be reached that > over the next few years demand for new solutions will be maintained which > will be adapted to working ... It seems to me that this sentence have mistake. I was trying corrected sentence. >   1. When reviewing [Name of Bank] reports, the conclusion can be reached > that over the next few years demand for new solutions will be maintained, > and ones will be adapted to working ... >   2. When reviewing [Name of Bank] reports, the conclusion can be reached > that over the next few years demand for new solutions will be maintained. A > new solutions will be adapted to working ... > I am not sure, which sentence is correct and better?    Thank you in advance for your help.


title: Once you've introduce an acronym / initialism should you always use it?

text: When writing a large document with technical terminology (in this example I'll use 'Content Management System') I would use the full term itself and alongside introduce the acronym / initialism: > ...When using your Content Management System (CMS) you should first.... However, once I've done this should I _always_ refer to it by the initialism throughout the document, or is it advised to refer to the term by its full name at periods throughout the text? I don't want people getting confused by the term if they repeatedly come across it and not understanding what it means, so would be tempted to occasionally reuse the full 'Content Management System' wording in order to associate that with the initalism again, but then equally I don't want people thinking " _they've already told us what CMS means, why are they using the full words again?_ " Should I just stick with the initialism throughout?


title: "Par for the course"

text: From your personal experience, is "par for the course" widely understood, or would you recommend using a less technical term? I am particularly interested in differences between American, British, and Australian English.


title: Actual word for "Broadity"?

text: I'm looking for a single word that explains how broad or widespread something can be. Since "broadity" or "widespreadity" aren't real words, are there any viable alternatives?


title: Difference between "repress" and "quell"

text: What is the difference in meaning between _repress_ and _quell_? Are they interchangeable?


title: Is “No offense meant (taken)” well-accepted English expression?

text: I’ve seen the phrase “No offense taken” in the answers to the comments in EL&U site. None of online Cambridge, Oxford and Merriam-Webster dictionary registers this usage, nor does Google Ngram. However, I was able to find the definitions of both “No offense taken / meant” as “I am not offended [by what you said] / I did not mean to offend you,” in idioms.thefreedictionary.com and www.urbandictionary.com Since what time around did these expressions come into currency? Are they a polite way of excusing? Can I use “No offense meant (taken)” in both colloquial conversation and formal meeting, for instance with the client advertiser in opposing their idea?


title: Plaque Wording and Capitalization

text: When writing a message on a plaque using multiple lines to communicate the message, is it appropriate to capitalize the first word of each line, even if the line is a continuation of a sentence shown on the prior line? Example: > To Management and Staff of ABC Company,   >  For your valued partnership and   >  Creativity in development of new   >  Technology that will improve the   >  Lives of transplant patients all   >  Around the world, we express our   >  Deepest gratitude and appreciation,   >  On the occasion of ABC's 20th Anniversary.   >  Presented June 5, 2013, in Los Angeles California Additional question: Would "Anniversary" be capitalized since it is an event being recognized? And, would there not be a comma between Los Angeles and California? This is similar to wording I received from management to use on an appreciation plaque—I'd like to get it right, whether I'm right or they're right.


title: "On/at/for/over the weekend" in American English

text: Some sources say that "at the weekend" is wrong, while other ones say it's correct. Which form is acceptable in American English? >   * On Saturdays her sister Ann usually comes to stay with Mary > on/at/for/over the weekend/s. >   * What are you going to do at/on/for/over the weekend/s? >   * We are going to Paris on/at/for/over the weekend/s. >   * Are you going to stay here for/at/on/over the weekend/s? > Which preposition do American English speakers use — _at_ , _on_ , _for_ , _over_?


title: "Love me tender": adverb or adjective?

text: Is the last word in each of these phrases an adverb or an adjective? How can we know? > love me _tender_   >  treat me _nice_   >  hold me _tight_


title: Ten years (of) experience

text: > IT professional with 10+ years **of** experience. Do I need to put "of" between "years" and "experience"? I would have put it without any doubt if I hadn't read a few examples without "of" in the book ACE the IT Resume: Resumes and Cover Letters to Get You Hired


title: Can we use two pronouns side by side?

text: While writing an essay, I felt the need to write two "her"s simultaneously: > Jane had taken the book from Ann five months ago, and hence felt the need to > return _her her_ book as soon as possible. Yes, the second _her_ is indeed a possessive adjective, but still, does this sentence sound grammatically correct?


title: Possible Grammar Error

text: I asked a friend of mine to read something (on skype), and he declined the offer. Then he asked me to play a game, to which I replied, "I have better things to do." Then he wrote back, "Exactly! Why I didn't read." Then we got into a debate about whether it was grammatically correct. I believe that if he had said "Exactly why I didn't read your text", it would have been correct or even something like "Exactly why I didn't read", but he says he is correct. Can you tell me whether he is mistaken or I am?


title: Where does "my ass" come from?

text: The usage of _my ass_ to mean _me_ is now relatively common. My impression is that it originated from AAVE and has since been included in various other dialects. The NGram below implies it became popular in the 70s: ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/fwuVE.png) However, that is only for the specific usage of _save my ass_ and might not be representative of the general trend. So, where does this come from? Does it in fact originate from AAVE or was it just popularized through it? How old is this usage and is there any etymological information on it? Specifically how/why did it enter the general vernacular? * * * Clarification: This is not about the phrase _My ass!_ to express incredulity in the way expressed by _My eye!_ but about _my ass_ to mean _me_. As in _She saved my ass_ , or _You got my ass into trouble_ etc.


title: Is it grammatical to say: Your understanding is correct?

text: Is it grammatically correct to say: Your understanding is correct to re-assure a concept?


title: Do vocal pitch and timbre differ by accent?

text: Guys from the UK and India seem to have higher-pitched voices than Americans. Similarly, I have heard comments from Japanese-American women that they make an effort to lower their voices when speaking English in the US in order to be taken more seriously. Are there some accents within English for which the typical vocal pitch and timbre is high or low, or is this a personal, idiosyncratic dynamic of language?


title: How do we correct the sentence, "The party was held on the hotel’s roof."

text: INCORRECT : The party was held on the hotel’s roof. CORRECT : The party was held in the roof of the hotel.


title: Does issue as "Offspring, progeny; a child or children" have modern usage?

text: When looking at the word "issue" in the thesaurus I noticed that children was given as one of the definitions. Having not seen issue used in this context before, I decided to do some investigation. Sure enough the Oxford English Dictionary (Online Edition) lists one of the definitions of issue as: > Offspring, progeny; a child or children; a descendant or descendants. Now > chiefly in legal use or with reference to legal succession. †Formerly > sometimes with pl. issues. (Rarely used of the young of beasts.) However, I see example usage such as: > 1850 H. Martineau Introd. Hist. Peace II. v. ix. 344 No issue from this > marriage survived. which seems to stop at around 1871. Is this just an older usage of the word, or does it also hold in modern day usage as well? I'm having trouble finding examples.


title: Why are they called Hudson Bay and Bay of Biscay? Why Mediterranean Sea and Sea of Japan?

text: I was looking up a French town on Google Maps, when it struck me. There are bays shown as "Bay of ..." on the map, as well others listed as "... Bay". Their naming seems to be consistent with the naming in other maps I checked. Likewise we have most seas listed as "... Sea" (e.g. Caribbean Sea), but some oddballs like the Sea of Okhotsk. This also can be noticed in the naming of gulfs. I simply can't figure out the rule. Here is a link to the list of seas on Wikipedia. (On a random note, this is probably coincidental, but the names of bays I can think of off the top of my head that end in "Bay" are all in America.)


title: "Studying PhD at the university" or "studying PhD in the university"?

text: Which of these two sentences is correct: >   1. I am studying PhD _at_ the university. >   2. I am studying PhD _in_ the university. > Should I use "at" or "in"? Or is there no difference?


Does English have frequently used ordinary words that distinguish between equality and equivalence? For example: > It was the same man on the photo. Equality. The two persons are identical. > She ordered the same dish as her cousin. Equivalence. The two dishes are the same kind of food, but they are two objects.


title: Whatever happened to thou and thee? Thy words have become more dreary

text: Why did thee, thou and thy come to disappear from English? I am looking for solid explanations, rather than observations that these are still used in dialects in the north. Please explain cause for their obsolescence, if possible. It will greatly help my students if a legitimate and credible answer is provided! (Added): it would be really interesting if anyone can identify _when_ this occurred. My research: I have only found that the forms disappeared by 1800, but no illumination of why they fell away and were commonly replaced by 'you' as standard. I don't mean to sound apathetic, but I prefer to generate some debate or choose amongst responses from the people in the know who use this space than simply reference Wikipedia.


title: What do we call the person who is doing small business?

text: If a person is earning 5000 rupees monthly in a business, then can we call him a businessman? What are the words we use for different earners earning from hundreds to millions of rupees in a business.If a person is running a shop (selling snacks and homemade items), then what do we call that person? Is it a kind of a business or not? and If a person is selling the same items on the road, can we call him a businessman?


title: What are the rules for preposition use in Canada, England, US, Australia, etc?

text: I am looking for 'rules' for all (most?) prepositions: which one to use when/where and why. I assume there will be different rules for different parts of the English speaking world. I was born and raised in western Canada. I 'know' what 'sounds' correct to me but I haven't been able to find formal rules. I listen to several BBC podcasts & I noticed they often use prepositions in ways that sound strange to me. Also I am helping a Quebec French speaker learn English. I am finding it almost impossible to explain which preposition to use when and why.


title: When a car stops working, is it "crashed" or "broken"?

text: When I use _crashed_ for computers, that means my computer stops working suddenly. To imply similar meaning for cars, should I choose _broken_ or _crashed_? What I understand from _crashed_ is _having an accident_ instead of _spontaneous problem._


title: Difference between "take off", "take from" and "take out"

text: What's the difference between these three sentences? >   1. Let's take this part out of the picture. >   2. Let's take this part off the picture. >   3. Let's take this part from the picture. >


title: Using a comma this way

text: I am reading "The Reader Over Your Shoulder" by Robert Graves (author of I, Claudius), which is a clarity\grace guide for written English. He has a section about punctuation, which gives examples of mistakes found in the wild. This is one of them: "The fire of Prometheus is as a rush-light compared to the volcano of steam..." The examination noting the punctuation error (one of many errors in this single sentence): "Without a comma at 'rush-light' it is the rush-light, not the fire of Prometheus, which is being compared to the volcano." It's an interesting point, but I cannot find a further break down of this example (and how to use it) in my other grammar resources. It is similar to how he pointed out the difference between these two sentences: "I did not go to the party, because I was not wanted" and "I did not go to the party because I was not wanted." The first one meaning what you think and the second meaning "I went to the party but the reason I went wasn't merely for the reason that I was not wanted (ie, I didn't go out of spite)." I had never heard of that usage either, though explanations of it were easier to find online than the rush-light example.


title: Word for people who believe in a higher power that is not God

text: There are people who believe that there is someone or something in the universe that controls everything but it is not a god or gods. What is the term for these people? I know it's not atheism. So, what is it?


title: What does "if flawed" mean in "interesting, if flawed, concept"?

text: I'm not a native English speaker. I was reading some article and it said: > "interesting, if flawed, concept". What does "if flawed" mean in this sentence? Does it mean the concept is interesting and flawed (wrong?)? I can't quite understand.


title: Term for administration of a university

text: Is there a collective term for the senior administration of a university (dean and upwards)? I am looking for something specific to the U.S., though not specific to a particular system (such as _regents_ for the University of California).


title: Enamored of/with/by

text: It seems that "enamored" can be used with any of the prepositions "of", "with", and "by". What is the proper usage for each? This is the sentence I'm writing: > The team, _enamored with_ this new metaphor, spent much of the remaining > time brainstorming ways to apply those principles to the project. "By" sounds the most natural to me in that context, and "of" sounds stilted. "With" is somewhere in between.


title: Origin of distinction between "one" and "a/an"?

text: So I was told that the English articles "a" and "an" have Germanic origins. In German, there is not a distinction between "one" and "a/an". Is there any explanation for the existence of these two different words in English? Is there a situation in which "one" and "a/an" cannot be interchanged? I suspect that "a/an" is just easier to say....but maybe I am just biased to think so, as I am a native English speaker.


title: "Watched them get married" vs "watched them getting married"

text: I read the following: > The next day as I watched them get married... How does it differ from the following? Is one more eloquent and accurate than other? > The next day as I watched them _getting_ married...


title: What's the opposite of "retaliate"?

text: What would be a single word to mean: "to do something positive to someone because they have done or said something positive to you", when you want to return the favour with something equal or better. I Googled it and I found some odd results like "forgive" and "sympathize".


title: Using "RSVP" as a noun

text: _RSVP_ literally means "Please respond", however it seems to have turned itself into a noun in common usage: > "What's your RSVP for the party?" > > "I'm attending" Is it acceptable to refer to a person's attendance status as _their RSVP_ ?


title: Is there a term for words that are spelled the same in a foreign language?

text: Is there a term for words that are spelled identically in a foreign language and have the same meaning (regardless of whether they sound the same)?


title: How to ask a knowledge question without causing offence?

text: By "knowledge question", I mean any sort of question intended to check whether the listener already knows the answer or not. For example:   * Are you familiar with how an operating system works?   * Do you know how to vote? Unfortunately, in certain contexts, these sorts of questions can cause offence because those being asked either **A:** Don't know the subject but feel it is common knowledge and so they _should_ know about it **B:** Do know the subject and feel they are being patronized This creates a problem because it is often difficult to tell which way a person is going to go in taking offence, especially if you don't know them very well. Therefore, I can't simply modify the question to "Of course you are familiar with how an operating system works, right?" as this will comfort B but offend A. Similarly, skipping the question entirely will comfort A but offend B. I work in technical support and usually deal with this situation beginning any conversation with a short script explaining that I try not to assume any knowledge on the part of those I am talking to and that they should ask me to skip stuff if I am going too slowly. I think this is quite clumsy, however, and not always appropriate in less formal situations so I am wondering if there is a way to ask this kind of question more neutrally.


title: Is this grammatically correct? "You see a dirt block, above which a stone block"

text: Is this grammatically correct? > You see in front of you a dirt block, above which a stone block. If not how should it be fixed?


title: Origin of phrasal verb "love on"

text: Lately I've been hearing friends talk about _loving on people_. Here's an example of the sort of thing they'll say: > We should be working in the streets and _loving on_ the homeless. > > Forge relationships and _love on_ your friends! You can find specific examples of this usage by typing `"loving on" people` into your favourite search engine. I have done a bit of research on phrasal verbs and have read these two posts here on EL&U. While they are certainly interesting, they don't quite answer my questions:   1. What is the origin of _loving on_ or _to love on_? Could it have been popularized by people who thought that _loving_ or _love_ weren't active enough for the context? ( _Loving on_ seems most frequently used in a religious context, especially when referring to good works.)   2. Of what use is the preposition _on_? It doesn't seem to change the meaning much—you can't physically _love on_ somebody in the sense they're describing—and I've only seen or heard it used in contexts where _love_ by itself would suffice. I ran a Google ngram with input `love_VERB on`, although I can't say for sure whether that's helpful.


title: Tricky pronoun and antecedent agreement

text: I'm currently taking a grammar class and the professor gave us this phrase to ponder upon. She said that there was a problem with it. I can't seem to find the problem nor the solution. > Manolette met Julette when he was leaving the airport. (consider both Manolette and Julette MALE) > Ashley told Lama that she has the smallest room in the dorm. Both sentences have the same problem... but have a different solution. I think the pronoun "he" and "she" is unable to identify both their antecedents in both sentences?


title: What is the oldest trick in the book?

text: Is there one trick that is the oldest? I understand the Oxford definition of the idiom but when was it first used and what did it refer to?


title: Adjective for the adverb "soon"

text: I am looking for an adjective that corresponds to the adverb _soon_ , to fit a sentence such as: > That feature will be added in an _[adjective]_ update. Is there an adjective with the same meaning as _soon_?


title: Is "use" a negative word in the following sentence?

text: I heard somebody say: > I used my mother to find my socks. The moment I heard it, my first impression was that it meant something bad — a rather negative word choice. Then I looked up _use_ in the Oxford English dictionary and chose the following two entries which may suit here. >   1. employ sth for a purpose; bring sth into service >   2. exploit sb/sth selfishly > Which is correct here? Likewise, in > We have to use the police. Is _use_ here negative?


title: What's "jewishness" supposed to mean?

text: There is an image at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/160511174191029351/ which goes like this: ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/yuisE.jpg) I don't quite get the joke... what's "Jewishness" supposed to mean in this context?


title: What does "rachet" mean and when was it first used?

text: The word **_ratchet_** is all over Twitter. Some real examples from just now: >   * "All these ghetto ass ratchet ass girls at mchi are wearing these Santa > hats, and they all claim to be Santa..." > >   * "I was lookin ratchet in my workout pic but for you to make it a > priority to talk about somebody's habit that u be sneakin & geekin to do" > >   * "Yaassss finally getting ratchet tonight after being a good girl for a > month " > > The @lovihatibot Twitterbot routinely finds it in searches for "I love the word [X]" and "I hate the word [X]", in fact it's the 14th most loved word and 15th most hated word (presumably use in one category feeding the other). Similarly it's the fifth most common in @favibot's searches for "[X] is my new favorite word". What does _ratchet_ mean? Where does it come from and when was it first used? Was there a single person or event which popularised it, and when was it? Is it a "good"/positive word, or "bad"/negative, and has this changed in any way?


title: What do you mean when you ask "How are you?"

text: I have been asked one simple question many times by Americans: "How are you?". I know this does not mean that the person I am talking to wants to know how I feel, but sometimes I see that they repeat the question to me, so I answer that "I am fine", and I do not know what I should answer other than "fine" to people who I do know. I know, for example, that in Hebrew "How are you?" in most cases means "Hello". In Russian if you ask "How are you?" you definitely want to know it. What do you mean when you ask this question? What answer do you want to hear?


title: What is the term for lowercase i as word in sentence

text: If **i** have this sentence. **i** also have this sentence. Then correct it to: If **I** have this sentence. **I** also have this sentence. If we know the error is not a typo. What would such a correction be called?


title: Which is the correct preposition to use with the verb "match"?

text: Which of the following is correct? > Match the value in the request field **with** the value in the delivery > field. or > Match the value in the request field **to** the value in the delivery field.


title: "On the air" OR "On air"

text: Do you remember Northern Exposure? I hope so. Chris had a light-sign in his office: http://nevergoodbye.com/go/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/totalchris.gif And when you search google images for "on the air" some of the signs shown has sentence "on air" without "the". **So which one is gramatically valid?** Personally I'd prefer "on the air" as it looks better.


title: What is the etymology of "Tough titty"

text: This is a phrase I've heard used on several occasions by different people. I'm interested about what it's origins are, and whether it should be considered rude. Essentially it means "That's tough luck!", but with an unapologetic undertone. e.g. > Person A: Strawberry ice-cream? But I wanted chocolate. > > Person B: Tough titty. That's all they had.


title: Is there an exception to the prohibition against ending a sentence with “ ’s ” at work here?

text: The _’s_ can be used as a contraction representing a weak, unstressed word that is not pronounced. It allegedly cannot occur in sentence final position. >   * She is not ready, but he is. >   * She’s not ready, but he is. >   * She’s not ready, but ***he’s**. > The last one is not grammatical there. Similarly, here the last one is not grammatical: >   * He has not started yet, but she has. >   * He’s not started yet, but she has. >   * He’s not started yet, but ***she’s**. > This answer claims this is because you cannot end a sentence with a weak form. It backs up its point with reasonably scholarly documentation. However, this does not seem to be invariably true. >   * Shall we go to the movies? Yes, let us go. >   * Shall we go to the movies? Yes, let’s go. >   * Shall we go to the movies? Yes, **let’s**. > Unlike the third example in the first two sets, here in this case the third example is indeed grammatical, despite ending with a weak form. Is this an exception to the rule, or is there another rule at work here?


title: Asking about the date on which something happens using "effective"

text: How is the word " **effective** " or " **effect** " used to indicate from which date a new rule / change will be applied? I am not sure which of the following is correct: > These changes will **take effect from** March 1, 2012.   >  These changes will **take effect on** March 1, 2012.   >  These changes will be **effective on** March 1, 2012.   >  These changes will be **effective from** March 1, 2012.   >  These changes will be **effective** March 1, 2012.   > **Update:** I just came across a new phrase: March 1, 2012 is when the new changes will **come into effect**.


title: Tenses in zero conditional

text: I'm wondering about contradictions in zero-conditional explanation in different sources. Some of them state that **only** Present simple + present simple is correct. Some of them state that present and past simple are correct till both sides have the same tense. And some of them state that all simple tenses (present + past + futute) are correcnt till both sides have the same tense. Which source is right (for American English)? And if I can use past and/or future - what the difference between all of them?


title: Is the following company name in correct word order?

text: Is the following company name correct? > Irrigation and traffic works construction investment joint stock company The company aims to invest in the construction of irrigation and traffic works and it is a joint stock company. However, when registering we need an English name for the company but I don't know how to write Da Nang irrigation and traffic works construction. I am completely confused.


title: Is it appropriate to express a sentence without verb?

text: Many native speakers expressing sentences **without verbs** while speaking,   For instance,   * What you doing now?    * How you doing? Is it appropriate?


title: Name a person who loves to do things manually

text: What will you call a person who loves to do things manually rather than using any technology tools.


title: "Of a trilogy" vs. "in a trilogy"

text: I've Googled for a while now, and can't seem to find any good answers to this. Which of the following is correct? >   1. X is the second installment in a trilogy. >   2. X is the second installment of a trilogy. >


title: What is the origin of "like a bat out of hell"?

text: As far as I know, this expression means to appear suddenly and in a scary way. But what is its origin? I heard that it comes from Meat Loaf's song but I'd like to confirm it with reliable sources, if possible.


title: Pronunciation of "Porsche" over time

text: Is there an official pronunciation for Porsche? I grew up pronouncing it with a silent final e ("Porsh"). However, I've increasingly heard it was pronunced with a neutral e sound at the end ("Por-shuh"). Is this simply an anomaly in some people's idiolects, is it regional, or is it becoming a general thing in American English? And has the pronunciation with the final e become more common over time?


title: Word meaning "absorbs everything around him"

text: I'm looking for a word to describe my son. Basically, he sucks in virtually everything around him - music, books, adult conversations, etc - and adds that to his mental image(s) of how the world works. It's something like absorptive, but that does not feel active enough. Thoughts?


title: In correspondence, what is the correct way to refer to two people with the same first name but different last names?

text: I have received an email containing the following statement, "tell John Ford and Smith that their proposal is due". As both individuals share the same first name, what should the correct directive state ?


title: Could somebody explain the difference between these ways to make food directly using fire or heat?

text: When you use fire or head directly to cook or make something, there are so many different ways, like grill, roast, toast, bake and broil, maybe there are more else. What is difference between them?


title: Shorter word for 'Settings'

text: I am creating an application which has a button which opens the settings pane, but there is just not quite enough space on the screen for the whole word (in a readable font size). Is there a shorter word that means the same? Something like "properties" except, well, shorter. Thanks!


title: Meaning of the phrasal verb "to dart at"

text: > There was the poor bear, spluttering away in the water, and trying his > hardest to swim whilst the goldfish darted at him in fury. What does _to dart at_ mean in this context? Does it mean "attack"?


title: Collective term for all those involved in producing a film?

text: Is there a single word that covers both the cast and crew of a film? I'm certain there is but can't think of it and, given the topic, Googling just results in lists of films. Can someone please tell me what it is?


title: "Short of" meaning in "means of finding an audience short of landing a job as a critic."

text: what does the bolded part means? > An established New York critic admitted to me a certain amount of bitter > envy, for when he was coming up in the ranks, there were no outlets in which > to express his opinion, nor means of **finding an audience short of landing > a job as a critic**. Does it mean **_finding someone who thinks of being a critic as a job_** or **_finding an audience who pays for the criticism of a critic_** or something else?


title: What word means “the important events in one's life”?

text: I am looking for a single word which refers to the important events of a person's life. This might include birth, marriage, changing jobs, or anything else that the person feels is significant, but preferably when observed by looking at one's entire life.


title: What word means “the people in one's life”?

text: I am looking for the closest single word which refers only to those people who are directly connected to a person's life. Most specifically, this the meaning of the word should include co-workers, classmates, friend, and family members, but should not include strangers.


title: "the son of a barkeep is speaker of the House"

text: The Wasington Post quotes Obama as saying: _"Here in America, our success should not depend on an accident of birth, but the strength of our work ethic and the scope of our dreams. That's what drew our forebears here ... [that's] how the son of a barkeep is speaker of the House."_ Would it be also possible to say in this context:   1. _"and **a** scope of our dreams"_   2. _" **a** son of a barkeep is **the** speaker of the House"_?


title: Comma after the noun of the Oxford comma?

text: In a sentence like: > Next to apple, pears, and bananas, a lot of other fruit exists. Is the comma after bananas needed, allowed, or forbidden? And why? Is the same true for descriptions with verbs: > Next to fruit that smells of sewerage, looks like dung, or tastes > disgusting, a lot of nice fruit in between these extremes exists. Or is there a neater way of saying this?


title: How to introduce yourself?

text: I am using British English. While addressing a gathering or talking to a new person, how do you introduce yourself? Is it "I am Phani" or "This is Phani"?


title: Which word to use, "again" or "anymore"?

text: I'd like to describe an action which I'm used to do but I won't do it in the future. Which word is correct, for example:               Just a little more work, I'll never need that tool again.      Or:               Just a little more work, I'll never need that tool anymore.      If there is any better way to describe it, please help me to correct my sentence, too.


title: Does this sentence "iPhone 2G has Photo Geotagging capacity of No" make any sense?

text: Ok, this is the original sentence: > iPhone 2G does not have Photo Geotagging capacity. I want to rewrite it as _iPhone 2G has Photo Geotagging capacity of No_. So my question is does the sentence > iPhone 2G has Photo Geotagging capacity of No. make any sense (that is correct grammar & can be accepted by the reader)?


title: Word for long chain of causes

text: What may be the conceptual, phenomenal word for > a long chain of complex causes and reasons, that doesn't believe in > coincidences, accidentalities, karma etc.?


title: "To go so far as to" — suitable for academic writing?

text: Is using the phrase "to go so far as to" in an academic context (e.g. in an article in humanities journal) acceptable? New Example: > I do not know why Mister X went so far as to assert that Mister Y's argument > is blatantly invalid (-- after all, it seems to be quite convincing). This phrase sounds rather colloquial to me, but I think I have read it quite often in journals -- maybe due to a lack of alternatives... Are there any reasonable alternatives? * * * I realized that my intended-to-be entertaining example distracted from the actual question. So I edited the question and added a new, updated example. Sorry for the confusion. To keep the answer by Bill Franke reasonable, I keep the original example: > I do not know why Mister X goes so far as to assert that Mister Y is a > scumbag.


title: What's the difference between "eldest" and "oldest"?

text: When should I use "eldest" and when should I use "oldest"? Are the differences semantic or regional? (Or both?) (What got me wondering is the `removeEldestEntry()` method in Java's `LinkedHashMap` class.)


title: Correct use of 'with' or 'at' when talking about percentages?

text: I'm writing the following sentence: > Women lead uptake at XX%. But a friend is saying that it should be written: > Women lead uptake with XX%. Which one is correct?


title: Is it "bear the shame" or "bare the shame"?

text: Google returns results for both variations of this common phrase.   * bear the shame   * bare the shame What is the meaning of this phrase, and which one is correct? Is the speaker _carrying_ their shame or are they _exposing_ it? Or is this just a case of two separate meanings?


title: The history and use of the term "moth hour"

text: I had never heard or read the term _moth hour_ before, but am reading the American author Jan Karon's book "In the Company of Others" and she uses it several times. The book is set in Ireland, and there are entries from an old diary scattered throughout the story. Here is one excerpt: > I remember how she slit the throat of a Hedgehog which she commanded me to > capture & bring to her in a sack--the creature was rolling in fat for the > spring & summer had been especially wet & lush and I had often seen him > outside his Burrow at the **moth hour** surveying the land. I searched and found that William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) used the phrase in his poem The Ballad of Father Gilligan Here are the first two stanzas: > > The old priest, Peter Gilligan, >> >> Was weary night and day; >> >> For half his flock were in their beds, >> >> Or under green sods lay. > > Once, while he nodded on a chair, > > At the **moth-hour** of eve, > > Another poor man sent for him, > > And he began to grieve. ... I can see from this NGram that the height of the use of the term may have coincided with the publication of Yeats' poem. But would he have coined it, or was it in general use and he borrowed it? ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/3qRaP.png) I also noticed that there is a Moth Radio Hour, sometimes known as the Moth Hour, which is all about the art and craft of story-telling . See "Why The Moth?" But it's not really related to the term I'm interested in. So, after all this, I presume that _moth hour_ is an Irish and maybe British expression. Did Yeats coin it? Is it well known and is it still used? (Do any of you Americans use it?) I also presume it means the hours around dusk, when the moths come out. Is that so?


title: Is there a term for named chapters in a work of fiction?

text: Does anyone know if there's a term that describes the device of titling chapters in a work of fiction? That is, chapters not simply called "Chapter 1", "Chapter 2", etc., but chapters with unique names that describe their contents, such as the chapter called "The Potions Master" in the first Harry Potter book.


title: Is it correct to say "aging X years or more"?

text: > Hundred participants ( **aging 18 years or more** ) were selected from each > of the cities. Is the phrase within the parentheses correct? Any suggestion to better express the idea will also be appreciated.


title: What is the difference between "ok" and "alright"?

text: What is the difference between "ok" and "alright". Do the two words have the exact same meaning? If not, what is the difference? Is the difference reflected only according to different usages in different circumstances?


"In England we call them rolls of arms: in Spain they are known as armoriales — armorials — or libros de armeria — books of arms, and books seem to outnumber rolls as such. Of nearly 30 Spanish armorials recorded, at least eleven are books, and only one is definitely a roll. Nine are original productions, and six are known only from copies. At least eight foreign armorials contain compilations of Spanish arms." (Collins, W. T., Spanish Armorials, Coat of Arms, No. 161, Spring 1993.) What does "...and books seem to outnumber rolls as such." mean?


title: "Say for someone to do something" in colloquial AE

text: In colloquial prose, is the idiomatic "say for" an appropriate substitute for "tell" in "tell someone to do something" whatever the context? E.g. > Have I ever said for you to pretend to be someone you are not. source > > We concluded the conversation with my saying for him to contact me in six > months.source > > Now I am saying for you to sit down...source > > May I say for you to call... source > > We parted with her saying for me to be safe. source > > Didn't you say for him to call his probation officer and tell him he was > terminated? source > > I think he might be saying for us to reach out to Muslims... source > > I never said for him to rot in hell, that is God's decision after death. > source It sounds like what is meant in the last example is something like "I never wished for him to rot in hell" or "I never said he should rot in hell" rather than "I never told him to." Does this sort of more obscure meaning of "say for" have any currency in colloquial speech and writing?


title: Last names that are English words with an extra 'e'

text: I noticed that there are a lot of last names that have an 'e' at the end. The pronunciation usually isn't changed from that of the base word.   * _Poole_   * _Steele_   * _Browne_   * _Clarke_ Why do English words not have the _e_? Maybe the answer to this question depends on which came first, _pool_ or _poole_.


title: How to write numbers one after the other in different context

text: Sorry if the title is poor. I am having a hard time thinking of a good title. If I wanted to say something like: "We will have 5 two-hour sessions". Is there a proper way of listing this?   * "Five 2-hour sessions"?   * "5 2-hour sessions"?   * "5 two-hour sessions"?   * "Five two-hour sessions"?


title: Use of 'not' in questions

text: When is it okay to use 'not' when posing a question? I believe that the person asking would include the 'not 'when he believes the implied to be true. For example: "Are you going to the store? "Are you not going to the store?" Then the question of how to properly answer it. "Yes, I am going to the store" "No, I am going to the store." and if they arent going... "No, I am not." "Yes, I am not." I wonder if this is a French rule and therefore confusing to English speakers; where 'Si' is used instead of 'Oui'. Anyways, your thoughts?


title: Who's who or Who's whom?

text: I'm wondering if the phrase "Who's who" as in "a who's who of the community" should be "Who's whom" on the basis that if you rephrase to a question and remove the apostrophe you get "Who is who?" which is poor English, so should be "Who is whom?" (since you would respond to it phrased as a question with, for example "He is him(self)". Which is technically correct, **"Who's who" or "Who's whom"**. I'm pretty sure it should not be "Whose who" because that would be possessive. Ignore that who and whom are generally interchangeable in modern common usage, I want to be technically correct about it if possible, though I fear it may just be one of those statements which makes no sense but we use anyway.


title: What are wrong with this phrase?

text: Is the phrase > what are wrong with XY and ZZ correct English? I stumbled upon it in a question on movies.SE: What are wrong with the bleach and the fish in the Machinist?, and instantly thought "That has to be an error!" Not being a native speaker, I thought before correcting it, it'd be better to Google it first (you never know) and it actually returned over 13 million results. I'm stumped, is this actually correct? Or just a common mistake?


title: Is a comma still required between "said" and a quote if no one actually says anything?

text: For example He gave me a look that said "Don't you dare." Should a comma still be placed after said?


title: Is there a computing term for form elements that have “relevant” values?

text: Is there a word for form elements that have “relevant” values? If there is, what is it? By “relevant” values, I mean values that we want to process or which are needed for processing. These values are not necessarily user inputs because they can be hidden fields or static fields. Elements like the submit button, form headings, and labels are examples of form elements that have irrelevant values. I guess I’m looking for a programming term because in programming, those are considered form elements and they have “values” in a programming sense.


title: What's a word for "teenager-ish"?

text: I am looking for a word that encapsulates "teenager-ish" - that sort of petulant, contrarian, immature behavior. Any ideas?


title: Is 'Brave' the symmetrical of 'Yankee'?

text: Note: This question is only apparently a dupe of preceding: "Is Yankee derogatory?". I have heard of the term "Brave" often referring to people in the Southern U.S. by Northeners. Is it true? If so, is this term considered derogatory or offensive and should it be avoided in formal settings? ADDENDUM: as choster say in his/her comment, probably I am confusing the terms with the names of two major league baseball teams which were rivals in the 1990s: the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves (cities which are associated with the North and the South). Probabily this rivalry might be reverberated in Europe to the point of distorting the really meaning of the terms.


title: What is the opposite of 'cozy'?

text: I'm trying to find a word to describe a restaurant space that is the opposite of _cozy_. The only word I can think of is _cavernous_ , however I don't wish to give the sense that the space is particularly large. It's simply that it is not cozy.


title: Does changing the position of an adjective, change the meaning of the sentence?

text: What are the differences in meaning between these sentences? >   1. _The weather is hot on the island._ >   2. _The weather on the island is hot._ >   3. _On the island, the weather is hot._ > Do they mean the weather is usually hot on the island or the weather is hot on the island right now?


title: Is it OK to use perfect infinitive in such cases...?

text: I wanted to express my disdain for certaing people and say something along the lines of **_"If they by any chance were to die tomorrow, I wouldn't care"_** (I know it's a wrong thing to say, and I'm sorry.) What I actually said was: **_They could have been killed tomorrow; I couldn't care less._** Shouldn't I have said: **_They could be killed..._**? I used the perfect infinitive to emphasize the improbability of them being killed any time soon. Now I feel I overdid it.


title: Question about likely vulgar expressions

text: The terms " **screw up** " and " **crap** " are frequently used on American TV that I'm not sure whether they're euphemisms, my first assumption, or just vulgar. I don't want to make mistakes, especially when speaking to children, but after doing some research, I found no definitive answer. Are these terms euphemisms or just vulgar? I found this explanations: "screw up" is offensive in the UK, but just slang in the US. The translation in my language is vulgar or euphemistic, depending on whether they're being translated from UK or US English. "crap" is considered mildly offensive, but the translations are both euphemistic and very vulgar. Can I use these terms when speaking with children or with, for example, my father-in-law?


title: Are these interrogatives subjects or complements for verbs?

text: > [a] **Which** is the best choice for the blank?   >  [b] **What** 's the best choice you have made? (TED) Which are the subjects in above respectively? It seems like _which_ in [a] and _what_ in [b] are subjects.   And I also get the idea that _which_ and _what_ might be complements of the verbs respectively. For I can make these echo questions, in those _which_ and _what_ are complements. The best choice is **which** for the blank?   The best choice you have made is **what**?


title: Adjective that describes a person who shows a lot of enthusiasm in the beginning but gets bored gradually?

text: Can anyone provide a word which describes a person who shows a lot of enthusiasm in the beginning but gets bored gradually and eventually leaves the task uncompleted? I looked at **jaded** , but it doesn't fulfill the criteria. Jaded seems to describe more of an overworked fellow, whereas the word I'm looking for would describe the nature of person. The word I'm looking for would describe a person who always exhibits this behavior.


title: "Martyr To" vs "Martyr For"

text: This book specifies the difference as: > **martyr for something** : smb. who is made to suffer severely for a cause > > **martyr to something** : smb. who is acutely inflicted by something Oxford dictionary also tells us this: > (martyr to) a constant sufferer from (an ailment): Other online dictionaries don't seem to explicitly specify a difference, though all example sentences for "martyr to" contain an ailment. Yet, I've seen the usage "He/She is a martyr to his/her cause/country" a lot. In fact, google gives more hits to the "to" use than the "for" use. > **martyr to his cause** : 315,000 uses vs. **martyr for his cause** : > 285,000 uses > > **martyr to his country** : 371,000 vs. **martyr for his country** : 266,000 > uses So is there still a difference between the two in modern/current use? Is this a case of colloquial use being inconsistent with grammatically correct use? Is this a US vs UK issue? Help, please? Surprisingly google is not yielding even a single article discussing this usage. ETA: Ngram comparisons that have now only increased my confusion. It seems "martyr to cause" is significantly more common is usage than "martyr for cause". Diagrams for Cause and Country


title: Difference between "The car is" and "The car is blue" in the word "is"

text: I, being a native English speaker, and having snoozed through some of my grammar lessons in elementary school, sometimes cannot express differences that I feel exist in certain grammatical constructs. Here is such a case: > The car is. and > The car is blue. What is the name for the word "is" when used in the first sentence, and in the second? I feel that these two sentences have different semantic meanings for it, the former being "exists" and the latter not being "exists". While the second sentence could be rephrased as "The property of blueness exists in the car" I think that that is a completely different way of stating the thought, not an equivalent. I think the latter is called a "copula" perhaps? No idea for the former.


title: Is there an adjective to describe someone who has access to all the facts, news or insider information?

text: Looking for an adjective to fill in the blank below: I was talking to my stock broker. I wanted to say: I am not as **_** as you who has access to all the facts, news and insider information (about the stock).


title: Meaning of "handbags" in the context of a fight

text: Apparently a tussle between two English footballers was described by an official spokesperson as > 'I was there. There was no punches thrown. There was a lot of noise. Samir > was talking in French, Manu wasn’t. They didn’t touch. **It was handbags.** > There were words and that happens after most games,' he said. Is this a BrE usage?


title: Idiom for restlessness

text: A Chinese colleague just told me of a Chinese idiom for anxiousness or restlessness. They will often refer to someone who is overly restless as an ant standing on a heated pot. I'm pretty sure there is at least one English idiom for restlessness/anxiousness, but for the life of me I cannot think of it right now. Is there indeed one or more common idioms for restlessness in English, or am I imagining things? :)


title: What is the word for a pair of bytes?

text: _Bit_ is a portmanteau of _binary digit_. A _byte_ is 8 bits. A _nibble_ is 4 bits (half a byte). Is there a word for a pair of bytes?


title: Should I use past perfect tense here?

text: I was thinking about a certain situation. Suppose that one week ago, I played basketball once, and that today I was talking with a friend. > I: I played basketball once last week. > > My friend: Did you have fun? > > I: Not bad, but I didn't play well because I haven't played in a long time. I am really not sure whether I should use "haven't" or "hadn't" here. Please let me hear your opinions.


Can one preposition directly follow another in a sentence? The sentence in question is: "I am so impressed by the one-on-one time that we can **take advantage of with** the executives-in-residence program." I can just change the sentence, but I was also wondering about the rules of grammar in regards to this case.


title: Is there a word that describes when you are unable to remember the word you want to say?

text: I vaguely remember seeing this word years ago, it started with "log-". I want to know what this word is because I have this problem all the time (as many others do), where the word I am thinking of is right at the tip of my tongue but I just can't remember it. It's a bit fitting for this situation, isn't it?


title: Which one is correct: "1yr" or "1yr." or "1 yr"?

text: I need to put one of the above on one of my app's buttons. Bonus question - does the same rule hold in plural? That is if I write "1 yr.", do I write "15 yrs." as well?


title: Is "most superior" correct?

text: I am reviewing an article, and the author uses the phrase > ... this algorithm achieves the **most superior** fairness ... Initially I thought the phrase is not correct, just like saying that something is _more better_ than something, but I did a google search and got more than a million hits (using quotes). So my question is: is the use of "most superior" ever correct? If not, why not?


title: Is afeast or possibly affeast, afeest etc. a word?

text: My English (vai Liverpool)-Canadian mother used this word to mean 'disgusted by' or 'repulsed by.' Example: "he is **_afeast_** of mixed foods." meaning you think mixed foods are disgusting or inedible. I have been unable to locate any use or reference to this word, even in the unabridged dictionary, although I have seen 'afeard,' and similar variations, as archaic versions of afraid.


title: What does "Are you related to the candidate?" mean?

text: I'm filling an employment reference form and I'm not sure what this means. Does it mean, are you related in terms of kinship or related professionally. It also asks to state your relationship. Thanks


title: Usage of "to" in "I've got some slides to talk to"

text: In Lucy Kellaway’s 2012 Golden flannel Award, the Preposition Award is given to a usage of _to_. > But the winner is the innocuous word “to” as increasingly heard in > presentations: “I’ve got some slides to talk to” – the unfortunate > implication being that the speaker has to talk to the slides because no one > else is listening. Am I right in thinking that the speaker originally intended to mean some images for projection on a screen? If so, what is the appropriate preposition in this sentence. “About” perhaps? Is this usage of _to_ really often heard?


title: Why does the word "inadvertently" mean "not knowingly"?

text: The root is _advertently_. That means “knowingly”. Fair enough. The root of _advertently_ is _advertent_. That means “attention”. Hmmm … quite close. The root of _advertent_ is _advert_ , which means “advertising”. Okay, I am missing something here. What does _advertising_ have to do with _advertently_? Are these the real root words?


title: What is the female equivalent for "uxorious"?

text: I know the word **uxorious** that is used to describe a husband who dotes on his wife excessively. What is the corresponding word for a wife who loves her husband dearly? I cannot pull anything out of my memory... and I feel it is very harsh on men if such a word weren't there! Example:   * He was an uxorious man who assiduously took care of all of his wife's needs.   * She was a **__** woman who assiduously took care of all of her husband's needs.


title: "Transition to" vs. "transition into"

text: What is the correct phrasing: > transition into vs > transition to Can you explain why? Here’s the context: > In partnering with us, businesses can transition to/into a digital > publication etc.


title: Can we use "likewise" instead of "also" in formal writing?

text: When we write academic paper, can we use "also"? If it is a bit informal, is it ok to use "likewise" instead of "also"? Or, are there any possible expression in such situation?


title: What does the term "86'd" relate to?

text: What does it mean when someone or something is referred to as being "86'd"?


title: Where does the food industry term "86" come from?

text: Such as in "that item is 86, we need to buy more"


title: "Would have" in conditional clauses

text: I have been taught to use the _if I had_ form in conditional clauses referring to the past: > If the president had asked me, I would have told him the same thing. As far as I can tell though, the _would have_ construct is sometimes used in conditional clauses as well, so it wouldn't be incorrect to say: > If the president would have asked me, I would have told him the same thing. What is the difference between the two and the proper use of the latter?


title: "At" or "in": Places

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  "Got it at" or "Got it in?" When referring to a place, when does one use the preposition "at" and when "in" (such as "at school" versus "in school")?


title: "give me an offer" vs "make me an offer"

text: Which is correct: "give me an offer" vs. "make me an offer"? Is there some difference in meaning?


title: What's an idiom for something that you've heard many times?

text: I'm trying to write something for my blog, and I need an idiom that will replace me saying, "I've heard people say that all the time, it's the same old story."


title: How Can I Use "Concordant" In A Sentence?

text: I was looking for an alternative to "unanimous" and had found "concordant" in the thesaurus. What would be the best way to use this word? For example, in an essay it would be okay to say "the texts had unanimously agreed on how **_**". Would this be the same for "concordant", as in "the texts had been concordant on how **__** ". Could any examples of the word be listed below?


title: Accomplishment vs. Achievement (implicit superiority)

text: I elsewhere saw the difference between the two explained thusly: accomplished denoted "completed for someone else's benefit", achieved "completed by oneself". I consider it a one off, but can anyone confirm if there is an implicit superiority in language usage. This would be useful in the positive sense one would say "... an accomplished career".


title: Inversion with intro adverbial

text: Looking into inversion, I found a website listing different types of inversion, but I can't understand _intro adverbial_. The website says that inversions in this case are optional, and gives the following examples: > Into the room ran the lady. > > First comes love, then comes marriage. > > After A comes B, then comes C, next comes D. > > Down came the rain and washed the spider out. Now, these examples are extremely hard for me to "restructure", I hope I can receive some help, this is the best I was able to come with: > Into the room, the lady ran. > > First comes love, marriage comes then. > > After A comes B, C comes then, D comes next.


title: A word that means the rate at which a system progresses away from equilibrium

text: I am trying to think of a word the means the rate at which a system is moving away from equilibrium. The best example I can think of is a chemical reaction; say you have a pile of wood. If the wood is burning rapidly, this number is negative and its magnitude is large. If wood is being steadily added, the number is positive. If the number is zero, wood is being added at the same rate at which it is burning away. ** context ** The use case is a software engineering one, but abstract. Items are accumulated, and items are consumed and discarded. If items are being accumulated, you eventually run out of disk space. If items are being consumed, eventually you free up all disk space. What I am trying to convey is the _speed_ with which the system is approaching one of those two outcomes. The outcome you're headed toward is identified by the sign of the number. So I'm looking for a physical metaphor that I can model the terminology after.


title: Should it be 'Is there are' or 'are there'?

text: I am confused between 'Is there are' and 'are there' which one of them is correct? For example 'Is there are/are there any time before 1 o'clock?' Thank you.


title: "of the" before adjectives

text: I am writing a technician text and oft have a sentence with a lot “OF THE” before adjectives like a: _First example: This is a black spring OF THE new lock OF THE left door OF THE yellow car. Second example: The X component OF THE magnetization vector OF THE 180 degree domain wall incide the sample._ Those sentences sound not nice, is it correct to use “of the” so oft???


title: Is there any difference in meaning if at all between "to write IN pen" and "to write WITH a pen"?

text: I would like to know whether there is any difference in meaning if at all between "to write IN pen" and "to write WITH a pen"


title: Proper usage of "take your time"

text: What is the proper usage of "take your time"? Can we use it in the following context? > Rachel sent me an email saying that she is busy and will not be able to meet > me until the following week. In a reply to her, can I use "take your time"? > That's fine. **Take your time.**


title: "Questioned" or "asked"?

text: What is the difference between _questioned_ and _asked_? > I asked him how are you? > I questioned him how are you? Will the two sentences have a different meaning if I use _questioned_ instead of _asked_? I think the difference may be in politeness because _asked_ looks more polite than _questioned_.


title: More formal synonyms of "snob"

text: To me, the word _snob_ seems rather informal, although it appears in dictionaries, and I am unable to find anywhere on the internet a more formal word than _snob_. Are there any sophisticated synonyms of _snob_? _Snob_ is new to me and adding sophistication to it would make it more formal.


title: What is the difference between "in terms of" and "as far as is concerned"?

text: What's the difference of their emphasis? Often I felt these two are very similar. For example, In terms of quality, A is better than B. is similar to: As far as quality is concerned, A is better than B.


title: Pronunciation of "candidate"

text: Dictionaries generally show two pronunciations for the word _candidate_ : /ˈkændɪˌdeɪt/ and /ˈkændɪdət/. Macmillan dictionary shows both are used in either American or British English. So does Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. What is the prevalent pronunciation of _candidate_? Which one is more used in British (and American) English?


title: Difference between "plotting" and "drawing"

text: What is the difference between _plotting_ and _drawing_? I am a foreigner and I have been doing maths for years. Sometimes, I feel that difference but if someone suddenly asks me about it, I cannot describe that feeling.


title: How to interpret "...the disinfectant burnt her inside out, of course"

text: A character in a play is talking about how a girl committed suicide by swallowing strong disinfectant, but it's "burnt her inside out" that I'm questioning. It may be possible to interpret it in both ways, but if any, which one out of these two: "...burnt her inside out" - "inside out" as in she was burnt from the inside out. "...burnt her inside out" - "inside out" as in an a tee shirt that is inside out. Which one is more likely to be correct? Can one interpret it in both ways?


title: What is a synonym for "attempted to jump start"?

text: I want to make this sentence more concise: > Chairman Mao attempted to jumpstart China's agriculture and industry. Could one replace "attempted to jumpstart" with a single word?


title: Origin of "A Great Man Once Wrote/Said"

text: I've seen many a quotation begin with _A Great Man Once Said_ or _A Great Man Once Wrote_ , and as I was writing something just now, I began with that before realising that I don't actually know where this lead-in actually comes from. A popular reference is the last line of the film Kick-Ass, and I've found a 1993 music album with this title, but I'm sure I've read this lead-in in much older literature before. Is there some well-known passage in a book or poem which first popularised this phrase? Or some other item of pop culture?


title: What is the term for "cousin of a cousin"?

text: My mother’s sister’s son is my cousin; let’s call him “John”. John’s father’s brother’s son — let’s call him Mark — is John’s cousin. Now, Mark isn’t my direct cousin as we don't share any immediate ancestors. What kind of relationship do I have with Mark? I think this too is some sort of cousin. I always thought this was second cousin, but it turns out, I have blood relation to a second cousin through great grandparents. So, what is term for my relationship with Mark?


title: Pedagogue vs. pedagogy vs. pedagogical

text: How do people choose to pronounce the _-agogue_ suffix in these three words? >   1. pedagogue >   2. pedagogy >   3. pedagogical > The first is a reasonably common word and its suffix is surely consistently pronounced as `/əgɒg/` ( _agog_ ). However, dictionaries suggest that the relevant bits of the other two words can be alternatively pronounced either as `/əgɒdʒi/`/`/əgäji/` ( _agoji_ ), or as `/agɒgi/` ( _agogi_ ). In other words, while people always use a _hard g_ for the first _g_ , they might prefer a _soft g_ for the second. The same can be noted for pronunciations of the various forms of demagogue and synagogue. Why this "discrepancy"? How do people decide to choose the hard or soft _g_ for **such uncommon words**? It might be *cough* logical to conclude that people who choose the _soft g_ do so due to their familiarity with the French-influenced _-logy_ suffix. However, I personally pronounce _pedagogical_ with a _hard g_ due to my preceding use of another _hard g_. Or is this simply an AmE-BrE divide?


title: "Less fast" vs. "less faster"

text: Which one is correct? >   * He runs less fast than I. >   * He runs less faster than I. >


title: Can all verbs ending in "-ise" be written with the suffix "ize"?

text: Are there any "- _ise_ " (or "- _yse_ ") words which **cannot** be (or are never) written using "- _ize_ "? I searched for prior questions, and came across:   * Correct use of "ise" vs "ize" at the end of words   * Correct use of "ise" vs "ize" at the end of words   * Are the endings "-zation" and "-sation" interchangeable? But I have seen no mention of the rule I was taught at school, which is that while verbs derived from Greek may receive the "- _ize_ " suffix, verbs derived from Latin may not. All the answers to the questions above simply focus on the fact that Americans prefer the "- _ize_ " form and the British tend to use "- _ise_ " for words with those endings. Have usage changed in the 21st Century? Can we spell all the following verbs with "ize"?   * advertise   * advise   * paralyse   * analyse   * despise   * exercise   * revise   * supervise   * surprise   * compromise If we can use either ending for some of the words, but not others, what is the governing rule?


title: Noun for "the acquisition and communication of ideas"

text: I'm looking for a noun for the "acquisition and communication of ideas". _Communism_ would be a viable phonetic choice if it didn't have the political meaning. If there was a word meaning "idea-ism" then it would be a potential choice too. For a sense of context, I'm trying to base a role-playing game on AD&D 2e (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons). There are schools of magic for wizards and one is known as _divination_. I wish to rename this school of magic to avoid ambiguity with clerics, who use divine powers for magic. The spells it governs include scrying and other communication-related abilities. I want to redefine its scope to include all spells related to messaging, communication, and the acquisition of ideas.


title: Agenda going from bold to bite-sized

text: What does "one's agenda going from bold to bite-sized" mean?


title: Correct English Grammar

text: Based on this message: > I hope you consider my application has awaken your interest and I am looking > forward for a meeting with you to explain deeply of myself. The message is used in the end of my resume. Do you consider the message as correct grammar? Today, I'm a newbie in English Language & usage.


title: I have to do it until/by tomorrow. Why both seem to be common?

text: I have always thought that the correct one is "I have to do it by tomorrow" as "by" is used for some point in the future while "until" is used when something longs until now/that time. Is that correct?


title: Going beyond something

text: > Some years ago, I started to go beyond being a simple user. The meaning I want to give to the sentence is that after "some years ago" I'm not anymore a simple user but someone with a higher experience in the subject. Is this sentence correct? What are alternatives to express the same?


title: Can "once" and "since" be followed by a V-ing clause?

text: Consider these examples: >   * _Since the board realized_ that the figures are increasing, they have > been searching for a new campaign. >   * _Once the board realized_ that the figures are increasing, they began > searching for a new campaign. > Can they be rewritten as "since realizing" and "once realizing"?


title: (GRE) Parallel Structures

text: The following is a sample question taken from the revised version of the ETS- administered Graduate Record Examination (GRE). I normally try hard to understand the logic behind selecting the choices offered by the answer key and often, after a few minutes, I come through. Here, however, I seem to be grappling with the choice and the explanation provided for the last blank; I fail to understand why "symmetry" is indicated as the correct answer. Can someone please explain the reason for that answer? > Sample Question: > > **It cannot be denied that without creative reasoning it would not have been > possible to (i) ___ _ of classical physics. Yet classical physics has no > contribution to make to the understanding of (ii) ___ __. This kind of (iii) > ___ _ is surprisingly common in logic as well as in life.** > > Blank (i)   >  A. dispute the value   >  B. lay the foundations   >  C. understand the basics > > Blank (ii)   >  D. creative reasoning   >  E. other sciences   >  F. the arts > > Blank (iii)   >  G. circular reasoning   >  H. inflexibility   >  I. symmetry > > Correct Answer: BDI > > Explanation:   >  The word ‘yet’ is the main clue. It indicates an opposite. Start with the > first blank and eliminate choice A. You can also get rid of choice C since > you can understand the basics of physics without creative reasoning. Now to > form the opposite we can choose D for the second blank. Now we paraphrase > what we have: creative reasoning was needed to get classical physics > started, but classical physics can’t help us understand creative reasoning. > Then we can select the final option. The statements we have so far are > parallel constructions (a sort of symmetry) and are not inflexible.


title: What grammatical structure is this parenthetical?

text: > An equivalent formulation, **generalizable to interacting systems** , is to > consider... I want to know what kind of grammatical structure the part "generalizable to interacting systems" is. It is not a participle construction, right? What is it?


title: “Comparing” vs “A comparison of ”

text: A professor criticized the language in a presentation. In particular he said that English preferred a noun phrase such as _a comparison of_ to a gerund such as _comparing_. For reference the entire sentence follows. > Comparing prominent symptoms in drug addiction with models of aberrant > learning may help us understand how those symptoms arise I have seen both forms used in the technical literature but his point was more one of general usage. I don’t intend to argue the point with him. I merely want to know if his point is more than one of personal preference.


title: "Ambitious to [infinitive]" vs. "ambitious about [gerund]"

text: What is the correct preposition to use with ambitious? >   1. I am ambitious to achieve success. >   2. I am ambitious about achieving success. >


title: "Regret" vs. "remorse"

text: I would like to better understand when I have to use _regret_ and when _remorse_. In Italian we have two words:   * _Rimpianto_ : used when I'm sad because I didn't do something in the past (e.g. I didn't buy a staff and now it costs the double).   * _Rimorso_ : used when I'm sad because I did something wrong in the past (e.g. I offended a friend and now we don't talk anymore). I read the dictionary and it seems that the word _regret_ can be used as the world _rimorso_. > A feeling of sadness, repentance, or disappointment over something that has > happened or been done. The word _remorse_ , on the other hand, confused me because it is defined as > Deep regret or guilt for a wrong committed. So, what are the correspondence of _rimorso_ and _rimpianto_ in English?


title: What's the meaning of "guest spot" in "We have a guest spot on the Tonight Show"?

text: I think that "solo spot" has the same meaning, but I don't know the meaning either.


title: "For all it's worth" or "for all its worth"?

text: Should I put an apostrophe in "for all its worth"? The meaning comes to about the same thing either way, as far as I can make out, and it seems like "it's" is more popular. But is there an accepted version? Or any reason for preferring one over the other, other than staying conventional?


title: What does 'Roodow (wrongly spelled, only the sound)' mean?

text: In Australia, I have met a lot of people saying a word (sound like) 'roudow' to respond (mostly to end, like 'alright' equivalent) a conversation. I have been searching around but haven't got any clue yet due to the spelling. Would you please kindly talk a bit about this for me? Thank you in advance.


title: "It takes" + infinitive vs. present participle

text: Is it grammatically correct to say "It took me five hours travelling to the US"? Most people would say "It took me five hours to travel to the US." I wonder if the infinitive is always the only option, or if a present participle is possible as well.


title: just/only usage

text: Isn't there a difference (or aren't there differences) with the following?   * I only drive to work on Fridays   * I drive only to work on Fridays   * I drive to work only on Fridays   * I drive to work on Fridays only Though C and D may be the same. Don't people usually mean C or D even if they say A? I ask because in "Word Crimes", Weird Al says "You should only write in emoticons" but I think he should have said "You should write only in emoticons" or "you should write in emoticons only", right?


title: Stay/keep abreast of

text: Somewhere in my essay it goes as follows: > There is a shared assumption that English is estranging people from their > own language, inclining them to subordinate it to English. Even so commonly > held, it seems a flawed assumption in view of the fact that the extent to > which most non-natives literally need to learn English barely surpasses the > routine, commonplace level of communication, and thus, English cannot keep > abreast of their mother languages, in that sense. My Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary loosely allows this ,at least as far as i see, saying: > abreast: ... 2. up to a particular standard or level before narrowing it down: > especially of knowledge or recent developments. In hope of finding a similar statement as mine, I came across the following example, flipping through the web pages: > The Japanese video game industry has certainly failed to stay abreast of its > western rivals on the technological front. The Guardian Jul 17, 2013 A native speaker said It sounds odd as English is not animated and cannot keep abreast of anything. But the same is true of "industry" which has appeared in the Guardian's example. Now, could mine too, be correct? and why if not, please? many thanks in advance


title: Looking for an idiom similar to 'pros and cons' but with different meaning

text: I'm writing an essay where where the protagonist faces betrayal & hurt etc (negative things) but along with that she also experiences compassion & affection (Positive things). All the emotions at the hands of different people, so I want an idiom or a saying (if one exists) which u know explains that 'Where there is bad, there is also good' or 'When bad happens, good also keeps happening simultaneously' or something like that! I'm sorry if I failed to explain u clearly, but my English is not really good because it is not my native language! Thanks in advance..


title: Negative in a question with various negative valence words

text: so I was walking to a very nice place in Berlin today only to find it empty yet again. I was asking myself why this is... and now I am confused. Which of the following forms of asking are correct? Which are proper English sentences and which are not grammatically correct? Finally which is the best choice (if that doesn't depend on opinion): > a) Why isn't there ever anyone? > > b) Why is there never anyone? > > c) Why is no one ever there? > > c1) Why is there never no one? > > d) Why is there never someone? > > e) Why isn't there no one ever? > > f) Why isn't there ever someone? I am obviously not a native, so please don't be too focused on words order (or edit the question if need be)... I really want to know what would be the best combination of words?


title: "I played two music" vs. "I played two pieces of music"

text: I have a Canadian friend who sometimes helps me improve my English. A few days ago she sent me a list of some words (nouns) which the plural form is the same of the singular. One of these words was "music". I said to her that I didn't know that "music" don't need the "s" at the end to function as a plural word, and that it sounds wrong for me to say something like this: "I played two music". Actually, I was suggesting that, for me, "musics" sounds more "correctly". Then, she said that "I played two music" is indeed wrong and the correct is: "I played two pieces of music" or "I played two musical pieces". Can you explain why, And give some more examples of ways to use the word "music" in the plural form?


title: "Figure 1 and 2" or "Figures 1 and 2"

text: I would like to know which one of the following is correct: >   1. Figures 1 and 2 indicate that... >   2. Figure 1 and 2 indicate that... >   3. Figure 1 and 2 indicates that... >   4. other possibilities? >


title: I'm looking for a word that begins with C,and means that a topic has been previously researched/studied

text: I don't actually know if one exists but it would make my life easier if anyone could think of one.


title: "which is to the best of our knowledge" vs "which to the best of our knowledge is"

text: I would like to know which one of the following is correct: >   1. We ran the experiments on the XXX, which is to the best of our > knowledge the largest publicly available sample of YYYs. > >   2. We ran the experiments on the XXX, which to the best of our knowledge > is the largest publicly available sample of YYYs. > >


title: What is the origin of 'aqualung'?

text: I don't mean the diving equipment, but used as a synonym to 'homeless man'. Is it used as a common phrase or just an invention of Ian Anderson.


title: Is “haphazard” a unique word?

text: Is **_haphazard_** the only word where _ph_ is not pronounced like /f/?


title: Meaning of 'swung around' in this context

text: I was chatting with my client, and he said the following sentence in between: > Oh, also **_swung around_** with the CreditCard folks, we'll need to do some > validation against their production system at somepoint to...not sure what > is involved for that to occur Although, the exact meaning of it is not required to understand the sentence, but when I looked it on dictionary, I couldn't find any verb that fits this. I can only guess that it means "he had a chat or conversation with the credit card folks".


title: Help with wording of a sentence

text: I want to construct a sentence that says the following: **Objects belonging to a king should be treated in a certain way, and what you presented is clearly an object of this kind.** I couldn't find a nice way to phrase it: > -Why did you paint the ball yellow? > > -Because you didn't ask me to paint the ball blue. > > -Well, all balls should be painted blue, I told so in the meeting yesterday. > > - _Then please write this on the bulletin board. Policies, which what this > clearly is, should be posted on the bulletin board._ How should I phrase the last sentence?


title: An adjective for the word "reference"?

text: What is an adjective for the word " _reference_ "? I want to write something as: > For your _reference convenience_ , I have attached the following documents. However, clearly, " _reference_ " is not an adjective for this sentence to be syntactically right. What would be an adjective to the word " _reference_ " to tell the idea that an action was done so that the recipient can _refer_ to something _conveniently_?


title: The name given to the trail of afterburn (of a jet perhaps?)

text: What is the name of the trail (of after burn) left by a jet? I know it's something nearly like "after burn", but I can't be sure as I've not used it for quite a long time!


title: Wouldn't have been alone

text: Listening to the BBC one of the journalists made the following utterance when discussing a historic figure, "The Khan". > A: For merchants the crucial issue was protection when traveling.   >  B: I think they _wouldn't have been alone when traveling._ Shouldn't this simply be "would be" or "weren't"?


title: Word to describe using sarcasm or a similar approach to lead someone to recognise their own mistake

text: When reading some work of a friend, I noticed the sentence "When in doubt ask me". Instead of simply pointing out that it could use a comma after doubt, I read the sentence aloud with no gaps or punctuation, as it is written. When I was corrected that there should be a pause, I smiled and remarked that there was no punctuation to indicate this and my friend realised their own mistake. When asked why I didn't just say that, I remarked that I was just being **__** for the sake of amusement. I used "spurious", but having re-read its definition, that is not the correct word to describe the way I acted, because it means: `Not being what it purports to be; false or fake: "spurious claims".` I don't think "sarcastic" covers what I did either and I'm at a loss for the word to use.


title: Is it “payment on/to/of something”?

text: Which preposition should be used in the following situations — _on_ , _to_ or _of_? >   1. payment on/to/of something. >   2. Here is the money to/of it. >


title: "Destiny" vs. "Fate"

text: I'm aware a search will turn up many discussions on the differences or interchangeability of these terms, but it would be good to get some answers here with an emphasis on the etymology of the two words. Does the usage history of these words add connotations beyond their dictionary definitions?


title: Can or should you use two ellipsis points in one large quote?

text: So if i were to quote an author and I want to add a later part to an earlier part by putting it in the middle of the first quote? an example : > The researcher, led by Woo-Suk Hwang, insist they cloned an Afghan hound, . > . . [and] [o]ne of the dog's co-creators, Gerald Schatten of the University > of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, described Snuppy . . . as 'a frisky, > healthy, normal, rambunctious puppy.' Would that be how to properly do it?


title: How to Make Up Comebacks when Somebody Calls You?

text: I heard when I called somebody they answered "You" or "Yo" . . Which one is correct? and what does it mean?


title: Paraphrasing to confirm that I understand

text: I'm looking for some precise and concise ways of saying: > I may or may not have understood you and will confirm by paraphrasing: > _[...]_ "In other words, _[...] **_?** " seems to be used often, but I feel like without the question mark it means: > I understood what you said and will prove it by paraphrasing: _[...]_ I realize the inflection of a statement is often the only thing separating "I think" from "I'm sure," but I'm wondering if there are other options besides "in other words." I say "paraphrasing" but it doesn't necessarily need to imply that I'll definitely be using different words, just needs to imply that I am not positive I understood. _Note:_ To explain some of the answers below, this was previously titled **_Echoing** to confirm that I understand_; however, I edited it as one user pointed out echoing means specifically a word-for-word repetition and that is not necessarily what I'm looking for.


title: Show I use "lay," "laid," or "lain" in the following passage?

text: > The ground was ice-cold, no hint of anyone having lay/laid/lain there at > all. Which one is the correct option?


title: He has only laid down for an hour today?

text: I would like to express that a person has only reclined for an hour so far today. Is it correct to say: > He has only laid down for an hour so far today. or is it perhaps: > He has only lay down for an hour so far today.


title: Relative clauses with prepositional verb phrase

text: >   1. The people **ø** you work **with** are your 'colleagues'. >   2. The people **that** you work **with** are your 'colleagues'. >   3. The people **who** you work **with** are your 'colleagues'. >   4. The people **whom** you work **with** are your 'colleagues'. >   5. The people **with whom** you work are your 'colleagues'. > Which sentence is the least likely and why?


title: Is it correct to say "We did a make"?

text: When we build software using Make or a similar build tool, is it correct to say "We did a make"? Also, do we need to say "The files were built using make" instead of "The files were made"?


title: Do subordinating conjunctions subordinate clauses with verbs only?

text: >   1. **While** in Rome, John took a lot of pictures. > >   2. **While** he was in Rome, John took a lot of pictures. > >   3. **Although** on vacation, John calls the office often. > >   4. **Although** he is on vacation, John calls the office often. > >   5. Many people have a disinclination to recognize the weakness of their > analytical skills **while** willing to admit their lack of computer skills > or other technical skills. > >   6. Many people have a disinclination to admit fault **while** recognizing > that they can’t possibly be in the right all the time. > > Both While and Although are subordinating conjunctions, I am confused whether they should be followed by a full clause (with verb) or not. Which one of the above examples are incorrect? I have seen many "while +ing," modifiers whereas Although **must** be followed by a clause which has a subject and a verb. Is that correct? Which subordinating conjunctions (as in ON A WHITE BUS mnemonic) must be followed by a clause with verbs and which ones are more flexible? Excuse my English - not a native speaker.


title: "glad to receive something" or "glad to have received something"?

text: which is correct? "I am glad to receive your letter." or "I am glad to have received your letter." The intent is to talk about a specific letter recently received in the past.


title: Neutral alternative to "deny" to mean "assert the untruth [of a claim]"

text: The term "deny" means to reject the truth of some claim. However, it often seems to imply the claim is in fact true, denial notwithstanding. > Smith continued to deny that he had shot Jones. I believe it is for this reason that Wikipedia lists it as a potential "weasel word" used to subvert the neutrality of encyclopedic articles. Is there an alternative to "deny" that does not carry this non-neutral connotation?


title: Contexts where a comma means “and”

text: A comma is commonly used as a short form of the word _and_ in newspaper headlines. In what other contexts is this convention common? This question came to mind as I was trying to parse the following clause from “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. The comma between _obstacle_ and _mount_ seems like it must represent the word _and_. > As dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly,   >  When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;   >  So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,   >  With the sleigh full of toys — and St. Nicholas too:


title: Is the -re "supposed" to be silent in the pronunciation of "macabre"?

text: Is the "-re" supposed to be silent in the pronunciation of the word _macabre_? I'm aware that dictionaries give two pronunciations, \məkäb\ and \mekäbrə\, but is one of them just a fixed "error" of the other, when the loan word from French was first imported? In other words, which pronunciation is more historically true?


title: What is it called phonetically, when Americans change the pronunciation of "pronunciation" to "pro-*noun*-ciation"?

text: I used to have quite a bit of trouble spelling the word _pronunciation_ because it's a long word, and because the way I pronounce it misleads me -- I say "pro-noun-ciation" instead of "pro-nun-ciation". What would a phoneticist say I was doing when I change the quality of the vowel?


title: Why is the word "movie" shown in spell check?

text: The spell check in Chrome or text-editors show the word "movie" as a spelling mistake, why? ![movie shown as auto-correct error](http://i.stack.imgur.com/tI1FH.png)


title: "Contemporaneous" vs "simultaneous"

text: I've done a bit of searching but cannot find a definitive distinction between _contemporaneous_ and _simultaneous_. I personally use the words interchangeably. Am I correct in doing so?


Which is appropriate while addressing in-laws? > My mother-in-law and father-in-law are visiting us this weekend. Or: > My mother and father-in-law are visiting us this weekend.


title: Question about "And / Or"

text: I see this cropping up more frequently, particularly in legal discussions. My understanding was that OR included both logical clauses of AND and OR. Has it become necessary to specify "and/or" vs. plainly "or"?


title: How can I refer to a nose in a pleasing manner?

text: I'm trying to figure out a word that describes a nose in a pleasing way. I.e. > The smell of freshly baked bread wafted into the **__** of passers by. _Nasal cavity_ — too scientific, _beak/snout_ — too animalistic, _nose_  — too boring.


Should I use 'is' or 'are' in this sentence? >   * Are Joyce and I going to finish the posters? >   * Is Joyce and I going to finish the posters? >


title: Hyphenating "Evolution"

text: I've noticed that how the word "evolution" is hyphenated according to Wolfram|Alpha doesn't match the ones I find on other sites: The Free Dictionary, and Dictionary.com. As I understand, the latter is the correct one (ev·o·lu·tion). I think that the "wrong" versions (e·vo·lu·tion) better match the pronunciation. I want to think it's a matter of evolution of the language. Why is there a difference in how the word can be hyphenated? Which one is correct, and why?


title: Why is the initial "ts" sound (e.g "tsunami") pronounced as "s"?

text: Why is the word "tsunami" often pronounced as "sunami"? Can English speakers pronounce "ts"? Is it because the initial "ts" looks foreign?


title: "puzzled why" vs "puzzled as to why"

text: Is "puzzled why" correct as well? Is it just a choice of style? Or is there a difference in meaning? And if so, I'm curious (as to) what that difference is.


title: Is "observant" exclusive to vision?

text: The word "observant" means "watchful" or "perceptive": > A particularly observant child, he noticed even the slightest changes in the > classroom. is the example given by M-W. Specifically excepting the definition of "observant" that relates to following customs, is "observant" strictly visual? I ask because I was having a couple of pints with a friend of mine who is blind. We were discussing expressions related to vision that people use without thinking, and then apologize to him for. For instance, "Can you look over this paper for me?" He said that these expressions didn't bother him in the least, and thought it was amusing that people would trip themselves up over it. When I commented on his "observations", he remarked that that didn't bother him either, and further indicated that a person cannot be observant without vision. An increasingly drunken discussion of the origins and meaning of "observe" ensued, and now I have no idea which side either of us ended up on. I know that "perceptive" is one definition of "observant", so I suppose it may generalize to all senses. If that is the case, are there specific words to describe being (the equivalent of) observant in other modalities (hearing, touch, taste, etc.)? EDIT: I should emphasize that of central importance in the debate was the origin of the word itself: "ob" meaning _over_ and "servare" meaning _to watch_ , i.e., "to watch over". This origin ought to imply that _observe_ at its root is related to vision, but the counter-claim to that argument is that "servare" _itself_ is derived from PIE "ser" meaning _to protect_ , which would not necessarily have anything to do with vision. So if we're in agreement that _observe_ can be used for the other senses, has anyone found other words to describe "observant hearing" (for instance)? Maybe derived from "to listen over" or something like that?


title: Would one call this situation ironic, sarcastic or ...?

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  What are the similarities and differences between "irony" and "sarcasm"? Say I buy myself a CD of an album titled _Scratch_ and the actual CD has a scratch on it; possibly by mistake. Would I call this situation "ironic", "sarcastic" or is there another word for it?


title: What does “Swish of skirt” mean? Why is it a sexist expression?

text: Time magazine (March 13) carries AP’s report on North Korea’s radical reaction against ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills under the headline, “N. Korea criticizes S. Korea President’s ‘ _Swish of skirt_.’” The article begins with the following lines:’ > “The body that controls North Korea’s military is dismissing South Korea’s > new president, Park Geun-hye, with a sexist comment about the “ _venomous > swish_ ” of her skirt.” Though “Swish of skirt” means to me just the sound of the fluttering hem of a skirt, and no more than that, I suspect this has special meaning as the words are put in parenthesises, and moreover they were discharged from the war- mongering country. What insinuation does the word, S. Korea President’s ‘Swish of skirt’ have? Is “Swish of skirt” unordinary expression in English? Does ‘skirt’ really have a ‘sexist’ implication as AP says in today’s gender equality world?


title: Is "Thanks a ton" a commonly used phrase?

text: Is it correct to say so? Does this mean the same as "thanks a lot"?


title: Which is more common, using “who . . . is” or “whom . . . are”?

text: Which of these would you say? > The married couple **who** the police caught **is** on drugs. or > The married couple **whom** the police caught **are** on drugs. Why?


title: What does “it’s no game” mean?

text: I’ve recently heard David Bowie’s song where he sings > To be insulted by these fascists   >  Is so degrading and it’s no game. Is _it’s no game_ some kind of a metaphor or a widely used idiom, or maybe some kind of this particular song specific expression? Or should it be simply taken literally?


title: Meaning (and History?) of "back of"?

text: I've come across the term "back of" (meaning "behind" in a physical or metaphorical sense) in a number of different works from around the turn of the 20th century*. Was this a linguistic fad of some sort that (thankfully) died out somewhere in the Twenties? When used, it seems to convey some kind of rhetorical emphasis which I notice but do not _feel_ , if you know what I mean. It has a sort of _slangy_ feel. Is there a story here? ~~Also, it often consumes any article that might otherwise precede the next noun.~~ It suppresses a preceding preposition. _In back of_ is written simply _back of_. *. I'm an introverted intuitive and often I cannot access my full memories on a topic at first. So I don't presently remember which works they are, but if nobody freaks out about that and changes _the mood of the room_ on me, I may very well remember shortly.


title: Why 007 said "You weren't using it"?

text: I've watched 007 skyfall. Had one scene, that Agent was driving and 007 sat beside her. She drove very fast and then car side mirror was removed because crashed with something beside the road. after that 007 said: > "You weren't using it?" instantly (after mirror was removed about 1 sec - 3 sec) Can you explain to me why he use this tense for this situation and do you have any alternative sentences for this situation?