title: Is whow a word?

text: According to this chart describing an extension of 5W1H, the word _how_ originates from the word _whow_ which means “how much”. I can’t find any references to such a word on the Internet. Is (or was) _whow_ really a word? If not, where do you think the author of the chart got his information from? Here is the chart (Japanese only): <http://homepage2.nifty.com/thinking- way-8W1H/8W1H(A4).pdf>


title: Use of 'in which ...' to modify a noun

text: Consider the sentence > Why did the Egyptians not develop sculpture **in** which the body turned and > twisted through space like classical Greek statuary? Could someone please explain the use of "in which" here, and paraphrase this sentence. Thanks.


title: Can an affirmation be negative?

text: >   1. I'm angry. > >   2. I'm _not_ angry. > > Are both (1) and (2) _affirmations_? I ask because Merriam-Webster defines _affirmation_ as 'a positive assertion', so this make me confused as to whether (2), which technically is a negative assertion, is an _affirmation_.


title: the difference between “really” and “very”

text: Is the statement below true about the difference between _really_ and _very_ when _really_ means “very” in the example “It’s very/really hot in the summer”? > “Really” shows more involvement, even feeling, on the part of the speaker, > thus is more personal sometimes. “Very” is more neutral. —englishforums.com Thanks.


title: What is the meaning of "backslash"

text: I have seen several people use the word _backslash_ , it sounds like something similar to disaster, bad result, etc. But I am not quite sure what it means and when I should use it. Examples: >   * But if big layoffs result at home, corporations and the US government > will face a backslash. >   * Celeb Boutique saw a major backslash as result after the inappropriate > usage of the word _Aurora_. >


title: In the context of cooking, what is the difference between "flipper" and "spatula"?

text: I'm genuinely confused about this because at first I thought a spatula was a cooking tool resembling a flat pallet attached at an angle to the handle that could be used for activities such as flipping eggs. Then I noticed in stores what I thought was a spatula was labelled "flipper" and a "spatula" was something else that was flat in profile as having the handle parallel with the head of the device. Now people are telling me there's no such thing as a flipper in terms of a cooking device. I believe the terminology may vary by region. What is a flipper and what is a spatula and in which parts of the world do the definitions apply? For completeness sake, do some people call one of the devices a "turner" (I've never heard this before @choster used it)?


title: Correct spelling and/or hyphenation for electronic commerce

text: What is the correct spelling and/or hyphenation for the abbreviation of electronic commerce? I have seen the following variations.   * eCommerce   * E-Commerce   * ECommerce   * E-commerce


title: "understand" or "understood"?

text: When I explain something to my friend and I want to make sure they got what I said, what should I say?   * "Do you understand?"    * "Did you understand?"    * "Have you understood?"  etc.


title: Usage of hyphens with numeric measurements

text: What is correct:   * two 1-Gb links;   * two 1 Gb links; or   * two 1Gb links? I suspect the first, however I do not know the name of this situation, which makes it difficult to for me to find via Google. I have found some examples of typical units of measure (cm, inch, kg, etc.) but nothing for units such as Gb and KB -- I suspect they should follow the same rules, but in practice I rarely see such units hyphenated. ### Related   * HYPHEN - National Geographic Style Manual   * Punctuation Guidelines


title: Why does "it" have a dehumanizing connotation?

text: There are a number of questions here on gender neutral pronouns, and one of the things that always comes up is that "it" should never be used to refer to a person (usually an adult). The general reasoning for this rule is that "it" is used to refer to animals (in some cases), and inanimate objects. Basically, it's considered dehumanizing. What I haven't seen, though, is an explanation for **why** it's considered dehumanizing (other than the circular logic that it's only used for non-human subjects).


title: Word for design homage to previous versions of technology

text: I've lost and found this word several times in my life, and now I've gone and lost it again. Basically, it describes mimicry of a previous version of the same technology. Often a feature of this kind will be included to increase discoverability of functions or provide recognizable feedback. Examples include:   * The digitally recreated sound of a camera shutter that plays when taking a picture on some smartphones (or the iris effect on the screen that make it look like an aperture is closing and opening)   * Using the gesture of swiping in from the side of a touchscreen to access the next page of a digital document


title: Need samples of different "English" styles

text: I'm developing an application that requires samples of various forms of the English language. Each sample must be at minimum 2-3 paragraphs long and preferably be of a conversational manner, for example, it can't just be "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet" over and over, neither can it be "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" repeated 100 times. At the moment the list of language styles I'm looking for includes, but is not limited to, the following (forgive my cringe-worthy attempts at examples):   * Contemporary (21st Century) every day language - "Hi Bob, how are you?"   * Pirate speak - "Ahoy there Bob, me hearty, how sails you on the 7 seas today?"   * Txt / Sms Lanuage - "Hi Bob, how r u?"   * "Leet/1337 Speak" - "|-|1 7|-|3r3 b0B, |-|0// R j00Z?"   * Shakespearean / Elizabethan language - "I bequest thee, Bob - tarry a moment and tell me of thy comings and goings."   * Add your suggestions here... My question is, where on earth could I obtain such samples of the English language? I welcome users providing samples in their answers(!), or pointing me to resources that may help me. Short of copying down text from books that use each of these language styles I'm completely stumped about where to obtain the text I'm after.


title: Is "Sent from my iPhone" correctly punctuated and capitalized?

text: I'm sure everyone has seen this phrase at the bottom of many e-mail messages. My question is about the combination of punctuation and capitalization. The capitalization of the first word makes me think this phrase was intended to be a complete sentence, but when we get to the end, there's no period, as you might expect when reading a mere fragment. Is this widely considered wrong? It feels they are half in the water and half out.


title: Word for having a low opinion of something

text: More specifically, I would like a verb that means to hold something with low value to oneself in a low opinion and/or to treat it as such. I am looking for a verb that might fit into this sentence with the aforesaid meaning: > I **__** this TV show. Rather than saying: > I _have a low opinion_ of this TV show.


title: What would be the right way (grammar) for a law firm to wish a client a happy birthday

text: Would you say… Johnson & Johnson wish you a happy birthday or Johnson & Johnson wishes you a happy birthday I don't believe these are complete sentences and have read that a company really should be more formal when trying to send a message because a company can't really wish as it is not a person. Maybe something along the lines of… All of us at Johnson & Johnson would like to wish you a happy birthday I am just trying to find a short correct way of stating this. Thanks


title: "Adapt himself to being/be free"

text: A sentence from my reference book is > He can't adapt himself to **being** free again. Why is _being_ used instead of _be_? Isn't `verb` form and not `verb + ing` form used after _to_?


title: What does 'cool toy' mean?

text: I found a word 'cool toy' in the following sentence in today's New York Times article: 'Spending money on tablet computers may seem an extravagance, but some educators say they are more than just a cool toy.' What does 'cool toy' mean? What are typical items of cool toy, for instance? Are they electronic toys?


title: What is the correct meaning of "held up" here?

text: Is it grammatically correct to use the phrase "held up" in the following sense?   * "I got held up with some other work", or    * "Let's reschedule the meeting. Looks like you got held up."


title: What is the difference between "nothing but", "anything but", and "everything but"?

text: What is the difference between these phrases? When is it valid to use which? Should they be avoided as being ambiguous?


title: What is the meaning of 'probe' in the Linux command 'modprobe'?

text: My understanding of `modprobe` is that it is a command to load kernel modules. Based on this, I'm wondering what the meaning of word _probe_ is in general English?


title: Is it ok to say "Don't visit the internet"?

text: I read the following recommendation of our IT department: > Don't **visit** the Internet with Windows XP machines We're a German company. Is this sentence ok? I would have expected > Don't browse the Internet with Windows XP machines. or > Don't use the Internet with Windows XP machines.


title: Differences between Case Frames and Semantic role labeling

text: I'm learning about some basic linguistics theory and have come across case frame analysis and semantic role labeling as methods of determining agents within sentences, and arguments for verbs. However I can't find a clear definition of the difference between the two. Can someone clarify their similarities and differences? Apologies if this is too linguistics-related and not appropriate for this area.


title: Does the term "witch-hunt" apply when referring to dealing with a real problem?

text: Should the term "witch hunt" only be used when dealing with a problem that does not exist, as in witchcraft, or does the term also apply when a problem does exist, but those dealing with it are ignoring due process?


title: What's the difference between "egotism" and "egoism"?

text: I am interested in the difference between these to seemingly synonymous terms.


title: When and why has "bike" developed from "bicycle"?

text: It's not obvious for me why and when _bike_ developed as short form from _bicycle_. Could you explain that, please? And is it odd to say _mountain bicycle_ or _motor-bicycle_?


title: When to use "not to" and "to not"

text: I wonder what "structure" should one use, "to not" or "not to"?   Is there a difference? is one more accepted? > "It's human nature to not do what someone else wants"   >  "Like I needed another reason not to like dogs." Can those sentences be re-written as: > "It's human nature not to do what someone else wants"   >  "Like I needed another reason to not like dogs"


title: There is/are one or several apple/~s?

text: To be clear, among > There is one or several apple. > > There are one or several apple. > > There is one or several apples. > > There are one or several apples. which is correct? * * * My guess: ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/8YOCd.png) Because of the _shortest distance_ rule 1, _apples_ is correct as it is near _several_. Though _there_ seems to be near _one_ , the actually object is _apples_ , and thus _are_ should be used. Thus > There are one or several apples. is correct. To make things clearer, > There are one or several apples and a table. illustrates the long connection between _there_ and _apples_ better. 1 Sorry, I do not know its English name. I just translate it from my language back. * * * By the way, I do not want to emphasize _at least one_.


title: What are antonyms of "tolerant" or synonyms of "cautious"?

text: I posted the following on Meta Stack Overflow, and I believe that there was a better word that I could have used rather than "a little too harsh". > Considering that my post fails all but possibly one or two of the low > quality post heuristics, is something malfunctioning or is the detector > perhaps _a little too harsh_? Essentially, I believe that there is a word that is more precise in its definition, perhaps an antonym of _"tolerant"_ , that could have substituted in as "perhaps too [insert word here]". The definition of the word would be something like "erring on the side of caution, possibly to a degree of excessiveness"; it would be beneficial for a Secret Service Uniformed Division agent to be [this quality]. I've considered _"cautious"_ , but I don't think it carries the right tone for that context. Does anyone know of a better word?


title: "thesis work" vs "thesis"

text: What is difference between the terms "thesis" and "thesis work"? What would you use to describe the content and achievements of your thesis / thesis work. > My thesis / thesis work has treated new concepts in general relativity.


title: When should one use the "recent past"? How much time should have passed?

text: When we can use "recent past"? How much past time qualifies for "recent past"?


title: What do we call the GUI "box" which groups elements together?

text: What's the English ( _non-technical_ ) word we use to refer to a GUI "box" which groups different elements together? For example, we can see a `Performance` "box" in this image: ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/dkyuY.png) What's an alternative ( _non-technical_ ) word to use instead of calling it a "box"?


title: Antonym of "suspend" as in "Suspend a user account"

text: An administrator of a website or network may decide to suspend a user, preventing them access for a period of time. Is there an antonym of 'suspend' meaning to re-allow that user access?


Are "brim" and "rim" related in etymology? I remember there are some other words which have similar meanings after adding "b-" in their fronts. It seems as if "b-" is a prefix. But I can't recall them right now.


title: Yes/no answer to "Have you closed all of your tickets?" if there were no tickets to begin with

text: My boss asked the question, "Have you closed all of your tickets?" to me and my co-workers. One of my co-workers, who did not have any tickets to begin with, answered yes. We are conflicted as to weather yes is the correct answer to this question, vs. "Are all of your tickets closed?" or, "Do you have any open tickets?"


title: "With the purpose of" vs. "With the intention of"

text: A private student of mine had to complete a gap fill text, which contained the following excerpt: > Pronunciation isn't my strongest point, **therefore** I've decided to > improve it. I've borrowed some Spanish DVDs from the library, with the > **purpose** of listening to native speakers and trying to copy them. The correct answers, according to Cambridge English _Complete CAE_ , were _so_ and _intention_. Although I would have written **so** because a comma preceded the gap, and explained this to the Italian student (who rightly huffed) I could not explain why the noun, **intention** , was preferred. To me _with the purpose of_ and _with the intention of_ are synonymous. If the phrase had been written as follows: > I've borrowed some Spanish DVDs from the library **for** the **purpose** of > listening to native speakers and trying to copy them. Would _purpose_ have been more appropriate here? Should there be a comma after _library_? I ask because in the text above there is a comma preceding _with_ (I loathe having to explain punctuation, but seeing as it's towards exam preparation I'd like to be as thorough as possible). P.S. The exercise was not a multiple choice one, the learner has to supply the _one word_ answer that best fits. EDIT There is indeed an "and" in the last sentence, which I missed when writing the excerpt. Many thanks to Edwin Ashworth and @DavidSchwartz for pointing out the (mea culpa) transcription error.


title: Meaning of "Just So Stories"

text: What does "Just So" mean as in the "Just So Stories"? Sometimes "Just So" might mean "just right", but that makes no sense here.


title: Curtiosity and dretful

text: In The Elephant's Child by Rudyard Kipling he writes > But there was one Elephant--a new Elephant--an Elephant's Child--who was > full of 'satiable curtiosity, and that means he asked ever so many > questions. and then later > 'Have I seen a Crocodile?' said the Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake, in a > voice of dretful scorn. 'What will you ask me next?' Are these simply made up words never to be seen again or is there some way of interpreting them?


title: Analogue of "orphan" for someone who's lost their siblings

text: As per title - is there such a word? Either a noun: > John is an ?????? (his only brother died when he was 3) or verb (or past tense as an adjective): > John was ????ed today (his only sister died today)


title: Is "further strengthen" or "further bolster" redundant?

text: For example, > To further strengthen my graduate school application, I studied Spanish in > Argentina for a semester. The wording seems redundant and awkward to me, but it's common and I'd like some SE users' input.


title: About the etymology of Bachelor

text: I ran across this while I was browsing some Arab websites: The Arabic Origin of ‘Baccalaureate’ and ‘Bachelor’ By: Abdul-Settar Abdul- Latif > When Oxford and Cambridge Universities were erected as two cradles of > sublime learning, the scholastic masters at the time wondered as to the > title of the degree the two centres would bestow their graduates maintaining > the latter’s rights. > > Modern research points to the year 1167 as the date at which Oxford became a > stadium generale (A place of study). The research tells that studies at > Oxford were suspended nearly in 1209 and accordingly three thousand scholars > dispersed, some to Reading, some to Cambridge, some to Paris. > > By the end of the twelfth century, Cambridge was to come a town of > importance, but it is not still early in the thirteenth century that genuine > history records the presence there of a concourse of clerks. In order to be > out of their bafflement, there was no harm, the masters believed, from > borrowing from the experiences of other peoples who had earlier established > their own institutes and centres of learning. Thus Oxford and Cambridge > masters tended their faces to the universities of the Moslems’ Orient in > order to check, and learn what degree the Islamic universities awarded their > graduates. > > The famous institute of learning at the time was Al-Ma’moon’s Bait Al-Hikma > (The House of Wisdom) which later came to be known as Al-Mustensiriyah > University in Abbassaid Baghdad at the early decades of the ninth century. > Bait Al-Hikma was founded by Caliph Al-Ma’moon (Haroon Al-Rasheed’s second > son) whose tenure ranged from 813 to 833. > > The research testifies that Baghdad, as a centre of learning, preceded both > Oxford and Cambridge by at least three or four hundred years in defining the > prerequisites of learning and education. Also, the research proved that > Ancient Al-Mustensiriyah awarded any Moslem student that was graduated a > certain license legally, technically, and professionally covering him to > “restate what its holder had learnt in the university on the hand of his > referred-to Moslem scholars in order to re-teach others elsewhere who could > not afford to come to Baghdad to study, for one reason or another”. This is > the crux of what was written in the license. But Arabic language is > synoptic. > > In the license was written a brief term annexed to the holder’s name. It > honoured him the legal and professional right to behave within the limits of > its privileges. The term can be literary transcribed into English as it is > pronounced in Arabic. It is “Bihaqq al-riwayatt” " بحق الرواية ". The term > incorporates three Arabic words: ‘Bi’ stands as preposition (with); ‘haqq’ > (the right) and “Al-riwayatt” (to restate the learning to somebody else). > That is to say ancient Moslem graduate was awarded “with the right to > restate the learning to somebody else”. > > And this is the true meaning of “Bachelor” or “Baccalaureate” used in almost > European languages. Now the term with its preposition “Bihaqq Al-riwayatt” > later was taken as a title of the degree itself by European scholars, > students and translators who frequented the nearest parts of the Ancient > Islamic Empire to, Christendom; these parts were Cordova, Toledo, Castello > in Spain and Sicily in Italy as well as Malta as the main Arab centres of > learning and rendition at medieval ages. > > “Bihaqq Al-riwayatt” thus was exposed to many alterations and modification > related to the different new linguistic region the term reached and resided. > The above mentioned variations of the term- "Baccalaureate and Bachelor” are > in use. This fact is unknown to many people of well-established scholarship. > > For instance, The Random House Dictionary of the English Language sets queer > etymology for these two variations. While (Bacca + laures), according to The > Random, means “laurel berry”, (Bachelor), again according to The Random, is > taken from a vulgar Latin word spelled as (baccalaris) that descends from > (bacca), itself a variation of a Latin word for (cow=vacca). One wonders > what the connection between (dairy farm) or (cows) and (a university > degree). The story of the trip the Arabic word took to reach Europe was the > topic of an article entitled “Did the Arab Invent the University?” published > in The Times Higher Education Supplement, No. 185 (May 2, 1975), p. 11. by > R. Y. Ebied & M. J. L. Young So, what's your opinion about it? Is this etymology plausible, or is it debunked?


title: Is “help out” an inappropriate phrase?

text: I have seen statements like: > She helped out her grandmother. OR > The boy was helping out in the laundry. But, does it make any sense to have the “out” there? Is it even incorrect, in spite of the prevalent usage?


title: "Run over XXX" or "run XXX over"

text: I would need to clarify which one is correct. My dictionary says “run somebody over” (meaning hit by car) and an example: > I ran over the dog. On the internet I found: > I’m afraid we’ve just run a rabbit over. But it too says “run somebody/something over”. What is the correct word order? What about the passive (e.g., somebody committed suicide)? > He got himself ran over.


title: What does ‘Move the bar on somebody’ mean?

text: According to Maureen Dawd’s article titled “Field of Dashed Dream’ appearing on August 16 New York Times, President Obama took a strong verbal punch on the chin from a woman supporter at a town hall meeting at the Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa. She asked the President "what had gone wrong" with him, and continued: > “So when you ran for office you built a tremendous amount of trust with the > American people, that you seemed like someone who wouldn’t _move the bar on > us_. --- And it seems as if your negotiating tactics have sort of cut away > at that trust by compromising some key principles that we believed in, like > repealing the tax cut, not fighting harder for single-payer. Even Social > Security and Medicare seemed on the line when we were dealing with the debt > ceiling.” I don’t understand what ‘ _move the bar on somebody’_ mean. I checked the meaning of this phrase on the Google, but couldn’t find out any definition.


In what sense do we use "carry a torch for"?   Can it be used as a formal, or is it informal?


title: Usage of 'z' in the word serialized in English?

text: Is it correct to use 'z' or 's' in the word "seriali **z** ed" when writing correct English? (I.e. not a variant of English like "American") Or should it be spelled like "seriali **s** ed" ?


title: What does "since he was so high" mean?

text: I came across this sentence in a Wodehouse book (talking about spots on skin) > ...he knows his spots from A to Z and has been treating them since he was so > high. What does the phrase `since __ was so high` mean here?


title: What do you call someone who uses Twitter?

text: Are they a   * twitterer   * Twitterer   * Twitter user   * tweeter   * tweep? Is it just a matter of preference? For comparison, I think "Facebook user" is the accepted term.


title: "Not hindered with any knowledge"

text: In Dutch we use the translated equivalent of _not hindered with any knowledge_ to indicate somebody without any knowledge on the subject. It is not necessarily negative. It can mean that somebody is complete open and new to the subject, which may lead to new ideas, insights etc. But in a different context it may also carry a sarcastic tone indicating somebody with the biggest mouth and slightest knowledge. Is this equivalent comparable and usable or are there better constructs?


title: Trying to achieve something, but ending up with something contrary

text: Do we have a word to describe the situation when someone wants to achieve something, but plans and takes the way which would take him to a different result. For example, a person might want to have a better relationship with others, and as a plan, starts joking, by which others get offended and the first goal won't be met. Or when a company wants to make a fast car, but because of high-speed ans stability, increases the weight of the car, which in turn reduces the overall speed. In Arabic, I think it's called "نقض غرض", literally translated means "aim violation" or "aim reversal". Do we have anything for this in English?


title: How to say that something doesn't take a lot of memory

text: I'm working in small marketing company, and we got a task to promote mobile app, we usually work only with our native language which is Bulgarian, but the client insisted to translate promo text on English as well, and since my English is not so great, I've been busting my head searching for the right expression. What is the right way to say: "It doesn't take a lot of memory" I've come up with expression "It's lightweight" but that can be understood in so many wrong ways. So what is the right way to say: "it doesn't take a lot of memory" Thanks and sorry for my bad English.


title: An Exocentric compound for Children

text: I have written a story for children in Persian. Somewhere in the story, I have mentioned "pear". "Pear" In Farsi is _gool-abbi_ , which translates literally as "blue flower". I have mentioned that as something that is neither blue nor a flower. Now I am about to translate the book into English and am looking for an exocentric compound in English that a 6- or 7-year-old English-speaking child can understand easily.


title: One word for "Having to accept something after numerous co-incidences even though it is against your rationale"

text: Sometimes you have to accept something based on numerous events asserting it without any tangible proof. For example, let's say a person survives an accident thrice in a day. It is likely that people, in such a case, would accept the reason to be some divine intervention, even if it is against their rationale. Perhaps because of lack of proof. Is there a single word for this situation? UPDATE: It would be preferable if that word can be used as a verb.


title: "Does he go bowling?" or "Doesn't he go bowling?"

text: Let's say we know a boy called Jonny and he goes bowling twice a week. My daughter has asked me which of the following questions are correct. >   1. Does Jonny go bowling? >   2. Doesn't Jonny go bowling? > We are wondering, why is it that the answer to both questions is "yes", although the second question starts with a negative word?


title: The ambitious/arrogant tone of "I"

text: I don't understand why but I feel arrogant or ambitious when I use a simple sentence in active voice using "I" especially while I was writing my college essay or curriculum vitae e.g. "I managed a team." "I wanted to become successful." This could also be limited to past tense. How could I re-phrase these such that the tone doesn't seem arrogant? Is it just me?


title: Why did English become a universal language and when?

text: As we all know, English is the universal communication medium. Now we know how powerful it is to convey our thoughts. When did it become a common language? Why did they opt for this language?


title: Proud by thinking that one cannot be surprised by what others know

text: I would like one word for "proud by thinking that one cannot be surprised by what others know". Arrogant is explained as "having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one's own importance or abilities." So the word I am looking for could be explained by "having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one's own knowledge and understanding."


title: Does the word "crutch" imply a temporary support?

text: I recently used the word "crutch" to describe a reliance of online resources as a substitute for actual knowledge. The exact sentence I used was "How do you ensure that the Internet is a helpful learning tool, rather than a crutch?". My intent was to discuss how to avoid what I perceived as possible long-term repercussions to children learning to Google for quick answers rather than learn the subject matter to a depth that makes such searching unnecessary. However, I was surprised to get a response that indicated that "crutch" meant a "short-term" solution. In support of this position was a dictionary.com reference to this definition of the word: "anything that serves as a temporary and often inappropriate support, supplement, or substitute; prop: _He uses liquor as a psychological crutch._ " I have never considered the word crutch used in that context to be temporally limited. Rather, I have always assumed that "a shortcut or tool relied upon to overcome shortcomings" was a valid meaning. Is my interpretation correct, or does the phrase "relying on [x] as a crutch" always imply a short-term situation?


title: Are there any cases of a word that originated in English replacing another word in English in common usage?

text: I'm curious if there's any cases of a word that originated in English (didn't come from a foreign source) replacing another word in every day usage?


title: When do we use "rarely, hardly, seldom"?

text: I'd like to know when should we use "rarely" and "hardly" and "seldom". Can we use these adverbs in the same situation? Or do we need to follow some criteria for using those different adverbs?


title: What does "I am married with three kids" mean?

text: Where did this come from? It sounds nasty to me (I am not a native speaker). But it seems correct. Can somebody explain this?


title: What words are similar in meaning to "monosyllabic" or "disyllabic", but refer to the letters and not the sounds?

text: The words "monosyllabic" and "disyllabic" seem to describe words with one or two sounds. I'm looking for a similar word, but that instead describes a word constructed from only one or two letters (e.g. "I" or "it").   * What words means "made of one letter" or "made of two letters"?   * Of these words, which English word is best or most often used used to describe one-or two-character words from an ideographic language?


title: Is this 2nd sentence grammatically correct?

text: The parent requested a copy of the minutes from the Discipline Committee meeting. However, Discipline Committee meetings, nor Discipline Appeal meetings, are formally recorded in any manner.


title: Expressing infinite amounts

text: I know > There is an infinite number of prime numbers is correct. But is > There are infinite prime numbers correct as well?


title: "What led to you doing this thing" grammar?

text: I'm current curious about this sentence's grammar: > What led to you doing this thing? It sounds like "you doing this thing" is noun. What is this grammar?


title: What does it mean to "walk the wall?"

text: From the same people who brought us "ask" as a noun comes a new idiom that I haven't heard of before: to "walk the wall." I haven't heard this myself, but my sister (who is an IT consultant) asked me what it means, which means that I will likely be subjected to this very soon as well. My speculative guess is that it means to try to get an idea of the scope of a problem by "walking" around it at a high level, but I have no idea as I haven't heard it in context.


title: What word describes a person who signs an official document?

text: For example, I have a document that has the signatures of three people, all public servants: a tax collector,an inspector, and a school principal. How could I collectively describe these three people? This entry offers signatory but it implies a party to a contract.


title: "Please advise" -- why is this a common turn of phrase for foreign speakers of English?

text: I was just browsing through StackOverflow just now, and randomly hit on this question, where the question-asker signed off his request with a "please advise." Certain I'd heard this turn of phrase before from foreign speakers, I searched "please advise" in quotes and received about 25,000 hits, from what seemed to be many non-native speakers, which was enough to be intriguing. Now, pardon me if I'm wrong, but this isn't common in American English is it? If I'd ever heard it, I'd expect the phrase to be _please advise **me**_ , where _advise_ takes an object. Moreover, "advise" as an ending pleasantry seems a bit stilted and formal to my ear. Perhaps this is U-English, that I've read is commonly taught to foreign speakers in ESL courses? Or is it a kind of a direct translation of a common construction in many languages? Does anyone know where it comes from? I'd appreciate any enlightenment. Incidentally, it seems that I'm not the only person to have noticed this. **EDIT** : So, to be clear, constructions such as "please advise if...", "please advise on...[XX topic]", "please advise for..." are commonly used in business emails?


title: he has got a supply

text: My friend talked to his friend about his result. His friend said that you have failed in anatomy subject. After ending up a call he said to me "I got a supply in anatomy". Using past simple with the action that has still linked with present, Is it fine? I think he should have said . I have got a supply.because I got a supply means in past. Supply means someone failed in a subject.


title: Correct tense for "I wish I had worn socks today"

text: I had an argument in the office today, about structuring something I said about not wearing socks. I said the first of the four lines below, then everyone had their input. All the arguing gave three more options. What is the correct way to say this? > I wish I had worn socks today.   >  I wish I'd worn socks today.   >  I wish I'd had worn socks today.   >  I wish I'd have had worn socks today.


title: An antonym for "premium"

text: More specifically, in economics and finance for example, there is the "equity premium puzzle" (Wikipedia). This is the puzzle of why equities seem to enjoy a "premium" relative to (government) bonds. We could therefore also refer to this puzzle as the "bond **__** puzzle"? What is the best word to fill in the blank here? I can think of only "dispremium" but I don't think that's a proper word.


title: Distinguishing between plurals and posessives

text: Example of what I mean: > If I have more than one google I have googles, if Google has goggles the > goggles are Google's. When Google's down, people get upset. But if Google's Google's best friend, then this sentence becomes a little confusing. Is there an elegant solution for this seemingly messy usage of apostrophe's and 's''s?


title: Is there an English term that describes a comment on feedback?

text: I have the following form that requires the receiver to submit a comment on the feedback that they receive from the requester. I would like to know if there are any good English terms that describe this situation so that I can replace the words 'Receiver Comments on Feedback' with better ones. (I would prefer to use a single word.)               ============================================================     | Requester Feedback:                                      |     ============================================================     |                                                          |     |                                                          |     |                                                          |     |                                                          |     |                                                          |     |                                                          |     ============================================================     | Receiver Comments on Feedback:                           |     ============================================================     |                                                          |     |                                                          |     |                                                          |     |                                                          |     |                                                          |     |                                                          |     ============================================================


title: "Almost" vs "near to"

text: Consider the phrase below: > He produced almost no news reports this week. And this another one: > He produced near to no news reports this week. Do "almost" and "near to" have the same meaning here? Are they both grammatically correct? Is one more formal and/or more idiomatic than the another?


title: What is this menagerie doing in my bread-basket?

text: I have just been visiting the supermarket, and been bewildered by some of the products on offer. I have previously enjoyed _tiger bread_ , which appears to be a long flat loaf with sesame oil on top. I encountered a novelty this evening, though which was _giraffe bread_ , the ingredients of which are unclear. It is long, but otherwise not all that reminiscent of a giraffe. Could anyone refer me to a source to help me out with the meanings of these strange names? Are there others of this sort? Where should I look for a definitive list of bread names? **Edit** , as Mark Beadles suggests: this shopping was done in the North-East of England. I didn't notice any tiger or giraffe meat being involved.


title: what is the adjectival form of the word "noun?"

text: What is the adjectival form of the word ' _noun_ '? Every result I get is for the adjectival form of a noun, not the word ' _noun_ ' itself.


title: Does the phrase “don't even pass the laugh test” pass as an idiomatic expression, or only a set of words?

text: I was intrigued to the phrase, ‘the argument doesn’t pass even the laugh test’ in the following statement of Bruce Schneier, a security technologist on the debate about whether Edward J. Snowden who leaked NSA's surveillance programs is a whistle blower or criminal in the Opinion Page of June 11 New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/06/11/in-nsa-leak-case-a-whistle- blower-or-a-criminal/before-prosecuting-snowden-investigate-the-government): > “Keeping things secret from the people is a very dangerous practice in a > democracy, and the government is permitted to do so only under very specific > circumstances. Reading the documents leaked so far, I don't see anything > that needs to be kept secret. The argument that exposing these documents > helps the terrorists **doesn't even pass the laugh test** ; there's nothing > here that changes anything any potential terrorist would do or not do. “ I wonder whether the phrase, “the argument doesn't even pass the laugh test” can be an idiomatic phrase, or just an ad-hoc expression, though I think it’s too early to count it as an idiom, or idiomatic expression in light of the relative recency of the word, ‘laugh test.’ According to Google Ngram, the word emerged only in circ 1980, although the incidences of use have been on a sharp rise. At present, none of Cambridge, Oxford, and Merriam-Webster English online dictionaries registers ‘laugh test.’ Can I say “Your idea (invention / rhetoric / logic) doesn’t even pass the laugh test” – I know it’s offensive - as a quip in conversation, and be understood by my people, or is it safer to stop short of using such a phrase? As the disclaimer in advance, I would like to add that my question only regards the usage of the phrase in question, and has nothing to do with the pro and con of the political argument on the leak case.


title: Does the idiom "stop shooting the ball to my opponent" make sense?

text: Getting into a fight with someone, I think the other person is accusing me of being the wrong one and is trying to show that everything that has happened is my fault. _Stop shooting the ball to my opponent_ is what I would say because it is what I would translate the idiom in my native language into. Does it make sense to native English speakers? What is the common English idiom in such situations?


title: What word or phrase can I use to replaced the word "stopped" in the following text?

text: This is the text: > Erin scanned the room for a moment. She suddenly **stopped** , and went over > to the bookshelf. Then, as if she were searching for a secret passage, she > examined each book carefully. (By **stopped** , it means that Erin suddenly stopped scanning the room and fixed her eyes on the bookshelf). I'm not very sure about this but I think words like **stopped** and **came to an halt** are more commonly used to refer to someone who stopped **walking** or **running** (not sue if **came to a stop** sounds better). Is there any other word or phrase that I can use in my example above? (unless **stopped** is perfectly right in this situation).


title: "Oh, for Pete's sake!"

text: Just curious as to where this expression came from and when it came into being. It's one that is commonly used (among other variations, e.g. "Oh for crying out loud!"), but where does it come from originally?


title: "One-Day Only Promotion" or "One-Day-Only Promotion"

text: A copywriter I'm working with wrote "One-Day Only Promotion" but my feeling is that "One-Day-Only Promotion" is correct. The first three words describe 'Promotion'. I know you don't hyphenate adverbs, but does that apply when one is part of a compound adjective?


title: Is the expression "moderator's set" used in English? What would you call it?

text: We are talking about a small suitcase which contains different presentation materials like markers, felt pens, post-its, paper in different shapes, laser pointers etc. for convention organization. Is the expression _moderator's set_ used in English for a set of materials like this? If not, what would it be called?


title: What is the meaning of this joke: "Oklahoma Pronounced Success."

text: I have tried my best, I absolutely don't understand this joke. ( Found on language learning sites). And it puzzles me so much... I don't even grasp what can be laughed about, I'm just completely intrigued: It's about a man, Japanese, or Russian according the case, learning English all his life. One day it comes to London. While wandering he reads on a newspaper, (or on a theater bill board): "Oklahoma Pronounced Success." And he shoots himself (if Japanese), or err aimlessly drunk and arrested by police (if Russian).


title: What does Mitt Romney's “Telephone Tips: ‘Just Left,’ 25 cents; ‘On His Way,’ 50 cents; ‘Not here,’ $1; ‘Who?’ $5.” mean?

text: There was the following paragraph in Maureen Dowd’s article titled, "Mitt Romney is the president of white male America” in November 10 New York Times: > Maybe the group can retreat to a man cave in a Whiter House, with mahogany > paneling, brown leather Chesterfields, a moose head over the fireplace, an > elevator for the presidential limo, and one of those men’s club signs on the > phone that reads: “Telephone Tips: ‘Just Left,’ 25 cents; ‘On His Way,’ 50 > cents; ‘Not here,’ $1; ‘Who?’ $5.” As it is customary to her writings, I was puzzled with the sign on Mitt Romney’s phone: Telephone Tips: ‘Just Left,’ 25 cents; ‘On His Way,’ 50 cents; ‘Not here,’ $1; ‘Who?’ $5. Can you decipher for me what this line means?


title: Better header labels than Current, Previous and Previous of Previous in a Spreadsheet?

text: I am trying to find better header labels than Current, Previous and Previous of Previous in a Spreadsheet. For Example:               EmployeeID | Compensation | Previous Compensation (1) | Previous Compensation (2)          ssmith374  | $45,983      | $43,436                   | $40,176          hbrown394  | $37,736      | $36,154                   | $34,643          Wgold872   | $67,734      | $64,232                   | $62,433      Any suggestions?


title: Is the usage "To + transitive verb" following nothing else grammatically incorrect?

text: In the website HKNA, 5 transitive verbs are used: promote, conduct, disseminate, undertake, facilitate. Is such usage "To + transitive verb" grammatically incorrect?


title: What does "hero of ages" mean?

text: Talking about a great fantasy hero, it was said that he "was the hero of ages". What does that mean?


title: What is the origin of "nonchalance?"

text: While reading a newspaper I saw the word nonchalance, looked up in dictionary, and read it is a negative word meaning "indifference; carelessness; coolness." It looks like the opposite of _chalance_ , but I was surprised to see there is no word as _chalance_. I am wondering if:   1. Isn't _nonchalance_ made by adding _non_ to _chalance_ similar to nonsense?   2. What is the opposite of _nonchalance_? Can I write _nonnonchalance_ just for the fun of it?


title: Is there English version of French army cliché, “A friend when you’re lieutenant, companion when captain, ... the enemy when you’re general"?

text: I found a French army cliché; > “A friend when you’ re a first lieutenant, a companion when you’re captain, > a colleague when you’re major, a rival when you’re colonel, the enemy when > you’re general” introduced in a Japanese translation of “L’ étrange Defaire – Témoignage écrit en 1940,” written by French historian and résistant fighter, Marc Bloch (1886-1944), who was arrested and killed by the Nazis in June 1944, only two months before the liberation of Paris by the Allied Forces. I think it’s a very intriguing axiom to describe the nature of human race - the harder, the higher you climb up, which is common to the races / struggles in every field of politics, business, academy, sports, entertainment and you can name it. Is this an axiom proper to French? We have Japanese saying, “両雄並び立たず- Two heroes can never stand side by side (coexist),” which I think is akin to Chinese cliché, 両虎相闘 - liang hu xiang dou - meaning two tigers in a prairie are distined to fight to death, i.e. Caesar couldn’t stand together Pompeius, and Octavianus couldn’t live and let live Antonius. Both Japanese and Chinese cliché match only the last part of the French cliché. Is there English version to the same effect?


title: "Talk with" vs "talk live with"

text: What is the difference between _talk with people_ and _talk live with people_? I think all kinds of talk is _live_. If so, why we would say _talk live_ with people?


title: What is the superlative of long-term?

text: I was writing my history essay earlier today on the effects of the First World War and in my conclusion I was comparing the four causes I had discussed in the essay. I then was half-way through my sentence when I struggled to think of the superlative of long-term. Both > the longest-term cause was... and > the most long-term cause was... struck me as viable options, however neither sounded correct to me at the time. I also thought of`greatest` and `most chronic` afterwards, although by then it was too late. Greatest also perhaps connotes importance, which is undesirable in the context. In the end I rephrased my sentence to escape the predicament and although I cannot remember what I wrote instead I believe it was less effective than a sentence with the superlative of long-term.


title: Capitalisation of "Many thanks" as a stand-alone term

text: I am having a brochure designed and wish to place the words "Many Thanks" on the very back of it after all the policies are listed. Which is more correct? to capitalise the first letter of the first word only-- or the first letter of both words?


title: Expression that means something like "killing the sheep to keep them from being kidnapped"

text: I'm looking for an expression that conveys an excessive risk management approach that ends up having a worse effect than what it is trying to protect against.


title: Number agreement between subject and object

text: The other day, my father and I were expecting my brothers to come home. Upon hearing a car enter the driveway, my father said, "Your brothers are here." When I looked at the door, I could see that it was actually my sister who had arrived, and not my brothers, so I responded, > She's not my brothers. This seemed like a very awkward construction, but I could not think of any reason that it would be ungrammatical, other than the subject being singular and the object being plural. I can think of several examples of sentences where the subject and object are different in number (with an intransitive verb: obviously there is nothing wrong with a transitive verb like "kick" having a subject an object differing in number) that do not seem to have any grammatical awkwardness. > We are a family. > > His mind and body are one. > > God is three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Is the sentence, "she's not my brothers" grammatically correct, and what makes it different from these other sentences?


What does it mean when someone says "Would you please indulge me for a couple of minutes?"? The context in which I heard it makes it seem self-evident, but I may be wrong. Somebody was talking to another person, and the person being addressed was asked by the lecturer to please indulge him. The lecturer went so far as to say, 'I beg your indulgence.' What does this mean? I thought indulgence meant 'something enjoyed as a special pleasure': Good food is my only indulgence.


title: A word to describe feeling less of an emotion

text: What is a verb and also a phrasal verb to describe to gradually feel less of an emotion (anger) over a period of time to the point of almost non-existent? For example: John was ridiculed by Dave during class, making him want to punch Dave out, but at the time it was inconvenient to do so. By the time class is over his anger has already **___ __** and he no longer wanted to give him a beating.


title: Is "further" now used for both physical and metaphorical distances?

text: Is it true that 'further' and 'farther' are becoming interchangeable? > He drove further north. > > His furthest destination to travel is 167 miles. This link says that _further_ is now widely "used and accepted in all senses, even to designate physical distance."


title: What does “sheafs” mean in “The rays cut straight sheafs”?

text: This sentence is from _Atlas Shrugged_ , depicting rays of light running through coils of steam enveloping a building: > The rays of a few strong lights **cut straight _sheafs_** through the coils. Could anyone please explain to me how _sheafs_ is to be understood here? Does it denote the verb _sheaf_ , as in _bundle_? That was the first thing to come to mind, but that seems wrong to me.


title: “Are” Vs “Is” in the following sentences

text: I'm confused what verb would concord in the following couple of sentences: > The number of students and the number of teachers **are/is** decreasing day > by day in the school. > > Either a number of teachers or a number of students **is/are** participating > in the college's festival. According to my understanding _the number of_ is always followed by a singular verb even two _the number of_ are joined with _and_. Also, _a number is_ always followed by a plural verb. So I think the former will take _is_ while the latter concord with _are._ But I'm not sure.


title: Word for a moment in time defined with beginning and end?

text: This is for a database system where people have predefined time spans that are defined with a beginning and an end point in time (like 2014-04-11 22:15 UTC until 2014-05-22 18:22 UTC). I don't find a decent term for that. The best I could come up so far is "time frame".


title: "increase", singular or plural?

text: In the following sentence: > Furthermore, the tools require intensity data provided by an external > software which, along with possible file conversion, _increases_ the total > execution time. Should _increase(s)_ be singular or plural?


title: Is it common to use "between" with the preposition "to"?

text: Is it natural to say the following: > There is going to be no office hours between 12:00 _to_ 13:00. I got this in an email and the use of _to_ seems a bit awkward to me. I think of two better alternatives: either change _between_ to _from_ or _to_ to _and_. What do you think?


title: Express a phrase as compound

text: I need to express this phrase as a short compound to be used as programming variable name (this phrase is in the context of a software user interface): > the block showing current chatters I have the following options:   1. Current Chatter Block   2. Current Chatters' Block Which option would carry better sense? Option 1 is shorter but it doesn't seem to carry the correct meaning as the block contains a list of multiple chatter names, not just only 1 chatter name. However, the second option when written as variable name, it would be: Current_Chatters_Block, this comes without the apostrophe, does it look ok?


title: How is this not a run-on sentence?

text: > Although short sentences tend to be dismissed as amateur or juvenile, there > are times when short sentences work well, _when a work can even demand such > a style._ I come across sentences like this often and I'm not sure how the italicized bit above is added to the sentence. Isn't it a run-on sentence?


title: Is this grammatical?

text: Look at the following sentences. > If I had have had to have, having had have previously had, it wouldn't be so > difficult. But since I have not had to have, not previously having had, it > will be difficult. Are they grammatical?   Can you think how that would be represented using contractions?


title: "You'll find that..."

text: I was in a chat discussing the translation of our project and one of the developers made a joke: > You'll find that the Commonwealth spelling [of "member"] is "membre" :) This is not the first time I've heard the phrase "You'll find that...". What is it supposed to mean and where does it come from?


title: Correct word choice for "get a new subset from set"

text: I am trying to choose a title. I have a big data set and I will get subsets of this data set using statistical techniques (random sampling etc.). Which one of the following is correct? If more than one is suitable, is there a nuance between them?   * create subset data sets   * construct subset data sets   * get new subset data set I am not a native speaker; therefore if all of them are wrong, I am open to suggestions.


title: What is a word for a place to study and rest?

text: My father wants to name our house as a place to study and rest. Is there any single short word which means this. Any suggestion are welcome.


title: What does "mechanical" mean here?

text: The definition of _fasteners_ as stated from Wikipedia is: > a hardware device that mechanically joins or affixes two or more objects > together. Is the definition of _mechanical_ here sense 10 from Dictionary.com? I was confused because I figured the use of fasteners doesn't necessarily require machinery so if it's not the definitions related to machinery then it must mean the physical forces that you apply to the fastener when used to join things together? ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/Q4kML.png)


title: Is there a word that means "full of spiders"?

text: I'm just wondering if there exists such a word that means "full of spiders"?


title: Difference between "hypnotic" and "hypnotizing"

text: Is there a difference between _hypnotic_ and _hypnotizing_? I believe they are synonyms but I think of _hypnotic_ as being more metaphorical, and _hypnotizing_ as being used, at least sometimes, as a clinical (or at least factual, non-metaphorical) term.


title: Double acronym: acronyms that stand for two things simultaneously

text: I am looking for a term that describes an acronym that has two possible expansions, but both expansions refer to the same thing. The term "double acronym" doesn't appear to be widely used and is confusing. Some examples: In human-computer interaction, there is a single tool called CPM-GOMS, where the CPM stands for both "cognitive, perceptual, motor" and "critical path method". Additionally, a popular cognitive modeling tool called ACT has both "Atomic Components of Thought" and "Adaptive Character of Thought" as its meanings. In both cases, these are not two distinct tools that coincidentally share the same acronym. They are acronyms that purposefully have two distinct expansions that refer to the same tool. The usage might also apply to companies who have changed the words in their acronym while keeping the original initialism, such as:   * Marvel's SHIELD   * the programming language PHP   * the chain store TCBY   * the college exam SAT However in these cases one expansion is clearly non-standard. There are also unofficial acronyms, such as DVD, which appears to be used equally as "digital video disc" and "digital versatile disc", despite that neither is standard. It may also apply to translations in which the initialism is preserved, such as the car company BMW which stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, but is often written as Bavarian Motor Works. There is no wikipedia for "double acronym" and < 6,500 google results for the same search term. Is there a standard term for this usage that I am not aware of? If not, what short phrasing could be best used to describe this usage? Note I am primarily interested in a phrase that captures the first usage (e.g. CPM and ACT).


title: How to properly identify adverbial modifiers?

text: ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/zQMkG.jpg) I do not fully understand what they mean by structure of the adverbial modifier or type. Does 'type' mean the question it answers i.e. where, when, how? Below I listed the adverbial modifiers which I think qualify as adverbial modifiers, but I am not 100% sure and am confused. Any help to understand these is appreciated. Thank you               1. hard - How?      2. every morning from ten till two - When?     3.     4.     5. well - how? , like a child - how?, be bellowed with laughter - how?     6. on one leg - how?      7.     8.


title: is 'on submit ' grammatically correct?

text: Can we use **_on submit_** in the meaning of **_after validation_** ? > On submit value a notification will be displayed


title: Is there a term for speaking English with a foreign accent to make it easier for foreigners to understand?

text: I was just recalling Joey Barton's interview with the French media in which he speaks with a French accent, seemingly to make it easier for his audience to understand. As humourous as it may be, is there a term for this?


title: It never rains but it pours

text: This popular saying meaning: When troubles come they come together, (especially if you are unfortunate). has a clear negative connotation. I am looking for a saying or expression that convey just the opposite idea, sort of " lucky things happen continually to lucky people".


title: What is the difference between "X is needed" and "X is necessary"?

text: Do the following two sentences mean the same? > A: If you improve the quality of your data, less data is **needed** to > achieve an error rate of 30%. > > B: If you improve the quality of your data, less data is **necessary** to > achieve an error rate of 30%. What are the differences of those two words (especially in the two senteces above)?


title: "Sharing of knowledge" vs. "knowledge sharing"

text: As the title of a scoping document for a major project, which is better? >   * Delivering mutual benefit through sharing of knowledge >   * Delivering mutual benefit through knowledge sharing > Is either version better structured than the other?


title: How do you pronounce "what did you" in "So what did you dream about?" and other similar questions?

text: > **Tina** : I had a strange dream last night.   >  **Jack** : Well, dreams are always strange. I've never had an absolutely > "normal" dream. So what did you dream about?   >  **Tina** : I dreamed about a skyscraper devouring a small "Starbucks". How would you pronounce "So what did you dream about?" here? I am especially interested about the _did you_ part. Is it like _di you_ or _d'you_ or what? (In case my example is poor, please think of any question then that would start with "So what did you…"—the most important thing for me is that this question must not be simply one separate question, but should rather be a part of someone's dialogue line—it should therefore be pronounced quicker than if it were just a question on its own.)


title: Salt tastes salty then water tastes ....?

text: I want to know what word should I use to describe the taste of water. I always say it tastes nothing to mean that it does not have taste, not sweet, not salty, not spicy, and not sour.


title: What is the formal way of saying "You have got something wrong"?

text: Let's say that I am working with my manager; he made some mistake which I have identified, and I want to point that out to him. So is there any polite way of saying "You have got it wrong."? (By the way is the tense right in the question? I mean should it be > he has made a mistake which I would like to point out. or > he made a mistake which I would like to point out.)


title: "Worse comes to worst" or "worst comes to worst"

text: Which is correct: _worse comes to worst_ or _worst comes to worst_? The former seems more logical but the latter is what appears in _Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary_.


title: Difference between "abase" and "abash"

text: It seems as if both words mean _to humiliate and degrade_?


title: What do 'media hog' and 'sweet baby' mean, how offensive are they?

text: I happen to see the following three episodes in today’s Washington Post, all of which seem to me related to derogative usage of words or actions:   1. The Navy is expected to relieve Capt. Owen Owen Honors as commander of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise as a part of an investigation into a series of videos made by Honors that use anti-gay slurs and mimic masturbation.   2. Despite the fancy sounding name, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee has almost zero legislative authority. All they can do is hold hearings. While most members of Congress have no interest in being on the committee, it seems to be a dream post for media hogs like Issa and Joe Lieberman.   3. ESPN host calls reporter 'sweet baby': ESPN, the sports network where male announcers have repeatedly faced disciplinary action in high-profile episodes of sexist behavior, has benched yet another host for his remarks to a female colleague.  Although Quote 1. is self-explanatory, what does ‘media hog’ of Quote 2. mean? Does it mean “those who wish to stand out in media exposure? How derogatory the word is? What kind of connotation “sweet baby “in Quote 3 have in this particular case? How offensive is it? I’m afraid my questions are insensible, but it is difficult for non native English speaker like me to fathom exact degree of destructiveness of derogative English words.


title: Referring to X (plural) units of Y as an "it"

text: I am reading _The White Spider_ , a book on mountain climbing, and I got hung up on this passage which sounded wrong, although I can see why it isn't... > Herman couldn't be expected to hear him in that raging tempest; nor could he > have come down a hundred feet of hard-won ground again, after such a > struggle to climb **them**." "Them" is agreeing with "a hundred feet" in this sentence, but would it be wrong to replace "them" with "it" because 100 feet represents a unit of distance more than it does individual feet? Or would "it" be preferable on the grounds that the entire noun phrase "a hundred feet of hard-won ground" should be considered the unit? Or is it simply correct as is? The reason it stands out to me is because I commonly hear runners in conversations where the following is said: > "How far did you run today?" > > "I ran about 20 miles." > > "How long did it take you to run _it_?" > > "About three hours." In this case, 20 miles represents "the run," a single event taking three hours. The 100-foot descent seems more meaningful as a unit and not a collection of feet. On the contrary, I would never use this logic if I were talking about eating sausage links at dinner. > "I ate nine sausage links." > > "How long did it take you to eat them?" Is it just lazy English to mistake the numerical agreement, or does it come down to the way we contextualize units? The post script is that the book, _The White Spider_ is translated from German.


title: Is "obscure" autological?

text: I remember that I had a question similar to this a long time ago (when I was in elementary school, I think), and it popped up in my head again today. Is the word "obscure" obscure itself?


title: Is "gilded" usually associated with gold as an element or as a colour?

text: I know that _gilded_ means > covered or highlighted with gold or something of a golden color So it can be associated both with gold as a chemical element or just the colour. Some situations might give away which of these interpretations is the correct one (e.g. a gilded car is hardly covered in gold), but what about ambiguous ones (e.g. gilded earrings)? **When you read _gilded_ in a sentence without further specifications, do you think about an item covered in real gold or just painted in such colour?** I'm looking for a "standard" interpretation (if there is one) on the matter, but also personal opinions, if properly supported, are accepted.


title: In which way is /dɑːtə/ more formal than /deɪtə/?

text: Wiktionary lists two different UK pronunciations of data: >   * /deɪtə/ (UK, US) > >   * /dɑːtə/ (Australia, UK formal) > > Under what kind of circumstances would the /ɑː/ sound be used? Which pronunciation is considered RP?


title: Can I say "great move" to mean "good job"?

text: Can you use the phrase: "great move" instead of the phrase "good job" or vice versa? Are "good job" and "good work" similar phrases?


title: "He" / "she" vs. "it" regarding beloved objects

text: Is that normal to regard a beloved object (an animal, a car, a book) as he/she? If yes, what gender should be used in this case? One comment in this question touched the tendency to humanize things we love, but it was never upvoted properly, so I decided to ask a it as question. I'm Russian and here gender really matters. In Russia calling my friend's dog as "it" may sound as insult. And calling a dog, which is of a male gender, "she" is a mistake. BTW, in Russian "England" is a "she". And "United Kingdom" is an "it" :)


title: expect, anticipate , or look forword to life

text: I want to express a sentence "expecting your life" It's the feeling you eagerly want to see your lover and can't wait.   It's the feeling you get up happily because you know that something will make you happy today.   It' the feeling you live full of curiosity and great mood. Which word should I choose?   expect, anticipate , or look forword to ? Or is there anonther word or sentence get close to these feeling??   Thank you


title: In the classic old cowboy song, "I Ride an Old Paint", what are the meanings of the terms, "fiery" and "snuffy"?

text: In the classic old cowboy song, "I Ride an Old Paint", what are the meanings of the terms _fiery_ and _snuffy_ , in the chorus? > Ride around little dogies, ride around them slow / For the fiery and snuffy > are rarin' to go


title: What is the difference between American and British pronunciations of "world" and "girl"?

text: I can definitely hear a distinct difference but I am not sure if it is from the long vowel or from the "r".


title: Is there a single word to mean "rate of procrastination"?

text: Take the following contrived sentence: > Our staff's productivity has doubled since we upgraded their computers. And now this one: > Our staff's _[rate of procrastination]_ has doubled since we gave them new > smart phones. **Is there a single word to fit within the italicised section of the second sentence?** As you can see I initially was looking for some sort of form of the word "procrastinate", but "procrastination" doesn't sound like it fits properly on its own (does it?), and I don't think the word has a valid form that is equivalent to "productivity", by which I mean that: your _productivity_ is a measure how much you _produce_ , while _[what?]_ is a measure of how much you _procrastinate_.


title: Meaning of "cross"?

text: > There is a related group of drugs known as cephalosporins that exhibit a 6% > **cross** sensitivity reaction to penicillin allergy sufferers. What's the meaning of _cross_ in this sentence?   Is _sensitivity reaction_ used to mean _allergy_?


title: What do these confusing lyrics mean?

text: What does the phrase, > "I need to be with myself and center..." mean? It's part of the lyrics of Fergie's _Big Girls Don't Cry_.


title: Synonym for "aforementioned" without the past-tense connotation

text: Is there a word that can be used when discussing something and wanting to refer to it in the manner of "the aforementioned", but without the temporal aspect making it sound like you've moved on and are referring back to it? The item under discussion is the _current_ matter-at-hand and I'd like a word with the feel of "aforementioned", but the present-tense of "matter-at-hand" or "current subject matter". For example, when discussing someone's statement/idea/syllogism, I don't want to say so-and-so's aforementioned statement, because it's the current subject matter that we're presently discussing.


title: What are the grammatical rules for use of "these", "those", and "them"?

text: > I am unclear of the use of [these|those] objects. I am unsure when to use > [these|those|them]. Please someone help me tell me which is correct in the previous sentences. This is not a dupe of What's the difference between "these" and "those"?


title: How do you Spell: Smused? Smoosed?

text: How do you Spell: Smused, Smoosed? As in: "Bill Smused the clients. Warming them up for the spiel from marketing."


title: single word which i can use to describe all objects we use in a day such as car, cups , backpack

text: I need to explain that a boy cannot identify daily routine stuff such as cups, cars, or plates. I need a single word which I can put which signifies these items.


title: What does “cocktail chatter wisdom” mean?

text: Jennifer Rubin’s article titled “Did the South win Pickett’s charge, Sen. Cruz?” in the Washington Post (July 30) begins with the following sentence: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2013/07/30/did-the-south- win-picketts-charge-sen-cruz/ > “Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) isn’t about to let history stand in the way of a > self-destructive fight. In support of his brainstorm to shut down the > government over Obamacare funding, he declared: “The sort of **cocktail > chatter wisdom** in Washington that, ‘Oh, the [1995-1996] shutdown was a > political disaster for Republicans,’ is not borne out by the data.” Ngram shows emergence of the usage of ‘cocktail chatter’ in mid 1930 followed by a sharp rise of its currency then after. Though I surmise “cocktail chatter wisdom” implies a rash or still-not-refined idea / plans hatched through conversation during a cocktail party, what does it exactly mean? Is it something like the idea or hint coming up from what we call 井戸端会議 - water-fountain-side conference in Japanese? Is ‘cocktail chatter wisdom (idea, plan)” a popular phrase? Can I reject it when someone brings up a half-boiled or unrealistic idea, by saying “Your idea is a sort of cocktail chatter wisdom - no back up."?


title: What does it mean?

text: "Thou hast been smitten?" https://www.google.nl/search?q=What+does+Thou+hast+been+smitten+mean%3F Doesn't deliver real results.


title: What is a term for the hierarchical relationship between parent and child configuration options in software?

text: Frequently we see configuration options with a hierarchical structure, often shown in a tree view. When enabling a parent option, all of the child options are enabled. When disabling the parent option, all of the child options are disabled. A user may be able to enable a subset of child options without "fully" enabling the parent option. I am writing instructions/documentation and would like to explain this behavior in a simple, concise manner. > "Enabling or disabling the parent option, by `__________`, enables or > disables all child options as well." I've thought of "by design," "by association;" but neither of these express my meaning as intended. What would be an appropriate word to use here, or a proposed rewrite of the statement to accomplish my goal?


title: "The last movie I played" vs "the movie I played last"

text: On a chat channel today I was reading two people talk about some of the more popular movie formats and movie players available. One of the interlocutors said something that got me thinking. I will cut quick to my question. Is there a semantic difference between the following two phrases: > ... the last movie I played ... and > ... the movie I played last ... To my non-native English ears and eyes, I fail to see a difference. But reading these two phrases again and again makes me uneasy. The more I read them, the more I feel that the first phrase gives off a whiff that would suggest that the speaker/writer does not watch movies very often, while the latter would identify someone who watches movies all the time. What do you folks think?


title: Rule for questions like "Or is it?"

text: I just saw two sentences like > Doing this is right. Or is it? To me it looks like the first sentence rephrases a common belief while the second announces the belief to be proved wrong later. Am I right? The strange thing about this construction is that both sentences are positive. Logically I'd expect the question to be something like "Or maybe is it wrong at the end?" - this way it could be expressed e.g. in German. Is there an explanations while the English construction goes "the other way round"? * * * OK, it's metanoia, but I'm still stuck with the exact phrasing. Nowhere I've seen this form. Would a phrase like > Doing this is right. Or isn't it? be correct as well and mean the same?


title: How do I interpret "emissions of car operated over" in this sentence?

text: I was trying to answer a question on _skeptics.stackexchange.com_ , where we found this paragraph in a scientific report: > This compares to 1,374 tons per day statewide for passenger cars. While > reductions from gasoline SI marine engines are not included in California’s > SIP as a planned measure for meeting attainment goals, the impact of > outboard and personal watercraft engines on the state’s total emissions > inventory makes control of this category of emissions necessary. Table 1 > lists the relative contribution of outboard and personal watercraft exhaust > emissions in California in tons per day. **As a comparison to other sources, > the exhaust emissions from two hours of personal watercraft operation is > equivalent to the emissions from a 1998 passenger car operated over 100,000 > miles.** The sentence in bold created a lot of confusion, since Stienstra (1998) wrote an article, cited the report and paraphrased it like this: > **The state Air Resources Board is also considering taking statewide action > against personal watercraft, after a staff report said that two hours of > exhaust emissions from a Jet Ski is equivalent to the emissions created by > driving a 1998 automobile 100,000 miles.** While users in _skeptics.stackexchange.com_ interpreted as: > **Two hours of use of a jet-ski produces the same pollution as two hours of > driving a 1998 car with 100,000 miles on the clock. (And not driving a > 100,000 miles with that car).** Another user here found another interpretation: > **All the watercrafts operating in California together produce in 2 hours > the same pollution as one car driven 100,000 km.** Is Stienstra (1998)'s interpretation the intended meaning and why? Could we be 100% sure? * * * Stienstra, T. (1998, Jul 08). U.S. park service seeks ban on jet skis 950 square miles of bay area waters would be affected. San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/270486538?accountid=8555


title: If a word has two different meanings, is it two different words or one word with different meanings?

text: My brother and sister-in-law are arguing about whether "train" meaning locomotive and "train" meaning teach constitutes one word with two different meanings or if it's two different words. I said that the etymology appears to be the same, so it would be one word with two different meanings ... but the more I think about it, the less sure I am that this is correct. One's a noun, the other is a verb, so ... does that make it two different words? Help!


title: "extension of" or "extension to"?

text: What is better English:   * "We describe some extensions **to** the basic model" or   * "We describe some extensions **of** the basic model"? In a Google search, I found both of them, so maybe both are legal in different contexts?


title: Is "raises question marks over" a correct and common phrase?

text: Is a sentence like > Dynamic method invocation raises question marks over the way existing > instances should be handled. correct in a technical paper (computer science)? (I think it is in the _Economist_ data base, so it should be correct.) I guess _raises questions over the way_ is just a lot more common. If it is correct, is this only common in British English or is it also common in American English? (By the way, I am not a native speaker.)


title: Comma in "still is, and will always remain"

text: > Manchester United **still is and will always** remain a force despite these > setbacks. Do I need a comma after _is_ here? I personally don't think so but would like to be sure.


title: Independent and Collaborative

text: I am trying to formulate the following sentence: > The general framework is composed of two independent and collaborative > modules What I mean is that the two modules work independently but their end result is used in common to make a decision. I find that this sentence is really contradicting itself. How can I make it more understandable?


title: What alternatives are there to 'de-facto?'

text: I'm looking to describe something that people use for no particular reason, other than that other people use it. It is popular because it is popular. _De-facto_ seemed like a good fit at first, but my friend pointed out that it sounds haughty. Are there any synonyms that effectively communicate the "in practice" concept?


title: Is “non-view” versus view a received English word?

text: I found the phrase, “ _views and non-views_ ” in the following sentence of the New Yorker article (October 15) titled “Are Debates Good for Republican,” which was written by its senior editor, Amy Davidson on recent Republican candidate debates live telecasted from Las Vegas: > The wheel (of Republican candidates debates) always seems to have stopped > and settled on Mitt Romney; and then it is spinning again, along with our > heads, and we are watching videos of Herman Cain in a white robe singing a > song about pizza that seems taken from the last episode of “Lost.” The song > has the virtue of being less discordant than Cain’s _foreign-policy views, > or non-views_ , but only barely. I think " _non-view_ " is used as an antithesis to “ _view_ ,” and I guess it means absence of a solid view. However, when I tried to get clearer idea of “non-view” from dictionaries, no dictionary including Cambridge Dictionary, Merriam-Webster and other online dictionaries carries the word, “non-view(s)". Are “non-view(s)" and “views and non-views” well-received English word and phrase? Does "non-views" stand alone without "views"? I know “non” as a prefex to be used as in nonbank, non-stop, non-politic, but feel somewhat odd when it comes out as “non-views” just like "non-comment" and "non-answer" as against "no comments" and "no answer." Why the writer doesn’t plainly say “Cain’s foreign-policy views or lack (or absence) of views”?


title: "Game server" or "games server"

text: This question can seem trivial but I'm not a native English speaker. I'm hosting a server which hosts games and I was wondering: is it called a _game server_ or a _games server_?


title: Is there a term for a self-fulfilling sentence?

text: I am wondering if there is a term for sentences that describe what the sentence accomplishes. For example, the phrase "I'm warning you." The sentence simultaneously does the warning and says it is warning.


title: Is it correct to say "…battle between x versus y"?

text: Today I heard someone on television say this: > In the battle between x _versus_ y, x won. Is this correct? In my opinion, this would sound better/be more correct: > In the battle between x _and_ y, x won. What should have been said?


title: Is 'Sold Count' a good term

text: I am writing a technical document, and in it I want to refer to **the number of units sold for each product**. I want to make it concise, and 'sold count' comes to mind. Does this term sound right? Are there better alternatives?


title: What is a word for someone who wants to preserve others' cultures?

text: I'm searching for the word for someone who believes in the preservation of other people's cultures. Does anyone know of a good word for this? I don't think "anthropologist" is a good word, as that indicates the study of the cultures, but people can have this belief without studying them.


title: The right word for someone with a higher rank in military

text: What is a general word for someone in the military who has a higher rank than someone or a group of people ? For example someone can be a commander or captain, etc, but when an officer wants to generally address that person and does not know what exactly that person's rank is, what can he/she say ? like "he is my ...."


What's the correct grammatical term for clauses expressing the goal or a target of an action expressed in the main clause? For example: Jack gave me his cell phone so that **I could call my Mom**. Dad was telling me this story so that **I didn't fall asleep**. **To keep flowers growing** , florists water them every day.


title: "I live on beans and rice" vs. "I live off beans and rice"

text: I wanted to refocus a related question on ell.se. towards a possible deeper and direct relationship to "on vs. off". Consider the following two phrases:   * I live off beans and rice. (Approx 94,000 results Google Search)    * I live on beans and rice. (Approx 67,000 results Google Search) In addition to the subtle difference in meaning, I'm particularly interested in where the semantics of the differences might come from. Can we trace the semantic difference between "live on" and "live off" to a fundamental, "definitional" aspect of "on vs. off"? * * * _Below, I've answered my own question as an afterthought. It was additional thoughts that needed to be moved to an answer, and is in no way intended to be definitive._


title: Is “a glut of” well-established idiom, or simple combination of “glut” and the subsequent word?

text: Recently I often came across the phrase, _“a glut of_ ” as such “ _a glut of_ heroine and denial” (Reuters), “ _a glut of_ hiring alternative” (Business Week), and “ _a glut of_ foreclosed homes” (New York Times - May 23) in the following sentence: “The nation's biggest banks and mortgage lenders have amassed _a glut of_ foreclosed homes that threatens to deepen the housing slump” As far as I consulted English Japanese dictionaries at hand, none of them lists “ _a glut of_ ” as an idiom akin to “a lot of.” So I checked the definition of “glut” in Cambridge Dictionary Online, it simply says “a supply of something that is much greater than can be sold or is needed or wanted” but doesn’t show any reference to “a glut of.” Is “ _a glut of_ ” well-established idiom meaning abundance or excess, or simple combination of “glut” and the subsequent word?


title: What is a word that means "belief in the good nature of humankind"?

text: I am looking for one word that is explained as "the belief in the good nature of humankind". It is not _philanthropy_ or _humanitarianism_ ; rather, I am looking for one word to describe one's belief in philanthropists.


title: Word for a belief in extra-terrestrial rights

text: Looking for a word that means, " **a belief in goodness and liberty toward sentient aliens.** " The use of "humanitarian" doesn't seem to fit due to the use of "human" in it, and I am not entirely convinced that "xenotarian" is a valid word (although it might be.)


title: When should "literally" be used?

text: We all know that _literally_ is being overused currently. I want to know if _literally_ should only be used in contrast to situations which are normally figurative in common usage. For example: > It **literally** took him an hour to get here. (not a figurative expression) > > I am **literally** starving to death. (Figurative expression made literal > because the person is actually starving to death.) _Literally_ is used for the latter example, correct?


title: What is the difference between '..at 20 percent' and '..with 20 percent'

text: Consider the following two sentences: America has the highest oil consumption rate **at**...% of the world total. The Middle East has the largest oil reserves **with**...% of the world total. What is the difference between using _at_ and _with_ in those examples.


title: Word for a group of "like-minded" people

text: I know there's a word for "like-minded" people, generally used in a negative context. For example, you could say employees of the CIA are **___ _**, in that they all want to ensure the security of the nation, whatever the price/cost. I think it starts with a "c", it's on the tip of my tongue and I can't think of it. Any ideas? Just editing this a bit. Thanks everyone for your responses. It may not start with a "c" but the word "cadre" is close to what I'm looking for, but once again with a potentially more negative association.


title: "Both which" or "both of which"

text: "This can be done using the technique of Peters, and using the technique of Matthews, both which involve mathematics" Having searched _both which_ and _both of which_ in Google, it appears _both of which_ is more often used. 1) Why? 2) What does the _of_ do? 3) If the _of_ is necessary, why is it not necessary in: "This can be done using the technique of Peters, which involves mathematics"?


title: Would be glad to

text: I was writing an email and faced the following situation: > I am coming to Oxford this summer. If you _are_ still around, I _would_ be > glad to hang out with you. Now normally we don't construct the conditional statement like the one above, where a present verb is followed by _would_. But if I change the second one to _will_ it kind of becomes very direct and that's not what I want. So is the construction above still correct or should I go with something else? If it's correct, could someone explian the technical details behind it?


title: When can you omit the possessive on an honorific?

text: I was considering honorifics and I realized that sometimes we include and sometimes we omit a possessive in front of them. I was wondering if there was a formal rule for such? For example: > Your highness, the French delegation has arrived. vs. > Highness, the French delegation has arrived. Obviously, the _your_ has been omitted here (or perhaps elided). But, there are other honorifics where this is never done. For example: when addressing the mayor or a judge (in AmE), you might say "Your Honor", but you'd never say, "Honor". Rather, you'd say Mr. Mayor or Judge in those cases. Is there a rule to this, or is merely that _your_ has been elided in the above example, and it should have been written with an apostrophe: > 'Highness, the French delegation has arrived. Note: I'm deliberately ignoring the honorifics that never carry a possessive: Mr., Mrs., Dr., etc.


title: What does "in the space for movement thus conquered" mean?

text: What's the meaning of this phrase of Michel Foucault: "in the space for movement thus conquered". The full sentence: > **In the space for movement thus conquered** , and broadening and organizing > that space, methods of power and knowledge assumed responsibility for the > life processes and undertook to control and modify them.


title: What does "ghetto login route" mean?

text: Marc Gravell recently provided this answer to a question on Meta Stack Overflow: > If you try Jeff's link above, and everything reports OK but it still doesn't > work, please let me know. In the interim, there is a ghetto login route:   >  http://{some site}/users/chat-stackexchange-login > > for example:  http://stackoverflow.com/users/chat-stackexchange-login What does _ghetto login route_ mean, here?


title: What is the difference between "set phrase" and "catch phrase"?

text: What is the difference between _set phrase_ and _catch phrase_?   Do the expressions describe something without relation with each other?


title: What does "beggars belief" mean?

text: What does _beggars belief_ mean, in general and in this sentence? > It beggars belief that removing the tag was so urgent that you couldn't wait > for a response more than 40 minutes before removing it.


title: What do you call those man-made "wooden paths" that are usually found in mountains?

text: This what I'm referring to: ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/woGQO.jpg) I guess the starting section can be called wooden steps, but as it goes further, it's no longer a step but a "path." What do you call the whole structure? (I'm looking for a common-easy-to-understand term, rather than a technical one).


title: Does this have an indirect object?

text: > I met a kind person As far as I know: subject = I; met = verb; But seems like "kind person" is a direct object. Is there no indirect object?


title: What does a “talking-head-and-flapping-gums” sector of TV/Radio mean?

text: New York Times (May 6) reports that Mike Rogers (Mich.), the House Intelligence Committee Chairman decided to leave the House for a media gig as the radio host of Cumulus under the title, “Radio killed the political star.” It comments: > Traditionally, when a fed-up congressman decided to step aside, it was for a > more sober, public-minded and highly respected pursuit, like lobbying. Even > when politicians have joined the **talking-head-and-flapping-gums** sector, > there is usually an intermediate step. Joe Scarborough, for instance, left > the House in 2001 and practiced law for a few years before winding up at > MSNBC. Now his **breakfast nook** of a broadcast, “Morning Joe" is a far > more potent brand than he ever was as just one of 435 members of the U.S. > Congress. > > http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/11/magazine/radio-killed-the-political- > star.html?hp&_r=0 What does “talking-head-and-flapping-gums” mean? Additionally, what does “breakfast nook” mean? Is it a “morning variety” slot?


title: What does Twain mean by "tares" in the last sentence in a letter to Walt Whitman?

text: I know the dictionary answer is vetch, an alfalfa-like plant. Is he making a comparison between "wheat" and "tares?" I realize this sounds like a homework question, but I'm over 60, and maybe a little nerdy. > We have among us 600 years, good & sound, left in the bank of life. Take 30 > of them—the richest birth-day gift ever offered to poet in this world—& sit > down & wait. Wait till you see that great figure appear, & catch the far > glint of the sun upon his banner; then you may depart satisfied, as knowing > you have seen him for whom the earth was made, & _that he will proclaim that > human wheat is worth more than human **tares_** , & proceed to organize > human values on that basis. Mark Twain to Walt Whitman on the occasion of Whitman's 70th birthday, May 24, 1889


title: What is a polite substitute for badass (used as a noun)?

text: Badass and BAMF are both modern words with approximately the same meaning: "Someone who is awesome to an extreme level, thereby leveraging unquestionable authority." Is there another noun or title that would convey the same level of awe, admiration and toughness that calling someone a badass does, without the vulgarity? Thanks for any help. :)


title: Is it correct "Will ask more questions if needed required"?

text: I wrote in a mail > Hi ABC, > > Thanks for providing helpful information. Will ask more questions if needed > required. Is this statement correct? Please help


title: How to convert this sentence to passive form?

text: Sentence: `The manufacturer promises to repair or replace the product if necessary within warranty period` I want to convert the above sentence into passive: sentence 1: `The product was promised by the manufacturer to repair or replace if necessary within warranty period` sentence 2: `The product was promised to be repaired or replaced if necessary within warranty period by the manufacturer` i feel like the sentence 2 is the right one, but that is my feeling as I am not sure. For the sentence 1, I only changed `promise` to passive form while I changed both `promise` & `repair` & `replace` into passive form. So, can you tell me what is the right way to change the above sentence to passive form?


title: Is "annoyed" passive?

text: If I say "I am annoyed", is that in the passive voice?


title: What does "Nothing doing as he took it right to him" mean?

text: I regularly read chess articles on chessbase.com and quite often I find myself struggling with the English they are using. Sometimes it just doesn't feel correct. OK, I am not a native English speaker so how can I judge... However, one sentence I have read today was just a bit too much for me and I have decided to show it here: > One would have thought Caruana would have played a containing strategy, > squeezing the life from his opponent, **but nothing doing as he took it > right to him**. It is the bold part of the sentence that confuses me. Can you please help me to understand it? I have tried Google translate but it translates into a complete nonsense.


title: Plural error or set phrase? -- a Games for everyone

text: This job ad posted by the London 2012 Organising Committee ends with the sentence: > London 2012 is a Games for everyone, so we want you to apply regardless of > your age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith or disability. Is "a Games" a set phrase?


title: Sprung or unsprung trap?

text: When a trap is set up to be active, is it "sprung" or "unsprung"? I'm confused by the ambiguity of the verb "spring". That is, a trap that is set up and active could be "sprung" in the sense that a spring is compressed and ready to launch, but it could also be "unsprung" in the sense that it hasn't yet sprung to action because its spring force has yet to be released. And after a victim walks into the trap and causes it to spring, the same ambiguity (in my mind) seems to apply.


title: Alternative of "unvalidated"

text: Given something in a state of not having been validated or invalidated, its validness is, as yet, unknown. Can it be said to be _unvalidated_? If not, what is the proper term?


title: Words describing the pat acceptance of a thought or practice simply because "that's how it's done."

text: I believe that several words or phrases exist to describe the practice of thinking in a certain way or performing a certain action simply because "that's how it's always been done." Another way of phrasing this thought model is "We do this because it's best," with no proof of if that thing is in actuality the best. An absence of total failure or complete disaster is often given as support for the behavior. Also, the implied circular reasoning is "It's best because we do this." Ultimately, the actions are taken because the situation has never truly been studied and the best course of action has not yet been discovered. I'm curious if there are   1. Words to describe a **_person_** who thinks or behaves in the manner above.   2. Phrases to describe the **_general thought process_** of the above manner. ## Synonyms I'll offer up my own phrase (that I only just now recalled as I typed the above paragraph):   * Cargo Cult     * Cargo Cult Programming (describing the thought process in general)     * A person could be said to be a "Cargo Cultist" or to be "Cargo Culting." ## Antonyms Some possible antonyms to this concept would be:   * Empirical / Empiricist   * Didactic (Intended to teach as opposed to the above thought "intended to be a conformed to without thought")   * Deductive (based on deduced premises)


title: "Who turned off the lights?"

text: > Who turned off the lights?   >  Who are you? Why do the words in those questions have a different order than the following questions? > Does she like ice cream?   >  Where do you live?   >  Where do you come from?   >  Where are you?


title: Redundancy in American Usage

text: Why do Americans use so much redundancy? Is it because of their schooling or their every day influence? Or is it something totally different? Examples:   * It was an even tie. (They reached the finish line together, making it a tie.)   * Other countries abroad.


title: Reported speech question

text: What would be the indirect speech form of the following sentence? > **John told Sean, "Let me help you"** (It's not a homework question, I'm preparing for my exam tomorrow. I just stumbled upon this question in a book.)