title: A one line rhyme?

text: The wiki defines a rhyme as: > ...A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words, most > often at the end of lines in poems and songs... But if I have just 2 words in a statement that in my opinion rhymes, can I say that the one liner rhymes. If 'rhyme' is not the correct term, then what is the correct term for it. The one liner is "Chef Ash".


title: Which is best: "with", "by", or "using"?

text: When I tried to write research paper about robotics, I felt confused in choosing these 3 words. For example, I want to write that I use mobile robot in exploring room and creating map of that room as following. Which one should I use? "Do exploration and mapping of the room **by** Mobile Robot." "Do exploration and mapping of the room **using** Mobile Robot." "Do exploration and mapping of the room **with** Mobile Robot." They sound different in my feeling but deeply look into the meaning I think they're the same. Am I wrong?


title: Usage of the word "memory"

text: I came across this question, but I do not find the answer to what's bothering me. Can _memory_ be used to refer to a particular piece of your past experience that you remember well? E.g.: > I have a good **memory** of putting my key on the table. If this usage is not appropriate — what would you suggest?


title: Why is "to" used after the verb at the end of a sentence?

text: > I would do it if I wanted _to_. > > I would do it if I wanted. Why is _**to**_ used after the verb? Only to give emphasis? Is there a difference in the meanings of the above sentences?


title: Truncating clauses (e.g., "I want to", "She must")

text: I'm sure this has been discussed before but I had some difficultly searching. > I want to, but I don't have time. In saying this, the following is implied: > I want to **do it** , but I don't have time. Another example could be: > I would if I had the time. In which the following is implied: > I would **do it** if I had the time. What's a term that refers to this practice? Also, I don't see why an auxiliary couldn't be standalone in a sentence (such as with "I would"), but is appending an infinitive's particle onto the preceding verb (such as with "I want to") considered grammatically correct?


title: Are the sentences below grammatically correct?

text: 1)To strike a pass mark, it is imperative that each candidate _is prepared_ to try his best. 2)Until now, they have responded to many a question successfully, so they can _enter into this discussion._ 3)It costs about thirty dollars to have a _tooth filling_. 4)The electrical field produced by a single wire is not very strong, _so to increase it to wind the wire._ 5)The teacher's note under my composition _read following_ "the train of thought presented in the paper was _confused_."


title: Are there other verbs like “be” and “go”?

text: The verbs _be_ and _go_ have the nice peculiarity that their various forms ( _be_ / _was_ and _go_ / _went_ ) come from originally distinct verbs. Are there other such verbs?


title: What is the neutral way of telling someone to "do whatever you want"?

text: > Do whatever you want This sentence can carry a negative tone (highly probable). Making it sound that someone is fed-up and/or simply doesn't care. Especially after one has had a heated discussion/argument. How can I tell that in a manner that it carries a neutral and preferable a positive tone?


title: Is “Can you carry this book?” acceptable?

text: Is it grammatically correct to say: > Can you carry this book? I said this to a friend and this person commented that I need to learn grammar. To me the statement seems grammatically correct and logical. If it is wrong, why is it wrong? Perhaps the context of the situation might help. I had a bunch of books in my hands and I handed one to my friend asking the question above.


title: Should I refer to North Koreans and South Koreans "same people" or "the same people"?

text: Are North Koreans and South Koreans "same people" or "the same people"? Which is correct: _the same_ or just _same_ , and why?


title: Meaning of 'snuff' as in 'snuff film'

text: _Snuff film_ means > a pornographic film in which one of the actors is murdered during or after a > sadistic sexual act. On the other hand, _snuff_ means > act of inhaling, breathing in; sound made when breathing in; powdered > tobacco that is inhaled through the nose; burnt end of a candle wick. Why is it _snuff_ film? What is the meaning of _snuff_ as in _snuff film_?


title: What is the suitable word to use after the word fall or drop to mean it dropped a lot?

text: In particular i have an index in mind. I think the word heavily is okay, but is there a better word? Or even better is there a word to mean dropped heavily?


title: Difference between "focus" and "concentration"

text: What is the difference between _focus_ and _concentration_ in the following context? > High-flow activities require focus and concentration; your mind is actively > engaged in what you are doing.


title: Visually and audibly unambiguous subset of the Latin alphabet?

text: Imagine you give someone a card with the code "5SBDO0" on it. In some fonts, the letter "S" is difficult to visually distinguish from the number five, (as with number zero and letter "O"). Reading the code out loud, it might be difficult to distinguish "B" from "D", necessitating saying "B as in boy," "D as in dog," or using a "phonetic alphabet" instead. We want to write codes that can always be communicated clearly. What's the biggest subset of letters and numbers that will, in most cases, still look visually unambiguous and sound unambiguous when read aloud?


title: "by winning" vs "by her winning" or "of her win"

text: I have a dilema, here's a little excerpt: > Anna, an accomplished classical musician, was **encouraged by her winning** > the prestigious award .... plans to launch a new album. Sounds really wrong. Is this correct prose?


title: What's the origin of the saying "know your onions"?

text: In French, there's the expression _occupez-vous de vos oignons_ which means "mind your own business" in English but can be literally translated as "take care of your onions". _Know your onions_ however means to be knowledgeable about a subject - a meaning which is clearly distinct from the French saying. But what's its origin? I'd really love to know.


title: odd taxonomy of English

text: The taxonomy of ox, like cow, bull, calf, steer, bullock, cattle, etc. is all odd to me, using different words for the same animal. (The same can be said to sheep.) I'm looking for similar odd-looking taxonomy in English, which is even unscientific. Any example? (other than "sheep")


title: Does this "come with" make sense in this sentence?

text: Food makes the human body survive, whereas Clothes decorate it. With decoration there comes propriety. (my translation for an ancient Chinese text) By "with decoration there comes propriety" I mean that propriety orginated from the colors and patterns of clothes, or was mainly embodied in them in the early stage of human society. Can this "come with" mean such an abstract idea?


title: crazy as a pet coon under a red wagon

text: Has anyone else heard this phrase? I heard it growing up in western Kansas and have always wondered where it came from. My brother in law would say, "That dog is a as crazy as a pet coon under a red wagon!"


title: What is a word or expression to define that you have reached the limit of your capabilities?

text: I am referring to the stage where someone reaches his/her capabilities limits, especially professional limits. I am thinking about career advancements as well as the growth in professional life. We all reach our limit in that progress and going further would be unnatural or might put us in a difficult position because we are not able to cope with a higher level of abilities or responsibilities. Is there a word or expression to define this limit in personal progress?


title: Question on using the word "perk"

text: I am writing the acknowledgement section of my thesis. Could someone please let me know if I am using the word "perk" correctly in the following? > I want to thank my great friends in our lab, especially Ph.D. candidate > Jason Wright for making the lab environment pleasant and rewarding. Coffee > breaks with him were a great perk. Should I use something else instead of "perk"? If perk is not commonly used, how can I say that coffee breaks with his were very useful? Thanks in advance.


title: Searching for a synonym or an alternate Phrase

text: I am looking for a synonym or a phrase that means, that > after reading a particular thought my perspective / way to look at life has > changed in a good manner. Basically this is for my new blog name, it will be a collection of good quotes from/for life… I was not able to find a good one, as most of the blog names are already taken, so looking for a different one...


what's the meaning of this phrase: " top to the bottom quintile" e.g. "The ratio of expected retirement income of the top to the bottom quintile was 14 in 2007"


title: Usage of hyphen when naming colors

text: When is it appropriate to use a hyphen when naming colors? For instance `Blue-green` has a dash but `Teal blue` does not. Is there some general English rule that applies?


title: What is the origin of "long" and "short" in finance?

text: In finance, "short selling" or "shorting" is the practice of borrowing shares of stock and immediately selling them in hopes they will decline in value, allowing you to repurchase them later at a lower price, repay your debt (of stock), and walk away with a profit. More generally, one who stands to profit from the decline of an asset is said to have a "short position" on that asset, or to be "short [the asset]". Analogously, a "long position" is one that rises with the underlying asset. If Sally owns a lot of gold, one might say "Sally is long gold," since she stands to profit from gold increasing in value. What is the origin of these terms? I assume that "short sale" came first, and "long" was just the natural opposite, but why was the word "short" used in the first place?


title: Why is it "loggable" rather than "logable"?

text: I am using ' ** _loggable_** ' in the name of an interface written in a .NET programming language. It is among the many words that make sense in a programming context but aren't (yet) listed in English Dictionaries, as are _serializable_ , _deserialization_ , and _multiton_. _Loggable_ seems like the correct spelling to me, but I can't pinpoint the reason. Similar words such as _floggable_ and _taggable_ have double 'g', but Google search also returns usage of their single 'g' counterparts, albeit the single 'g' seems to be less widespread. Does anyone know a reason my brain likes "loggable" as opposed to "logable" for the correct spelling? A concrete rule would be great.


title: Two adjectives for two nouns

text: I saw this on a billboard recently > We have new and pre-owned cars and trucks Clearly the intention is to modify "cars and trucks" with the two adjectives "used and preowned" and although the construction does make sense intuitively (and colloquially), I was wondering if there are any specific rules about this kind of "dual-and" construction or any other situation where you have multiple adjectives modifying a string of objects simultaneously.


title: What does “sank like a Chevy Volt in water” mean?

text: The Mesh Report (October 11) issue disclosed President Obama was confident that he won at the first Presidential debate with Mitt Romney in the article titled “Clueless: Obama thought he won debate until told otherwise.” It begins with the following sentence: > According to an article in the Daily Mail UK, President Obama walked off the > stage after his underwhelming debate performance convinced he was the > winner. - - - Obama was content that he had delivered the rhetorical goods. > He only realized he **sank like a Chevy Volt dropped in water** after his > senior aides broke the news to the surprised, and disturbingly oblivious, > Commander in Chief. Apparently, **the most transparent President** in > history in also the least self-aware. I came across the expression, “sink like a Chevy Volt dropped in water” for the first time. What does it mean? Does it mean something heavy that dropped deep under water and is unrecoverable? Why is it a Chevy Volt other than a truck, power shovel or bulldozer? Is this a well-used simile? I’m also not clear with the meaning of the line, “President Obama is the most transparent President in history.” In respect to what – money matter, policy/agenda setting, his personal character, or his logic and rhetoric of speech – is Mr. Obama “the most transparent President in the history”?


title: Is "introductive" a word? Or should I use "introductory"?

text: I was very surprised when open office's spell check underlined the word _introductive_. I checked a few dictionaries and only a few (including The _Shorter Oxford English Dictionary_ , Oxford University Press, 1973) list it as an entry, whereas all contain the word _introductory_. I would like to know if the latter is preferable, since I used the former in an official document, and prefer to stick to it unless there are sound reasons not to.


title: What is the origin of "shh"?

text: The word "sh" (or "shh") is an exclamation for silence: > Shh! They're listening... Etymonline only mentions a date (1847) and the common practice of "putting a finger to the lips." Does anyone else have more information about its origin?


title: 'Ask' and its objects

text: I'd like to know if the objects of the verb 'ask' **must** follow an order. If so what is that order? Should the first object be the person (someone) or the thing (something)? For example: _Will you ask for that money to your mother?_ or _Will you ask your mother for that money?_


title: What does the sentence "Butter my butt, call me a biscuit" mean?

text: What does this sentence mean? How do I use it? > Butter my butt, call me a biscuit.


title: What is the name for this type of phrase?

text: When you use an antonym in a phrase: "this is seriously hilarious," what is this phrase called?


title: What is proper word for "get into some place secretly"

text: I was trying to write a line like > The commandos got into the building without anyone knowing. But I think that there's a single word for "without anyone knowing". Can anyone help me with this?


title: Using "should" makes a sentence sound feminine?

text: I've heard that using "should" makes a sentence sound more feminine. For example, "What should I do?" Is this true? If so, can you give me an explanation? Thank you in advance.


title: Dustbins & litter

text: Why do dust bins have the phrase "Do not Litter"? I checked the dictionary meaning - litter means garbage or waste. Aren't dustbins meant for that ?


title: What does "well regulated" mean, and could it have meant anything different in the past?

text: What does "well regulated" mean? Especially in relation to, say, a militia? Would this definition have been different some years ago - say in 1776?


title: the vs an/an + clauses

text: Here's the situation - I meet a friend and I tell her about yesterday Hey John!   Hi Sarah!   How was yesterday's trip?   It was great. Karl took me to the country side to show me his new house. It reminded me of **the/a** house I rented in Oxford.   ....   **a** house I rented in Oxford. - in this case, one of the houses I rented in Oxford?   **the** house I rented in Oxford. - in this case, I rented only one house in Oxford?


title: Humour through repeated use of a construct, with a final variation?

text: I am wondering if there is any name, or well-known example, for a humoristic construct that I particularly enjoy. It is exemplified in this monolog from Pierre Desproges, directed at a woman he was interviewing for a radio off: > Lady, you're a beautiful flower — can I call you a flower? [...]   >  _(later in the interview)_ You're a cute white cloud in blue summer sky — > can I call you a white cloud?   >  _(some more such lines throughout his monolog, you get the idea)_   >  _(and it ends with:)_ You're gorgeous as a cab — can I call you a cab? I'm not even sure there is a specific term for this build-up and final twist. It's sort of related to a syllepsis (which would be _can I call you beautiful and a cab?_ ), but delayed in time. Is there a name for this construct? Do you know of famous examples in English? (I do apologise because translation of humor is necessarily weak, and is not my forte. I do it because I don't know any good example in English.)


title: All of + possessives

text: may I ask a question about the correct use of "all of"? As far as understood from a previous post, "of" must be used when followed by a pronoun. What happens with possessives? My example: "beauty in all (of) its forms". Which of the two options is correct? Thank you!


title: What are the limits of the prefix 'step' to describe relationships?

text: Is my mother's step-father, my step-grandfather? To what extent is it usual to extend the prefix 'step'? Can we speak of 'step-cousins', step-aunts and step-uncles etc? If we can it must make for considerable complication in how such relationships are defined.


title: What is the origin of the word "Impression" in the Internet advertising term "Cost-Per-Impression" (CPM)

text: In Internet advertising jargon, an "impression" is defined by Wikipedia as > the display of an ad to a user while viewing a web page. The word is most often used in the term Cost-per-Impression (CPM), the amount of money an advertiser spends for every 1000 views. According to Reference.com, "impression" is defined as > the first and immediate effect on an experience or perception of the mind What does the word "impression" have to do with Internet Advertising? Who coined the term, and how did it come about?


title: Word to describe a container for intangible assets

text: If you had a box that held individual experiences what would you call it?   * These experiences do not necessarily have to be your own.   * Others can put their own experiences in the box.   * The experiences are all related by physical location.   * You can only view the experiences when you are physically near the box. What would you call this box? A container? A vault? A vessel?


title: "Refurbish" vs. "Furbish"

text: Question is as title says. Is there any difference between refurbish and furbish or for all intents and purposes are they synonyms? These are the 2 levels I would like to discuss: Differences on definitions based purely on pedantry (i.e. which would you use based exactly on the definition)? Which one is more used and in which contexts (ex. electronics are generally "refurbished") Thanks!


title: A word for when two statements are both true or both false

text: Is there a word which basically means that there are two statements that are both _true_ , or both _false_ , but not one true and one false? In computing, we call this a bitwise and.               3 * 3 = 9     4 * 4 = 16      Both of those statements evaluate true, so I would want the word to apply here.               3 * 3 = 10     4 * 4 = 15      Both of these statements evaluate false, so I would want the word to apply here as well.               3 * 3 = 9     4 * 4 = 15      However, here, both statements disagree (one true, one false) and so the word shouldn't apply here. Does such a word exist?


title: Can an adverb be a noun?

text: I have seen this post for the answer to my question, but this is not much help in case of the question I am going to ask. Here is an example sentence - > The new design of Twitter profile is more of a Facebook profile **than** > never **before**. **_than_** here is a preposition, there is no doubt about that. But **_before_** after **_than_** acts like a noun. But from dictionary entry against **_before_** doesn't say it's a noun. So what is the explanation?


title: Word for "food only partially eaten"

text: Is there a single word to refer to a food item which has been partially eaten or tasted by someone? To elaborate, let's say there is a bowl of noodles on the table, and someone took a spoon of noodles from that bowl. Someone else comes along and wants to take that bowl. How do you tell him that the bowl has been tasted by someone else? Is it simply _This is used_ like we refer to other objects?


title: Is there a single word for a member of a group who completes a job?

text: I have a **job** , for which some people are responsible, say: a, b, c, d and e. If anyone does the job, it is marked as complete. Now let us say _c_ completed the job, so what would I call that person in one word (think **completor** \- _not a word_ ). It is basically for a database schema for a table of tasks which I have to define. Each task has a list of responsible people. Now as soon as the task is done by someone, it's ~~completor~~ field is to be linked to the person who did it. So what I want is a suitable name for the ~~completor~~ field.


title: have I correctly recognised the apposition?

text: > Observations from Earth indicate that at the solar surface, the outward > magnetic field is the strongest at the polar regions. Is _at the solar surface_ an apposition which the writer has forgotten to add another comma (,) after that?


title: What does "what for" mean and where did it come from?"

text: There is a fight scene in one of my favorite movies in which the main character says "Give them what for!" I've hear this term many times before (usually from old south-eastern Americans,) but no one has been able to give me good explanation for the phrase. What does it mean and/or where does it come from? The best answer that I have heard so far goes something like this: People used to say "What for did you do that?" so "what for" refers to their reason for doing something. Saying "give them what for" is another way of saying "Give them a reason..." (to run away, fight, or what ever.) I'd really like to know how 'what' and 'for' came together and became a metaphor.


title: "traipse up the steps" just synonym of walking?

text: Is the expression "traipse up the steps" just synonym of walking up the steps? Is there any other connotation to the verb traipse?


title: I got first place in a competition where it's possible to tie. How would I distinguish that I was an untied first?

text: I would like to avoid using the phrase "untied first" unless that is actually the accepted way to say it.


title: Could somebody rewrite this sentence in a simple language?

text: "A knight had only to swop his armorial surcoat and shield for those of another to be safely taken for that person." (Hanley, Catherine., War and Combat (1150-1270): The Evidence from Old French Literature, p33)


title: What is the correct adjective that describes the temporal proximity between the two events?

text: I'm trying to find the best adjective to describe the temporal proximity between the two events: the creation of two WiFi networks. Currently I'm using _almost concurrent_ to describe the proximity: > But it is not possible to prevent all the **almost-concurrent** requests > because some of them are asynchronous."* But it sounds not very good to me.


title: What was "well met!" supposed to mean?

text: I know it was a sort of archaic greeting, but I don't know how to interpret the actual words. I had a foggy idea that it meant "It is good that we met here and now", but even then, "well met" is not the intuitive way to say this. Does anyone know why "well met" was used to express greeting?


title: What is the possessive form of "y'all"?

text: I generally hear _y'alls's_ used as the possessive form, but I have also heard _yourn_. Since _y'all_ is a colloquial pronoun, its possessive form is basically liberated from prescriptive linguistics which would probably say that _y'all_ is a contraction for _you all_ and therefore must be possessivized as _of all of you_. Do you know if there is a "standard" way to make _y'all_ possessive, insofar as _y'all_ usage can be considered standard?


title: Term that means making humans look inanimate

text: Keeping _personification_ as a related (yet opposite) concept, is there a term that means "to give humans lifeless or inanimate appearance"? For example, in a recent photo shoot, the photographer placed us behind some tree branches, to blend us and make us look like a part of it. So, as one of the answers below suggests, she _depersonalized_ us, but in a positive, artistic manner. **Edit:** this is the photo that made me try to come up with a good word to describe its style: https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak- ash4/q71/s720x720/1375270_606767022702401_1593703055_n.jpg


title: American Novels in Colloquial Language

text: I would like to know the names of novels that uses a lot of American colloquial expressions and idioms and it would be great if the novel portrays the exact way people talk in normal circumstances. I'm pretty aware that almost all fictional works arises from some form of day-to-day experiences. However, I hope you would've found that one novel or many novels that after you read, you felt like "Wow, that portrayed my life around me pretty well."


title: A more gentle word for the word "settled" in the context of payment

text: I wrote the following sentence: > We will proceed with the registration after the remaining balance is > **_settled_**. Somehow, I find that using the word _settled_ in this sentence sounds a bit rude. This is especially true if we consider that I'm offering something in my previous sentence. I don't want to sound too demanding or make the reader feel bound to do anything. I was thinking to replace _settled_ with _made_. But still, _made_ doesn't sound the best possible word. What are the expressions that could be used in a sentence like this to say that an amount is to be paid and still sound gentle?


title: Is there some difference between “north-east” and “northeast”?

text: I have two dictionaries (one American English, the other British English) and they differ in writing the word “northeast”. Does this mean that in American English you should use “northeast” and in British English “north-east”? Or doesn’t it matter?


title: A word for 'something more' or 'missing from life'

text: I am trying to think of a word, or phrase to describe this feeling. There is something more to my life, something meaning to happen or occur, and I don't know what it is. There is an anticipation of some sort, but I feel like I am always waiting. Everything is insignificant compared to what will happen. It may be a single event or something that changes everything. I'm not sure and I don't know a proper way to describe my wait for it. Thank you.


title: What usage and meaning of "else" is this

text: What is the usage and meaning of "else" in this example? > The key difference between a program and a project is the finite nature of a > project - a project must always have a specific end date, **else** it is an > ongoing program. I thought "else" could only be an adverb, in which case it wouldn't be grammatically correct to connect the two clauses "a project must always have a specific end date" and "it is an ongoing program".


title: Meaning of "for all their colour"

text: What does "for all their colour" mean in the following sentence? > Standing immobile throughout the day, these vivid objects, with their > fantastic shadows on the wall behind them shifting and elongating hour by > hour with the sun's rotation, exuded a kind of darkness **for all their > colour**. _Excerpt from Gromenghast by Mervyn Peake_. I have not been able to find the meaning of this expression in online resources.


title: "One of my friends" vs. "one of my friend"

text: Which of the following is correct? >   1. Yesterday, I met one of my **friends**. >   2. Yesterday, I met one of my **friend**. >


title: Why do we call it "gum arabic" and not "arabic gum"?

text: Not in use so much these days, "gum arabic" can still be found for sale in small bottles. Is there a reason why it is called "gum arabic" and not "arabic gum"? > Gum Arabic \- Gum arabic, also known as acacia gum, chaar gund, char goond, > or meska, a natural gum made of hardened sap taken from two species of the > acacia tree, is used primarily in the food industry as a stabilizer. It is > edible and has E number E414. Gum arabic is a key ingredient in traditional > lithography and is used in printing, paint production, glue, cosmetics and > various industrial applications, including viscosity control in inks and in > textile industries, although less expensive materials compete with it for > many of these roles.


title: Where did "wired" come from?

text: I am not a coffee drinker, but I just drank some coffee. I said to my Hispanic friend, "I am WIRED!" and had to explain what the slang term means. However now that I think about it, that's an awfully strange term for "very very awake." Where did the word come from?


title: What does 'outsize character' mean?

text: I saw the following sentence in today's New York Times: > Despite questions about their coach's _outsize personality_ , the Jets have > won three playoff games in two seasons under Rex Ryan. As the expression 'outsize personality' is quite new to me, I consulted Google and found the following example containing it: > Obregón, Alejandro’s work was widely exhibited in Latin America and > elsewhere and in 1956 he won first prize at the Guggenheim International > Exhibition in New York. Edward Lucie-Smith described him as ‘an _outsize > personality_ '… Does 'outsize personality' mean outspoken, carefree character? Does it sound positive or negative to the person when he or she was characterized so? What does it mean exactly?


title: What is the word for "turning a noun into an adjective"?

text: Is there a specific name or term for words that are the adjective form of nouns? Like "salty" from "salt", "Freudian" from "Freud", "glossy" from "gloss", etc.? What about adjective forms of verbs "loathsome" from "loathe"? Or verb forms of nouns like "to telephone"?


title: Pronunciation of 'Superman'

text: How do you pronounce the word, _Superman_? For example the pronunciation of _man_ seems equal in American and British English. But this is not the case for _Superman_. It seems that in American English, it is pronounced as _Supermen_. I'm asking it because in Italian we're using the American pronunciation.


title: How to call songs where the author has set music on his own / other authors’ poetry

text: I am not a native English speaker and I compile a list of songs of a certain singer-songwriter. I try to choose proper words for headings of two major list’s sections:   1. Songs that are written entirely by this author, both lyrics and music.   2. Songs where the author has set music on other authors’ poetry. I need help to put these draft wordings in order, making them short, clear and correct both stylistically and grammatically. One of my attempts was like this: _Songs on his own lyrics_ / _Songs on other authors’ lyrics_ , but it seems quite awkward to me. For example, I don’t know which word is right: _other authors’_ , _other writers’_ , _other people’_ or something else? Likewise, I get confused between _lyrics_ , _poems_ , _poetry_ , _words_ , _works_ and similar words.


title: Can I say “acquire someone something”?

text: It’s common to say **“ _someone_ acquires _something_ ”**, but is it OK to say **“acquires _someone something_ ”**? For example, it is possible to say > His character acquires him a good name.   >  (where _good name_ here means _fame_ ) to mean that he acquires a good name because of his (good) character.


title: A term for adoption of a made up term

text: Is there a term for the acceptance of a made up term that then became the name of the object/idea/action once it was invented? Example: Cyberspace. It was first used by William Gibson in his cyberpunk novels, but when actually invented, it now is widely used across the world (or at least across the United States). Is there a term for this phenomenon?


title: Which question should be used asking someone about his school?

text: Which one of the following questions should be used when one is asking someone about his school, he studied at? > Where have you done your high school from? or > Where did you do your high school from?


title: Which one is correct in this context, "was new for me" vs. "is new for me"?

text: I sent an email update to my friend. He replied: > I saw his reply myself when I was in there, but response submitted by him > **_is new for me_** Now he has seen the response, and I think it has gone in past. Should he not have used _was new for me_ rather than _is new for me_ in his reply to me?


title: A word for a favor/debt that cannot be repaid

text: I just feel like _unrepayable_ isn't actually a word. Thesauri are not much helpful. Consider a case in which someone saves your child's life. There is nothing you can ever do to pay them back for this favor. What they have done for you is [word I'm looking for].


title: "A spatial equivalent station to" vs. "a spatial equivalent station as"

text: > The second working period shall either start at the same station or in a > spatial equivalent station **to** the first working period's start station. I'm in doubt regarding the preposition _to_ used above, because I kinda feel that the preposition _as_ would also fit there. But I'm not sure which one to use or why use one instead of another.


title: What is this usage of "have"?

text: > Whether we like it or not, we mold ourselves to what society would have us. I don't understand _what the society would have us_. What is this structure? I've never come across this usage of _have_.


title: Tensed verb form or the plain form when used after "that" (in a mandative construction)

text: I know that each is a singular subject, but in certain cases it seems that is not the case. For example, in this sentence below, why would the correct verb be "keep" instead of "keeps?" > The tour guide recommends _that each child keep close_ to his or her parents > in order to avoid leaving someone behind.


What is the meaning of transportation in the following paragraph? > "That," Donna announced, "is transportation!" A small caramel-colored cow > sauntered toward us. Donna held out her hand and our "transportation" > nuzzled it with a wet, velvety nose.


title: Can "number" in "number one" possibly be a Dutchism or a Germanism?

text: On a Dutch news site, someone claimed that the Dutch use of "nummer" (number) used in the meaning of "you are the number one", is actually an anglicism. It triggered my curiosity and I tried to find out whether that could be true. Apparently, the word "nummer" in Dutch has been used for a long time and in the 18th century some quotations appear in the meaning of "the person or thing most in the foreground", as in the quote "Gy hebt u te veel ter noemer één gemaakt". Trying to find proof, I searched some online English language etymology dictionaries, but didn't manage to find a first appearance in the meaning of "winner". This begged the question, maybe that particular use of number is actually a Dutchism or Germanism in the English language? Does anyone know when that meaning first appeared? Or would that meaning predate any current language use and it was already applied in Latin?


title: Is "most" equivalent to "a majority of"?

text: In sentences such as the following, how is _most_ best understood? > 1) **Most** children do not like cauliflower. > > 2) **Most** of the balls in the bucket are red. I suppose there are three or more possible interpretations for _most_ in these sentences. > A) a plurality (at least one more than any other alternative) > > B) a majority (more than half, even if barely more) > > C) a comfortable majority (well more than half) For sentence 1, interpretations A and B would be equivalent since there are only two alternatives.


title: Preposition with verb "provide"

text: It appears the transitive verb _provide_ has (at least) two prepositions: > provide (something) for (someone/something) > > provide (something) to (someone/something) For example, > The umbrellas provide shade for the guests. > > He provided drugs to the prisoners. In both of these examples, one could have swapped _to_ and _for_ , although the sentences as written feel more natural. Is there a good rule to use when deciding whether to use _to_ or _for_ with _provide_? No doubt endless opining on this question is possible. But I would very much prefer if someone could point me to some sort of authoritative source, e.g., OED, Cambridge ESL materials, Chicago Manual of Style.


title: Correct usage of "yet" in the middle of the sentence

text: Is the following sentence a correct usage of _yet_? > I'm someone like you, and yet like no one. I think it matches the last definition of OAAD, _more importantly_. But I also think the comma and _and_ could be omitted, am I right?


title: Is it right or wrong to use forms of words that aren't in any dictionaries?

text: I want to use the word `ataractically` in a formal piece of writing. A derived form of `ataraxia`, I'd like to use it in a sentence like this: > This is the most ataractically candid thing I've ever written. Is it acceptable to use `ataractically`, a word which I cannot find in a single dictionary, and which only has a couple of results in Google? `ataraxically` is another possible form. Besides whether it may be correct or not, is an audience likely to understand it? Assume they're highly educated and well-read. **I created a new question as I realised "ataractically" probably isn't going to be understood by 90% of my audience:**   A better way of articulating 'ataractically candid'


title: Isn't "chuckle" the frequentative of "chuck"?

text: Wikipedia indicates that the frequentative word "chuckle" has no original form, but Dictionary.com lists chuckle originating from the third form of chuck, meaning "to pat or tap lightly, as under the chin". That seems like a perfectly legitimate original form of chuckle, to me. So am I missing something, or is Wikipedia missing the mark? **Edit**   I misread the "chuck3" link. I thought it meant the third sense of first form, marked as "chuck1 3.". But there is actually a "chuck3" with a first sense meaning "to cluck". That's more reasonable!


title: What word/phrase describes the act of "pulling the chair when someone's sitting"?

text: Is there a word or phrase that succinctly describes the act of pulling the chair when someone's sitting? If there isn't a word or phrase that describes this act is that ( _pulling the chair when someone's sitting_ ) an appropriate description of the act?


title: In 2-3 days vs Within 2-3 days

text: I have always thought that **within** means "till some point" while **in** means "at some point". In 2 weeks - i.e. in 14 days from now. Within 2 weeks - i.e. during today or the next 14 days, not later. But what about " > within 100-200 days"? I would say "from now and not later than in 100-200 days". But a native speaker told me that actually it means "from 101th to 200th day", i.e. not from now till the upper limit. I would rather say "in 100-200 days" as I want to say "not sooner than in 100 days and not later than in 200 days".


I know 'status quo' means the existing state of affairs, especially regarding social or political issues. When should we use the word 'status quo'? (Here is a related ELU question.)


title: What are “faded eyes” like?

text: Does that mean _pale eyes_ (color) or _glazed eyes_ (energy) or _sight-dimmed eyes_ (ability)? I have no idea. Just for your information, the wandmaker in the following citation is a very old man with pale eyes, and he is very tired. Also, I’d like to know if the definition of “faded eyes” varies depending on the context. > The wandmaker took the first of the wands and held it close to his faded > eyes, rolling it between his knobble-knuckled fingers, flexing it slightly. > ( _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (7)_ [US Version p.493])


title: Usage of "kick in"

text: Is the following usage of the words "kick in" proper? Is this: > The rollover will only kick in in the next billing cycle. better than this? > The rollover will kick in the next billing cycle. Is the extra "in" required?


title: Storytelling, used to and would

text: When we tell a story that happened in the past should we use 'used to' and 'would' for actions that happened regularly in that story. For example in the following what differences do the five forms have? And which one seem the most suitable candidate? > When I was in junior high, I had a classmate who **_used to draw_** > scorpions on a paper and showed it off to students to scare them off. > > When I was in junior high, I had a classmate who **_drew_** scorpions on a > paper and showed it off to students to scare them off. > > When I was in junior high, I had a classmate who **_would_** draw scorpions > on a paper and showed it off to students to scare them off. > > When I was in junior high, I had a classmate who **_used to_** draw > scorpions on a paper and **_would_** show it off to students to scare them > off. > > When I was in junior high, I had a classmate who **_would_** draw scorpions > on a paper and **_would_** show it off to students to scare them off.


title: Etymology of "research"?

text: Triggered by an interesting but speculative and open-ended discussion in a scientific blog article, I want to ask what the meaning of _research_ is/was according to its etymological history. Maybe the knowledge here and wizard- like tools like ngram can shed more light on this question, at least I would like to see how people interpret/vote _research_. Please do not just simply reword different theories in this blog article, but add some traceable clues or a analysis how the meaning of the word changed gradually.


title: What's the meaning of "in God's name"?

text: > What in God's name have we done? It seems 'in God's name' = 'on earth'.


title: Old slang words for a kiss--cherry smashes and honey cooler--why?

text: Cherry smashes are defined as feeble kisses and a honey cooler is simply a kiss. Cherry smashes was slang from the 1920s and a honey cooler was slang from the 1930s. Any ideas why feeble kisses would be cherry smashes or why a honey cooler would be a kiss?


title: Generic name for places like village, town and cities

text: There is the German word _Ort_ or _Ortschaft_ which is a hypernym for places where people live like   * villages   * towns   * cities etc. Is there a correspondent word in English? I don't want to use _location_ or _place_ because they also represent geographical entities where no people live or even just buildings.


title: With "amount" will you use singular or plural?

text: I am confused about this grammatical question:   * large amount of data and the fact that **it** will exponentially grow   * large amount of data and the fact that **they** will exponentially grow (the semantic is that the number of data will increase). Which of the two forms is the correct one?


title: Why is mutton used for both sheep meat and goat meat?

text: The meat of an adult sheep is called **mutton.** The meat of an adult goat is called **chevon or mutton.** > In the English-speaking islands of the Caribbean, and in some parts of Asia, > particularly Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India, the word > “mutton” is often used to describe both goat and sheep meat, despite its > more specific meaning (limited to the meat of adult sheep) in the UK, US, > Australia and several other English speaking countries.   >  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat_meat * * * **Questions:**   * Why mutton is used for goat meat in some Asian countries (and Caribbean)? Is this a semantic extension? What is the origin of this usage?   * Is mutton ever used for goat meat in North America?   * What word is common for goat meat in North America? For example: "goat meat" or "chevon"? (You can talk about UK, NZ, AU etc. also) (Though, goat meat itself is not that common in North America comparing to other parts of the world)


title: What does "pax" mean in the context of the apartment rental?

text: I'm looking at apartment ads in Singapore, but I don't understand what pax means. Here's an example: > View 8pm today @ Hdb Approved HDB 1+1 Blk 3 Jalan Kukoh (Chin Swee Rd): > >   * 15 min walk Chinatown MRT >   * furn with ac >   * avail 15th May >   * $1.5k max 5 **pax** >


title: Strange verb string tonal pattern

text: In a sentence involving a string of verbs as a list (as opposed to modifying each other), the standard American English tonal pattern for that string almost always begins high and decreases in pitch with each item. (Perhaps this is true of lists of other parts of speech as well.) Example: > The activities included dancing, swimming, biking, and cheese-making. I have heard a semi-consistent violation of this rule in which the second list item is of higher pitch than the first, and then the rest follow the usual descending pitch rule. I know very little about formal sonority theory so I am speaking more or less straight from the gut. Is the "standard pattern" I inferred really standard? Is this deviation from it meaningful? Is it a regional preference to which I am not sensitive?


title: What does “force oneself ” mean in the sentence,“Dickens has been forcing himself. Bleak House was forced; Little Dorrit was labored”?

text: I saw the phrase, “force himself” in the following sentence of Time (Jan 30) article titled “Charles in Charge.”: > Critics found these novels dreary and diffuse. Henry James, reviewing Our > Mutual Friend for the Nation in 1865, wrote, "For the last 10 years it has > seemed to us that Mr. Dickens has been unmistakably _forcing himself_. Bleak > House was _forced_ ; Little Dorrit was labored; the present work is _dug out > as with a spade and pickaxe_." But Dickens wasn't writing for the critics. > His deft touch with comedy and pathos kept his loyal readers happy. I think I can understand ‘force oneself,’ but I can’t understand (1) what Dickens has been ‘forcing himself’ to do, and (2) what Bleak House was a ‘forced’ work mean - Does it mean he was compelled to write though he didn't wish to write it? - , and (3) what ‘dug out as with a spade and pickaxe’ mean in the context of “forcing and forced”? Would you be kind enough to enlighten me?


title: Etymology of "choice" — New Zealand vernacular

text: One of the things that I hear all the time over here in NZ is the phrase 'Choice'. Which is used in a similar way to _great_ or _fantastic_ or _awesome_. For example, > That party was choice! I can't seem to find where it comes from. Does anyone have any clues, please? One thought is that since the term 'bro' (as in 'brother') is often added to it, I suspect that, perhaps, it has ecclesiastical origins.


title: The adverb "away" for continuity or repetitiveness

text: I would like to ask about the adverbial particle "away" meaning continuity or repetitiveness (i.e. not a location, a distance, a change of position etc.). When used with some atelic verbs, the meaning is "continually, steadily". This part is quite clear to me. > Over the past couple years we **worked away** on the car in my spare time. > > We sat and **chatted away** till midnight. The result seems different when **away** is used with short action verbs, it sounds almost exclusively as "repeatedly" to me. Taking a series of actions somehow differs from going on. > All that can be seen is the silhouette of Macbeth as he **stabs away** with > his dagger. > > This reddish-brown bird blends in with the leaves that litter the ground as > it **pecks away** , looking for insects. > > No one says a word to me as I **bang away** on the keyboard. > > These feathers serve to brace the woodpecker as it **hammers away**. > > While he rechecked the instruments, getting ready for the afternoon's > studies, he **licked away** at his ice cream cone. It requires many peck to feed oneself, it would be hard to eat a cream cone with one lick, killing a king requires several stabs. So, is there such a strict line between the two meanings or is it just me?


title: Grammatically, why does it seem that 'that' can't follow the verb expressing propositional attitude in this sentence?

text: Consider the sentence, > Together with corroborant documentation, the petitioner must submit his own > account of the events that he claims (that) justify the exemption. _That_ can follow any verb that expresses a propositional attitude. (E.g. 'He believes/expects/knows/says/claims/asserts/ that.') However, I suspect that something grammatical -something other than stylistic concerns about repetition- prohibits the use of _that_ after _claims_ in the sentence above. Does a grammatical rule prohibit the use of, or require eliding, _that_ in the way I've described? Thank you -Hal


What connotation does "unhealthy relationships" have? I'm told that it can't be used to mean strained or stormy relations with someone. Why?


title: Phrase to tell, that you have written a fast note

text: I am choosing a title for my essay, which is about a man, who wrote a fast idea on a napkin and lost in a pocket of his jacket. Then he dies in a car accident and ten years later his son finds an old jacket, finds a napkin and implements father's idea. My candidate is a "Napkin note", but it seems too hackneyed. How to put in a phrase, that a man has written a fast note?


title: Is "re-enqueue" or "reenqueue" a proper word?

text: This came up while reviewing a technical document: >   1. The algorithm could re-enqueue the id associated with the job ... > This has generated some discussion as the word does not appear in the dictionary and we aren't sure if it is proper or not. Is this a proper word for use in a technical document or is there a better word use?


title: "Fixed" vs "fixes" when things are already done

text: I work in a software company and I write daily reports. The format of my daily reports look more or less like below: **Today**   * Fixed bug _in login page_ **Tomorrow**   * Fixes bug _in logout page_ My questions are:   1. Is _Fixed bug XXX_ grammatically correct or not? If not, how should I write it?   2. Is _Fixes bug YYY_ (in tomorrow) grammatically correct or not? If not, how should I write it in a correct form?


title: Resources for Australian street talk?

text: I know of a great series of books called "Street Talk" which tries to cover colloquial American English. Is there any such resources for Australian English? Especially with emphasis on Listening and Speaking?


title: IT-related synonym for "context"

text: I'm developing an application which has an "Event" system that basically allows application extensions to attach events to a certain "context". When the application reaches a context, it will fire events that are attached to it. Anyway, I don't like the word _context_ ; it sounds weird. What alternatives do I have?


title: Use of hyphens when qualifying a noun

text: I am editing a bit of text, and I need to know: should there be a hyphen in the following passage? "While transecting the designated territory, survey-team members collected numerous artifacts." Could it just be "survey team members"? Or "survey team-members"?


title: Is this grammatically correct: "It has happened for a while now."

text: If not, why? I think it sounds awkward but I cannot be sure it's incorrect.


title: Recipe — "spoonfuls" seems right but it seems wrong too

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Why are certain single word compound nouns pluralized in the middle > Drop by spoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto a greased baking sheet. _Spoonful_ or _spoonsful_? Seems it should be _spoonful_ as there is only one spoon and one dollop of dough. But it sounds wrong to my ear. Maybe it is just misused too much in recipes.


title: Definite article in the question "What is the time?"

text: I am not a native speaker. Could you please explain to me why we use the definite article in the following question: > What is the time?


title: What does "crystal ball" mean in the context?

text: I just asked a question on Stackoverflow. They closed it because it needed a "crystal ball" to answer such questions. My concept of "crystal ball" makes me interpret it as that we need some _magic_ to be able to answer. Somehow, I don't feel it is right. I searched "crystal ball" online, but failed to find any special meaning associated with it. I suspect that it might be related to some popular culture I'm not aware of, so I decide to ask for help here.


title: Unambiguous Opposite of "The Subtitle of a Film"

text: A word to refer to the "The Far Side of the World" part in the film title _Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World_ (MC:FSW) might be _subtitle_. By here, the "Master and Commander" part is called _title_. But so is the full title MC:FSW. I tried negating the prefix with _supertitle_ and _surtitle_ , which are opposites of another meaning of _subtitle_. I also considered location: I'm trying to find a word to describe the **first** part of a title, so I looked for _pretitle_. The uses I found meant "coming in a film before or during its opening credits." Is there another word that means precisely "title but not subtitle"?


title: A word for the meaning of "over-constrained"

text: I want to express that I constrained something too much such that it is contradictory now. At first sight, _over-constrained_ seems to fit, but I am not sure whether it is fine to use in a scientific publication. Can you help me?


title: Special name for royal titles?

text: Is there a name for the title/nickname that some members of royalty get? For example, "King Larry the Kind".


title: is hidden or has hiidden

text: What is appropriate to use he is hidden or he has hidden ? It is bit confusing sometimes ,where to use the perfect form and where to simple


title: How does a supervisor in a prison address an inmate in American English?

text: How does a supervisor in a prison address an inmate? For example, a relative came to visit one of the inmates, so the supervisor is going to the cell (where many inmates are) and is about to call on that inmate. How would he address him then? It seems quite unlikely to me that the supervisor would address an inmate as "Mr. (Last name)"


title: A word to describe someone who has moved back to live in his/her home country?

text: If a person was born and brought up in country **A** , at some point went to live in country **B** (as an adult) for a few years and then moved back to country **A** , is there a single word to describe that person's situation?


title: What is the meaning of "greasing the pan"?

text: In a tutorial, the instructor says: > We've greased the pan, now it's time to pour in the batter. The tutorial is technical (IT), and has nothing to do with cooking, so what is the meaning of the metaphor, and what other idioms could have been used instead?


title: Would sir like something for the weekend?

text: "Something for the weekend" is a euphemism heard in barber shops, when the above phrase is used to enquire of a customer whether he would like a packet of condoms. Does anyone know how this phrase came about?


Is there an expression for when you have something but cannot use it or it is meaningless to use it. For example "one has the right to strike but cannot use it".


title: "In the next two weeks" vs. "next two weeks"

text: Which one of the following is correct if the writer intends to say _a week after next week_? >   * My friend and I decided to go to the beach in the next two weeks. >   * My friend and I decided to go to the beach next two weeks. >   * My friend and I decided to go to the beach in the coming next two weeks. >


title: Do "Bulgaria" and "vulgar" have some common etymology?

text: A Yahoo answer says no, but I thought I'd ask my more enlightened StackExchange friends.


title: Word or expression for something that's very "funny", but doesn't make you laugh

text: I'm sure you know of this feeling. When you find something very funny, but it doesn't make you laugh out loud. Perhaps it's even "funnier" than other things that make you chuckle profusely. What is a word to refer to this phenomenon specifically? If not a word, then an expression is also acceptable.


title: What is an "aff argument?"

text: Is it short for "affluence," "affirmative," or something different? This is where it is used: http://bfi.utah.edu/wp- content/uploads/2011/11/individuals-have-a-moral-obligation-to-assist-people- in-need_brief.pdf


title: Is “completely good” proper English? If not, why?

text: I was recently asked by a Japanese person why _completely good_ was improper English, as in “This is completely good.” As a native speaker of English (raised in northeastern America), I do feel there’s something strange about the phrase, but I can’t quite put my finger on what — after all, phrases such as _very good_ , _mostly good_ , _perfectly good_ , etc. are used. Is this in fact improper English, or, for that matter, does it depend on dialect, and if so, why?


title: Alternative phrase for "Service user"?

text: I am looking for a phrase to replace the term "Service user". There are two different contexts.   1. Someone receiving services from a mental health trust.   2. Someone who received services in the past, or who is receiving services now, or who will be using services in the near future, and who is offering their expertise to help develop services. Here are some words, and the problems that have been mentioned. For 1: "Patient" - A patient receives medical services. These people receive more than just medical services; they get vocational services and social care and etc. "Service user" - Some people (a few people with drug and alcohol problems for example) do not like the word "user". "Client" - People detained against their will under section of the Mental Health Act say they don't feel like clients. At the moment the term used is "service user". Only a small number of people dislike the word, but their dislike is very strong, so an alternative would be good. For 2: We need a word that highlights the new role; a word that avoids "pigeon holing" people. We'd really like a phrase that puts people on a more equal footing with their employed colleagues. "Service user" - these people might not be service users any more. They are moving forward with their lives, and want to define a more positive role for themselves. Also we'd like to emphasise the expertise that these people bring. "Expert by lived experience" - It's unwieldy. Many people dislike the "lived experience" bit. A few people have said that they do not feel like experts. "Service reporter" - sometimes these people are not reporting their experiences. They're just using their experience to help. For example, as part of an interview panel. "Service consultant" - consultant is problematic in the setting of a hospital. There are actual medical consultants (US equivalent: "Attending Physician"). A small number of people are uncomfortable with the word "consultant". They say it has negative connotations; they say it makes them think of someone getting paid a lot of money for providing little value. I welcome all suggestions. They don't have to be in use anywhere in the world. You can create brand new terms. I'm happy to hear what terms are used in other places too.


title: Parentheses surrounding footnote body

text: It's unbelievably hard to find relevant information online, as almost every Google search just gives pages of advice and questions regarding citations and referencing styles. If I use a footnote in place of information I would normally enclose with parentheses, should my footnote body text be enclosed with parentheses? _e.g._ , > The (entirely subject-to-change) plan is to ... If I wanted to move that piece of parenthesis into a footnote for whatever purpose, is the following footnote correct? >   1. (entirely subject-to-change) > If I shouldn't be using the parentheses, then what should that footnote look like?


title: Meaning of the phrase "to corner the world's pleasures"

text: So I was baffled when the women at college accused me and my sex of having _cornered the world's pleasures_. I know about the meaning of all of the words in this sentence, but I don't know the expression and I want to know about meaning of "having cornered" in this sentence And I want to know this sentence too: "I realize now how ancient these identities are, how deep the tug they exert on men,the undertow of a thousand generations." These sentences written by Scott Russell Sanders In patterns book lesson (Women and Men)


title: Popular (slang) adjectives for referring to a corrupt politician?

text: I'm brazillian and I'm curious to know popular expressions to call corrupt politicians. Here we have the word "ficha suja" which translated would be something like "dirty card". I don't really know if this is the expected kind of question to be made here and if I have any typo/error in this question.


title: Origin and use of  "in and among itself"

text: Where does the expression _in and among itself_ come from? Is it only used for emphasis compared to _in itself_? For example, > This would be interesting in and among itself.


title: "Open" vs. "open up"

text: Which of the following two variants is correct with reference to some email attachments? >   1. I am unable to **open** them. >   2. I am unable to **open up** them. >


title: What is a proper response to a joke about visiting dentist at 2:30/tooth hurty?

text: I advised my client that I would be unavailable on a particular day because I have an appointment with the dentist to remove a tooth. The client responded > What time is the appointment? 2:30? The second before I wrote correct time of my appointment, I realized, that this might be a joke :) How should I respond, if I want to be funny? Is there another "language joke" I can use in the reply?


title: Are there English equivalents to a Japanese old saying, “Be the mouth of cock rather than remaining as the tail of ox”?

text: Every time I hear about the success story of entrepreneurs such as IT business, not to mention Apple, Microsoft, and Soft Bank founders, an old Japanese saying, 鶏口となるとも牛後となる勿れ‐“(Choose to) be the mouth of a cock rather than ending up as the tail of an ox,” comes to my mind. I understand this maxim was imported from Chinese saying, “寧為鶏口、勿為牛後 – ning wei ji kou wu nju hou” (If I quote wrong, please correct) which has the exactly same meaning. The mouth of a cock and the tail of an ox are compared to the leader or owner of small company / organization (with a big prospect for growing up as a big company in the end) and just common office workers of big companies. Are there any equivalent English sayings that encourage someone who is ambitious enough to start up his / her own company or challenging new business by spinning out from their old organization?


title: Are these double negatives? "No it is not. No I don't think so."

text: Double Negative is generally defined as two negative words in the same CLAUSE. In these examples, "No it is not."and "No I don't think so.", is "No" considered a clause unto itself? ...or is it in the same clause as the rest of the sentence, thus constituting a double negative?


title: Choice of relative pronouns: 'who' and/or 'that' for people?

text: _Albert Einstein is a German-born theoretical physicist. He became world- famous for his general theory of relativity._ If you turn these two sentences into one, a main clause + a relative clause, you find yourself with three possible sentences:   1. _Albert Einstein, WHO became world-famous for his general theory of relativity, is a German physicist._   2. _Albert Einstein, WHO is a German-born physicist, became world-famous for his general theory of relativity._   3. _Albert Einstein is the German-born theoretical physicist WHO/THAT became world-famous for his general theory of relativity._ Why is it possible to use both WHO or THAT in sentence 3, but only WHO in sentences 1 & 2?


title: What preposition is the proper one to follow the noun “hatred”?

text: What is the proper preposition to follow the noun _hatred_?   1. Do we have a hatred **for** Buddhism?   2. Do we have a hatred **of** Buddhism?   3. Do we have a hatred **against** Buddhism? These are all just examples. It’s not my actual sentence that I wish to form.


title: What were nightmares called before "nightmare" was used in that sense?

text: Apparently the word "nightmare" has only been used in the sense of "bad dream" since c. 1829. Before then the term referred to the agent causing the dreams-- a _mare_ < _mera_ , _mære_ 'goblin, incubus'. What word or phrase was used earlier? I'm interested, in particular, in the meaning "bad dream" as opposed to "creature causing bad dreams" or "medical condition; _pavor nocturnus_ ". I'm interested in all time periods: Anglo- Saxon/Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English, and (modern) Modern English. # Progress ## Anglo-Saxon I found _swefnes wóma_ 'sleep-noise' as a possibility. OEME defines this as "dream-tumult, vision", and I can find a few uses in the corpus. Alain Pannetier suggests _wódan dreáme_ , though this seems to have the primary or exclusive sense of "fit of madness". _Dreám/dreáme_ seems to mean 'song, music' rather than 'dream'. ## Middle English The MED has: _dwelsinge_ _drēming/drēm/dream/dremme_ : Apparently not attested with the meaning "dream" but more like "vision" (in sleep); included nightmare-type visions or dreams. _night frai/night drede_ 'night fear' _incubus_ : Alain Pannetier suggests this was used from the 18th century on, though this suggests (to me) the agency rather than the condition. It seems to have been used as far back as 1561 in the sense of "night terror", not quite the sense I hoped for. _slēp_ : Typically meaning "sleep" but also meaning "dream, nightmare". _bicche doughter_ : Apparently used to refer to a nightmare by at least one source. The modern reflex is obvious, and suggests that this was never its primary meaning. _Ephialtes/ephialtes the more_ : oosterwal suggests the former and the dictionary mentions the latter. Seems to primarily refer to the cause rather than the condition. ## Modern English Rhodri suggests _ill dreams_ for mid-19th century. Of course from the early 19th century on _nightmare_ became common and soon pushed all others out of use except for poetic.


title: Use "to" or not?

text: Which sentence is correct? > I can't get my toolbox open.   >  I can't get my toolbox to open. Are they both correct?


title: Repeating phrases like "There are questions after questions after…"

text: What is the correct way of punctuating repeating phrases in a sentence? Are commas and semicolons required? Example: **"There are questions after questions after questions after questions on page after page."** BTW, let's assume the extra repetitions are necessary.


Open/switch on the air-conditioner when we are home. Which is correct? Open or Switch on?


title: The jean button was dropdowned, I have to go to tailor shop to replace the jean button

text: In the sentence: > The jean button was dropdowned, I have to go to tailor shop to replace the > jean button. Do we use _replace_ or _fix_ that jean button?


title: Why and how did "a sensible boy" become "intelligent and prudent"?

text: Italians often get confused by _sensible_ and _sensitive_. If I tell them > He's a sensible boy; he studies hard, saves his money, and plans ahead. They are quite bewildered. To them, _sensible_ is indistinguishable from the Italian _"sensibile"_ which means impressionable, easily moved to tears and sentimental.   È un ragazzo sensibile = He's a sensitive boy/young man Online Etymology Dictionary states that originally, _sensible_ meant > late 14c., " **capable of sensation or feeling** ;" also "capable of being > sensed or felt, perceptible to the senses," hence "easily understood; > logical, reasonable," from Late Latin sensibilis " **having feeling, > perceptible by the senses** ," from sensus, past participle of sentire > "perceive, feel" Then sometime in the early 15th century, the meaning of _sensible_ evolved to: > "having good sense, capable of reasoning, discerning, clever," mid-15c. Of > clothes, shoes, etc., "practical rather than fashionable" it is attested > from 1855. Meanwhile the word, _sensitive_ with its more modern interpretation (as far as I could tell) has origins in the early 19th century OED > Meaning "easily affected" (with reference to mental feelings) first recorded > 1816; meaning "having intense physical sensation" is from 1849. Why this shift, when the original Latin term, sensibilis, and consequently _sensible_ , could have continued meaning "capable of sensation and feeling" and "to perceive" i.e., _to achieve understanding of; apprehend_. What happened in the 15th century that _wise, common sense_ and _sound judgement_ replaced the original meaning of _sensible_? I am bored of telling Italian students and friends that _sensible_ is a false friend. Is there a better explanation?   Or am I to suppose that it is William Shakespeare's fault (or merit) again?!


title: If I didn't know any better (grammar)

text: For example: "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were having a good time" This is apparent by the context that the person is having a great time, but why say **If I didn't know any better**?


title: What do you call a single "shot" or "explosion" in a firework?

text: I am organizing a support event for a firework display. If someone buys a 2000円 ticket, it will pay for another "firework unit" being launched in the sky. In Japanese we say "一発", but is there an equivalent word in English?


title: What is the meaning of "does is"?

text: I have read this sentence and can not get "does is" meaning. Which type of grammar is it? > Couchsurfing is a fairly new website, and what it does is it allows > travelers from different parts of the world to meet people in the > destinations they're going to. People offer a couch in their home or perhaps > space on their floor, and in return you're expected in your own hometown to > offer the same kind of things to people who might visit you.


title: Terminology for the levels user programs go through to access hardware

text: I'm looking for the terminology to describe the stack between user level programs and the hardware. For example, in a typical non-virtualized environment, this stack is:               User program <-> Application Binary Interface <-> Operating System <-> Hardware      User level programs access the system calls through the ABI, and the OS executes the operation on the hardware on behalf of the program. In the other direction, data coming from the hardware is given to the OS, which passes it up to the program. The terminology I've been using up to this point is application stack, but this term means something different.


title: What is another term for left-minded people?

text: I want to address people who are mathematical, logical and analytic; _left- minded_ , let's say. But I find the left- vs right-minded theory trendy and biased (just the opposite of the people I'm trying to address). My phrase goes something like: "This course is focused on left-minded individuals...". Any help would be appreciated.


title: What is the etymology of “business” and “busyness”?

text: Did the word _business_ originally mean “the condition of being busy” as the word _busyness_ currently means? Why did it change? It was surely a very useful word, since the awkwardly-spelt word _busyness_ has had to be created to take its place. I think I’m right in saying the _i-ness_ construction is favoured above the _y-ness_ construction in all other similar words – e.g. _happiness_ , _friendliness_ , _haziness_ , _merriness_. What really confuses is me is this: _Busyness_ means **now** what _business_ meant **then**. Why change an existing word, then create a similar one which means what the old one did? Why not just create a new word? I suspect there’s a story there, and I wonder what it is.


title: "Instable" or "unstable"?

text: From my experience, it seems that although _unstable_ is more commonly used, _instable_ is often preferred in engineering and scientific contexts, e.g. "aircraft instability", "instable algorithm". Are there any differences in the implied meaning of the two terms? Should _unstable_ be preferred?


title: What is the meaning of "Dick" when it is a person's name?

text: Some people are named "Dick". What does "Dick" mean when it is a name?


title: Can we say “front of spring” or merely “beginning of spring”?

text: In an answer to a Writers SE question, I used the phrase “a bright morning at the front of spring”. John M. Landsberg commented: > Nice revision, but note we wouldn't say "the front" of a season. In poetry, > you _might_ make it work, but never in prose. Seasons have temporal length, > not physical substance, and they also come and go, so you can say the > beginning of spring, the onset of spring, the arrival of spring, and more, > but never the front. Is it true one can never say “the front” of a season in prose? And is there historical precedent (in the way of grammar dicta) for not applying _front_ to ethereal or ephemeral things?


title: New Yorker Dieresis Rule; prosaic, unionized?

text: There are lots of informal references to the traditional / "New Yorker" style of using diereses to disambiguate runs of vowels, however I have yet to find a definitive guide. See, for example:   * http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/04/the-curse-of-the-diaeresis.html   * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaeresis_(diacritic)   * What is the standard rule for using or not using hyphen and diaeresis on the words like reelect , reexamine, and cooperate? My major question is: Is there a definitive reference that one can consult for proper traditional use of the dieresis in English? The accepted answer in last link above outlines some cases (e.g., no dieresis in "coalesce" or "react") but notably does not provide a reference to an authoritative source. My minor questions are:   * Is it appropriate to use a dieresis in "prosaïc?"   * How does one most correctly differentiate the two words spelled "unionized" ("union-ized" about the formation of a group or "un-ionized" about how many free electrons a material has)? Assume for a moment that you have to write both within the same document.


title: Another word for cute or adorable used as diminutive, sarcasm or condescension

text: I'm looking for a word that one could use by itself as one would use "cute" or "adorable" in a sarcastic, emasculating manner.


title: Term or phrase (bygone era) where doodles were part and parcel to writing

text: I read something a while back talking about this. It was a term or phrase I had to lookup; and it was available via Google-Bing, but not “predominant” - not a universal thing. Not exactly back in the times of the monks: writing flamboyant first characters that take up perhaps 5% of the page (and perhaps 80% of the artistic effort), but I don't think it precludes that. The context of what I read was more along the lines of turn of the century efforts; perhaps some kind of art nouveau fad. Flowery flourishes. Itself perhaps an echo of 18th century penmanship – calligraphy++. When a letter to someone was more than just text; and more than the craftsmanship of excellent handwriting. I think of it like putting a big squiggle under a paragraph (elongated sideways “S”) with two lines through the middle like a dollar sign. That is a minor instantiation of what I'm talking about. The term captures that and much more. Occasionally you'll see examples online, where the author will have an obscure dingbat glyph at the bottom that kind of captures the thing.


title: Does the use of "port" for one side of ship relate to the word "port" meaning harbour?

text: In this travel.se question, the words port and starboard are mentioned, and one answer says: > I would say it is convention that ships dock such that the Port is on the > left, from which the term for the side gets its name ("The side of where the > Port is"). That never occurred to me before. Is there any basis to it?


title: Is the sentence "we grew warmer and warmer" grammatical?

text: I did a Google search on the the sentence, "We grew warmer and warmer," and it only came up with a few hits, not even one page worth. So is this grammatically incorrect? Is there a better way to put this?


title: what is the meaning of,Are you done?

text: If someone is about to finish his or her lunch, and we want to know, can we ask him or her: > Are you done?


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

text: In a bulleted list of very technical sentences, where each bulleted item has one or two parenthetical examples or restatements which are complete sentences, should the first letter of each e.g. or i.e. sentence be capitalized or not? Example:   * Here is my technical sentence. (e.g., **S** hould the word of this example be capitalized like this?)   * Here is another technical sentence. (i.e., **t** his really isn't an i.e., I just want to know if the first word should or should not be capitalized and am providing an example of yes and no.)  I originally posted this on English Language & Usage http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/37153/when-using-complete- sentences-in-parenthetical-e-g-or-i-e-situations-should-th/37154#37154 and in discussion with @simchona the analogy of semicolon punctuation came up. Here are the corresponding examples:   * "As we discussed, you will bring two items; a sleeping bag and a tent are not optional." - No doubt, the "a" in "... a sleeping..." should be lowercase.    * "As we discussed, you will bring two items. A sleeping bag and a tent are not optional." - No doubt, the "A" in "A sleeping ..." should be capitalized.    * "As we discussed, you will bring two items (i.e., a sleeping bag and a tent are not optional)." - no doubt, the "a" after the "i.e.," is lower case.    * "As we discussed, you will bring two items. (i.e., A/a sleeping bag and a tent are not optional)." - Now the sentence in parenthesis is standing alone, i.e., it's not embedded in the bulleted sentence.  Should the parenthetical in this example start with "(i.e., a sleeping ...) OR "(i.e., A sleeping ...)"?


title: Should sentences like "I wonder..." end with a question mark?

text: This may be related to a general grammar rule, but which of these is correct? > I wonder if Steve Jobs will be giving the keynote speech at WWDC this year? or > I wonder if Steve Jobs will be giving the keynote speech at WWDC this year. My hunch tells me the question mark is incorrect, but I find myself instinctively wanting to add it. Is there a rule about this type of situation?


title: Where does "Going out on a limb" come from?

text: I know that the phrase, "I'm going out on a limb here" means either to take a risk or hazard a guess, but where does it come from? As in, what did it originally refer to before it became an idiom?


title: R is the dog’s letter

text: Wikipedia: > The letter R is sometimes referred to as the _littera canina_ (canine > letter). This phrase has Latin origins: the Latin R was trilled to sound > like a growling dog. A good example of a trilling R is the Spanish word for > dog, _perro_. > > In William Shakespeare’s _Romeo and Juliet_ , such a reference is made by > Juliet’s nurse in Act 2, scene 4, when she calls the letter R “the dog’s > name.” The reference is also found in Ben Jonson’s _English Grammar_. Do you know other letters in the English alphabet that have a nickname besides ICAO phonetic/spelling alphabet?


title: What does ‘tame’ mean in ‘tame scandal’ and ‘tame squabble’ on golf course?

text: In association with my question about the names of foods that have a risk of turning into an offensive remark, there was the following statement in New Yorker’s (May 25) article titled “Sergio Garcia and the lifespan of an offensive remark”: > “That decidedly **tame scandal** was fanned for a while by reporters, who > kept asking the two about each other, and writing down the barely barbed > things they said. “He’s not the nicest guy on tour, said Sergio of Woods. > “Not real surprising that he’s complaining about something,” Tiger said of > Sergio. Even for golf, this squabble seemed **tame**.” I’m not familiar with the usage of the word, ‘tame’ other than the implication of docility as defined by Cambridge English Dictionary: Adjective. (especially of animals) not wild or dangerous, either naturally or because of training or long involvement with humans: While OED gives a wider scope of definition of ‘tame’ as an adjective than Cambridge Dictionary does:   1. (of an animal) not dangerous or frightened of people, domesticated.   2. informal (of a person) willing to cooperate.   3. (derogatory) not exciting, adventurous, or controversial.   4. North American (of a plant) produced by cultivation. With that said, questions, (1) What does ‘tame’ in the quoted sentence (tame scandal / tame quibble) mean? How can it be rephrased? (2) If it means an “unexciting / uncontroversial” trivial matter as defined in 3. of OED definition, why the press made a fuss? Why had Garcia to apologize to Woods and public? (3) Is this usage of the word, ‘tame’ in the sense of “not exciting / unworthy of note / trifling” as prevailing as the meaning of ‘not wild’ and ‘docile’ only to which I’m accustomed?


title: Why the Simple-Present "closes" in "thousands will see the exhibit by the time it closes"?

text: Consider the sentence: > Thousands of people _will see_ the art exhibit by the time it _closes_. The first part of this sentence is in Future Simple, which seems correct as it is something to be completed in the future. But I wonder how to explain the "closes" at the end of sentence.


title: Preposition IN Vs Preposition ON when writing by an electronic device

text: It is not clear to me, when to use IN and when to use ON in sentences such as: _"Keep it organized on your computer or in a notebook."_ What about if the gadget selected to write were a Laptop/Palm/Cell-phone/Tablet? Bye.


title: Questions "for chapter" or "to chapter"?

text: I always have a hard time in these cases: to choose **for** or **to**. Suppose I want to make a list of questions and as a headline I would like to name it something like: Questions for chapter 2. Is that correct? I think it sounds correct but the following I am less certain about. Is the following sentence correct: _"If you keep on reading, you will find the questions to chapter 2 in the book"_. I could use the longer version: _"If you keep on reading, you will find the questions related to chapter 2 in the book"_. Which I am almost certain is correct with respect to _to_ and _for_. But I would like to write as short as possible, please help me out.


title: Substitution of adverb by another "equivalent" word?

text: In the sentence: _Her voice sounds beautiful. She sang the song exactly as it was written. We heard it perfectly._ Isn't it feasible to substitute the last word by "perfect"? In Spanish both ways are valid but sounds better the second option. Even more, I feel that the second/third sentence can be deleted without grammatical ambiguity. Bye.


title: Question about a sentence in OWL Exercises

text: About the Exercise: Adjective or Adverb Exercise 1: #3 _They proved to be perfectly exact measurements_...   Isn't this an impossible fact; consequently a incorrect sentence otherwise what is supposed to be according to OWL?


title: Have or Hold Open House

text: Could you guys tell me which one is correct?   1. We are having an open house.   2. We are holding an open house?


title: Can I say "medium-term", as with the adjectives "short-term" and "long-term"? Do they need prepositions?

text: I would like to use an adjective to express something in between the two adjectives _short-term_ and _long-term_. Does _medium-term_ make sense here? What is the adjective I can use? What preposition, if any, do I use in a sentence with any one of these three adjectives? For example: > She told me the consequences are ___ long-term. (in a / in / at / ??? )


title: What would you call someone who is there if you need him but who is not imposing?

text: I am sitting in a restaurant and the waiter is available for me if I call him. He is there but not imposing. In a high end restaurant, the waiter would be serving while maintaining the quietness and comfort of the restaurant's atmosphere. What would be an appropriate adjective to describe the waiter?


title: Are there different noun forms of 'complex' and 'complicated?'

text: There are subtle differences between _complex_ and _complicated._ As far as I can tell, though, they both merge into one noun form: _complexity._ Merriam-Webster has an entry for _complicatedness,_ but that sounds outright contrived. Are there any better words for this?


title: How do I ask a question politely?

text: When I was growing up, if I ever said something similar to "Can I go to the store with Joe?", my mom would correct me with "May I go to the store with Joe?". Is "May I?" the typical way to ask a question politely or is this just specific to where I grew up or what my mom learned?


title: "Punctuality is the politeness of kings."

text: Can someone please explain the meaning of: > Punctuality is the politeness of kings.


title: Dialectal and historical usage of "not care" in the meaning of "not mind"

text: In standard Present-day English, "I don't care to be there" means the same as "I don't wish to be there." Apparently, this is not the case in some present and historical dialects. Wylene P. Dial writes in _The Dialect of The Appalachian People_ (1969): > One of the most baffling expressions our people use (baffling to > "furriners," at least) is "I don't care to. . . ." To outlanders this seems > to mean a definite "no," whereas in truth it actually means, "thank you so > much, I'd love to." One is forevermore hearing a tale of mutual bewilderment > in which a gentleman driving an out-of-state car sees a young fellow > standing alongside the road, thumbing. When the gentleman stops and asks if > he wants a lift, the boy very properly replies, "I don't keer to," using > care in the Elizabethan sense of the word. On hearing this, the man drives > off considerably puzzled leaving an equally baffled young man behind. I've been able to find some voices on the internet confirming that this usage is still present. However, I haven't found any example the Elizabethan usage. I'm wondering how widespread it was then, and whether the two opposing meanings ever co-existed on equal rights. I've found some Scottish sentences from the beginning of the 19th century in Wright's _English Dialect Dictionary_. > CARE > > With the negative: to make no objection. > > **Sc.** Even Irish Teague ayont Belfast Wadna care to spear about   >  her, SKINNER _Misc. Poems_ (1809) 159; I see you've read my hame-   >  spun lays And wadna care to soun' my praise, COCK _Strains_ (1810)   >  85; I dinna care to gang wi' you a bit. He wadna [hae] cared   >  to hae strucken me (JAM.). However, under "AT-OWER", there's this: > **Sc.** An' mair attour, I didna care to bachle my new sheen, FORBES _Jrn._ > (1742) 16 "Bachle" means _wear down_ and "sheen" are shoes, so I believe it's the standard modern meaning of "care to" employed here. My questions/requests are:   1. Could you give me some examples of this strange usage in Elizabethan English, preferably not Scottish, since I'm already pretty sure Scots used to employ it?   2. Did the two opposing meaning ever co-exist in any area?    3. How did it happen exactly that the two opposing meaning arose? It's not counter-intuitive to me, but I'm having trouble putting my intuition into words.    4. If you have something interesting to say about this matter that I didn't ask about, please do.


title: Is there a phrase in English that means an apology for banality?

text: In Russian there is a phrase that literally means "sorry for triviality (banality)". It is used when a person wants to say something very simple and common like "everyone is mortal" or "love is the cure", etc. Is there something like that in English and if it is, how often do people use it?


title: Use of “ever” in non-negated sentence

text: Is the sentence grammatically correct: > I do recall ever seeing my mother in the light of day.


title: Has the word “Birtherism” gotten the currency or ‘citizenship’ as the received English?

text: I found the article titled “Birtherism isn’t dead” in today’s Washington Post. It begins with the following sentence: “Discussion of President Obama’s place of birth died down significantly when he released his long-form birth certificate. But birtherism still lives, even if it no longer gets as much attention.” Although Wikipedia gives definition of ‘birtherism,” none of reputed dictionaries such as Oxford, Cambridge, and Merriam-Webster carries this word. Google NGram neither shows the record of incidence. As a non-native English speaker, I feel the word, “Birtherism” is somewhat awkward by its construction, just like saying “Motherism,” “Midwifeism,” “Birthplaceism.” and “Originism.” Is “Birtherism” well-received English word, particularly in America? If not, why it is shown in the newspaper without quotation marks or any sign that shows the word is recently coined or has a special meaning.


title: What does "as good as any out there" mean?

text: I don't how to interpret the following sentence: > "Her research seems about as good as any out there." What does that mean? Is 'her research' just average, better than average or the best ever seen?


title: What's the verb for making that "pffft" sound?

text: I have a dialogue like this: > "All I wanted to do was to keep a low profile" > > "Pffft. That worked well, we not only have the entire police force but also > the entire mafia chasing us" I don't want to have the "pffft" written out in dialogue, so I'm looking for a verb to replace it with. "Making a sigh of disapproval" seems to be a good description, but just doesn't have the same impact. Is there a good verb for this? **Edit:** To clarify, the intended emotion is a mixture of sarcasm, disapproval, annoyance and resignation. It doesn't have to exactly be equal to "pffft", but it needs to convey the same meaning, with the same strong impact.


What is the difference between an Emir and a Sultan? Are they both Sheik? For instance, OALD defines: > Emir: the title given to some Muslim rulers > > Emirate: an area of land that is ruled over by an emir > > Sultan: the title given to Muslim rulers in some countries > > Sultanate: an area of land that is ruled over by a sultan While OAAD defines (there is no entry for Sheik on OALD, why?): > Sheik:   >  1 an Arab prince or leader; the head of an Arab family, town, etc. / 2 a > leader in a Muslim community or organization Could we say that "Emperor":"King"="Emir":"Sultan"?


title: Is it redundant to say that something is "clearly evident"?

text: Here's a sentence: "The volume of resources invested is clearly evident." Is this redundant?


title: What is the “‑cide” word for killing one’s husband?

text: We have _uxoricide_ for killing one’s wife, but what is the equivalent term for killing one’s husband? Similarly, what is the husband-specific equivalent for the adjective _uxorial_?


title: dissimulate vs dissemble

text: I've compared these words in a few contexts; there is a difference between them, but I can't make it explicit. What do you think it is, or know it to be? ( _I know these words are very close, and in actual use it might not matter. I'm asking to satisfy my own curiosity._ ) **Dissimulation** From Wikipedia: > Dissimulation is a form of deception in which one conceals the truth. > Dissimulation differs from simulation, in which one exhibits false > information. "Dissimulation, in the negative; when a man lets fall signs and > arguments, that he is not, that he is... Simulation, in the affirmative; > when a man industriously and expressly feigns and pretends to be, that he is > not." In the animal kingdom a predator giving the impression that it is > harmless is an example of dissimulation, such as the leaf fish. An animal > that is typically prey giving the impression that it is dangerous is an > example of simulation, such as the frill-necked lizard. Definition from AHD. > To disguise (one's intentions, for example) under a feigned appearance. See > Synonyms at From Vocabulary.com > The noun dissimulation describes the act of faking your true feelings. Your > dissimulation of happiness might fool strangers but your close friends can > tell it's all an act. The word dissimulation implies that the wool is being > pulled over someone's eyes, or they're being fooled or tricked by someone's > deceit. The origin of dissimulation is the Latin dissimulationem, which > means "a disguising or concealment." Don't confuse dissimulation with > dissimilation, which describes the act of making something different or less > similar. In context: >   * In war, practice dissimulation, and you will succeed. >   * I lack the cunning and the dissimulation,” she says, “necessary for a > normal affair. >   * Uncertainty, fear, dissimulation and layerings of identity permeate the > novel. > Wordnet: says dissimulation is a type of _falsification_ and a type of _misrepresentation_ **Dissemble** From AHD > 1) To disguise or conceal behind a false appearance. > > 2) To make a false show of; feign > > 1) To disguise or conceal one's real nature, motives, or feelings behind a > false appearance. From Vocabulary.com > To dissemble is to hide under a false appearance, to deceive. "When > confronted about their human rights record, the Chinese government typically > dissembles." Dissemble is a little more complicated than a straight lie or > denial. When you dissemble, you disguise your true intentions or feelings > behind a false appearance. To dissemble is to pretend that you don't know > something, to pretend that you think one way when you act another way. "My > boyfriend was dissembling the whole time. He was a married father of two." In Context >   * Or, worse, he’s giving them the idea that it’s OK to dissemble this way > with your own kids. >   * Why is the government trying so hard to muddy and dissemble even this > modest data? >   * Senna painted himself as the wronged man, but in seeking to justify the > crash he dissembled. -He didn't dissemble; the gist was "we do because we > can". > Wordnet says dissemble is a type of _belie_ and a type of _misrepresent_.


title: What does "frost your pickle" mean and where did it come from?

text: I hear my mom say this all time: > Well doesn't that just frost your pickle? I usually laugh because it sounds funny, but honestly I have no idea what it's really supposed to mean, in the sense that I don't really understand why "frost your pickle" makes sense as a phrase. She uses it to express a feeling of annoyance (I guess). Can anyone identify the history/origin of this phrase? Why is the phrase used in this way?


title: Does “I have studied Russian language” continued by “I have learnt…” use a correct tense?

text: Does “I have studied Russian language” continued by “I have learnt …” use a correct tense? With the meaning that I studied Russian language in the past, for 3 years, but I’m not studying it anymore and continuing the complex sentence with the same tense. What tense should I use?


title: Is "a future musician" grammatical?

text: I want to become a musician in the future. Is it correct to say > I am a future musician. I want to put it in my bio for Twitter. Are there any other better phrases?


title: Is this a portmanteau, contraction, or perhaps both?

text: **I have chosen to edit this post because it apparently has offended some of the more sensitive among us.** While, personally, I feel this should prompt discourse rather than down votes, I do not wish to offend people who unwittingly stumble upon this question. I was contemplating a word that is a contraction of two words. Click here if you wish to know the word in question - but be warned it is mildly offensive to some.. (Try as I might, I cannot think of a non-vulgar example that blurs the line so effectively. See further for details.) This word does not use an apostrophe to denote its contraction. Rather it has borrowed the morphology of half of each word to make a new whole. The new whole, however, has a bit of synergy that the words themselves convey but perhaps not to the same degree. (Thanks to Bradd Szonye for helping me phrase that properly.) Is this strictly a portmanteau as is suggested in the linked definition above? My question is: Would a word like this be considered a portmanteau or a contraction? Or perhaps both? Does the synergy of meaning make it a portmanteau, or does the ability of both words standing alone to convey similar meaning make it a mere contraction?


title: Emails with Attachments

text: I'm wondering what is the best way to express that an email contains more than one attachment. Would saying "Please find the attached (name of document). Our (name of document) is also attached." be proper?


title: Word for "growing in intelligence"

text: I'm looking for a word whose definition is something along the lines of "growing in intelligence". I'm trying to use it in a sentence like "the people are getting smarter and smarter throughout the years".


title: Abbreviation of words only in 3 letters!

text: Is there a Document or Dictionary to shows words in short form? (in 3 letters) for example Abbreviation of Ireland is: IRL I have to write some words (like computer/internet/technology/...) just in three letters.. Is there a rule to do this?


title: 'Monthly' and 'annual' as descriptors

text: When I am describing a service that is billed for once a month I write, "This is a monthly service." When describing a service that is billed for once a year I use, "This is an annual service." Why would using "This is an annually service." sound incorrect? It's as if 'monthly service' is used as shorthand for 'monthly billed service', and 'annual service' is used as shorthand for 'annually billed service'. Is my problem that 'monthly' is used incorrectly in the first case?


title: What's the most appropriate preposition to use with the word "status"?

text: Say I have application that tracks TODO items; each TODO item has a status, e.g. "Not Started", "In Progress", "Completed", etc. Which phrasing is the most appropriate to display in the application?   1. You have 5 items _in_ status "Not Started"   2. You have 5 items _with_ status "Not Started"   3. You have 5 items _of_ status "Not Started" I prefer #1. My rationale is that, I consider "status" to be synonymous with "state," and things reside _in_ a state rather than possess a state. But I am open to persuasion otherwise.