title: Why is "till" used in this expression: "If we don't leave till after lunch..."?

text: > If we don't leave till after lunch we'll be cutting it very fine. I understand it to mean: "If we don't leave after lunch, we'll be cutting it very fine." (In the event of our not leaving immediately after lunch, we will leave ourselves just enough time to do something.) But why is _till_ in that position?


Are sneer quotes the same exact thing as scare quotes? I believe they're synonymous but am unsure.


title: Can a gerund be modified by an adjective?

text: Is the sentence below grammatically correct? > Good writing requires hard work. Or should it read: > Writing well requires hard work. Can a gerund be modified by an adjective or must it be modified necessarily by an adverb? If it can be modified by an adjective, when you diagram it, would the _good_ come off of the word _writing_ on the stilt, or would it go below the regular baseline?


title: Why is "rollback it" incorrect?

text: I recently wrote the following sentence: > Please roll it back. But if I were to describe the action on its own I would say: > This rollback was due to objections by the original author. If I want to use "rollback" as a verb I have to split it up with an "it". My best guess is that "rollback" seems to be a compound noun birthed from a verb+adverb but we never got a verb compound form. Thus, the following is still incorrect: > Please rollback it. Is there a term to describe the specific pair of "roll" and "back"? Describing this specific action will _always_ need both words and the action itself now has an appropriate noun. But where did the combined verb form go?


title: Is “reach out and touch” an idiom?

text: Is “reach out and touch” an idiomatic expression? > The manual for the console versions describe him as “half unfeeling machine, > half raging horned devil. This walking nightmare has a rocket launcher for > an arm and will definitely reach out and touch you.” from Wikipedia quoting NOW Gamer. It can also be found in the Depeche Mode song “Tainted Love”.


title: Difference between 'haven't ...yet' and 'didn't.... yet'

text: I was wondering what the difference was between a sentence with _have_ and one with _do_. For example this one: >   * They haven't started yet. >   * They didn't start yet. > Is there a difference?  When would one use the first or the latter?


title: What are rules on 'so that' vs. 'such that'?

text: When I want to emphasize a result or aim, I use a phrase with 'so that'. Other authors use 'such that'. I wonder if there are any rules or if both can be used interchangeably. For example > Experts from different backgrounds are invited so that diverse opinions can > be heard. vs. > Experts from different backgrounds are invited such that diverse opinions > can be heard.


title: Ways to ensure the interlocutor understands you

text: What are the best ways to ask an interlocutor whether he understands you in different circumstances (formal conversation, informal talk)? What are the best ways to answer such questions meaning "I understand," "I understand and agree," and "I don't understand"? What are the best ways to let the speaker know that you understand him and/or agree , or you don't understand when you were not asked?


title: What is a specific word for "loving a friend"?

text: In Italian, "to love someone" has two translations:   * _amare qualcuno_ , meaning "to desire a romantic relationship with someone";   * _voler bene a qualcuno_ , meaning "to care for someone" (literally: "to wish for someone's good") - for example, " _to love_ a friend" is translated as " _voler bene a_ un amico". I don't know of any word in English which is as strong as "to love", yet cannot be misunderstood for interest in a romantic relationship. Is there such a phrase? So far, the best I came up with is "to care for someone", but it doesn't express the same strength, so to speak, as "to love [a friend]".


title: Birth of the word "tonite" and its popularity

text: Watching an old film dating back in the 1930s, I came across the word _tonite_ , the wrong and more phonetic-like variant of "tonight" (it was written on the advertising poster of a night-club). When was this variant first used? Is this word commonly used in American or British English?


title: How is the noun 'mosaic' being used in this sentence?

text: If a landscape is described as ''a 'mosaic' of fields, heathland, villages and hills'', how is 'mosaic' being used here? Adjective? Collective noun?


title: Is there a word or phrase (other than euphemism/innuendo) for using one word/phrase to mean another?

text: Recently, on an episode of a TV series I watch, one of the female characters asks a male character, "Do you want some bourbon?", when what she means is, "Do you want to have sex with me?". Is there another word/phrase (other than euphemism/innuendo) to describe her question (preferably one not limited to the particular context of sex)? Edit: "coffee" could also have worked in the character's sentence.


title: When speaking of age 13 and over, is it 12+ or 13+?

text: When you take into account all ages above a certain age, what is the correct way to write it? I was supposed to write all ages above 12, and not including 12, so I wrote '13+', which in my mind seemed to mean '13 and plus'/'13 and above'. Someone told me it's meant to be written as '12+', but to me, this looks as if it's including the age 12 in it. What is the correct way, when talking of all ages above but not including 12, to write it: 12+ or 13+?


title: "For IE (to) render them"

text: Which sentence is correct? > I just put ` ` in the empty elements for IE **to render** them. > > I just put ` ` in the empty elements for IE **render** them. The render will be processed by IE and not me, so putting ` ` will make IE render elements.


title: The <noun> of <noun>

text: I wonder about the `the <noun> of <noun>` template. For example, `the customers of a movie theater` or `the possessor of a car`. The question is "Is it a stable rule in English to put "the" before the first noun in this template?" Are there other instances of using this template, but without "the". I often use the structure "`It is the <noun> of <noun>`." For example, "It is the case of a cruel corruption." I have the same questions for this template.


title: Idiomatic expression for "moving away" from a subject

text: I am in a meeting with a lot of people but the person who is speaking is not focusing on the subject, that person is somehow "moving away" from what is really important. Is there any expression for that mirrors that situation or any other words I can use to talk about it ?


title: Pathfinding, path-finding or path finding?

text: I'm writing my thesis about finding paths in certain graphs but have run into a spelling problem... Is the correct word "pathfinding", "path finding" or "path-finding"? My spellcheck does not think "pathfinding" is correct and suggests "path finding" or "path-finding" (however the wikipedia article on the subject is called "pathfinding"...). I can't find any definite source on which spelling is to be preferred?


title: How did "hearties" come to mean "shipmates"?

text: Typically I find _hearty_ to be used as an adjective, for example:   * Thank you for this _hearty_ meal   * He gave a _hearty_ laugh The definition for which can be found in any dictionary and can mean things like _warm-hearted_ , _genuine_ , _forceful_ , etc. The noun meaning being > a brave or good fellow, especially with reference to a shipmate. I couldn't find any reason why it should be **especially** applied to men of the sea. Is there a reason why, for pirates in particular, shipmates are hearties?


title: What does "up she rises" mean in the sea shanty "Drunken Sailor"?

text: It's early in the morning, so perhaps the sailor in question is rousing from his drunken stupor. But sailors were traditionally all men, so why "up _she_ rises"? Is the sailor being mocked, or does it refer to something else entirely? > What'll we do with a drunken sailor,   >  Earl-aye in the morning? Chorus: > Weigh heigh and up she rises   >  Earl-aye in the morning An additional gold doubloon will be awarded for an explanation of the odd pronunciation of early (earl-aye /ˈɜːlaɪ/).


title: Is there an alternative to "that much less"?

text: > The teams weren't fair to begin with, but Jim's injury made them _that much > less fair_. The last part of that sentence feels wrong to me due to the contrast of "much" and "less". Is there perhaps a more natural sounding alternative to convey the same meaning without rephrasing the sentence entirely?


title: Why is baba ghanouj pronounced with a final "sh" sound?

text: Baba ghanouj is a delicious Middle Eastern dip made from roast eggplant and garlic. I've found the name spelled a multitude of different ways on the internet, but there are two peculiar things about its pronunciation:   1. The name is always spelled with "j" as the final consonant   2. I've always heard the name pronounced with a final "sh" sound [ʃ] How did this peculiar situation arise? The word is obviously borrowed, though I don't know the source language, yet it seems like any reasonable transliteration would use a symbol other than "j" for [ʃ].


title: What does "lost sales" mean?

text: What does "lost sales" mean in the sentence below? > The most important quality cost, lost sales, is often omitted from quality > cost reports.


title: Nominalizations and the missing "the"

text: _This guide equips you with a strategy to **ease adoption of** a new technology within your organization._ Assume that I want to keep this noun ( _adoption_ ). Is the article "the" missing here? Should it be _This guide equips you with a strategy to ease **the** adoption of a new technology within your organization_?


title: Analogy for arising difficulties

text: I'm looking for a metaphor or analogy for `experiencing more and more difficulties (after getting more familiar with a certain teaching or art)`. I think I have seen a few in the past but I can't think of them right now.


title: Metonyms in American football: the National Football League

text: Wikipedia has a great definition of metonymy here, but I have a more specific question. The biggest user of NFL metonyms appears to be Gregg Easterbrook, writer of the Tuesday Morning Quarterback at ESPN.COM. Can I have a list of metonyms used in American Football, particularly the National Football League (NFL)?


title: How to abbreviate "and other things"?

text: Which short phrase or abbreviation could I use here to mean _and other things_? > The medulla oblongata controls respiration and cardiovascular rhythm ____. _Etc._ would not fit as it carries the connotation of the continuation being obvious, while the phrase I'm looking for would mean that it was omitted for other reasons, e.g., brevity. The text is intended only for me, but I'd still prefer a phrase or abbreviation that would be recognised by others, too.


title: Meaning of a saying about the difference between L.A. and New York

text: What is the meaning of the following? > The difference between L.A. and New York is that in New York when you get > robbed, you see the gun... **UPD:** Below is a part of the original discussion: > We all have been victimized to some extent in this business - it is true > that although producers hold those they hire up to extremely rigorous > professional scrutiny, they reserve judgement upon themselves. In some > sense, I would feel better not working at all, than having to work for > someone who's respect I did not have, and who looks only at what he can get > from me, not what we can create together. I'm sure that whatever the truth > behind that producers decision, you are better off for it. The difference > between L.A. and New York is that in New York when you get robbed, you see > the gun...


title: What does "crossed signals" mean in this context?

text: While reading Experts Exchange(EE) Community Newsletter, I came across a new phrase. I'm trying to understand, what does **_crossed signals_** mean in this context? **Excerpt from the Newsletter:** > **This time we mean it:** Call it **_crossed signals_**. _xxxx_ , one of > Experts Exchange's site administrators, was supposed to host a meet-up at > _xxxx_ in Denver last week, but a mix-up in communications forced its > postponement to Thursday, .... If you're so inclined, feel free to come bend > his ear about anything EE; you can RSVP here; the beer is on us. ... ... and finally, what does the sentence "the beer is on us" mean? Complete Newsletter is available here.


title: "To book" used as "to run"

text: Is it correct to use the verb _to book_ with the meaning of _to run_? I heard this usage in situations like: > The dog ran out and I booked it after him. or > I was booking it down the hill. I couldn't find any meaning similar to this in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary or others.


title: Why does "hard cheese" mean "bad luck"?

text: Particularly in British English, a common saying in response to someone's complaining about something is, "hard cheese". This basically means, "tough luck". How did this expression come about; what is unlucky about hard cheese?


title: "Thou hast cleft my heart in twain"

text: "Thou hast cleft my heart in twain" says Gertrude to Hamlet. 'Cleft' is from 'cleave' meaning divide or split. Yet, I often meet constructions such as 'clefts' 'clefted' or 'clefting' in the writings of English native speakers. Has 'cleft' shifted to an infinitive in the modern usage? Or is it likely to? Believe it or not I've also encountered this construction in a newspaper: 'He clefts my heart in twain'. As a nonnative speaker of English I find this confusing. Anyone to shed some light?


title: A person with poor rational abilities

text: I want to describe a person in my article with the following characteristics:   * Not good at grasping in studies.   * Doing a poor job just because he fears going out and expanding/trying better jobs. Please suggest a word(s) that would mean both of the above.


title: One-word nouns for preferred time slots in a timetable

text: I am developing a timetabling application. We invite constraints or preferences from teachers on what hours they can teach. Constraints can be invited for **time slots** as   1. **Exactly identified slots** — the teacher checks specific hours from a work-week ("hour 2 on Friday")    2. **Abstractly identified slots** — not specific to any particular hour ("in the same day") A constraint is composed of [preference]-[identified slots] such as   * [prefer not to take] [4 slots a day]   * [must take] [hour 2 on friday] * * * What are good terms for _exactly identified slots_ and _abstractly identified slots_? I prefer (one-word) nouns as they are already described by adjectives.


title: Why does English have so many words when the grammar doesn't allow for concatenating?

text: In English the words "mathematics professor" are 2: mathematics professor We get 3 meanings from these 2 words: Mathematics, professor and mathematics professor. In Swedish the words are   * matematik    * professor but "mathematics professor" is a 3rd word on its own i.e. matematikprofessor. So in Swedish we have 3 words for 3 meanings while in English the building blocks are just the 2 words. So in this case Swedish has more words than English. But on the whole, English has many more words than Swedish. Why when we in Swedish make new words in a way that English doesn't? Are there so many words in English that simply aren't translated?


title: What's the etymology of the expression "let it slide?"

text: Today, my three year old son was doing something he wasn't normally supposed to do but we were letting him get away with it (wearing a backpack to the dinner table). He pointed out that he wasn't supposed to wear it and my wife replied that "today, we're just going to let that slide." Since he's young, the expression (obviously) didn't make sense to him. We explained that it meant that we were going to excuse the infraction today because it wasn't something that was terribly important. He then asked why "let it slide" means that. My wife and I didn't have an answer. So, I'm here. Where does the expression "let it slide" come from? Why does it mean what it means? And so forth?


title: What is a word that means 'things that have been seen'?

text: I need a word that means 'things that have been seen'. I'd be happy with a made-up or foreign word, if the meaning is relatively clear to English speakers. For example, using the word 'floop' for now, I would want to be able to say things like: "In the context of movies, my floops include Die Hard, but not Die Hard 4". Or "My floops yesterday included a bald cat".


title: Terms that representing a filtered tags

text: On my webpage I'm trying to filter search results, using tags. Very much so like here. Now suppose I have three tags that I've selected. I show three options in the web page.               Option1: Search Results that have **all** three tags.     Option2: Search Results that **any 1** or all of the three tags.     Option3: Search Results that have **NO** tags at all.      The terms I use to represent the above options is simply:               1. Tags     2. Any Tags     3. No Tags.      This is where I think I'm completely wrong in my language usage. Is there anything I can do to improve the above buttons? They don't effectively convey the option they represent. My question is, what else can I use instead of **Tags** , **Any Tags** etc.. Should I be using symbols of some kind?


title: "Precise" vs. "exact"

text: Which of the sentences below looks more natural? >   * Question answering systems that appear with the aim of providing > **precise** textual answers. >   * Question answering systems that appear with the aim of providing > **exact** textual answers. >


title: Is it necessary to use “the” before using verb+“ing” in specific contexts?

text: I am confused with whether it is necessary to use _the_ before verbs in certain contexts. Like:   1. **The** milking of a cow is not a painful process at all like you think.   2. I am afraid it has never been explained how **the** whole dream-sharing thing works in _Inception_. So in both cases above, can we exclude the _the_ before those verb+ _ing_ constructs?


title: Storytelling In Simple Present

text: When telling a story in the present tense, what tense should we use for actions that take place before another action in the story, for example: > The king turns to his wife, who has already had a heart attack, and asks > her...[Present Perfect] > > The king turns to his wife, who had already had a heart attack, and asks > her...[Past Perfect] > > The king turns to his wife, who already had a heart attack, and ask > her...[Simple Past] > > The king turns to his wife, who already has a heart attack, and asks > her...[Present Simple]


title: What does 'a slither of' mean?

text: While reading a book, I came across this sentence: > [...], finishing with a slither of lemon tart or apple cake. Looking up the word **slither** I didn't get any satisfying results. On OALD I found the definition of " _to slither_ " which means to move forwards either in a smooth way (to slide) or uncontrolled (to glide). In the given sentence this would only make sense if it's about how smooth this lemon tart goes down the gullet. But I don't think that it is meant like this. Moreover, wouldn't it be " _a slithering lemon tart_ "?! Thinking about the sentence and what it could be I'm assuming that it could mean " _a part of_ ", but I don't find any proof. So, which is the correct meaning of " _a slither of_ " and which words are best synonyms for it?


title: Can a subordinate clause split subject and verb in the main clause?

text: E.g. are these correct? >   * Following the rules, **even if** it's difficult, is essential. >   * Following the rules, **although** it's difficult, is essential. >


title: 'The X-ing of Y' vs just 'X-ing Y' : why are both 'the' and 'of' necessary together?

text: Take the example of > There is very little that a conforming POSIX.1 application can do by > catching, ignoring or masking SIGSYS (From the SIGSYS article) This can be rewritten as > There is very little that a conforming POSIX.1 application can do by **the** > catching, ignoring or masking **of** SIGSYS Both _the_ and _of_ must be added or the sentence becomes ungrammatical. Is there a grammatical explanation for this?


title: Englishman and British man

text: Why is it Englishman, Frenchman, etc. (one word) but British man (two words)?


title: Is 'biasedness' a real word?

text: I am curious about the usage of word _biasedness_ , I am unable to find it in Oxford's advance learners dictionary but on the internet. When tried to consult some expert, he said that it's a colloquial expression. So my questions is Is there a word _biasedness_ and should we use it?


title: custom cutting lumber or custom cut lumber or custom lumber cutting

text: I know custom picking strawberry, to a certain extent, as I think ,is right. I have confirmed it in google. But here comes the problem: when I try to apply the same structure to "customers can cut the lumber the way the want it to be", it goes wrong. Just tracing the structure above, I would say custom cutting lumber, but I found it to be like"custom cut lumber" and "custom lumber cutting".Which is right? so I am badly confused. I think this is a worthy question to be discussed.


What is the difference about two sentences below? 1.Despite a very old medical therapy, acupuncture is called "new age" treatment. 2.Despite being a very old medical therapy, acupuncture is called "new age" treatment. and is number1 incorrect?


title: Spendthrift vs Thrifty - origins

text: I have always been curious to understand the origin of these two seemingly similar words. Looking at them for the first time, I thought they were synonyms, but ever since I learnt their meanings, their meanings only serve to confuse me further. Does anybody know how these words came into being, and how they ended up becoming antonyms despite (possibly) stemming from the same word root?


title: What does "to take someone at face value" mean?

text: What does this mean? I hear it often, but not sure what its meaning is. I think it means to believe what they are saying without proof.


title: Difference between "respect of others" and "respect by others"

text: What is the difference between _respect of others_ and _respect by others_? Is there any rule that applies here?


title: What is a word to describe blatant praise by a shill?

text: I'm looking for a word to describe an article published in a newspaper that's written by a shill. Basically a word that describes the article as blatant over the top praise without perspective. I know 'advertorial' might work but I'm looking for an adjective that describes a panegyric that isn't genuine.


title: What does "blanding" mean?

text: What does _blanding_ mean in any culture or language?


title: Meaning of "Zenith"

text: Looking at the dictionary I found that the world **_zenith_** means **_the point above the observer directly opposite the nadir_**. So what does it mean in the following sentence: > **_At the age of forty-five, with a worldwide reputation and as yet unbroken > string of notable successes to her credit, Carson was the zenith of her > career._**


title: appropriate usage of the word "Here"

text: Is it possible to begin a sentence with the word _here_? If so, can anyone please give an example? In a sentence like this one, is the use of _here_ grammatically correct? > Here, first we should know the reason of…


title: Word-choice question: "His camera accompanied him everywhere/wherever he went in the world."

text: Which sentence sounds better? Why?   * His camera accompanied him **everywhere** he went in the world.   * His camera accompanied him **wherever** he went in the world.


title: Do these river names mean anything?

text: I was planning a little trip the other day when I noticed that a number of rivers in Britain have common names. The ones I spotted were _Avon_ , _Ouse_ and _Esk_. Is there a reason for this? Are these names derived from something?


title: Using "that" in place of "it" as an object is not always correct. How can I explain why?

text: A student wrote to me > I'm sorry I was absent for class on Monday. What is the homework? I want to > do that before the next class. I prefer using _it_ to _that_ but am not sure what explanation I should give. Can you help?


title: Right adjective for an unexpected solution to a math problem

text: I asked for help about a mathematics problem on M.SE and someone answered with a valid proof resorting to a reasoning I wouldn't have imagined, without giving details about how he got that idea. Is there an adjective or a phrase that qualifies such a proof? To a more general extent, how do you qualify the outcome of an operation (of the mind, or something concrete) that is unexpected but still satisfactory? There's a French phrase for it: _sorti du chapeau_.


title: African American Vernacular English

text: I was going through some articles about "African American Vernacular English". Article 1. Article 2. These articles give some examples, but they do not clearly specify hard rules to be followed in AAVE. First of all, I don't even have strong skills in Standard English, so understanding AAVE seems a lot more difficult for me. I did, however, craft a few sentences in both SE and AAVE to validate what understanding I do have. Are the following conversions correct? You don't have to validate each and every item, but rather guide me with rules that I should follow, but didn't, in the following examples.   * What the hell you all are doing here? — What the hell y'all doin' here?   * Hey you! What the hell are you doing man? Stop that nonsense now. Do you get it? — Hey you! What the hell ya doin’ man? Stop that nonsense now. D'ya get it?   * Come on, can't you open your mouths? — Come on, ya can't open your mouths??    * Hey, who's out there? — Hey, who out there?   * I know, you're listening to us — I know, ya listenin’ to us   * Somebody is out there man. — Somebody out there man.   * Wow, it's delicious. — Wow, it delicious.   * Holy crap, who're these people? — Holy crap, who these people?


title: Is it correct to say "copious amount of"?

text: Which of the following are correct?   1. I drink copious coffee   2. I drink copious amounts of coffee I frequently hear people say #2 but it doesn't sound right to me (though "a myriad of X" doesn't either).


title: Use of "pence" to refer to sum of money

text: I encountered an article on Dictionary.com that says that _pennies_ are not used to refer to a sum of money but rather the coins themselves. It went on to say that the term _pence_ was used to refer to a sum of money. I was rather dubious about this statement, partially because I never heard anybody say _pence_ in my stay in USA. Can anybody back up this fact? I tried to google this, and the only source of information I got (other then UK currencies) that supported this was Wikipedia.


title: Initials representing a letter instead of a word

text: Harry Truman's middle initial is rather unique because, unlike most middle initials, it doesn't just represent the first letter of his middle name - it _is_ his middle name. > His parents chose the name Harry after his mother's brother, Harrison > "Harry" Young (1846–1916).[2] They chose "S" as his middle initial to please > both of his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young. The "S" > did not stand for anything, a common practice among the Scots-Irish. Harry S. Truman - Wikipedia It appears that the period after the "S" is generally either included or omitted based on the author's preference alone. This brings forth some interesting questions:   * Can a letter be considered an "initial", or part of an initialism, if it isn't actually "short" for anything?   * Is there technically a "right" way to treat initials like this, or is the inclusion or omission of the period entirely a matter of preference so long as one is consistent?   * Is there a specific word to describe these sorts of initials?


title: To make something opaque = opaquen?

text: To make something opaque is to 'opaquen'? How about to make something transparent? Is it 'transparentize'? * * * **Edit 1** This is for a computer code library that manipulates colors. I have verbs to describe the actions like `Brighten` and `Saturate`, but I also want to find a nice words to describe making something more or less opaque.


title: What type of verb is "do"?

text: I'm going through some code with classes named like:   * clean_Cache   * purge_Stage   * do_Keywords The particular file `do_Keywords` is a complete mess and maybe if I knew what it was supposed to do then I could make sense of it. The dev who wrote it and used the verb "do" is absent, probably from someone beating him for his practices. What is the term in English for verbs that don't provide any information, such as "do"? I'm looking to fill in the following sentence: > When naming classes, do not use **___ __ ___ ____** verbs. Use descriptive > verbs. If the term applies to all words, and not just to verbs, all the better. Thanks.


title: Gerund preceded by a genitive?

text: Is this sentence actually grammatical? > You know **your** having a rough day when kittens don't even make you smile. The writer of this sentence may intend to mean _you're_ instead of _your_ but I'm just wondering if having a gerund preceded by a genitive is considered grammatical in this case. If the sentence above is ungrammatical, why is this sentence grammatical? > He resents your being more popular than he is. What's the difference between these two sentence that determines one to be grammatical and the other to be not? This is how I analyze the two sentences and I can't see the difference:   1. " _You know **it** when kittens don't even make you smile_" for " ** _it_** " = " _your having a rough day_ "   2. " _He resents **it_** " for " ** _it_** " = " _your being more popular than he is_ "


title: When to use "me" or "myself"?

text: Which one is correct: > Someone like me... or > Someone like myself... Is "like myself" ever correct?


title: The problems with "Showed"

text: Is it right to say " Fisher (1935) has showed that normality is guaranteed in case 1" Or should it be " Fisher (1935) has shown that normality is guaranteed in case 1" ? Personally, I guess both are not wrong. But then, the first one is wrong according to many. Please help !!


title: Meaning of "take the lead out"

text: What is the meaning of the saying _take the lead out_? I ask because I was watching this video from the 1960's show _What's My Line_ and Groucho Marx writes this on a blackboard (where he's supposed to write his name) and gets a big laugh. I've heard the saying before, albeit very infrequently.


title: pride vs. proudness

text: Until yesterday I did not even know that the noun proudness exists. I always thought pride was the only possible noun for the adjective proud. Is there actually a difference between the two nouns (pride and proudness) or can they be used interchangeably in every case?


title: A word for the feeling of falling

text: What is the word used to describe that feeling you occasionally get while falling? If you don't know the feeling, it feels like the midsection of your gut is becoming numb and is trying to escape out of the top of your ribcage. _Update:_ Unfortunately a single word for this feeling doesn't seem to exist. If this word doesn't exist, is there a short phrase used to describe this feeling? **Answer:** There is no specific term for this. The closest phrase is in fact _'feeling of falling'_. The answer which selected as correct and did state that there is not specific term for the feeling.


title: Boundary: single form or plural form?

text: I am not sure whether "boundary" should be used in single form or plural form. For example, should I say: I developed this method to define A region's boundary OR I developed this method to define the boundaries of A region ?


title: A single word or phrase for the subjects in school

text: Is there a word or phrase that covers all subjects of the basic educational subjects (i.e. math, reading, science, writing, history)? I know of the "Three Rs", but I'm looking for something more formal. Here's the context, if that helps: > To this day, many societies continue to believe that education should be > based around **_____**.


title: Word for making something "as if it were real" when referring to a memory or fantasy

text: What word would mean _to figuratively bring to life_ or to make something _as if it were real_ in the context of a memory or fantasy? For example, I am trying to figure out the word that would fill in the following sentences using the above description: > Mark built his model town in order to [word for _to make as if it were real_ > ] the fantasy he wished he could escape to. and [possibly] alternately, > Victims of traumatic experience will sometimes experience flashbacks, where > the traumatic memories are [passive of the same word for _made-as-if-real_ > ].


title: To pay something (in) cash/cache

text: What is correct? It has to be paid in cash. It has to be paid cash. It has to be paid in cache. It has to be paid cache. If more would be correct, is there a difference in when to use what? I'm asking because I just read through some legal document where both cash and cache are used.


title: Meaning of "course of the year"

text: I don't quite get the meaning of _course of the year_ in the following sentence. > They search for food by moving over ice from island to island during the > **course of the year**. What does _course_ mean here?


title: The wrong group to be "in" Or "on"?

text: > 'They either participate with some decorum, or recognise this is the wrong > group to be on!' Is the above sentence idiomatically and grammatically correct? Can 'on' and 'in' be used in this sentence?


title: What does “That woman’s got style” mean?

text: In Jeffery Archer’s new mystery, “False Impression,” there was the following conversation between senior FBI agent, Jack Delaney and his subordinate, Tom Crasanti, both of whom are pursuing after the heroine, Anne Petrescu who took a priceless "self-portrait of Van Gogh without an ear" out of the Art Location of the custom house of Heathrow Air Port, and ran away: > “Where’s Petrescu?” was Jack’s first question.   >  “She landed in Bucharest.”   >  “And the painting?”   >  “She wheeled it out of customs on a baggage trolley,” said Tom.   >  “ _That woman’s got style_.”   >  “Agreed,” said Tom, “but then perhaps she has no idea what’s she’s up > against.” I searched “get (got) style” to get the meaning of “that woman’s got style” in dictionaries including online dictionaries, but I wasn’t able to find out. Can you tell me what “get style “means? Is “She’s (he’s) got style” a popular idiom?


title: "Subject, verb, direct object, object complement" versus "subject, verb, indirect object, direct object"

text: Reading _English Grammar_ (HarperCollins College Outline, published by HarperResource, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers) I found a chapter ( _Sentence Basics_ ) that explains that in English there are different sentence patterns; in particular   * Subject, verb, direct object, object complement   * Subject, verb, indirect object, direct object The chapter reports the following example for the patterns: > Alice called Charles Professor Miller.   >  Alice gave Charles the rabbit. What is the difference between the two kind of sentences?   What is the difference between the object complement in the first case, and the indirect object in the second case? PS: The question, which could appear silly, comes from the fact in my first language there is only the object complement.


title: According to protesters - correct; according to THE protesters - possible?

text: Source: http://rt.com/news/mariupol-base-shooting-ukraine-008/ > They called on the troops to abandon the base, but the soldiers didn't > listen, the demonstrators said. Instead, the troops opened fire at the > protesters, injuring at least four people. One of them took a bullet in his > chest and is in serious condition, **according to protesters**. I know that generally you don't need definite articles when using the expression **according to someone or something**. But is it possible, in theory, to use one? Or would it sound just plainly wrong to your ear?


title: Greetings after initial email

text: In a formal / professional email (i.e. emails directed at potential employers, co-workers and administrators), is it okay to exclude the greeting after the first email? For example, I will send an email in the form: > [Formal greeting]   >  [Message body]   >  [Formal salutation] I will typically then receive an email of the same form. After this point, is it necessary to keep including a formal greeting, or even a formal salutation? I generally do not keep saying "Hello" (or include any other greeting) in the same email thread after having said it once in the initial email. I may include another greeting if I am emailing the same person after at least a day in between emails, or if starting a new email thread. I will also generally omit the salutation and just place my name or signature at the end of the email after the initial greetings / emails as well. What are everyone's thoughts on this? I am referring specifically to formal and professional situations and not casual emails with friends or co-workers who you may have already been working with for a while.


title: "I have blocked the user account" versus "I blocked the user account"

text: One of the tasks I have as site maintainer of a site is deleting spam reported from users. (The spammer account is blocked too, as part of the process.) Which is the preferable sentence, or the most correct one, I should use? > I have blocked the user account, and deleted the comments. > I blocked the user account, and deleted the comments.


title: What would be a formal reply to "I need your help"?

text: A colleague emailed me saying > **I need your help** but offering no further details. Now, what what be a formal reply to this which doesn't promise too much nor seem cold or unhelpful? > a) Sure. How can I help?   >  b) Tell me?   >  c) Regarding? Which one of the above seems most appropriate? Or there is some other sentence or phrase more appropriate for this kind of situation?


title: What is the difference between dialogue and dialog?

text: I am American, and I always thought the difference between _dialogue_ and _dialog_ was one of meaning, the way Merriam-Webster has them listed: > 2 entries found: > >   * **dialogue** (noun) >   * **dialog box** (noun) > According to Merriam-Webster, _dialogue_ means conversation, and _dialog box_ means a window on a computer screen. This is how I use/spell them. However, at least some people see them as differences between British English and American English. So my questions, I guess, are:   * First of all, is my understanding, and Merriam-Webster's definition, correct?   * Is _dialog_ used with any frequency by Americans to mean _conversation_?   * Is _dialog_ **not** used in British English for the window on a computer screen?   * Is there any other difference I'm not aware of, or perhaps a better explanation for the two versions?


title: Corporates - is there any such word?

text: The use of "corporates" as a word to mean companies, organizations, etc., has been gaining popularity of late, at least here in India. Although I believe it is standard to speak of "corporate" life, I'm not sure there's a word like "corporates". > . . . had been a business consultant to the top **corporates** in the UK What is your opinion?


title: Hypernym for "phrase" and "gesture"

text: Is there a hypernym for _phrase_ and _gesture_ — that is, a word for an abstract action of communication performed by a person? For context, I am looking for a term to use in a computer program, rather than in prose, so a precise but obscure term from linguistics is perfectly acceptable.


title: “Has been” vs. “was”

text: Should one use _has been_ or _was_ in the following sentence, and why? >   * For many years the USA **has been** a British colony. >   * For many years the USA **was** a British colony. >


title: Difference between rest and remainder

text: What is the general difference between the words 'rest' and 'remainder'?


title: What does the phrase "humor me" mean?

text: I've never understood the term "humor me". Is it meant sarcastically? Please explain.


title: "Comparison between" versus "comparison for"

text: What's the difference between "comparison between" and "comparison for"?


title: Plural form of these two sentences

text: I'm helping my cousing with some English exercises but I don't imagine what would be the plural form of these two sentences: What is this? What is that? I'd say:" What are these?" and "What are those?" Does it make any sense?


title: What does ‘great conk of a nose’ imply?

text: There was the following sentence in a pretty old (October 7, 2013) article of New York Times titled, “A Jew not quite English enough,” which comments on the life and lifestyle of Ralph Miliband, the late father of David Miliband, Britain’s former foreign secretary and of Ed Milliband, the leader of the Labour Party. > In his book “Anglomania,” Ian Buruma wrote to Win: “This is indeed an old, > old story . Keep quiet, use code, ignore the occasional comments about > “pushiness” or “flashiness” or “stinginess” or Jewish behavior” or a comment > about a Jewish woman’s “ **great conk of a nose**." This afterall, is no > more than genteel prejudice, harmless enough, unlike the Continental brand > that Ralph Miliband fled**.” I don’t understand what “a Jewish woman’s “great conk of a nose” means. What does it mean? Is it just a description of a physical feature, or special attitudes of “a” Jewish woman? We have a popular Japanese idiom, “鼻っ柱が強い- hanappashira ga tsuyoi,” of which literal translation is “(have) a tough bridge of the nose, and it means a self-assertive, stubborn and sometimes quarrelsome person who would never concede. I wonder if “hanappashira ga tsuyoi” is close to “great conk of a nose” in meaning. Furthermore, is “great conk of a nose” politically incorrect expression?


title: Which is the correct 'apostrophe' to use when typing? ' (quote) or ` (backtick)

text: A recent discussion came up in GameDev that suggests that when you are using apostrope for abbreviations, that the correct apostrophe to use when typing is the backtick. On US Keyboards below the escape-key — left of the `1` key) Questions about the difference between the single-quote, and the apostrophe have come up before, but they do not address whether the apostrophe should be typed as if it is a single-quote, or it should be typed as a backtick. Which of the following are (more) correct: > Itˋs common sense that a student darenˋt interrupt its professor! or > It’s common sense that a student daren’t interrupt its professor!


title: I don't understand a part of the dictionary definition of the word" bastion"

text: I looked up the word "bastion" on the internet, and the definition was: a projecting part of a fortification built in an angle to the line of a wall, so as to allow defensive fire in several directions" What does the line _built in an angle to the line of a wall_ mean?


what's the meaning of "To make the larger point" e.g. > To make the larger point, this chapter initiates a detailed study of types > of commercial and political alliance making that are impossible to > generalize.


title: Used with permission/by permission, which is correct?

text: On a lot of small print notices you see things like "ABC is a trademark of XYZ Corp., **used by permission** " or " **used with permission** ". To me, "used with permission" sounds correct. Is either (more) correct? Is this a British/American difference? Or do they have slightly different meanings?


title: Phrase to describe a chair being pulled

text: I'm lost for words to complete this sentence: > The sound of the chair **___** against the floor can be heard clearly as the > room silence with my sudden action.


title: Pronunciations of different accent

text: Would it be possible for me to to listen different pronunciations in english. Regards, Aboli


title: Word for a social partner without romantic connotations?

text: Is there a good way to describe a social partner without romantic connotations? Especially when referring to dining. I know date and partner (on its own) generally both generally imply some sort of romantic connotation (feel free to prove me wrong). Is there anything besides dining partner or friend? Thanks!


title: "Insight into whether" vs "insight as to whether"

text: I've seen the expressions _insight into whether_ and _insight as to whether_ used. Are both correct? If so is there any difference between them?


title: "Email" vs "mail" when referring to email

text: When referring to email in a business context (or any other) is it acceptable to say _mail_ or should I always write _email_? I have a secure email product for use on smartphones and would like to know if it is alright to market it as a _Secure Mobile Mail_ product or if I should call it a _Secure Mobile Email_ product.


title: What is the origin of "moral support"?

text: Why is the phrase "moral support" used, when it seems like it would more accurately be "morale support"? Is this just a misspelling that has become canon, or something else?


title: A way to express an overreaction to something positive

text: I am looking for a word or an expression to describe an overreaction to positive news or positive events. Something that has to do with excessive enthusiasm like when you you are unable to control your emotions. Thanks


title: "Dabbler", without the negative connotation

text: According to dictionary, a dabbler is "an amateur who engages in an activity without serious intentions and who pretends to have knowledge". I want a word that means a person genuinely interested in something, wishing to learn more, but currently not having much knowledge about it and not able to make it their primary activity. I used to use the word "dabbler" for this meaning but I recently discovered it has the above-mentioned negative connotation. What is the word that I should be using instead?


title: Meaning of "Cheeky" in Australian Aboriginal English

text: In Australian Aboriginal English, does "Cheeky" have meanings different from those found in other varieties of English? In the Baz Luhrmann movie "Australia", the word "Cheeky" was used by the Aboriginal character Nullah: > Miss boss! We gotta get those fat cheeky bulls into that big bloody metal > ship! (However, Australia might be unreliable when it comes to Australian Aboriginal English) The Wikipedia article Australian Aboriginal English indirectly talks about "Cheeky". It doesn't fully define it, but suggests it has distinct meanings in Australian Aboriginal English: > Another use [of "rubbish" ] is meaning something is not dangerous, for > example, non-venomous snakes are all considered to be rubbish while in > contrast, venomous snakes are all cheeky.


title: "A, B, C, or etc." vs. "A, B, or C, etc." vs. "A, B, C, etc."

text: I think correct usages of "and" and "etc." are: > A, B, C, and etc.   >  A, B, and etc. But the example usage of "or" and "etc." I found in my dictionary is: > A or B, etc. Why it is not: > A, B, or etc. in the same way as "A, B, and etc." or as "A, B, or C"? And when there are A, B, C, is the following correct? > A, B, or C, etc. And if I omit the "or", which meaning do I get? >   * A, B, etc.   > >     1. = "A, B, and etc."? >     2. = "A or B, etc."? >   * A, B, C, etc. >     1. = "A, B, C, and etc."? >     2. = "A, B, or C, etc."? >


title: What is the difference between a variant and a variation?

text: I designed a logo for a client. He liked the idea it presented, but wanted to see alternative ways to represent its idea, so I came up with several new designs of similar concept. I now have to package the new designs into a presentation document, and when it came to titling its sections, I wondered: are the new designs variants of the initial one, or are they variations?


title: What is the word for "technical usurpation of an old word"?

text: Is there a word for "usurpation, rather than merely borrowing, of an old word by later, technical usage"? If so, what is it? For example, of old, the English word _summer_ meant "that season of the year in which the sun shines most directly; the warmest period of the year"; or even of older, as our own Peter Shor observes, "the half-year from around April to September." However, if you use the word today in its ancient senses, it may not be long before someone earnestly corrects you to the effect that "summer" did not start until the solstice, about June 21. Meghan Barr, Associated Press, June 19, 2012: > NEW YORK--The official start of summer brought temperatures in the high 90s > to the Eastern Seaboard on Wednesday.... One does not wish to be too unkind to a busy staff reporter, perspiring at her desk, hurriedly churning pages of copy! However, the adjective "astronomical" was, of course, available to Ms. Barr in place of the vague "official." Now, Ms. Barr (as one suspects) and I both agree that her audience would have found "astronomical" jarring in this context; but, you see, that's my point. Other old words that have suffered as _summer_ has might include nouns like _force, energy_ and _power,_ adjectives like _energetic_ (but oddly not _forceful_ or _powerful_ ), verbs like _to dissolve,_ and so on. Our own FumbleFingers notes the noun _train,_ whose older meanings the heedless locomotive seems to have hauled away. The word _metaphor_ indicates the borrowing, but does not imply the usurpation. Is there a word (most likely a word from the Greek, one supposes) that also implies the usurpation?


title: What does "mother father gentleman" mean?

text: How should I interpret the phrase "mother father gentleman" in a recently popularized song entitled _gentleman_? What is the purpose of describing _gentleman_ with _mother_ and _father_? Is this just a slang expression from the pop culture? I've seen many teenagers started using this phrase in sentences like "I'm mother father gentleman LOL".


title: Antonym of coercive

text: I'm looking for an antonym of the word coercive, i.e., a leader who gets something done merely by asking instead of forcing someone to do something. Any suggestions?


title: Is it possible to use "Achieve" in negative sentences

text: I've noticed in IELTS reading that there was a sentence as below: > disappointing results were _achieved_ by the Australian Academy. I looked this verb up in Longman dictionary, It's been said that: > To get a good result or succeed in doing something. It has positive meaning. How we could use " ** _achieve_** " with the above sentence? Is it correct? Is this a good use of the verb?


title: I wonder the reason why we must not use THERE in this sentence

text: > Across the Chesapeake Bay from the rest of the state Maryland's Eastern > Shore lies there , whose farms produce beans, tomatoes, and other garden > vegetables. Is this sentence grammatically correct? How is it stylistically? My teachers has already said to me that the adverb **there** should be removed. However, I have forgotten the reason for it. Could you help me why this sentence is not correct?


title: How come 'ou' was reduced to 'o' in the US?

text: Americans write _color_ and _favorite_ , when others say _colour_ and _favourite_. How/why did this happen?


title: Is ‘Trust-but-verify’ a frequently quoted word?

text: I came across a phrase ‘Trust-but-verify moment’ in the following sentence of Washington Post article yesterday. My interpretation of this phrase is ‘I trust you (and you’ve said), but now it’s the time you have to prove what you have committed to me.’ Is my understanding right? Is ‘Trust-but-verify’ a frequently used phrase? If so, why it is shown in Italic form in this particular quote? Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed that the Senate will vote on a repeal of the national health care overhaul, following the House's passage of repeal legislation last week. "I assure you we'll have a vote," McConnell said, adding that "it's very hard to deny people votes in the Senate." McConnell said that Obama has moved toward the center recently and said the president is now in "a kind of *a trust-but-verify*moment."


title: "The splits" vs "a split"

text: All my life I knew it as "I can do a split", but recently it has come to my attention that many people refer to it as "the splits" which sounds absolutely dreadful to my ear because it defies all the rules of pluralization. You can do a somersault and you can do "the tango" but you're not doing the tangos or the sumersaults, so, why the splits?! Additionally, it makes it very difficult to describe what sort of split you're doing. "I'm doing a front split" rolls off the tongue a lot more naturally than "I'm doing a front the splits". Anyway... I am curious if anyone knows what the origin of this odd abnormality is.


title: What does ‘Break out the corsages’ mean?

text: Further to my question I posted yesterday about the meaning of ‘Good hair’ of Sanate dignitaries who show up at the State of the Union occasion, I came across another strange phrase, “Break out the corsages” in the following Washington Post article (January 23) . I checked this phrase with a couple of dictionaries at hand in vain. What does it mean? > Who’s your date? Pairing off for the State of the Union: Lawmakers on the > Hill haven’t quite broken out the corsages — yet — but the high school level > drama is on as senators and representatives scramble to find suitable > across-the-aisle seating partners for Tuesday’s State of the Union address.


title: Colon designated list of colon itemized sentences

text: I'm just seeing dots, working with colons. Is it correct to use a colon to introduce a list of items which begin with colons? Or is it quite superfluous? Typically, I seem to employ this for lists of definitions, for example: > The database stores three types of data:   > > > junk: data that no-one wants anymore.   >  useless: serves no purpose whatsoever.   >  irrelevant: haikus about birds. I've found this resource to be pretty helpful when considering how I'm using colons, but as I'm writing a list like this I keep thinking there might be a better way, something clearer that doesn't overuse the punctuation. All help appreciated!


title: What would you call a person who is not a student, but takes interest in exploring academic topics?

text: A person who is not formally enrolled as a student, researcher or faculty in some university or college but who takes interest in exploring academic topics/stuff. For e.g. Such a person could be someone who is working in the corporate & has interest in & explores his academic fields. What could be a simple, 'easy for all to understand' term to refer to this person? I believe there is, perhaps, no easy single word for that, I can accept answers which propose a phrase that can describe this in a short and better way (must be easy for anyone to understand). A not-so-good example: "A learner or academic enthusiast".


title: Is there a comma before "so"? What is the correct answer?

text: What is the correct version: >   1. Suddenly the noise stopped, so Dani, the new resident, started feeling > uneasy. > >   2. Suddenly the noise stopped so Dani, the new resident, started feeling > uneasy. > >


title: Is this right: “the whole France”?

text: I am not sure if this phrase is right: “for the whole France”. Here's the context: > Sam applied these methods successfully at some sites in France and then was > extended for the whole France by Nino.


title: Is "a ten-minutes of a song" right?

text: I'm curious about if "I need a ten-minutes of 'SONG' to do sth." was right in English. Thanks for reading this quesiton


title: A synonym for Viral

text: _Viral_ , meaning a contagious spreading of word, saying, picture or song which reach a huge number of people through the Net, mainly via social networks, is now a very popular term that is finding its way into traditional dictionaries. Can you think a synonym or a word that suggest the same concept.


title: Tumble about = fall upon?

text: I've been reading Eveline by J. Joyce (It's about a young girl who wants to run away from home and town with her _boyfriend_ Frank to Buenos Aires; he's a sailor and they would travel by ship -- she finally decides not to leave which is seen in the following part) and in this paragraph: > A bell clanged upon her heart. She felt him seize her hand. "Come!" All the > seas of the world **tumbled about** her heart. He was drawing her into them; > he would drown her. She gripped with both hands at the iron railing. "Come!" > No! No! No!... the verb + prepositional phrase, _tumble about_ , is explained on the margin with "tumbled about - fell upon". I'm not quite sure I understand this explanation. Tumble about means to either roll around, like sea would capture her heart and waves would roll around it, metaphorically, somehow... (?) If I took the explanation as true, it would be explained as the sea has accidentaly, unexpectedly, found her heart and therefore the feelings (of the sea towards her that cause her feelings towards the sea)... Am I even close to explanation? I need a further clarification. Thanks.


title: ?thesaurical, adj

text: The adjectival form of _thesaurus_ does not seem to have been listed on (all) standard dictionaries. However, _thesaurical_ occurs in literature1 and is also defined in Urban Dictionary. Do we have an alternate 'listed' word for a context like the one below (a question of the sort dealt with on the pages of thesauri)? > But, Sir, that's a **thesaurical** question. 1 _These are the next epithets theorists have up their **thesaurical** sleeves._ (New Scientist, 1977)


title: Isn’t the expression, "I'm not inclined to be a supporter of Newt Gingrich's having served under him for four years” confusing?

text: I found the following line in today’s (December 4) Time magazine article titled, Coburn Speaks Up: > “On "Fox News Sunday," Sooner State Sen. tells Chris Wallace he would have > trouble supporting Gingrich. Coburn: "I'm not inclined to be a supporter of > _Newt Gingrich's having served under him_ for four years and _experienced > personally his leadership_. I found it lacking often times." To the eyes of a non-native English speaker, and as a bigoted septuagenarian, Coburn’s remark looks as if Newt Gingrich has served under Coburn and Coburn experienced personally how excellent Newt Gingrich’s leadership is. Is it wrong to say: > "I'm not inclined to be a supporter of Newt Gingrich's. Having served under > him for four years and experienced personally the lack of his leadership, I > found it lacking oftentimes," though the repetition of 'lack' might be redundant?


title: How to express an appointment "has happened"?

text: Let's say there is an appointment between John and Peter, scheduled for yesterday at 7am. An appointment might be "cancelled", which means that it didn't happen. But, what word(s) would you use to describe the appointment was "completed" (i.e. John and Peter met yesterday at 7am). Is it right to say "Did the appointment took place?" or "The appointment happened"? _Note that I'm interested in the point of view of the appointment itself, not the people involved in it._


title: What's the origin of the figure of speech "call the shots"?

text: I'm well aware that when someone says "he's the one who calls the shots" it means that that person is the one in charge, the one who takes all the relevant decisions. But what's the origin of this figure of speech?


title: “Built-in” or “In-built”

text: Is there any difference between using _in-built_ or _built-in_? Is one more correct than the other, or does it depend on the context, or ”house style”? > This oven comes with a _built-in_ extractor fan. > > This oven comes with an _in-built_ extractor fan.


title: Is there a general thesaurus for conceptual fields?

text: My question is about ways to find out about, or remind oneself of, related concepts. Say I'm writing an article and I'm stuck finding the right expression.   * I want to say that the author is confused about a concept, but I don't want to use the word "confused", for stylistic, syntactical or any other reasons. I would like to find other words like "muddle", "is not clear about", or "does not distinguish".   * I want to say that I reject an objection to a given view. I would like to find other expressions like "riposte", "rejoinder", but also sentence templates such as "Contra N.N., I hold that"   * What are different ways to express the concept _opposition_? "In contrast", "Whereas .., ...", "On the other hand".   * What are different ways to make an enumeration of arguments? "First, ...; Second, ...", "For one thing, ...", "for another", .... What I'm looking for is similar to a thesaurus, but many of these reference works (such as this one) only list expressions of roughly the same lexical category: "contrast" -- "comparison", but not "despite the similarities, ..." etc. "By contrast" is not even listed. Often what you need is just to be pointed in the right direction. Is there anything - a dictionary, thesaurus, list of schematic sentences, web site, ... - that fits my description?


title: "Expect to" vs. "Expect will"

text: Which of the following is correct? ~~ > How many sales do you expect to make more than $470? vs. > How many sales do you expect will make more than $470? ~~ If both are correct, which is preferred in the context of a math test involving the normal distribution? The intent of the problem is this: Given a normal distribution with a mean of 400 and a standard deviation of 70, find the probability that any randomly selected data value will be greater than 470. ## EDIT: By popular demand, I have now replaced the word "make" with the word "earn." > How many sales do you expect to earn more than $470? vs. > How many sales do you expect will earn more than $470?


title: Does the expression “put the clothes on your back” have an idiomatic meaning?

text: As you know, there is a phrase “have no shirt on his back,” which means having no money and basic necessities. Would you think I should apply the meaning to the following description? > "How many times do I have to tell you not to mention that unnaturalness > under my roof?" he hissed, his face now a rich plum color. "You stand there, > in **the clothes** Petunia and I **have put on your** ungrateful **back** > ...." > > "Only after Dudley finished with them," said Harry coldly, ... (p33, Harry > Potter 4, US edition) For your information, Harry has lived at his non-wizard uncle’s house since he lost his parents. Now, his uncle is speaking with an air of condescension. Dudley is his cousin, whose old clothes are always going to Harry. I consulted some dictionaries, but there seems to be no such idiom as “put the clothes on your ~ back”. And here are my questions;   1. Is the speaker, Harry’s uncle, talking only about clothes, or saying “you live in comfort with basic needs for life”?   2. Is Harry’s answer purely about clothes, or a part of the idiomatic meaning which he took it literally on purpose? I’d be glad if you could help me!


title: How nutty are the terms "nut case", "health nut" and "sports nut"?

text: If someone is **_nuts about something/someone_** it means they are a very enthusiastic— sometimes bordering on obsessive—devotee of that particular thing or person. **To be nuts** is a colloquial term meaning _crazy_ , _mad_ or _insane_ , and there is the idiomatic expression **_to drive someone nuts_** , meaning a person's annoying or irritating behaviour is responsible for making another, figuratively speaking, lose their mind.   * When (and why) did the humble innocuous fruit, _nut_ , become associated with insanity?    * We're all familiar with the politically incorrect term, _basket case_ , I am referring to its modern-day meaning: _someone or something that is incapable of functioning normally, a state of helplessness [...], most frequently in the context of mental health_ , is the idiom   **_nut case_** therefore related to that expression or is it coincidental?   * Are the terms **health nut** and **sports nut** derogatory, neutral or positive today? Were they originally insults, as I suspect, or were they meant to be semi-affectionate, tongue-in-cheek expressions?


title: How to address letter to a company

text: I want to send a letter to a company (specifically Microsoft). I've read some things that say one should write "To whom it may concern". I really don't like this; it sounds pretentious. Other sources suggest writing "Dear Sirs" or "Dear Sir or Madam". I don't care for either of these because in the former case a woman could be reading the letter, and in the latter case my letter could be read by multiple people. "Dear Sirs or Madams" sounds ridiculous. "Dear Microsoft" is obviously laughable (and I'm very apposed to corporate person-hood, hah!). I've never particularly cared for "Dear" as the beginning to a letter myself. I don't even know who I'm writing to. But what options do I have other than "Dear"? What should I do?


title: What does it mean to be "clipping an r"? Why is that a qualification for celebrities to be invited to the royal wedding?

text: _The Washington Post_ (April 24) ran an article about the royal wedding under the title, “In London, the royal wedding haters have had enough.” I was interested in the expression, “the wedding ate the world” which appeared in this article. But I was more puzzled about what “famous person who has ever clipped an ‘r’ is booked for wedding,” implies in the following sentence. Can somebody teach me what to “clip an ‘r’ means, and why clipping an “r” should be considered a qualification for becoming enough of a celebrity to be invited to royal wedding? > “The onslaught continues. The pundits are only just arriving. --They have > already readied their Team of People With British Accents to comment, and > comment they shall. Every famous person who has ever clipped an “r” is > booked for the wedding. This includes Sharon Osbourne, Hugh Jackman > (Australian, close enough), Cat Deeley and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”.


title: Can/should I put a comma before a phrase's time specifier?

text: For instance, consider the sentence, "I ate lunch today." Is it necessary or acceptable to put a comma before "today?" Generally speaking, some of these time phrases look wrong to me when used with a comma, while others do not. I think the central question and the source of my confusion is, "When is the time not critical to the meaning of the idependent clause?" Is there a better rule of thumb?   * "I ate lunch, today."   * "I ate lunch, while the others were out."   * "I ate lunch, at the same time the others did."


title: Etymology of 'doylum'

text: _Doylum_ was a word commonly used in Leeds, Yorkshire, North of England, where I grew up in the 1960s/70s. It basically means _idiot_ \- "What a doylum!" At the time I thought this was strictly a Leeds word, but a quick search online finds it is still used and appears to be very popular with fans of Newcastle United and Hartlepool football teams. What this says about their quality of players I really couldn't say.      It also crops up on Yorkshire dialect sites, but so far I can't find any explanation of its origin. Does anyone have any ideas?      Also, Hartlepool and Newcastle are some 75-100 miles from Leeds - does anyone know if the word has spread there in the last 40 years or has it always been used there? Someone suggested to me that it might come from Yiddish as there is a large Jewish population in Leeds, though this would only be relevant if it truly is a Leeds word.


title: What's the correct word for saying a certain position can be stood on?

text: I'm making a game with tiles and I need a good word for describing whether or not a character can stand on a certain tile. There is "walkable", but this describes movement, which is not the case. Also, this is a boolean property of the tile, the answer is either yes or no. So there is no "safe to stand on" and "fairly dangerous", just "possible" and "impossible".


title: How to choose an abbreviation for a given word?

text: I was trying to find a proper abbreviation for the word _dictionary_.   _Dict._ or _Dic._ or something else? Obviousely there won't be a short form for each English word. But if there does exist one, how can I find it? Is there a rule of thumb for choosing the right abbreviation for any given word?


title: Is it more formal to use words of Latin origin?

text: For example, _cemetery_ instead of _graveyard_. In which context would a word of Latin origin be more proper? Or is there no difference at all?


title: Using the pronouns "he" and "she" for animals

text: I've been wondering for some time under which conditions the pronouns **he/she** can be used when talking about animals. I know that they are used when talking about pets (esp. larger ones) and when you know the sex of the animal (as, for example, zoo keepers, vets, etc., generally do), and also often in literature. But when it comes to other contexts, I often don't understand why **he/she** is used. Are there any rules? Example: I recently read a report about how to survive in the Sahara desert, and how dangerous some of the animals can be. "Be careful if you encounter the so-and-so snake, **He** doesn't like to be stepped on." It was just this one sentence, and the source of the text was OUP in a textbook, so I'm sure it wasn't a mistake. And I've come across many other examples that I can't recall now, but that made me wonder... And I'd also like to know whether there is a tendency for which animals take **he** and which **she** as a pronoun. For example frog: If **he/she** is used, is it usually **he** or **she**? Are there any lists or reference books where I could look?


title: Is there an unambiguous word to mean "moving slowly"?

text: Besides "crawling", is there another verb to describe slow movement? It would be best if the word is not a homograph (has no other meanings besides "move slowly").


title: It will be the first time I have flown to America - why not just present simple?

text: I have been reading a long discussion about another grammar thing and stumbled upon the following: > It will be the first time I have flown to America. I wonder why there is present perfect tense and not just present simple? > It will be the first time I fly to America. //probably incorrect I do not understand it as the speaker is talking about the future, he is not there yet and neither is he on the plane...so why use present perfect?


title: "He have a point" is this correct?

text: > he have a point Is this correct usage? Or should I use this: > "he has a point" Which is correct?


title: How do you hyphenate 'luminous' over 2 verse lines, 'lumi-nous' or 'lumin-ous'? Help

text: How do you hyphenate 'luminous' over two verse lines, 'lumi-nous' or 'lumin- ous'? Help.


title: Asking a question with "have" without do-support: "What symptoms has Anne?"

text: The context is that a doctor is asking about somebody's child's symptoms of influenza. Is this question correct: "What symptoms has Anne?" If it's incorrect, then why? It looks strange to me, I would rather ask "What symptoms does Anne have?" but don't know why.


title: Which would you use 'go for a swim' or 'going swimming'

text: Which would you use _'go for a swim'_ or _'going swimming'_? > I am going swimming today. > > I go for a swim today.


title: What kinds of words or phrases would you use to describe this situation?

text: As a teacher I am obliged to look after children during the recess/break. How would you call this situation in English? Let me elaborate a little bit: Each lesson lasts 45 minutes, then students are entitled to a break. During that break, usually two teachers take care/look after the children in order to prevent any dangerous situations to happen. I am curious about how we can describe this situation. I would go for 'I have a break duty after my 4th lesson on second floor'. Am I correct when I use 'recess/a break duty' term?


title: Can the term "etymology" be applied to a phrase or only individual words?

text: I have always heard the term used in referring to a single word. When browsing questions on this site, I've seen it used applied to entire phrases, and have suppressed the compulsion to edit them and replace the term with _origin_.


title: "When" vs. "what time"

text: > When are we meeting, dear, I am hungry? or > What time are we meeting, dear, I am hungry? Please elaborate on the semantical differences.


title: Meaning of "bulging with Pongo's lunch" in the following sentence

text: From Uncle Fred Flits By by P.G. Wodehouse: The meaning of bulging by dictionary is: protruding part, a sudden increase in number or quantity, and last is: an advantage. I don't see any of these fit in the phrase "bulging with Pongo's lunch" - How can these be applied to "lunch" - a food ? > So when, on the occasion to which I allude, he stood pink and genial on > Pongo's **hearth-rug** , **bulging** with Pongo's lunch and wreathed in the > smoke of one of Pongo's cigars, and said: 'And now, my boy, for a pleasant > and instructive afternoon,' you will readily understand why the unfortunate > young **clam** gazed at him as he would have gazed at **two-penn'orth** of > dynamite, had he discovered it lighting up in his presence. Please explain me the meaning of the sentence also, I am not able to clearly get its meaning although I have referred the oxford dictionary for all the words I don't know.


title: Does "fare" apply to non-persons?

text: If one pays for transportation of oneself a _fare_ has been paid. What is paid if the transportation is of a non-person object (a parcel, a letter, a vegetable, a box of rocks)?


title: Pronunciation of letters "g" and "c" in blend words

text: According to this article: > The Pronunciation of ‘C’ and ‘G’ generally (but not always) depends upon the > letter following either 'C' or 'G'. If the following letter is ‘E’, ‘I’ or > ‘Y’, the pronunciation is said to be “soft” (as in _cell & large_). If the > following letter is anything else - including a space - the pronunciation is > termed “hard”. (as in _call & great_) I'm wondering if these letters (‘C’ and ‘G’) retain their pronunciation in blend words.   For example consider the word " **Regex** ". This word is made from combining " **Regular** " and " **Expression** ". How should the letter "g" in Regex be pronounced? Soft, like in " _General_ "? or hard, like in " _Regular_ "?


title: Why is "hiccup" spelled with two c's?

text: Is there a historical or grammatical reason for spelling hiccup with two c's?


title: When to use "huge" and "big"

text: What is the difference between _huge_ and _big_? For example: >   * He made a huge difference to the team. He made a big difference to the > team. > Is there a difference in meaning?


title: Using Past Perfect after an event

text: While reading a book, I came across some sentences that used past-perfect "after" an event had taken place. Actually, I've seen many books do this, so this must be the grammatically correct way, but I'm curious why. > It was after Dad died and we had moved to New York. Why shouldn't it be the other way around, as in "It was after Dad had died and we moved to New York"? > Not long after that, she had made the decision to sell the house. I'm really confused why it isn't "Not long after that, she made the decision to sell the house"? It feels like the decision making took after "that." > He stayed out until the sun had set. Well, I guessing that this one means that he went home after the sun had set, but I'm still not sure why the writer would write this way.


title: Is "in about" grammatical in "I'll reach there in about 5 minutes"?

text: Is it correct to say "I'll reach there in about 5 minutes?" Is "in about" correct in this sentence?


title: Correct phrase for “Chain of equations”

text: In math, one often writes > _a = b = c = d_ to prove that _a=d_. How is such a sequence of equations called in English? In German, there is “Gleichungskette”, but the direct translation “Chain of equation” is not found very often by Google, hence my query.


title: A pejorative term for "unreasonably gregarious"

text: I am looking for a pejorative term to describe someone who constantly needs social interaction regardless of quality. Something along the lines of "social nymphomaniac", but not necessarily gender-specific, and preferably in a single word. I would also prefer it if it were not colloquial.


title: Words or expressions to describe having a difficult time in your dreams or nightmares

text: What is the best word to use in the following sentence? Any other words or expressions that can be used? >   * That day as well he had barely woken up after a night spent tossing and > turning in a nightmare. >   * That day as well he had barely woken up after a night spent flailing in > a nightmare. >   * That day as well he had barely woken up after a night spent floundering > in a nightmare. >


title: Word to describe a sensation of death coming over your entire body?

text: This is the context where I want to use the word: > He closed his eyes. The living did not come to mind, neither friend, nor > family—only the dance of death, plain to see. The dancing figures of death > were beckoning him. How could he not end his life? _The sense of death > already enveloped him._ His body grew cold and he felt stiff like lead. What words can be used here? Can 'aura' be used here? Doesn't your body have an 'aura' intrinsically? > The sense of death already enveloped him. > > The aura of death already enveloped him. The OED definitions I found are: > **Sense** _noun_ > > 1 a faculty by which the body perceives an external stimulus; one of the > faculties of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch::the bear has a keen > sense of smell that enables it to hunt at dusk > > 2 a feeling that something is the case:: she had the sense of being a > political outsider > >   * an awareness or feeling that one is in a specified state:: you can > improve your general health and sense of well-being > >   * (sense of) a keen intuitive awareness of or sensitivity to the presence > or importance of something:: she had a fine sense of comic timing > > > > **Aura** _noun_ (plural auras) [usually in singular] > > 1 the distinctive atmosphere or quality that seems to surround and be > generated by a person, thing, or place: the ceremony retains an aura of > mystery > > 2 a supposed emanation surrounding the body of a living creature, viewed by > mystics, spiritualists, and some practitioners of complementary medicine as > the essence of the individual, and allegedly discernible by people with > special sensibilities. any invisible emanation, especially a scent or odor: > there was a faint aura of disinfectant


title: Is "mainstream" an acceptable verb?

text: I recently read the word "mainstream" as a verb and doubted whether it was the best choice in the sentence. Can you say you want to "mainstream" something? Perhaps it is grammatical but just unadvisable?


title: Word pairs that are both synonyms and antonyms

text: The words "catholic" and "parochial" are synonyms or near-synonyms meaning "pertaining to the Catholic Church" (e.g., a parochial school is a Catholic school) but they're antonyms in a different sense; one means "universal" and the other means "local" or "provincial." Are there any other word pairs that are synonyms in one meaning but antonyms in another? I'm excluding words that can be their own opposites; there are lots of questions about those, and lots of examples. Here I'm asking about distinct pairs of meanings.


title: What does the title "Whose line is it anyway?" mean?

text: _Whose line is it anyway?_ is a comedy show in which participants are given a theme and they are supposed to come up with an act according to the theme given to them. According to Oxford Dictionary, one possible meaning of _anyway_ is to ask a question, like > What are you doing here anyway? but I am not able figure out the meaning of _anyway_ in this expression. Maybe it is because I am not able to imagine the context it has been said in. What is the explanation?


title: Is “in a greater scale” grammatical?

text: Say the facts are   * Method A produces score of 101.   * Method B produces score of 102. when using data set 1, but when using data set 2:   * Method A produces score of 100.   * Method B produces score of 1000. Method B is better than Method A in both datasets; what I want to say is Method B performed much better with dataset 2. Is the following sentence correct? > Method B outperforms Method A in a greater scale in dataset 2 compared to > dataset 1.


title: A word for "not needing directions in order to solve an issue"?

text: Is there a word to describe the ability to be able to complete tasks without necessarily needing instructions, i.e. finding it out yourself. It's for a personal profile in a CV.


title: Does the next word after a colon have to be capitalized?

text: If I write this line in a story: She said: when are you going? Does the "when" have to be capitalized? Also, if the "she said" part is not part of a conversation in a novel does the word after the colon have to be capitalized? _Additional info from OP's comment:_   I know English uses a comma after "said". I just use a colon for some avant- garde writing. What I am curious about is the capitalization of "when" if a colon is used in whatever context.


title: What would be a good idiom for this?

text: In Hebrew there is an idiom that translates to English like this: "To go without and to feel with". The usual meaning is that one doesn't have some object or ability but is nevertheless is able to act or to be perceived as if one did have the object or ability. An element of deception is usually **not** involved, at least not overtly. EXAMPLES: For instance, you can use it in engineering when you use an approximate method to get cheaply/quickly an otherwise expensive outcome. Another usage example from a random search: I found an article with this idiom as its title. It refers to the USA going without but feeling with in the wake of the 2011 credit downrating. The idea is that although the USA no longer has stellar credit rating it is still able to borrow money as cheaply as before.


title: Is “gaze de naval” English idiom, French idiom or a half-breed?

text: I was drawn to the word,“gaze de navel” appearing in New York Time’s (July 6) article titled “Goodbye Old World, Bonjour Tristesse” written by Maureen Dowd). http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/07/opinion/sunday/dowd-goodbye-old- world-bonjour-tristesse.html?hp&_r=0 It goes: > Joie de vivre has given way to **gaze de navel**. The French are so busy > wallowing in their existential estrangement — a state of mind Camus > described as “Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee?” — that they > don’t even have the energy to be rude. And now that they’re smoking > electronic cigarettes, their ennui doesn’t look as cool. It’s not that > they’ve lost faith in their own superiority. They’ve lost faith that the > rest of the world sees it. Merriam-Webster online English Dictionary defines “navel gazing” as “useless or excessive self-contemplation.” Google Ngram shows that the usage of “navel gazing” emerged in / around 1960 and the currency is on a sharp rise. Neither registers 'gaze de navel.' However, “gaze de naval” sounds to me foreign - somewhat half-breed (Pardon me if this is the misuse of word) of English and French words. Does “gaze de naval” pass as a chic English idiom that I can try to use in conversation and in writing, or it is just Dowd’s special coinage?


title: Which is the correct syllable division for 'banana'?

text: Having looked up _banana_ in two separate online dictionaries, I see that depending on the dictionary, the syllables are: >   * ba-na-na >   * ba-nan-a > Although I imagine this only matters when deciding where to hyphenate, I want you to help settle the argument that this started — which is _really_ correct?


title: Sign In "to" or Sign In "with" the website

text: I'm working on a "Forgot Password" text and don't know which one is correct: To reset your password, enter the email address you use to Sign In **to** (website name) or To reset your password, enter the email address you use to Sign In **with** (website name)


My grandpa used to ask _"Do you live around here or ride a bicycle?"_ fairly often, finding it hilarious (him and only him). While it is quite an awkward, malformed piece of logic, what is its source? It seems to exist as a phrase more often than chance, occasionally in humor/"wit" books.


title: What does “run on a ticket with somebody” mean? Is it a well-received English idiom?

text: I found the phrase, “ _run on a ticket with a man_ ” in the today’s (December 9) Washington Post article titled, “Gingrich run could bring up bad memories for former colleagues.” The article begins with the following sentence: “If former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is the Republican presidential nominee, many members of Congress will _run on a ticket with a man_ they worked with two decades ago. Judging by some of their public comments, not all of them would necessarily welcome the idea.” As I’m uncertain of the meaning of “run on a ticket with a man,” I consulted OED, Cambridge, and M-W online dictionary. Only Cambridge Dictionary registered ‘run on sth.’ as the idiom accompanied with the explanation; ‘If a machine runs on a particular type of power, it uses that power to work; e.g. Some calculators run on solar power, though I don’t think this definition is applicable to the usage of the phrase in the above quote. Neither OED nor M-E registers “run on ticket” nor “run on something.” However, GoogleNgram shows the usage trend of “run on a ticket.” The phrase emerged in circ.1870, and its usage has been dwindling after peaking around 1930. What does " _run on a ticket with somebody_ ” mean? Is it a well-received English idiom?


title: Dialects where days of the week end with "dee"?

text: Someone recently posted a question about the pronunciation of _Wednesday_ , which reminded me of a _different_ question about pronouncing the days of the week I've had floating around in my head for a while. In Standard American English, the word seems to be pronounced "Wensday" [wɛnzdeɪ]. However, I occasionally hear people say something like "Wensdee" [wɛnzdi], and in general the days of the week are Mondee, Tuesdee, Wensdee, Thursdee, etc. What puzzles me about this is that I haven't been able to associate it with one particular dialect or region - I've hear people say it in (to give three examples) Arizona, Minnesota, and New York. My question is: What US dialects characteristically use this pronunciation - where does it come from? Also, I feel like I often hear older folks using it - could it have something to do with age?


title: What is the meaning of "as clear as a bell"?

text: What is the meaning “as clear as a bell”? I met this expression long time ago but I have forgotten what it means.


title: what is the one word for the phrase "noise made by broken glass"?

text: Please provide me with a single word for the phrase "noise made by broken glass".


title: "have been working" vs. "have worked"

text: What is the difference between the following two sentences? >   1. I have been working here for 20 years. >   2. I have worked here for 20 years. > The present perfect tense is used for repetitive or constant actions that began in the past and continue to the present. The perfect progressive tense is used for continuous actions that began in the past and continue to the present. But I really don't see the difference here.


title: What is the difference in meaning between "choice" and "option"?

text: When must we use _option_ but not _choice_ , and where do we use _choice_ but not _option_? Or can we use them interchangeably always?


title: Which best describes the English language?

text: 1. English has complex morphology and less rigid phonology.   2. English has less complex phonology but more rigid morphology.   3. English has both rigid and complex morphology and phonology.


title: Difference in naming between consulting and consultants

text: I have a domain research for a company and since English is not my first language I was wondering about the difference between e.g. _Boston Consulting_ and _Boston Consultants_ My guess is that the first one refers to the company as a whole and the second refers to the people of the company. Thank you for your guidance.


title: Decadence of the word decadence

text: Everyone who is not from the US that I know gives the same quizzical look when some food commercial claims that a TV dinner is _decadent_. When did it start being used to mean luxurious? And why? (Our best guess is that it was a joking bet by some people in advertising that got out of hand...)


title: Etymology of "ping"

text: According to Wikipedia `ping`, the IP network utility, was named after the sonar "ping", which is apparently onomatopoeic. However, "ping" is now used in the vernacular in the sense of "pinging" someone via (usually) electronic communication to request acknowledgement of a message. Does the usage of "ping" in this latter sense directly derive from the network utility `ping`, or does it predate it? And how common is usage of the word "ping" like this by people without technical backgrounds or who are otherwise familiar with the `ping` utility? Also, assuming the vernacular usage does derive from the `ping` utility, are there examples other technical jargon that have entered the common vernacular and become (mostly) dissociated with their technical origins? (Computer jargon terms like "bits" and "bytes" that are commonly known but commonly understood as computer jargon do not count...obviously this hinges on what is considered common knowledge so cannot be answered precisely, but I'm looking for things generally in this category.)


title: Etymology of "crush"?

text: How did crush come to be used to mean "an intense but usually short-lived infatuation"?


title: Etymology of "card" referring to an eccentric person

text: What is the origin of the use of the word "card" to refer to an eccentric person? How did this meaning develop?


title: Is the term "city boy" a commonly used appellation for London bankers? Does it only apply to them, or is it colloquial for other London denizens?

text: I was watching the British series _Sherlock Holmes_ and I noticed a couple of times they referred to bankers Sherlock was investigating or talking to as _city boys_. How common is this usage? Would the average person from the UK understand it? Or perhaps it's only specific to London? Does it only apply to bankers?


title: Reservation "under the name", "in the name", or "by the name" of Ms. X

text: Which idiom of "by the name", "under the name", and "in the name" is appropriate for reservations? e.g. _There's a reservation **by the name of** Cullen_... _She made the reservation **in the name of** Jordan Sinclair_... _Make your reservation **under the name of** ECW_... Instinctively, I would go for "under", but I'm just not positively sure. If all three options actually work, is any of them more typical of a variety of English than another, or they all can be used just about interchangeably in all varieties?


title: Is the phrase "getting on" commonly used in British English? What register would its use be in?

text: I've collected a new phrase from my watching of British television, _getting on_ , as in "How's he getting on?" From various contexts, I think I've gotten the meaning down to "how's he doing?" Anyway, I was wondering, is this phrase commonly used throughout the UK, or is specifically London argot? Second, does its use invoke any class stereotypes? I.e., would using it in formal situation reek of informality, is it very slang-y?


title: “They had whatted the car?”

text: The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language says this: > Echo **_what_** is syntactically very different from the interrogative > pronoun _what_. It can replace words of more or less any category, and can > take on the inflectional properties of that category — cf. _You bought three > whats?_ or even _They had whatted the car?_ CGEL does not use any symbols indicating questionable grammaticality or grammaticality in some dialects only for those examples; therefore, the authors consider the examples correct in all dialects of English, including International English. As the echo _what_ would naturally occur in spoken English (as opposed to written English), it is difficult to ascertain whether the examples would sound idiomatic in major English dialects (e.g. British English, American English) using Google Search. So, my question is: Which of these are more natural in various spoken English dialects? > They had _what_ the car? > > They had _whatted_ the car? > > You bought three _what_? > > You bought three _whats_? EDIT: Or more generally, what constitutes idiomatic use of echo _what_ in British and American English?


title: How to express this statement better - ill toward

text: We have this paragraph here: > The forum is here for collectors of all persuasions, so unless you're in a > thread specifically geared towards comparison/discussion, **keep your ill > toward comments out of the thread**. Note that there is a difference between > having a reasonable argument in the correct thread and trolling. How can we express the bolded part better - it just doesn't sound right!


title: What does a patient and doctor "got off" to a rough start mean?

text: To a non-native English learner like me, understanding of, and familiarizing with the wide scope of usages of idioms associated with basic verbs such as “do, get, go, let, make, and have” are always a great headache. For instance, there was the following sentence in New Yorker’s (July 11) article titled, “How to tell someone that she is dying”: > “This raises a fundamental question about the doctor-patient relationship: > Is modern medical practice all about “patient knows best?” or do physicians > still need, on occasion, to cajole their patient into doing the right thing? > The encounter between Elizabeth and her oncologist **got off** to a rough > start and only got worse.” What does the patient and doctor’s encounter “got off” to a rough start mean? Doe it mean they went or diverted into a rough start? What is a single word (verb) to represent for “got off” used here? Why is it "get off to," not "get off from (a rough start, and got worse)"? CED defines “get off” as an idiom to mean; 1\. escape a punishment, be acquitted. 2\. go to sleep. 3\. (usu. get off with) have a special encounter. 4\. (usu. get off on) be excited or aroused. Collins Cobuild English Dictionary defines “get off” as an idiom meaning; 1\. not punished, or given a very small punishment. 2\. leave a place because it is time for you to leave. 3\. tell someone “get off” when they are touching you don’t want them to. Which of the definitions of CED and Cobuild does the “got off” of the above article come under?


title: Is a stem word required with a prefix and suffix combination?

text: Suppose the following lexeme: > mononess Consisting of the prefix "mono-" (meaning "one") and suffix "-ness" (meaning "the quality of"), but no stem/root word. Could this lexeme be a valid word in the English language? If so, is this construction allowed explicitly or implicitly ("not disallowed" by any rule)? Also, are there examples of any real words that follow this pattern?


title: Is "Yankee" derogatory?

text: I have heard of the term "Yankee" often referring to people in the Northern U.S. by Southerners. My question is: is this term considered derogatory or offensive and should it be avoided in formal settings?


title: Is a hyphen required or is the proper use of it subjective?

text: My question is as stated in the title. In a very famous article, I noticed the author used the word - "nonexperiment". I looked up the word and it is not actually a word, so I believe it should be written as "non-experiment". Am I wrong? Furthermore, my professor used the word binwidth, and it is not a word. Thus, I would write it as bin-width, but only because it is not a word. I believe grammar and sentence structures are not explicitly well defined. But I do believe there are general definitions, and on top of that, experts in writing have extended the definitions based on their own opinion. Thus, even though I consider myself a beginner in writing, I would rather accept and use the words "nonexperiment" and "binwidth". My professor considers himself as a terrible writer, but I like his style because it is not difficult for me to understand. Is it possible he used the word - "binwidth" incorrectly?


title: "on" that isn't "on top of"

text: Sorry if the title is bad, I didn't know how to put it. Take the following sentence, "He flipped the pancake so vigorously it got stuck on the ceiling". When we think about the word "on", we usually think of "on top of". So is there a word that doesn't sound as weird that could be used in place?


title: In my example, can I use a comma before the word "thus"?

text: > Graph 4 improves Graph 3 because it shows potentially similar outliers that > occur at each birthday, thus this represents our best range of x.


title: How can you paraphrase "Here you are?"

text: When you hand something to someone, you say "Here you are." I know this it a set phrase but it looks incomplete and doesn't make much sense to me. How can you paraphraze or complete the sentence?


title: What's the meaning of the expression "flow of bloodlines, and yours is far too thin"?

text: A man is talking to a woman. > We choose who we mate with. We decide the flow of bloodlines, and yours is > far too thin. I am not sure about the meaning of _flow of bloodlines_. When someone says that a person has a _thin bloodline_ , what does he mean? Is it common to say that someone has a thin bloodline?


title: Single word for "humorous in an intellectual way"

text: How to describe something (in this case, a description) that is humorous in an intellectual way?


title: Why do Americans say "tuna fish"?

text: I mean, it's not like there is a tuna vegetable or animal that it can be confused with.


title: Placement of "ever" with "have"

text: I'm having a hard time telling if my wording is correct or not. In the following sentence, **"...a job like that would be the first of its kind I will ever have worked,"** does it make any difference if "ever" comes after "have" rather than before? Is one wording better than the other? Or, alternatively, are they both examples of faulty ways of phrasing it?