title: Contradictory meanings of 'sick'

text: We usually use the word 'sick' to refer to something that you are tired of or don't like. So it is quite clear when we say > I'm sea-sick, that we mean, one is sick of travelling by sea (eg: boat) due to the constant movement. I think we can use the 'sick' postfix in different situations to mean the same negative feeling. But is there are rule to indicate that you're sick of not having something? For example, when we say that we're > home-sick, we mean that we're missing home - thus the absence of home, and not of being at home. So how would one identify that what is meant is having too much of something or missing it?


title: Constructing long and detailed sentences, and the correct use of punctuation

text: I've had a browse of some of the questions here on commas and can't see if this has been asked. I have been fastidious about my punctuation and grammar, but find the advent of online social networking and texting is really taking it's toll on maintaining these lifelong habits. I am not an expert, but have (what I thought) was a sound basis of English usage. I'll use some example sentences: > I think, sometimes, that my use of commas, and, occasionally, exclamation > marks, can be excessive. Whenever I add a word or expression, not necessary, > to the sentence, just like I did with the "not necessary" and like I am > doing right now, I always include these words, well maybe not always, > usually include these inserts between commas; so, basically, I enjoy writing > long sentences, joined with lots of commas and, frequently, semi-colons and, > often, colons (and have been rather prone to using brackets, as well). > > When writing lengthy, detailed sentences, I find, sometimes, I can get > carried, or at least I think I do, and can join two, three or sometimes > more, usually, related, but separate ideas, that could be separated into > individual, perhaps less interesting, sentences. Is my use of commas, and other associated punctuation, correct? Have I explained my rationale behind my usage, well enough?


title: What is a "review" in this context?

text: What is a _review_ said on the following passage? > Physical activity is being increasingly recognized as an effective tool to > treat depression. PhD candidate George Mammen’s **review** published in the > October issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine has taken the > connection one step further, finding that moderate exercise can actually > prevent episodes of depression in the long term. Looking it up on AHDE, it defines it as > A periodical devoted to articles and essays on current affairs, literature, > or art. However, judging by the context it seems like _review_ said here is a single piece of article/essay in the issue of the journal of Preventive Medicine rather than the whole periodical defined in the dictionary.


title: another way of saying "being of"

text: I am looking for a way to replace the word "being" in the phrase "being of poor character". My instructor is very adamant that we not use being unless it is used as a noun. In this particular case, I am having trouble replacing it.


title: Is "Compasses" a typo?

text: In the Wikipedia article for Freemasonry, it gave a picture regarding the emblem of the Freemasons: ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/eoy4V.png) The caption below reads: > The Masonic Square and **Compasses**.   >  (Found with or without the letter G) Just wondering, is "Compasses" correct? Shouldn't it be compass? I looked this up on several dictionaries, and I don't seem to find "compasses" when referring to a tool for drawing circles, only "compass". However, "compasses" makes sense, as it looks something similar to "scissors". Should it be "compass" or "compasses"?


title: Single word to describe "make something worse"

text: In a technical report: One setting causes a problem to arise. Another setting causes this negative effect to get worse. For example:" When setting the switch to "magic" the runtime increased. Hitting the machine with a hammer [foo'ed] the problem. " I have the feeling that "exasperate" or "expedite" could maybe be used to describe this but that they don't quite hit the mark.


title: Can the preposition 'in' be used before the noun 'abroad'?

text: Can the preposition _in_ be used before the noun _abroad_? Can I write the following sentence: _Your friend in abroad?_


title: What is the name of the tactic that politicians use to bury people with torrent of words?

text: Some people write bloated books and long essays with skilful use of hooks, e.g. Jared Diamond; some others speak in long-drawn sentences with torrents of words, e.g. Noam Chomsky. It reminds me of a tactic politicians use in public discourse to waste people's time. I came across this word before but I can't retrieve it from either memory or the internet.


title: could you explain the below sentence about reporting?

text: "Half-yearly reporting included in overall project management costs" a report about the costs of the overall management of the project? or something else? thanks in advance


title: Etymology of Sidesplitting

text: What is the etymology of sidesplitting? In particular, is there a physical interpretation of sides splitting?


title: What are different kinds of shops based on the size, structure and location?

text: In my native language there are so many words to mean different kinds of shops based on the size, structure and location. I'm not talking about the types like grocery shop, barber shop, meat shop, book shop, etc. I'm talking about kinds of shops like below:   * Mall: Meaning a big shop or a complex with many shops   * Store: Meaning a small shop.   * Booth shop: Meaning a very small shop, may be temporary built one room shop. I don't know the words otherwise I can explain clearly and I'm looking for those words. For example what do you call a shop which is setup on the road side which has no roof?


title: What do you call someone skilled in researching quickly?

text: Having looked through the synonymous for researcher and come across the following definition of an investigator as a: > person who checks thoroughly is there a word, or phrase that describes > a person who checks rapidly without implying sloppiness or inaccuracy.


title: Term to mean a different person conjugation?

text: Recently, someone said the following, in a chat room: "You're an adult and that means it's your turn to decide what that means." I knew that came from something I recognized, and it turns out it is referring to this xkcd comic, which instead says "we're grownups now, and it's our turn to decide what that means". I was trying to explain to someone I was talking to via voice that they had quoted that comic, but I couldn't find a way to easily convey the shift from the original comic's use of first person plural, and the chatter's use of second person singular. Is there a word or phrase that easily denotes that shift?


title: Difference in meaning between "on his job" and "in his job"

text: What does this sentence mean? > He is working fifty percent more **on his job** and fifty percent less **in > his job**. He is 100% happier.


title: Verbs for "lexicography" and "cartography"

text: While I'm performing the act of being a lexicographer or a cartographer (I know that they are different trades/acts) what verbs describe what I'm doing? For example lexicography is what is being performed, but how do you say something similar to _a diver dives_ or _a fisherman fishes_ when talking about lexicography and cartography, or in fact a _-graphy_ in the general case? edit: Just had a thought.... I think the answer is _constructs_ , this is based on my belief that _-graphy_ means to draw together or build up.


title: "Technology" or "information technology"?

text: When generalizing about computers, the internet, software, smart phones and other gadgets, is it best to use just "technology" or be more specific with "information technology"? Humans have been developing and using technology for thousands of years, and its applications are quite diverse, including medical technology, military technology and so forth. There is so much popular interest in computers that "technology" or "tech" often is currently used as a shorthand for that one aspect. Shorter is usually better, but I wonder if is an oversimplification.


title: Is the phrase "At about the speed of ten miles per hour" correct in the context?

text: > The train is keep moving at about the speed of ten miles per hour. Is the phrase _at about the speed of ten miles per hour_ is correct? _At about_ looks strange to me. I think the sentence could be like below. Am I correct? > The train is keeps moving at ten miles speed.


title: Origin of “tout court”

text: According to the OED, _tout court_ means in short, in little, simply, without qualification or addition. But _tout_ itself means to peep, peer, look out; to gaze. So my question is how can “peep court” mean “in short”?


title: Indirect speech for “Was there a chair there at the last lesson”

text: Could you please to help me with translating it to indirect speach: _"Was there a chair there at the last lesson?"_ This exercise is from "Get your tenses right" by Ronald Barnes, and I have doubts about second "there", what is it, a subject? I think the solution is _"Somebody asked if a chair there was there at the last lesson",_ isn't it?


title: usage of the phrase "intrinsic nature of the philosophy"

text: I am trying to use the phrase _"intrinsic nature of the philosophy"_ in the following sentence, which comes from my thesis writing. As an ABC learner, I am not quite sure whether this expression is lengthy. Could someone give me a hand to make the following sentence an elegant English writing. Your help will be greatly appreciated! > This issue is more intractable, as the flaw is rooted in the _intrinsic > nature of the philosophy_.


title: Is this correct usage of the word "resist"?

text: Is it correct to say "People resist to learn new things."? By saying so, I intend to convey that most of us are not willing to learn new things. Also, which one of the following do you think is better.   1. People resist to learn new things.   2. People offer resistance to learning new things.


title: To what extent do English words sound like what they describe?

text: Is it true that the way languages develop causes the tonal qualities of the words to have a tendency to match the nature of the thing the word stands for? I am not talking just about obviously onomatopoieaic words such as "splash" or "murmur". I mean very general everyday words. For example the word "book" has a sort of hard quality to it, whereas the word "water" seems to almost flow like the actual substance itself. Is there any truth in this theory? Edit: They discuss this topic on QI. They claim a pointy spiky object is far more likely to be named a "kiki" than a "booba".


title: I don't understand this quote

text: Talent, **lying in the understanding,** is often inherited; genius, being the action of reason or imagination, rarely or never. I don't understand this part. What does it mean?


title: What does "bespoke" mean in this context?

text: > The synthetic CDOs that caused the trouble were expensive **bespoke** > instruments that were very profitable for the banks involved – JPMorgan was > paid $19m to structure and market the Squared CDO alone before it got stuck > with $880m in unanticipated losses I know the definition is _to be or give a sign of; indicate_. See synonyms of indicate. But it doesn't make a lot of sense. Context.


title: Dark vs Darkness

text: I have a usage related doubt about using 'Dark' in the following sentence:               Each time, when he switches on the light, he is surprised how it vanishes ______ completely.      'Darkness' fits well here, but does 'dark' work too, as it is also a noun?


title: "Buff" and "Nurf" from video games etymology

text: In video games when the makers increase the power of something it is sometimes refereed to as a _buff_. If they decrease the power of something it is called a _nurf_ or a _de-buff_. This also applies to player abilities to temporarily increase or decrease their power. Where do these terms come from?


title: Why do you suck at XYZ?

text: How bad is the usage of the word _suck_ in English? Is this "bad boy" language or commonly used?


title: Why is this marked ungrammatical?

text: Why is the second sentence below marked as being ungrammatical? >   1. Ed wanted a new CD player. >   2. ✲ A new CD player was wanted by ED. > > —Bas Aarts, _English Syntax and Argumentation_ > > Although the second sentence is marked as an ungrammatical one, it seems to make sense. Why does the author mark it as being ungrammatical?


title: What’s the word for somebody you know (sometimes well) but who isn’t your friend?

text: What is the English word for somebody who is not your friend, but you’ve know them even for years. For example, this might be a neighbor or somebody from school whom you see often enough but whom but only say hi to in passing, with everybody continuing on their way. The relation between you and this person is neutral. I mean you can have a small talk about the weather and such, like while waiting at the bus stop or something like that, but that’s all. I’m sure everybody has had at least a couple of similar relationships in their life. The closest I have come up with is “we know each other”, but I would like to know whether there exists some one-word term for this instead of needing to resort to four words to describe the relationship.


title: Using "that" (or any other word) three consecutive times

text: Is it ever correct to use the word _that_ (or any other word) three consecutive times? For example, > By reading Nietzsche I learned **that that that** does not kill me makes me > stronger.


title: Is this headline as redundant as it seems?

text: > Drunk driver found hiding after hit-and-run Is it necessary to write "found hiding"? It seems like the only time you can find something is when it is hidden or missing. Is this statement redundant? Isn't the above the same as writing things like "Man drowns in water"? (I would think it would be correct to be specific if he drowned in a strange substance.)


title: Idiom wanted for means and ends

text: There is a common Russian expression, literally translated as "winners are not judged". The meaning is that one can get away with cutting corners and/or employing less-than-wholesome means in pursuit of some goal, provided one actually achieves the goals. In other words "the ends justify the means, so long as you actually achieve the ends". Is there a compact English idiom for this notion?


title: What does "When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth" mean?

text: I found this quote by George Bernard Shaw: > When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth. Can anyone please explain the meaning of this sentence?


title: Is ‘then’ of ‘now and then’ past or future?

text: _Then_ is commonly used for things happened in both the past and future. In the common phrase _now and then_ , is _then_ in the past or the future? Could anyone help?


title: "Before long" and "after long"

text: This question is inspired by a chat conversation during which I was corrected on the use of _after long_. Certainly, > He will be back **before** long is correct. However, is > He will be back **after** long grammatical? If not, why does changing _before_ to _after_ make it wrong?


title: Expressions in Tim Minchin's "Cont."

text: In his song "Cont.", Tim Minchin uses two expressions I cannot find in a dictionary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmTexiEZmL8 Can somebody explain the meanings?   1. "..., who lean on their horn..." (5:34)   2. "talk camply" (6:04)


title: Why is the plural form of "life" "lives", while the plural form of "still life" is "still lifes"?

text: Why does the plural form of "life" is "lives", while the plural form of "still life" is "still lifes"? From Wikipedia: > A still life ( _plural_ **still lifes** ) is a work of art depicting mostly > inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either > natural (food, flowers, plants, rocks, or shells) or man-made (drinking > glasses, books, vases, jewelry, coins, pipes, and so on).


title: Do I need an extra "about", or does one suffice?

text: Consider the following sentence: > I have a lot to talk _about_ with John _about_ his project. Since I can swap the position of the first _about_ to make it 'I have a lot to talk with John about', then I would end up with: > I have a lot to talk with John _about about_ his project. My question is, can I consolidate the two instances of _about_ , giving me: > I have a lot to talk with John _about_ his project. Or do I have to keep two prepositions there, but change the second _about_ to something else in order to make it sound less-awkward, as in: > I have a lot to talk with John _about regarding_ his project. Related question (now that I'm thinking more...er... _about_ this): is the first _about_ really an adverb, in which case, of course, I cannot ever consolidate the two?


title: Adjectives in places of adverbs

text: I was reading this thread, and I thought asking this question again in Usage forum would make my understanding more clear. I am briefly explaining the question here. > She plays it **cool**. > > He plays / acts **stupid**. > > The headlines showed you played them **proudly**. Here **_cool_** and **_stupid_** are adjectives, but adverbs should be placed there in general. My question is how to determine which adjectives can be used this way and which aren't?


title: Correct use of "hereby"

text: Does the following sentence make correct use of _hereby_? > The total amount specified in "Appendix 3 Price Breakdown and Payment Plan" > attached to hereby Sub-Contract. Should I say _attached to **the** hereby Sub-Contract_? Is there some other problem?


title: Use of apostrophe in days?

text: Is it: > As Lilly lay down tucked up in her bed, all the days events span round in > her head. or > As Lilly lay down tucked up in her bed, all the day’s events span round in > her head.


title: "Well [noun] is here to rescue"

text: > Well [some noun here] is here to rescue. Does the structure of sentence sound good? Please suggest some example sentences where "to rescue" can be used.


title: Is there a single word for 'beyond the hype'?

text: I am trying to phrase "beyond the hype Cloud computing" tersely. I've been racking my brains for a single word, trying to get it into the form: > [word] Cloud Computing I thought of: > Real Cloud Computing But I want a word that hints at the fact `Cloud` is a buzzword and inverts it. Intuitively I feel the word is out there somewhere! Btw, this is for a writeup/report, not for advertising. The full context might be a statement to the effect that **_such and such carry out_** [ _word_ ] **_Cloud Computing_**.


title: What does the following statement mean?

text: Can anyone help me to make sense of the following statement : > **May all sentient beings never separate from peace and happiness.** Thanks for your help.


title: Is 'own' appropriate for an email address?

text: I recently used "I own some.email@gmail.com", and a friend said this was incorrect. I can see logically how this is true, you wouldn't use own in the context of an account identifier in any other circumstances (e.g. "I own 07700 123456"), but I can't think of a better word. Here's the full context: > I own some.email@gmail.com from a project _waaaay_ back. I get interesting > emails occasionally, where someone has decided to test their product with > that email address, not realising it's real and that I'm checking it.


title: What to call a person who doesn't respect personal space?

text: What would you call a person that doesn't care for your personal space and is kind-of sticky and doesn't get the hint that people are awkward around him/her and generally avoid him/her?


title: A word for a title and description

text: What is a single word for a title and short paragraph, for example: > # Lorem ipsum > > Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Phasellus sagittis > dictum nisl. Duis ac dapibus diam. Maecenas porta non dolor in commodo. > Aliquam feugiat nisl non enim vulputate semper. Cras imperdiet aliquet eros > sed fermentum. Etiam vitae arcu ac lacus viverra iaculis ut cursus magna. > Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. This could be at the start of a page or multiple times one under the other. Is there a word that defines this?


title: What is an alternative to the phrase "what you don't know won't hurt you"?

text: I am looking for an alternative phrase to replace "what you don't know can't hurt you."


title: Don't you think, I know that?

text: Does that mean: a) I know that or b) I don't know that and in a) or b) the other person is not aware of this?


title: Trouble understanding change in tense

text: The paragraph below began with the past tense but soon switched to present tense (highlighted in bold). I am trying to learn tense consistency. I don't know why such switch is allowed. It's very confusing for me to learn to keep a consistent tense =( > In Banjuh, the capital of Gambia, I met with a group of Gambians. They told > me how for centuries the history of Africa has been preserved. In the older > villages of the back country, there are old men called griots, who **are** > in effect living archives. Such men **memorize** and, on special occasions, > **recite** the cumulative histories of clans or families or villages as > those histories **have** long been told. Since my forefather had said his > name was Kin-tay (properly spelled Kinte), and since the Kinte clan was > known in Gambia, the group of Gambians would see what they could do to help > me. I was back in New York when a registered letter arrived from Gambia. > > Word had been passed in the back country, and a griot of the Kinte clan had, > indeed, been found. His name, the letter said, was Kebba Kanga Fofana. I > returned to Gambia and organized a safari to locate him.


title: What are the associations of the word "Heights" in a city name?

text: There are lots of cities and other designations with the word "Heights" in the name. Does this refer to something specific? Is it a marketing tactic perhaps? Examples:   * Hacienda Heights   * Sterling Heights   * Washington Heights   * Golan Heights


title: meaning of “go up five places” in this sentence

text: A person is recollecting his college days in Oxford. He used to be in the team of an eight, rowing a boat. > In the year I got my colours the Wadham boat went up five places on the > river. It was the happiest week of my life. What is _go up five places on the river_ supposed to mean? Five victories or something else?


title: Usage of macrons in Latin loanwords

text: I know that diacritics are often retained in loanwords in formal writing (cf. _naïveté_ ), but I haven't seen this done with direct adaptation of Latin words; i.e., _per se_. In Latin, _per sē_ comes with a macron, indicating the longness of the vowel. This practice is uncommon (unused?) in English, but so are accents and diæresis marks, which are retained in the aforementioned _naïveté_. Is there any attested usage or relevant guideline regarding the adaptation of macrons from Latin?


title: Can em dashes be used to isolate clauses starting with an “or”?

text: Here’s a simplified version of the sentence I'm working on. > Despite what he believed — or thought he believed — he still had to contend > with the truth. Or should I use commas?


title: Why is "subpar" not "superpar"?

text: My understanding is that the "par" portion of "subpar" comes from the sport of golf, as in the phrase "par for the course". However if this is the case, then the construction of the word doesn't seem to make sense. In golf, the farther _below_ (i.e., _sub_ ) the par you are, the better you've done and the better your score is. Likewise, the farther _above_ you are, the worse you've done. Is there a legitimate etymological reason for this word's construction in relation to its meaning? Note that I saw this question, but it's completely different and unrelated.


title: "The Japanese are a hard-working people." Is this grammatically correct?

text: I came across this statement. Is this correct? I am specifically confused at the part where "a" comes after "are".


title: A word to express 'currently active'

text: Suggest a word to express a task/thing has started, is running and is not yet complete. Does _inchoate_ fit? Also, suggest a word to express completed/fully built thing/task.


title: What does "enough" mean in expressions like "Fair enough" or "Funny enough"?

text: As a non-native speaker, I already get used to the word _enough_ in expressions like those below, but I sometimes still got confused of it. It makes me wonder **what it actually means** and **where does it come from**. There are two different groups in which it confuses me. Actually, the first group contains only one expression, that is _fair enough_. This is an idiomatic expression that is 'used to admit that something is reasonable or acceptable' Oxford Dictionaries.   The second group contains hundreds of examples; actually, it's a seemingly endless list:   _funny enough_ , _oddly enough_ , _strangely enough_ , _interestingly enough_ , _curiously enough_ , _amazingly enough_ , _appropriately enough_ , _astonishingly enough_ etc. Frankly speaking, in my mother-tongue, German, there's something similar, i.e. we add _-weise_ to certain words:               interestingly: interessant -- interestingly enough: interessanterweise         amazingly: erstaunlich --     amazingly enough: erstaunlicherweise      Though, there are two main difference between _enough_ in English an _-weise_ in German. First, _-weise_ does not have any meaning on its own1 and, second, in those instances you use _-weise_ you cannot drop it whereas in English you don't necessarily need to add _enough_. Example:               English: Interestingly (enough), you don't need *enough* in this sentence.       German:  Interessanterweise kann man in diesem Satz *-weise* nicht auslassen.                (Interestingly, you cannot drop *-weise* in this sentence.)      In all these expressions, the general sense of _enough_ ( _sufficient_ , _to the necessary or required degree_ ) cannot be applied; at least, it wouldn't make any sense in my book. _Funny enough_ , for example, means that a fact is funny but not that there's a sufficient amount of fun. So, again my question: what's the role of _enough_ and why that word? * * * 1For the sake of completeness I must mention that this statement is not really true. There's an adjective _weise_ meaning _wise_ ( _a wise old man_ ) and a noun _Weise_ meaning _way_ as in _a certain way_ or _a mysterious way_. When talking about the suffix _-weise_ in adverbs, the latter meaning (the noun) can be taken as an indicator what _-weise_ may mean; admittedly, I've never validated this from an etymological point of view.


title: Which object is modified by the infinitive in this sentence?

text: The sentence is like this: > Governments must ensure that their major cities receive the financial > support they need in order to thrive. I'm not sure about the `to thrive`. Does this sentence mean: (1) To make the major cities thrive, governments need to support them financially. Or (2) To make the governments themselves thrive, governments need to support major cities financially. In other word, which one is modified by `to thrive`? Is it `Governments` or `cities` and why? Does anyone have ideas about this?


title: Ambiguous pronouns

text: I have a statement like > The performance of the proposed scheme, and its dependence on … Here, ‘it’ can refer to either the performance of the scheme, or the scheme itself. I changed the statement to > The performance of the proposed scheme, and the dependence of the > performance on … – which doesn’t seem very professional due to redundancy. It is possible to change the statement in such a manner that it is unambiguous as well as sounds professional (for an academic document)? For the sake of completeness, the full sentence is > The performance of the proposed scheme, and its dependence on various > parameters, including X and Y, is reported. EDIT: I was able to use the ideas from some answers here to come up with a sentence that I'm pretty satisfied with: > The proposed scheme's performance and its dependence on various parameters, > including X and Y, is reported. However, now I don't know which answer to accept, since this solution came to me after reading multiple solutions here! Please help?


title: Something simple and yet complex...

text: Is there a phrase or word for a problem that appears simple but is in fact full of complexities? A few situations come to mind:   * Painting a room   * Breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend   * Eating a pomegranate ... and a million more. What to call these?


title: Were the word, woman and female produced after the word, man and male being invented?

text: Man and woman, male and female have the same phonetic element and root (man, and male) in English, while man and woman in both Japanese and Chinese language - Otoko (男) and Onnna (女) in Japanese, Nan (男) and Njui (女) in Chinese - don’t have the common phonetic elements as woman and female in English, and are totally different in characters. This means, the word 男 and 女 were produced concurrently, or separately, not in tandem. I wonder if the words _woman_ and _female_ were produced after the words _man_ and _male_ were invented by old Germans (or Anglo-Saxons) sequentially as in the way Eve was produced from one of Adam’s ribs by the God. – As a reminder, I’ve never been sexist. This may look a naive question to most of native English speakers, but is basic to me as a non-native speaker. What do “wo” and “fe” in the words ‘woman’ and ‘female’ represent? Can I see them as prefixes to mean opposite sex to man and male, though I've never seen them being used as a prefix in other words than woman and female?


title: Customer (delivers?) precious metal bullion to the bank

text: A customer want to place his gold to bank account. He shows up in a bank with his gold bars and says that he wants to put it to his gold account. I was unable to choose the correct word here. Customer delivers his precious metal bullion to the bank.   Customer leaves his precious metal bullion in the bank.   Customer gives up his precious metal bullion to the bank.   Customer leaves out his precious metal bullion to the bank.   Customer leaves his precious metal bullion to the bank.   Customer submits his precious metal bullion to the bank.   Customer puts away precious metal bullion to the bank.   Customer ... precious metal bullion to the bank.   Which word should I choose?


title: What is the correct term for this electricity device type?

text: Not sure how to phrase the question so, please, feel free to edit. Preferably without biting my head off. :) I'm looking for the (technically) correct term to describe the box that delivers electricity to a home or workplace. I've found " _fuse box_ " and " _electricity plant_ " but those are not quite correct. I'm looking for the correct name describing the boxy thingy that (formerly) had a rotating disc counting the kilowatt consumption, the reading of which is used for invoicing. If there's a difference, I'd prefer US version but it's definitely not a requirement.


title: Should I use "got" or "gotten" in the following sentence?

text: I can't figure out whether to use _got_ or _gotten_ in the following sentence: > I no longer recognized my own skin, my own feelings, my own thoughts. It was > as if the real me had **got/gotten** lost on the highway. Which is the correct form of the verb?


title: A better phrase for 'construction of mock-up objects by following historical recipes'

text: I'm looking for a better phrasing for use on a poster describing a scientific project. In this project, we will examine recipes of varnishes and lacquers from old recipe books. We will follow these recipes to recreate the varnishes, and paint these on small glass plaques (the so-called mock-up objects) suitable for chemical analysis. Our initial phrase was 'construction of mock-up objects by following historical recipes', but this does not really describe what a mock-up object is very well. Another attempt was 'reconstruction of historical recipes as mock-up objects'. This sounds wrong because we are not 'reconstructing' the recipe as such, it is already there. Rather, we are 'reapplying' or 're-executing' the recipe, but neither of those words sound right. I think I'm looking for a better re... word, but other suggestions are very welcome.


title: "distinguish them more completely" vs. "more completely distinguish them"

text: Is there a rule I could tell the difference between: >   * Both A and B have other attributes that distinguish them more > completely. >   * Both A and B have other attributes that more completely distinguish > them. >


title: a better expression for 'percentage divided by 100'

text: > The function _f(a,x)_ returns the value in the array _a_ specified by _x_ , > where _x_ is a percentage of the length of the array, divided by 100. (i.e. x can be any number between 0 and 1, corresponding to a percentage between 0% and 100%) Examples: if a = [1,2,3,4,5], then f(a, 0.5) = 3; f(a, 0) = 1; f(a, 1) = 5; Is there a better way to express that some variable is a ' _percentage divided by 100_ '? Preferably I am looking for a single word. Alternatively a phrase, and a single word that can be used later on to reference that phrase. My first idea was ' _fraction_ ', but I am not sure whether that conveys the concept. * * * Update based on long's answer: I am looking for a term for the first item in this list:   * ?, [0-1]   * ?, [0-10]   * percent, %, [0-100]   * per mille 0/00 [0-1000]    * basis point, permyriad 0/000, [0-10000]


Does this sentence "He's too thin to carry it" make any sense to you?   This is really bothering me for quite a long time!


title: Should I use "is" or "are" in this sentence

text: Could anyone please tell me which one of these sentences is correct?   * If you are thinking about it, chances are that so **is** many others!    * If you are thinking about it, chances are that so **are** many others!


title: How to pronounce "gemænscipe"?

text: I'm not sure if Old English counts here, but I can't find the answer to this anywhere. How would one pronounce _gemænscipe_? I believe it's Old English for "community".


title: Can the phrase "be necessary to" only be used on people?

text: My teacher told me that the phrase _be necessary to_ can be used only on people. For example, > Something is necessary to someone. Assuming she is correct, then this following sentence, the one I want to ask, will be incorrect. > Actually, healthy fats are necessary to our overall well-being. Which of us is right?


title: "Would you mind if I use" vs. "would you mind if I used"

text: > Would you mind if I **use/used** your mobile? One of my friends said _used_ is wrong here. But I think it's grammatical. Who is right?


title: whats the difference between final english exam and english final exam

text: I would like to know the difference between " _Final English Exam_ " and " _English Final Exam_." Thanks in advance.


title: "At the first" in the Bible

text: Why is the article _the_ used in the following verse of the Bible? > **At the first** God made the heaven and the earth. To me _at first_ , which according to OED means _at the beginning; in the initial stage or stages,_ sounds more natural, unless there are specific grammatical delicacies that I am not aware of. The passage is from an app on my iPhone called _My Bible Pro_. It uses the King James Version of the Bible. Here are some screenshots. ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/HPsLy.jpg) ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/VJ5Vf.jpg)


title: Is "please find enclosed the attachment" grammatical?

text: In my office everyone uses "Please find enclosed the attachment" in emails. I can't digest the "the" between "enclosed" and "attachment". Is the sentence grammatical?


title: What does "misabilerist" mean?

text: James Wolcott, Vanity Fair culture critic, wrote a piece on the HBO series True Detective, including the following segment: > What lifts creator Nic Pizzolatto's show above the **misabilerist** monotony > and addiction pathology of Nordic noir and its derivatives is Proustian > time-shifting, sharp, sneaky-funny writing, and even sharper, sneaky acting > from Matthew McConaughey, whose detective Rush Cohle is so stick-figure > insectile, his man-who-fell-to-earth alienation and perceptions ("I can > smell the psychosphere") so cryptic and deflective, that he could have come > across as a David Lynch scarecrow if it weren't for the real, ground-in, > damaged-goods pain that McConaughey communicates on a deeper frequency, > between cigarette drags and beer sips: a redneck existentialism that > Flannery O'Connor might have summoned from beneath the rotting floorboards. I've been looking for a definition of "misabilerist" or a different with the same root, and I can't find anything. Is this most likely just a misspelling of "miserabilist" or is it a real word? Or, considering Wolcott's pension for esoteric language, is it a play on words or subtle reference?


title: Distinction between "pillage" and "plunder"

text: Both _pillage_ and _plunder_ refer to the taking of goods by force. What is the distinction in how the two words are used? Specifically, (due to a recent argument) do pirates only plunder, or can they pillage as well?


title: Does "yar" (or "yarr" or "yargh") in Pirate English imply an affirmative?

text: In honor of International Talk Like A Pirate Day, I’d like to ask a question about the pirate dialect of English. Most pirate sentences begin with a standard pirate-sounding hedge to lend authenticity. A frequent hedge is _arr_ , but the variations _yar_ , _yarr_ , and _yargh_ are also quite common. Is there a distinction in meaning between _arr_ and the _yar_ variants, or are these simply different spellings of the same exclamation? For instance, is _yar_ a contraction of _yes_ and _arr_ , therefore implying an affirmation or agreement?


title: Is the term "setting someone straight" offensive to queer people?

text: I replaced "Thanks for setting me straight" with "Thanks for correcting me" when editing an email to a recipient who is queer. Is the term "setting [someone] straight" inappropriate if the writer/speaker or reader/listener does not view straightness as better than non-straightness? Note that I am not interested in opinions as to whether people who are offended by such a remark are too sensitive. I am only interested in whether using it would be likely to offend or make me appear to be prejudiced. UPDATE: Yes, the question is serious (although I'm happy that it's also amusing some people). My understanding is that most blind people are not offended by the metaphorical use of "see" (as in "see what I'm saying") and that many African-Americans don't like "black" used as a negative (as in "black mark"). I'm just trying to figure out which category "straight" as correct goes in.


title: Can “heart and mind” be applied to a person, not to a group of people?

text: I was drawn to the word, “hearts-and-minds diplomacy” in New York Time’s (June 8) article titled, “From China, With Pragmatism.” written by an American Fulbright lecturer living in Beijing: > At a recent lunch with United States Embassy officers and local Chinese > intellectuals, we had a complete cultural breakdown over red envelopes. When > one embassy officer working his best “ **hearts-and-minds diplomacy** ” > suggested that the Chinese switch the giving of hongbao to after the > successful operation, rather than before, the Chinese were struck dumb with > astonishment. Of course, you have to give the hongbao beforehand because it > motivates the doctor. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/author/stephen-t- > asma I’ve been under the impression that ‘heart and mind’ can be used for personal emotions, like “I dedicated whole my heart and mind to her.” But when I consulted “heart and mind” with online dictionaries, it came out mostly (if not always) in plural form as “the hearts and minds (of sb)” and was defined as; The complete support of **a group of people**. example, I thought the president could have done a better job of reaching **the hearts and minds of the American people** in his speech on television yesterday. – Free Dictionary. And in Wikipedia;   1. Winning hearts and minds, the idea of persuading **enemies** instead of defeating them by force   2. Hearts and Minds (Vietnam), **a strategy** of the South Vietnamese and United States governments to defeat the Viet Cong insurgency during the Vietnam War.  Is the word “heart and mind” always used in plural form, and in predominantly in political or business context against a group of people (nation / enemies) like “Hearts-and-minds diplomacy / strategy/ operation” more than for the expression of personal emotion such as endearment and devotion to a person, or purpose?


title: Does the word "raytracer" exist?

text: If not, is it well readable anyway? "Ray tracer" seems to be used more frequently but this is not my question. An example sentence could be: > A **raytracer** is a computer program that uses an algorithm where light > rays are traced back to their origin to create realistic 2D images from 3D > scenes.


title: Synonym for mechanical pencil

text: I'm a non-native english speaker (from Brazil). I'm looking for the most common day-to-day word for the stationery device called "mechanical pencil". Indeed, while "mechanical pencil" seems to be the most commonly used word for that device, at least in US, I've also found the words "propelling pencil", for UK and "pacer", for Australia. I'd rather stick with mechanical pencil, but this word seems awkward, comparing to the brazilian word for this object (something like "penciler"). So, is there any simpler or most-commonly used word for that, or can I really stick to mechanical pencil without any further concerns?


title: General history of the English language – book / website recommendation?

text: Having just come across this site, I am finally asking a question that's been on my mind for a while … I am looking for a book, website or infographic that gives a (relatively) concise, high-level history of our modern English language – something that paints a picture of its sources, geographical roots, and who the people were (and are) that invent words (ex: scribes, poets, words borrowed from other languages, etc). I value the origins of words quite a bit – but feel I am missing some of the "big picture". Does anyone have any recommendations for someone relatively new to this search?


title: explanation of friendly fire

text: I know the meaning of friendly fire, but I never thought about it too much, if you are shooting someone who is your brother in arms, it's not like I'm not going to shoot someone just referring mostly to FPS as you probably guessed already, how can the fire be 'friendly', any idea about the origin of the word?


title: "Nobody does something for nothing"

text: I have a proverb in my native tongue saying something like "there is no cat chasing fish for God" which implies that anyone who does anything that may seem beneficial to you, is doing it for themselves. What is the equivalent proverb in English?


title: "My feelings about you never..." — what verb can I use?

text: I am trying to say _I always have feelings about you_ in a different way: > My feelings for you never ___ _ My first thought was _reduced_ , but it seems that _reduce_ is for size. (I remember hearing something similar in some movies, but I can't remember the name of it.) What's a good word to use here?


title: What is the role of "every" in idioms like "every so often"?

text: There are a couple of idioms whose meaning is _from time to time_ or _occasionally_. > Every so often   >  (Every) once in a while   >  (Every) now and then/again _Every_ actually is a determiner (or, broadly speaking, an adjective) specifying a noun or noun phrase and means that everybody or everything of the referred group is addressed, as in _every day_ , _every man_ , or _every student_. Obviously, _every_ is also used when referring to a period or range of time, e.g., _every thirty minutes_ or _every week_ but, again, the time frame is given as a noun. I was looking at the entry in Etymology Online, as well at Merriam-Webster and Oxford dictionaries to get further information. Etymology Online doesn't address the matter at all. While the dictionaries at least define these phrases and list a couple of examples, they do not give any clue to answer my questions: **what part of role is _every_ playing** in these expressions (from both a grammatical and logical point of view) and **where did this usage come from**.


title: Can I use subjunctive when something is possible?

text: To my understanding when expressing something is not fact I should use subjunctive, e.g. > Without your instruction, we would be working now. I'm wondering if I can use subjunctive to express something that is possible for being a polite way. In my case, I'd like to reply to the recruiting manager like this: > If I was fortunate to get this job, ... Is it ok to say like this?


title: Always vs Every day

text: > I have lunch at school _every day_   >  vs I _always_ have lunch at school. Why does the frequency adverb, _always_ , go before the verb, _have_ , whereas the expression, " _every day_ " is placed at the end of the sentence?


title: What happened around 1700 that transformed / changed the English language?

text: When looking at examples listed in OED it is very noticeable that English differs greatly before 1700s and after (roughly) and it becomes recognizable and very similar to modern starting roughly from 1700s. What is behind this transformation? What happened in society which transformed language?


title: Plurals + The + Prepositions

text: I'm pretty sure I have to use _the_ in **'The people/citizens of this city speak a dialect'** but when I try to use another preposition, instead of _of_ , it doesn't seem right. I don't know why. Do I have to use 'the' in the following sentences assuming that those things have never been mentioned before in a conversation. I'm talking the specific use of the definite article   1. (The) people in the city still speak a dialect. (not just any people but those who live in this city)   2. (The) shirts in this store are cheap (.....in this store)   3. (The) Americans in Russia try to learn the Russian language (and so on)   4. I don't like (the) reviews on this site   5. I read (the) books by John Summers Or there's a difference in the meaning with and without the definite article?


title: The property of a variable that is either discrete or continuous

text: For example, the arity property of a function might be unary or binary. The (???) property of a variable might be discrete or continuous?


title: "I'm not being" or "I'm not been"?

text: > I'm not been able to make up my mind or > I'm not being able to make up my mind? Which one is the correct sentence? Why is it correct and why is the other one incorrect? Edit 10/09/2012: What if I'm talking about a present action? Like: "I'm not been able to make up my mind now, so I'll try to decide it later.


title: Omnipresent is to Ubiquitous as Omnipotent is to _____?

text: "Omnipresent" means everywhere at once, while "ubiquitous" means _seeming_ to be everywhere at once. My question is whether "omnipotent" (all-powerful) has a similar _'seeming to be all-powerful'_ counterpart.


title: What do you call money earned through unethical sources?

text: > Money/Assets/Property that is earned through unethical sources is called ? Money that is earned through bad sources like corrupted politics, corrupted business, ransom money, stolen or theft money. What is such money called? Is it bad money, black money. What is **one** particular name for it?


title: Title or word to describe the first, original member of a family tree

text: I'm looking for a word to signify the ancestor from which a family tree is derived. They would be the first, from whom all other family members are descended. Does such a word exist? I imagine, given the long history of creating family trees, that someone at some point decided on a word other than 'the first guy'.


title: Usage of the perfect gerund

text: Is there any grammatical error in this sentence: > Having been up all night makes me tired Can I use having been/done... as subject?


title: Why do so many names end in -May or -Mae?

text: I've been reading articles about trends in names. Apparently names like Bonnie-Mae, Ellie-Mae and Lily-Mae are trending up in the UK which I find odd in itself (aren't they typically Southern US?) but never mind... You don't see many endings other than -May or -Mae in double-barreled names. -Anne perhaps, and a few other exceptions, but -Mae seems to dominate. Any idea where this tradition stems from? Why the skew?


title: "It is" vs. "it was"

text: The recurrent cholangitis happened in the past. But when I am discussing the event now, which of the following should I use? >   * It is the incomplete stone removal that caused the recurrent > cholangitis. >   * It was the incomplete stone removal that caused the recurrent > cholangitis. >


title: Pronunciation of "scone"

text: The argument about the pronunciation of _scone_ :- > skoʊn, skɒn noun 1\. a small, light, biscuitlike quick bread made of > oatmeal, wheat flour, barley meal, or the like. reappeared in the pub last night, as usual with no-one being able to produce a convincing argument about which of _skoʊn_ or _skɒn_ was correct. So I'd like to know, is there any historical or etymological reason for one to be preferred to the other? In my travels up and down the country I have heard it both ways whereever I have lived, but is there a regional or geographic divide for the pronunciation? Do non-British English speakers also have this argument?


title: Can 'domestic animal' mean 'livestock'?

text: Is it correct to use 'domestic animal' instead of 'livestock' (cattle)?


title: Is domain-specific meaning acceptable/advisable when used in a document directed outside the domain?

text: Here's the problem. Many common terms in the programmer's lexicon--i.e., used in information communication and in published texts--are identical to everyday words; others are slight 'distortions' of everyday words (so that if you saw them but weren't a programmer, you'd swear they were misspelled or used incorrectly). It's this latter category that's the focus of my question. Some examples:   * _**persist_** (a verb, e.g., you 'persist' data by writing it to a RDBMS);   * _**instantiate_** (invoke a function which creates an object bound to a variable);   * _**deprecate_** (e.g., replace an old feature with a new one, and leave the old feature in the language temporarily to preserve backwards-compatability) A colleague and i recently finished writing a book largely directed to programming though the intended audience is mostly (but not exclusively) non- programmers (for instance, marketing managers and other people who often wear ties). Our _editor_ does _not_ like words like these in the text. In particular, she feels strongly that terms like the ones i just recited should be replaced with a short descriptive phrase that's more consonant with the conventional business lexicon. We argue that fidelity to the language of the relevant community is what's most important--i.e., most of the concept we are trying to explain in the book are embodied in these specialist terms, and if the reader doesn't learn those terms then the book will have very little if any practical significance for them because they won't be able to communicate with the specialists who are required to implement the systems described in the book. In addition, we contend that by providing a glossary or endnotes, the reader can easily absorb the unfamiliar terminology. Arguing from the details though doesn't appear ever likely to persuade either 'side,' and so I would very much appreciate the higher-level views from this community.


title: Exactly what language do I (we) speak?

text: As an American, and a particularly myopic one, I am a bit confused to the language that I speak. I understand that we were once a colony of England, where English was/is spoken, but do we in the present still speak English? Or, since the language has evolved so much (on our part) can it be considered that we Americans speak American English. I understand the root is the same (Angle/Germanic), but again, and after visiting England for periods of time, specifics in language are so different that a lot of words have entirely different meanings. Even, in some cases, syntax is different. I am just wondering if it is correct to say that I (we) still speak English?


title: How to use "know" and "realize" correctly

text: Are they just actually the same? Especially as in the following examples: > I realize then whom I love.   >  I know then whom I love.


title: What is the word for a person who never listens to other people's opinions and ideas?

text: There is one person I know who never accepts other people's opinions and ideas, even if those opinions and ideas are worthwhile. What single word might describe such an attitude?


title: When an author lets you decide what happened?

text: Is there a word to describe when an Author doesn't fully explain a particular scenario, and leaves it rather ambiguous, so that the reader may decide what happened? **SPOILERS** for Mockingjay and Life of Pi (mouse over to see): > For example: In Mockingjay, was it Gale who killed Prim?   >  Life of Pi: Was the whole story fake, with Pi substituting humans as animal > form? So yeah... The word for when an author leaves an ambiguous ending... Is it just called that? an 'ambiguous ending'?


title: What's the meaning of "what gets put where"?

text: I came across the following sentence: > **What gets put where** determines the particular type of the architecture. What's the meaning of the phrase in bold?


title: Is this a example of parody of Shakespears play

text: Is this an example of parody "A-Midsummers-Nights-Dream " http://www.scribd.com/doc/233474857/A-Midsummers-Nights-Dream-erotic-poetry These are the reasons I think it is parody I am interested whether you agree parody "a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing" why "A Midsummers Nights Dream is a parody of Shakespeare play "A Midsummer Nights Dream" The title of poem plus its setting at midsummer eve and the use of Puck highlights to the reader that this poem has something to do with Shakespeare's play 1) altering the name "Midsummer" to Midsummers is a humorous and satirical touch to a person not hung up with sexual issues the poems is humorous it takes an over the top view of love/sex to point out how ridiculous it all is 2) by depicting Puck etc having unrestrained sex is a humorous satirical use of the plays notion of "true love" enotes.com/homework-help/what-does-midsummer-nights-dream-seem-saying--388473 "The course of true love never did run smooth" is one of the play's most famous quotes, though, when you look at the action of the play itself, it's clear that "true love" is a rather problematic context. also deans poem parodies sex/love in that it is of the moment same link above "Well, I'd argue one of the few things the play does say about love (and sexual love, one of its key focusses) is that it is changable: it depends on the moment - and, like "dreams" as a whole, its pleasure doesn't last forever. 3) deans poem parodies Shakespeare notion that love is connected with life by extending life to procreation and fertility ie the girlies be screwed and fertilized by Puck etc then fertilizing the flowers http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-does-midsummer-nights-dream- seem-saying--388473 "The famous quote from this play, "The course of true love never did run smooth," has lasted for centuries because it is a universal truth. Love experiences many highs and lows as it grows and matures. Love is connected to life, and life is unpredictable; therefore, so is love." if you disagree with these points then please give us examples and argument not just assertions that they are wrong ie why the poem is not parody


title: Replacement phrase for "in that"

text: When writing I find myself using the phrase _"in that"_ when tying together an opinion or point of debate. I am needing some alternative phrases that have the same meaning to spice up my writing. Any suggestions? Example: > The same can be said about Twinkies; in that over-consumption can lead to > obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.


title: Use of "exist" in "Can there exist an uncountable planar graph?"

text: > Can there exist an uncountable planar graph? This usage of _exist_ bothers me. In this context, my understanding is that it is used as a replacement for _be_. That looks very strange to me. However, I found it in the writing of a person who is very good at teaching and explaining, and I guess it might be actually correct. Is it? EDIT: This is actually a title of a Mathematics Stack Exchange question.


title: What's a word for the opposite of Accountability?

text: I'm trying to say something to the effect of: "While practitioners before the war were in an environment of **___ __ ___** , practitioners after the war were in an environment of accountability." Meaning the previous era's practitioners weren't holding themselves to the results of their contributions. Anyway, something other than "unaccountability" would be appreciated, of course.


title: "Feeling safe? So do I!" — is this grammatical?

text: I have a small question regarding the usage of the present simple, present continuous and auxiliary verbs. Is this correct English? >   1. Feel safe? (Do you feel safe?) → So do I! >   2. Feeling safe? (Are you feeling safe?) → So am I! >   3. Feeling safe? So do I! > In this particular case (3), a question is asked in present continuous and gets answered in simple present. The addressee is making a (powerful) statement that the he/she 'always' or 'infinitively' feels safe, not just actively at this moment. I'm not a native English speaker, but I was under the impression that this is a perfectly accepted exception to the general rules of English language. Can anyone confirm this or explain why this is not acceptable? **Edit:** The actual phrase in question is "Feeling ambitious? So do we", which is a phrase I made up myself. I replaced it with 'feeling safe' to present a more neutral case.


title: Does ‘the moment’ clause always need an unpleasant or surprising situation?

text: When I wrote thank you to a commentator in this site, I added a message to it like this: “It all clicked into place the moment I saw your comment!” After a while, I came across an article about the usage of ‘the moment’. I’d like to know if my comment sounded offensive and what I should have written in the comment to express ‘ _just_ after’ like feeling. Here’s the article. >   1. Scarcely had Jake answered the phone when his boss started shouting at > him. > >   2. No sooner had Jake answered the phone than his boss started shouting at > him. > >   3. The moment Jake answered the phone, his boss started shouting at him. > >   4. As soon as Jake answered the phone, his boss started shouting at him. > > > > Only No.4 is emotionally-neutral. No.1,2,3 express the resultant event is > unpleasant or unexpected, though the resultant event of No.3 is less > unpleasant and unexpected than the other two. Therefore, in a general > sentence, for example, “as soon as he arrived at the office, he sat down at > his desk and started work”, it isn’t natural to use No.1,2,3 patterns. (The script is originally written in English, but the book I have is translated into Japanese. These lines are my English, so please excuse me for its strangeness.)


title: Which is correct: "this people" or "these people"?

text: **This** people or **these** people? Different sources suggest different ways. What's the right way and why?


title: What does "salad days" mean, and when was it coined?

text: What does _salad days_ mean? I've heard the term used to describe past better days, but what does that have to do with salad? Also, when was the phrase coined?


title: Is “ ’s ” ever correct for pluralization?

text: A relatively modern dictionary (I don’t know which one, because we’ve cut out the pages and used them as wallpaper in our bathroom, but I know it’s less than 20 years old) indicates that _R’s_ is one correct pluralization of _R_ , as is _Rs_ , but whichever dictionary this is, it’s kind of a no-name brand, so I’m not sure I trust it. I’ve always wondered what the best way was to pluralize single letters or numerals, like _2’s_ or _2s_. What’s correct?


title: Meaning of "I never give a sucker an even break"

text: What does this phrase mean? > I never give a sucker an even break. Does it mean that the author of this saying is unwilling to offer somebody who he doesn't like a break/rest while he is working?


title: How to call an email address for email-based submission to a blogging site?

text: Many online sites generate a customized address for you like CAeporFsks2373454-submission@myblogging.com. You may write an email to that address and what you write in the body of that email gets published or entered in a database. Some sites like Trello refer to it as "your email" but it is not 'your' email account (e.g. From: amanda23@hotmail.com) but a dummy electronic mail address you are supposed to write to (To: CAeporFsks2373454-submission@myblogging.com). How to call an email address for submission?


title: Common ground between Deck and Graveyard in trading card games

text: I am developing a Trading Card Game and I am in need to extract functionality from two of my classes as they are both doing almost the same. it is about the Deck and Graveyard constructs which are visible on the field. The Deck is where the cards are which you can still draw, the Graveyard is where your used cards are. What word could I use to describe both a Deck and a Graveyard, Stack is already taken unfortunately (by the Java language) and I'd personally describe it as a Pile, but not sure if that is the best wording.


title: Is "surveillance" adequate for observing a patient in a hospital?

text: Can this word be used to mean observing the patient's condition in a hospital in order to make a diagnosis?


title: Which expression is correct for past version of "think"?

text: I don't know which of the following expressions is correct for depicting past version of "think":   1. I _didn't think_...    2. I _don't thought_...   3. I _didn't thought_...


title: 'uplink' or 'interfaces'

text: I wonder, which sentence fragment is better? >   1. ... effectiveness of the **interface** failure detection >   2. ... effectiveness of the **uplink** failure detection >


title: Is "purchased" more formal than "bought?"

text: It was suggested to me that the correct verb to use referring to something I paid for in the past is the word _purchased_ : > I purchased x. instead of > I bought x. As far as I can tell, the words are almost the same in this context. The only thing I've seen online is that _boughten_ is a colloquial past participle of the word _bought_. Is _bought_ ever, if rarely, considered colloquial? Is it ever improper to use when referring to a recent purchase? * * * Edit: not spoken English, and not sure how relevant, but here's an ngrams graph of "bought vs purchased." http://imgur.com/IEO1D2e


title: What is the meaning of the phrase: "N weeks ago tomorrow"?

text: Please explain to me the meaning of the phrase: > Two weeks ago tomorrow. It seems to be in the past ( _ago_ ) but with a link to the future ( _tomorrow_ ).


title: What is the antonym for 'conversely'?

text: What is the antonym for _conversely_? Or what is a concise way to say, "because of x, y follows"?


title: Client who orders directly, what do we call who outsources their work?

text: Well, am working on a business project where I need to name a category, say clients, now this applies to the people who directly places an order to the company, but the company also accepts outsourced projects, so they want to maintain records for the other companies who outsource their work to them. So what is a correct word that can be used for a comapany/individual who outsources their projects?


title: "Death Panels" and "Job creators": Is there a word for these?

text: Is there a word or expression that describes phrases like "Freedom fries" or "Death panels"? I'm thinking of phrases that seem intentionally designed to either re-frame a familiar concept or to be purposely evocative. The examples I can think of are mostly (US) political: "Job creators", "Death panels", "Death tax", "Freedom fries", etc.


title: What's the perfect word that brings to mind a red-headed woman?

text: I'm not talking an artificially-dyed Hollywood redhead, either. I'm looking for a word that perfectly recapitulates the kind of redhead who has lots of freckles, an extremely light complexion, and the kind of fiery red hair one would never mistake for the fake stuff. Basically, the stereotype of an Irish lass (though I've read that in fact the proportion of redheads among the English is higher).


title: Active or passive verbs

text: What is the difference between the following sentences: > This product is sold very well. > > This product sells very well. If the meaning is the same, what pragmatic difference is there?


title: "sunk" or "sunken"?

text: > The boat lies half-sunken in the bay. _Sunken_ is an adjective, right? But in the previous sentence, it seems to be acting as adverb modifying _lies_. Should the sentence be: > The boat lies half sunk in the bay.


Are "ins", "hrs", "mins" and "secs" the technically correct plural abbreviations for "inches", "hours", "minutes" and "seconds"? I'm hoping that all examples below could possibly be correct. Examples: _Plural: He finished the race in 4hrs 34mins 9secs._ _Singular: His 4hr 34min 9sec finish was unprecedented._ _Plural of 'inches': Garry was 5ft 10ins tall._ _Singular of 'inches': Garry was a 5ft 10in man._


title: What is an alternative for "thank you"?

text: So... I am seeking a new job and several recruiters are helping me. Instead of saying 'Thank you', should I say 'I appreciate'? Which one is more polite? Could someone please tell me how to express one's gratefulness to someone else in English?


title: What is the origin of the British "guv"? Is it still used colloquially?

text: I.e. is there a known historical reason behind why the British began calling each other "governor" and "guv"? The various online dictionaries I've consulted say it is now a way to refer to those of elder status, but I was wondering how it was adopted in the first place. And is it still used frequently amongst native British speakers?


title: Do any non-transitive (in a mathematical sense) slang terms exist?

text: Are there any words that are slang for another word which is itself a slang term for something else, but the secondary slang term is not slang for the original word? That is, given words `Y` and `Z`, where `Y` is a slang term for `Z`, does there exist a word `X` such that it is slang for `Y`, but not for `Z`?


title: Is English becoming easier or harder to learn?

text: As we all know, English is evolving. Constructs considered repugnant 100 years ago are widely-accepted today. Thousands of words in our vocabulary have fallen into disuse while thousands more have been adopted. My question: is English becoming easier to learn or harder? This is especially relevant given that--for better or worse--learning English is fast becoming a requirement for many non-native speakers.


title: Is 'town' or 'Barrie' a proper noun in this sentence?

text: > I live in a small town called Barrie. Which noun is proper – _town_ or _Barrie_? I answered _Barrie_ and the examiner marked it as wrong. And another one: > Last night, I watched the movie My Cousin Vinny on television. In this sentence, is _Cousin_ a proper noun or a common noun?


title: Is "Technical skills precisely" appropriate for a list of specific technical knowledge on résumé

text: If I am going to put the list of specific technical knowledge on a résumé, is it appropriate to use the term "Technical skills precisely", or is there a more appropriate term to use?


title: Origin of the name "Rijndael"?

text: Why is the standard for implementations of the AES algorithm called "Rijndael"? Is it simply a name? Or has it some kind of meaning? I tried googling this one, but without any helpful results.


title: Eliminated out at this cut off

text: Can we write: " Something is already eliminated out at this cut-off."


title: Another word/phrase for precipitation?

text: Is there some word that I could use in place of precipitation when I don't know if it's raining, snowing, or hailing outside? Saying "there is probably precipitation right now" (in place of something more certain about the state of the precipitation like "I think it's raining right now") sounds stiff. For instance, if I walk into a building while it's raining or snowing and ten minutes later someone asks about the weather (which is liable to change, especially during early winter), what could I say?


title: ethic vs ethics

text: Would someone please compare these two? Or is this correct, even though it adduces nothing? > As a noun (and not adj), ethic = A set of moral principles, especially ones > relating to or affirming a specified group, field, or form of conduct: > > ethics [usually treated as plural] = 1. Moral principles that govern a > person’s behaviour or the conducting of an activity: I do see that the second definition for ethics on that page differs from ethic.


title: What is a friendly way to say ' Now processing'?

text: I'm developing software something like iPhone's 'Siri'. If I call its name, it will answer, > What can I help you with? If I say "Turn on the TV", it will answer, > Now Processing ... But, I think "Now processing ..." doesn't sound friendly. So, isn't there a more friendly way to say "Now processing"? For example, > I'm turning on TV, processing, please wait


title: The pronunciation of "... no matter how minute" vs "5 minutes past the hour"

text: I was just checking dictionary.com and the pronunciation of "minute" doesn't seem to change in these two setences:   * **It is five _minutes_ past the hour.**   * **I'll take any change, no matter how _minute._** However, I always hear it pronounced differently. On dictionary.com you can hear the pronunciation of _minute_ in the context of, "5 minutes past the hour". However, the pronunciation -- as I've heard -- in the phrase "no matter how minute" isn't on the pronunciation key. I'd have thought that I'm spelling this word wrong but others are having this problem also and ChaCha confirms the spelling. I always heard "minute" in "no matter how minute" pronounced **my • noot**.


title: "Memberify" or "membrify"?

text: Which is the correct form when adding the _-ify_ suffix to _member_?   1. memberify    2. membrify I know it's not a regular word, I want to use it in a context for something like "make me a member".


title: 'Rollover'/'Roll over' in computer world

text: While Oxford Dictionary of English does not have definition of _rollover_ , Wiktionary defines this word as " _a graphic element that changes its shape or colour when the cursor moves over it_ "; in other terms, when we roll the trackball of a mouse over this element without having to click. Also, it is common to use _rollover_ as adjective and as verb, at least on internet. Is this usage of _rollover_ acceptable nowadays? Since most people use now either optical mice or trackpads, has the term _rollover_ become technically obsolete? If so, is there a better word?


title: What is a negative word to describe people that love showing off their knowledge?

text: Similar to this question: One's brilliant vocabulary and a tendency to show it off and What's the word for "overly proud of your education"? But the word I'm looking for is not limited to vocabulary. These people often drop words and also random fact tidbits even when it's:   * A) obvious to everyone in the room   * B) it's obvious that he/she just wants to show off the fact that they know it    * **C) not always founded on knowledge or fact** Also, I'm looking for a word that has a negative connotation.


title: "Ontology" vs. "ontography"

text: I have yet to find a good description of the difference between _ontology_ and _ontography_. Can anyone help clarify?


title: "Fillet" or "filet"

text: My significant other asked me today whether or not she should use a _fillet_ or _filet_ of steak in a recipe. What is the difference between _fillet_ and _filet_ , and the history behind these words? Is there a context in which one should be used and the other shouldn't? _Filet_ sounds rather French as in _filet mignon_. My own brief experiences with the terms are that _fillet_ is the term for the cut of meat whereas _filet_ would be used for fish. I've also read that one is American English and the other is British English.


title: Yoga (proper-case) or yoga (lowercase)?

text: I've seen it written in both ways. I'm tempted to use the proper case, because I was under the impression that it is also a form/name of religion. What do you think?


title: Are the phrases “both in water and land” and “for the loss and damage to” grammatical?

text: I have asked this question in linguistics forum, but as I was not getting answers I decided to ask it here. A. Consider the phrase that is boldfaced in sentence (1): (1) "It can live **both in water and land**." Is the phrase grammatical as it is, with no preposition before "land"? Or should the phrase be "both in water and on land"? B. Now consider the phrase that is boldfaced in sentence (2): (2) "He is responsible **for the loss and damage to** the article." In the phrase grammatical as it is, with no preposition after "loss"? Or should the phrase be "loss of and damage to"?


title: What allows the omission of subject relative pronouns?

text: > “There’s some men **wouldn’t** look at a girl with a baby.” (Ken Follett, > Fall of Giants) > > There is a young student **comes** here some evenings. (James Joyce, > Dubliners) > > “That’s a smell **could** raise me out of a concrete grave.” (East of Eden) > > “I guess it was Cal **asked** Lee.” (East of Eden) > > I have a friend **called** me yesterday. (The Syntactic Phenomena of > English) There are sayings that subject relative pronouns can’t be omitted. But from the examples above on novels and a syntactic book, the construction seems not a rare case or wrong. What allows them the omission?


title: Commas After Conditionals

text: It seems to me that commas for conditionals are falling out of favor. I often see the comma dropped in sentences like: > If you get stuck in a passive sentence always ask the question: I would put a comma after _sentence_. But I think my writing ends up with too many commas. How do I decide which ones to drop? Do I just arbitrarily get rid of a few that come after reasonably short conditionals?


title: Use of "the" in sentences--when is it redundant?

text: 1. He played with the items in the house.   2. He played with items in the house.   3. Target the addictions that plague your life.   4. Target addictions that plague your life. What exactly is the effect of removing "the" in such sentences? I've had it crossed out a couple of times now, but I'm not sure which ones I should edit away from my sentences. Is either sentence wrong? Is the sentence without "the" better?


title: Can the phrase 'is contained in' be substituted by a single word?

text: If a lunchbox contains an apple, then the apple _is contained in_ a lunchbox. Is it possible to replace the phrase 'is contained in' with a single word? I can't think of one, and the thesaurus hasn't been very helpful, either.


title: Is it correct to say "What's the best search tools in windows?"

text: I saw a question in superuser.com, and the title ran: > What’s the fastest desktop search tools you’ve used on Windows? It uses `'s` with `tools`, is this correct? Or should it be `What's the best tool` or `what're the best tools`?


title: Is there a word/term for "verbs which indicate the underlying sentiment of a statement"?

text: Sorry, I'm not sure the best way to describe this, but hopefully you understand what I mean. Something like the result of the verb(to say) and any adverb(insultingly) = verb(to insult). Another way of putting it: to "insult someone" is an example of what? Examples: To compliment, to question, to inspire, to insult, to demean, to be sarcastic, etc. Again, I'm wondering if there is a word or term that describes words such as these. The best I can think of is "methods of conversation" but that's vague.


title: How should "a $5 item" be read?

text: Taken from this article (image): > ...indulge in a **$5 coffee**... How should I read this? Is it a _five dollars coffee_ or a _five dollar coffee_?


title: What is the origin of "in a jiffy"?

text: ## What is the origin of _"in a jiffy"_? Etymology online Dictionary says _origin unknown_ but speculates that it was slang (cant) for lightning and dates it as 1785. Wikipedia agrees but adds that the American physical chemist, Gilbert Newton Lewis (1875–1946) was the first to actually specify how long a _jiffy_ was, a mere 33.3564 picoseconds. Nowadays a _jiffy_ is the delay interval between one computer animation frame and another, particularly in Autodesk Animator, it being defined as 1/100th-of-a-second (10 ms) jiffies (if I've understood that part correctly). Grammarphobia mentions the OED entry and goes on to say > The Chambers Dictionary of Etymology speculates that the word might have > been “spontaneously coined” by Raspe, a German librarian, writer, and > scientist. The earliest recorded use of "in a jiffy" I found is dated **1780** from _The Town and Country Magazine, Or Universal Repository of Knowledge, Instruction and Entertainment._ ..........![](http://books.google.it/books?id=-wM3AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA88&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U3GagvoNZJDnkHls1C8uJkuYbGeXA&ci=70%2C719%2C458%2C176&edge=0) This was pure luck, a serendipitous moment, I had been looking for variations of the idiom _twist someone around one's finger_ when I saw "in a jiffy" being used in conjunction with the metaphor. In fact, if one types "jiffy" in the search box, Google informs "there are no results for _jiffy_ in this book" but I found two instances! > Most of the limbs of law do everything **_in a jiffy_** ; but ask what they > mean, and they would be as much puzzled, as if you required of them the > explanation of a common act of parliament. If such gibberish were confined > to hackney clerks of twelve shillings a week, we should not notice it, as we > should scarce ever have our ears grated with it; but the misfortune is, by > degrees it has found its way into more polite assemblies, and a lady of > taste was heard to say the other evening at the Pantheon, that _she could > turn Sir William B_____ round her finger_ **_in a jiffy_**. If people of > sense or common understanding, would reflect one moment on the folly of > using words and phrases they could not explain, they would certainly explode > them, and shun those who used them, as being afflicted with a verbal > contagion, ... As fascinating this felicitous episode may be, it didn't explain _the origins_ of this expression. * * * ## jeffy A spelling variation in Francis Grose's book, _Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue_ (1796) > It will be done **in a jeffy** : it will be done in a short space of time, > in an instant. * * * ## giffy Another spelling variant was **_giffy_** I found several instances of this word in Google books but none told me their origins.   * 1822 (London); "he saw Mary walking along the road we a strange man, [...] that Mary fell in a fit and the man attempted first to help her, but that William sent him flying over the hedge **in a giffy** , and threatened Mary,..."    * 1833 (Middlebury College, Vermont); "Done, and O the philosophers scales effected nothing half so wonderful! The seven were raised **in a giffy** , and we verily concluded it would take five more to restore the equilibrium."    * 1833 (New York); **Giffy** , a rapid and brief space of time.   * 1866 (Lincolnshire); **_Giffy._** —Immediately. Ex. I'll be with you _in a giffy_. **_Giffling._** —Moving about impatiently * * * ## in a jiffing The expression, **_in a jiffing_** was apparently well-known in the USA. In _Dictionary of Americanisms_ By John Russell Bartlett (1859). The term _To rights_ is defined as _Directly_ ; _soon_ and by the expression **_in a jiffing_**. _In a jiffing_ was also used by Dickens in his _All the Year Round, Volumes 15-16_ dated 1866. * * * ## jiffle I found the following excerpt in _The Dictionary of English Etymology E - P, Volume 2_ By Hensleigh Wedgwood (1862) ![](http://books.google.it/books?id=NGdJAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA282&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U1PDWLzTmJC5O2rvPOcUrRrxZh13Q&ci=129%2C372%2C777%2C140&edge=0) Finally, it appears that a _jif_ and _jiffy_ is a shortening of _jiffle_. Or is it? Is _jiffle_ a diminutive of _jiff_? Is it older? Which language is it from, Welsh? Cant? Hal.— stands for _Halliwell's Dict. of Archaic and Provincial Words_


title: "No Limit" Versus "Unlimited"

text: Senior programmer in my team in developing hotel management program and there is something about hotel rooms limit, how many room the hotel can provide to customer. He want to add option to indicate that hotel is sure to welcome any amount of customer and he was asking me that should we use "No Limit" or "Unlimited"


title: "My work has done" vs "my work has been done"

text: Please tell me that what is the difference between > My work has done and > My work has been done problem is with the use of has and has been


title: Why are "he", "she", and "it" distinct in the singular, but all "they" in the plural?

text: Other languages have gender-specific third-person plural pronouns (e.g., _ellos_ and _ellas_ in Spanish). English does not, despite the masculine/feminine/neuter distinction being obligatory in the singular. Is there a historical reason for this situation? Was there a time when English had gendered versions of "they"?


title: Use of "-en" suffix

text: "Woollen" is an Old English word that uses the suffix "-en" to turn a noun into a verb. As I understand it, the use of this suffix died out in Middle English. Do any more modern words use this suffix? Have people mixed and matched, for example taken a Latin word and added on OE suffix? "En-" as a prefix seems to be (Old?) French in origin, so "enlighten" seems to mix it up a bit.


title: The use of "not" in a sentence

text: > "His failure to register was not knowing and willful." This may seem like a stupid question, but does the sentence above mean he was not knowing and not willful, or not knowing and willful?


title: Why is common law referred to as "at common law"?

text: While researching the differences between modern penal codes with common law I noticed that in many places it is written as at common law. An example is, "A crime at common law defined as unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman by a man without her consent and by means of fear or force." Does anyone know why it is worded this way?


title: Tasks for tutorial class sessions, not at home

text: Writing worksheets for students at university, I'd like to distinguish tasks intended to be solved in tutorial classes from tasks intended as homework. What would be the appropriate term to refer to non-homework tasks intended for class? So far my worksheets have been in German, and the term I used was “Präsenzaufgaben”, meaning tasks (“Aufgaben”) intended for when people are present (noun “Präsenz”) in class. But your solution need not be a close translation of this as long as the meaning is clear or the term is established. Preferably both.


title: Have you been vs you have been

text: For how long ............ employed here? a. you are.   b. are you.   c. you have been.   d. have you been. What will be the answer here I thought it shall be d _have you been_ but someone is saying _you have been_. Can anybody explain please


title: stuck in how to differentiate between regular and irregular verbs

text: As I know that in regular verbs we put 'ed' and in irregular verb we do not put 'ed' while changing it into past or past participle but anyone who does not know about the 2nd and 3rd form of verb so how he/she should know that word is regular or irregular verb??


title: Term that implies design and engineering

text: I want know if the English language has a term that means "design and engineering".


title: Is there a word for a non-geek?

text: I am looking for a term which clearly defines somebody as a non-geek, without being derogatory. The best example I have seen is `muggle`, but it needs context to be understood, as in "You don't meet many muggles at a comic convention", or "even my muggle friends like my autologlyph fractal decal". But while "muggle" makes it clear that he is a part of the "majority which is different", it is often hard to guess who the minority is. There are also more specific words, but they are mostly so derogatory that I would consider them rude even in a joke, like `luser` or `n00b`. I definitely don't want to use them in a normal conversation. A search in antonym dictionaries didn't bring up anything. Is there really no such word?


title: How to wish someone "Happy New Year" in a professional, formal and friendly way

text: English is my second language. I still struggle with it especially when I have to write a formal email. I need to send an email to several of my business associates in reply to theirs. It contains some technical explanation related to our project, after which I would like to wish them _Happy New Year_. What is a professional, formal and friendly way to say this?


title: Which is correct — "I told you" or "I said you"?

text: I often hear people using "I said you" in Asia, but people in America use "I told you". Is there a difference between the usage of _said_ and _told_? And to be more specific which is correct English — _told_ or _said_?


title: Meaning of the word 'function' in this context?

text: The concept of execution environment is an essential part of the definition of software reliability. Consider that a software system supports 10 different **functions** _f1_ ,..., _f10_ , and there are two groups of users. One group of users use only **functions** f1,...,f7, and the second group uses all the **functions**. Let **functions** _f1_ ,...., _f7_ be fault free, but there are faults in **functions** _f8_ , _f9_ , _f10_. **function** a. the kind of action or activity proper to a person, thing, or institution; the purpose for which something is designed or exists b. mathematical functions c. function keys Everyone I talked to takes the word function in this context to mean one of the above three. Which do you think is right?


title: What does "straightforward" mean?

text: Very often I hear sentences like: "This approach is pretty straightforward." What is a synonym describing "straightforward" in this context? Simple? Complicated? Intelligently solved?


What is the word used to describe a particular type of sound made with language? Is it a "tone"? For example, the "ai" in Thailand produces a sound. And, what is the word for this language system of producing different sounds from different combinations of characters? Why does it seem like same set of characters can produce different sounds based on which words they are in?


title: Is there a name for the rhetorical device that uses difficult but irrelevant theories to advance one's argument?

text: Some arguments cite quantum mechanics as evidence to suppose the existence of a metaphysical being. In order to argue with these people, one would have to study quantum mechanics which is very difficult. Dialectical materialism adopts a form of metaphysics suggested by Hegel. Even Bertrand Russell admits that Hegel is difficult. The former uses physics to infer existence in metaphysics; the latter uses metaphysics to predict affairs in the physical world. As Bertrand Russell points out, the belief that metaphysics has any bearing upon practical affairs is a proof of logical incapacity. I wonder if there is a name for this type of rhetorical device.


title: What are the patterns/rules for determining U.S. state abbreviations?

text: I vaguely recall memorizing the state abbreviations in grades school. And I seem to remember my teacher sharing a few ground rules for helping us memorize them.   * No two states may have the same abbreviation.    * If there are two words in the state's name, take the first letter of each. (NY, SD, WV, etc)    * Take the first two letters of the state name to form the abbreviation.   * Take the first and last letter of the state name to form the abbreviation. The first two rules are never broken. The second two are broken as needed in order to obey the first one. But which one takes precidence? What other considerations come into play that would have led to choices such as FL, HI, NV


title: Verb mix-up in a sentence

text: I have this sentence, and I have a feeling that the verbs and subjects do not agree with each other, and it continues to bother me. How can I fix it? > Furthermore, both mates in a couple **could** also each be albino (aa), > meaning that because each mate **is** homozygous recessive, each child > **would** also be an albino, which is greater than just "a quarter of all > babies." Excuse the weird sentence, but does it make sense? I bolded the words where I think I may have made my mistakes.


title: Present perfect vs present perfect continuous for past unfinished actions relevant to the present

text: John has stood there for 5 hours. vs John has been standing there for 5 hours. Is there any difference in meaning between the two sentences? Both actions are unfinished. Both are relevant to the present (John is tired and sweaty and hungry). Are there situations where we'd prefer using one tense over the other?


title: A word or phrase to describe documents that can expire

text: I'm looking for word or phrase that describes documents or credentials that by definition have an expiry date. Examples of such documents can be:   * Passports   * Certifications   * Licenses   * Credentials


title: Is there an adverb for "quickly at first, slowly later"?

text: When water comes out of a faucet at the bottom of a tank, it comes out quickly first and then it tapers off. Is there an adverb for such a case?


title: Why does the police use "K-9 Unit" instead of "dog"?

text: Throughout North America, I keep seeing police cars labeled "K-9 unit". I know "K-9" is a homophone of "canine", but why don't they just use "Police dog"?


title: Is "that few" a correct expression?

text: We quite often hear the utterance "that many" as in > I haven't had that many sweets! But is the opposite standard speech as well? Can one say: > I don't have that few followers on Twitter! If so, is there any difference in usage? I.e. is this acceptable in written as well as spoken conversation? Formal and informal?


title: What is it called when you write what someone is saying?

text: Imagine you're sitting in the corner, writing down a conversation that is occurring in the middle of the room. What are you doing? "Copying down" is what I'm using, but it seems like there should be a better word.


title: You quench your thirst. What do you do with your hunger?

text: What is the equivalent of "quench" when speaking of hunger? Is it appropriate to say you quenched your hunger?


title: Is a comma appended to an ellipsis in the middle of a quotation?

text: Digging through every _ELU_ question I can find on the matter, I still can’t locate a specific answer to this question of punctuation. Which of these is correct? >   1. “Maybe...” I said, injecting an intentional pause, “we will find him.” > >   2. “Maybe...,” I said, injecting an intentional pause, "we will find him.” > > Note that this is an interrupted quotation. It is not a “voice trailing off incomplete sentence,” followed by another sentence. Without the textual interruption, it would be “Maybe... we will find him.” Comma or no? ADDENDUM: I'm adding a bit more here, because despite the excellent answers I've already received, there's a point I want to make which hasn't _precisely_ been addressed, and it's this: I want to retain the structure of the sentence exactly as it is, as a creative choice. The pause implied by a comma alone, although generally sufficient (e.g. "Maybe, we will find him.") is not adequate to my purpose here. _Mea culpa_ , I could not include the amount of contextual material that would have made this clear, but if you accept that I want to get a long intentional pause with a dying inflection (and not the more abrupt pause signified by a dash), then would you consider a comma to be nice punctuation, or unnecessary? A simpler way of looking at the same question might be this: Which of the following works better? >   1. "Maybe..." I said. >   2. "Maybe...," I said. > Perhaps all I'm really asking is, is the usual comma that comes before _I said_ necessary after an ellipsis?


title: Spacing after Mr./Mrs./Ms.?

text: Should I put a space after Mr./Mrs./Ms.? In other words, should it be "Mr.Jones" or "Mr. Jones?"


title: Can we say "The student can do still better"- with the same meaning as "The student can do better ?"

text: A teacher remarked in progress report of a student that she "can do still better" to say that she can do better than what she did now. Is it correct?


Is there a difference between "way of doing something" and "way to do something"? It is on purpose that I did not write "a way of doing something" or "the way of doing something" and "a way to do something" or "the way to do something"… because I feel this is where the answer lies. Michael Swan's _Practical English Usage_ (third edition, page 607) reads: > After _way_ (meaning 'method/manner') we can use an infinitive structure or > _of … ing_. There is no important difference between the two structures. > _There is no way to prove / of proving that he was stealing_. I, on the other hand, think there must be a difference, however slight… !


title: Best word for.....different types of physical constructs

text: I have a triple request but they're related.   1. Word for a solid filled object in a given shape (ie triangle made out of steel sheet)    2. Word for object in a given shape with only the outline (ie. A set of steel beams that form a triangle)    3. A word like shape to refer to something that has x number of sides and/or is made with y shape


title: "Like fun, but dangerous"

text: > That looks like fun, but dangerous. Is that sentence grammatically correct? Is there anything wrong with it? I think it might be grammatically incorrect because if you remove the word "fun," then it becomes > That looks like dangerous. which is obviously incorrect. I think to be grammatically correct, it should be something like > That looks like fun, but it's dangerous. or > That looks like fun, but it also looks dangerous.


title: Is there a single word for "money-mindedness"?

text: I'm looking for a single word for describing a person "whose motive is dictated by money"...I seem to recall there was an elegant word for this, but I can't remember it now...can someone help?


title: When do you leave out the preposition in a relative clause?

text: A non-fiction titled "Do the Right Thing" published in 1998 has this sentence: > (1) _Am I treating this stranger with the same consideration **that I would > a friend**?_ Another book (fiction) titled "Strong Rain Falling: A Caitlin Strong Novel (by Jon Land)" published in 2013 has this sentence: > (2) _...and treat the enemy with the same consideration **with which they > had treated the residents of Willow Creek**._ Are both these grammatical and natural English? If so, it seems to me that the _that_ clause of (1), as well as the _which_ clause of (2), is a relative clause. And that in (1) the preposition _with_ has been left out of the relative clause. Assuming that both are correct English, my question is why (1) is possible without the preposition _with_ stranded at the end? ( **Edit:** Is it because the relative clause of (1) lacks the lexical verb "treat"?) Also, if preposition stranding is possible with these relative clauses, are these possible English? > (1a) _Am I treating this stranger with the same consideration **that I would > treat a friend with**?_ > > (2a) _...and treat the enemy with the same consideration **which they had > treated the residents of Willow Creek with**._ **Edit:** Here is another example without ellipsis, and it's taken from a hospital website in England: > (3) _We Ask That Our Patients:_ > > _treat our staff with the same consideration **that you would expect to be > treated yourself**. Violent, abusive or intimidating behaviour of any kind > will not be tolerated and will lead to immediate removal from the practice > list._ Now, should the editor of the website have added _with_ at the end of the boldfaced portion?


title: "Questions" have "answers". What do "problems" have?

text: If _questions_ have _answers_ , then _problems_ have ____? I know it sounds simple but I am not sure what the best word is.


title: Origin of "It's been a slice"

text: What is the origin of the phrase "it's been a slice"? I understand its meaning, but cannot find any listing of its origin, or possibly to what specifically "a slice" is referring.


title: What is the origin of "kiwifruit"?

text: What is the origin of _kiwifruit_?   Is there any relation between the fruit and New Zealand? ![kiwifruit](http://i.stack.imgur.com/dPShh.png)


title: What is the origin of "rag" meaning newspaper?

text: In Australia and the UK, some folks refer to a newspaper as a _rag_ , and I am curious how this term was coined. Although most people would ask for a newspaper, I have gone around asking "Have you got a copy of today's rag?" today and only one out of twelve people I asked (I asked in coffee shops and the like) didn't know what I meant straight away. I am trying to make a connection - dirty rag, newspaper commonly used to pack stuff or for cleaning (not a good idea anyhow) but I am stumped as the actual origins of the word.


title: Alternative word for playgoers' behavior

text: Is there a word for playgoers' behavior when hissing and booing the villain?