title: Correct use of "happen"

text: A friend of mine told me that the following sentence is incorrect (copied from an exercise) > Do all sentences tell us what the speaker would like to happen? He claims that it should read: > Do all sentences tell us what the speaker would like **for it** to happen? Is he correct? Why?


title: Word for item or concept which has permanence?

text: I'm interested in a word (noun) to use to refer to an object or concept which has permanence. For example, substituting ###, I would say > "Many of the objects we interact with in real life are ###s, if you leave a > ### for a while it will still exist when you come back. But some things, > like an ice cube, a bad smell, a virtual particle in physics or a local > variable in programming, are not ###s." The antonym, a word for an item which displays impermanence, would be interesting as well. * * * [EDIT]   The motivation is that I want to name an abstraction in my computer program. It is a type of container to put data in, instances of this container will hold data that (has) more permanence than a typical data (element) will. Typically, you name an abstraction after the thing it represents. If you have an abstraction that holds data about one person, you name the abstraction itself "Person". While trying to name this abstraction, I got curious to know if there was a generic word.


title: What is the students’ jargon or abbreviation to mean a report made up by only putting data downloaded from internet together in English, if it exists?

text: Japanese students call a report and essay made up by only putting data downloaded from internet e.g. Wikipedia together without including their own thought or creative ideas a “コピペ-Kopipe,” which is pronounced as 'kopipay.' It is a compound of ‘copied + pasted + paper’. Incidentally ‘copy ,’ ‘paste,’ and ‘paper’ are all adapted to Japanese language, and pronounced as ‘kopi-i, ‘paisuto, and ‘paypah’. To me 'Kopipe' is plagiarism, but it doesn’t have criminal tone as plagiarism has. It seems to be just a labor-saving editing or blending job for students. I heard they say in the train “I submitted a report in time by ‘kopipeing’ articles” innocently just like playing a game.. Is there a similar student jargon or abbreviation of ‘Kopipe’ in English?


title: performance: plural vs singular?

text: I am confused with the use of plural or singular with the word "performance". My context is the following: I am running multiple experiments in order to evaluate the performance(s?) of an algorithm. I want to say that using method A is not relevant to evaluate the algorithms in term of performance(s?). In my native language (French), that would be plural, but I think the logic is different in English. Is it uncountable? Is it always the case? In the sentences above, should I write performance or performances?


title: Synonym for: It may take longer than expected (ie. a meeting)

text: For instance: > I have a meeting today that is scheduled until 15h00 but it may take longer. In dutch we would say: Het kan uitlopen. How would I say this?


title: What is a "Tamazie party"?

text: I found the term "Tamazie party" in a play by Joe Penhall. Is it a party related to drugs? Or does it have an idiomatic meaning? If it is a special party, is it just in Britain?


title: "Poison" is to "poisoned" as "venom" is to what?

text: As the title says, _poison_ is to _poisoned_ as _venom_ is to what? I tried looking up _venomed_ but it means something different. Is there such a word?


title: Is "by the second" a correct phrase?

text: I heard it many times and I could infer that it means "all the time" or "without pause", "constantly". (Am I right?) But when trying to look it up, none of the dictionaries define it. Is this a correct English phrase?


title: Fell out of the car

text: The following is taken from a website: > Sir, do you realize your wife **fell out** of the car several miles back? The expression **fell out** here, as I checked in the dictionary, doesn't make any sense.   Does it mean **fell off**?


title: Regarding word usage

text: Obviously, wise is a word, and so is 'wisdom'; also, unwise is a word (all in the English language). Is 'unwisdom' a word? Also, is there a difference between misinformation and disinformation (if these are correct words)?


title: Is there a word that describes 'the study of measuring distances'?

text: When talking about distances (miles, kilometers, etc...), is there a word that describes the field that specializes in those sort of things. I remember someone told me about this last week. I Googled it but couldn't find anything. I would also like to know if that (possibly existing) word is popular or not. Edit: I'm sorry about changing the checked answer. Next time I'll make my question clearer.


title: What does "if you will" mean?

text: A TV program says, > they started this accounting gimmick, if you will, and they... What does "if you will" mean? Is it a short form of "if you will [a certain verb]"?


title: Looking for an idiom describing age

text: I'm translating a script for a cartoon into English. In one of the scenes a grandpa's talking to his granddaughter. It goes something like this: _GRANDPA_ _Indeed! I have forgotten! Apparently, your grandpa’s getting **a bit long in the tooth**. Anyway, would you give your old grandpa a hug?_ _She turns around slowly. She sees her grandpa **with long teeth**. She rubs her eyes and the vision’s gone._ Seems clear, right? The thing is in my native tongue we don't say "long in the tooth", we say something along the lines of "be like a mushroom" (= be old). And, unfortunately, that's what you see when you're watching the original episode - a grandpa covered in mushrooms (not with long teeth). As there's no way the producers are ever going to agree to change the original scene and make it work for the English audience, I need to come up with an idiom combining **old age** and **mushrooms** (a tree with fungi, possibly?) Any ideas?


title: Should proper nouns used as verbs be capitalized?

text: When a proper noun like "Skype" is used as a verb ("Skyping"), should it be capitalized? My thinking is that it should be capitalized because the root is a proper noun. Does anyone know of a rule about this question?


title: origin of new meaning of whitewash

text: I recently came across "whitewash" used to refer to a (racist) practice of erasing visible minorities in film and advertising by making them appear more white (or even replacing them with white actors). Here are some examples of this use of the word:   * The Daily Mail referring to controversy surrounding an alleged lightening of Beyoncé's skin in an advertisement "Beauty brand L'Oreal accused of 'whitewashing' Beyonce".    * A blog "stop whitewashing" definition from blog.   * A lot of discussion surrounding the latest Star Trek film, since Khan is being played by a white actor. My questions:   * Can anyone provide some references as to when this meaning of the word a appeared?    * How widely accepted is this meaning? How [in]formal is this? The Daily Mail put quotes around it in their headline. Why?  It strikes me as a very playful modification of the older meaning (cf. Wikipedia definition), transforming the meaning of "white" in "whitewashing". (In the older meaning, one is covering over a filthy barn with a thin layer of chalk, to hide cow dung. Everyone agrees that a white barn looks better than a dung-splattered one, but the accusation is that the filth is still there underneath... by extension, the superficial appearances look good while hiding evil underneath. In the meaning I an describing, what is being hidden is actually of value and it is the act of hiding what is underneath that is the evil.)


title: notionistic education / teaching?

text: What's the right word to indicate a type of education based on memorizing facts or a superficial understanding of things, without real insight or critical mind development? In my native language (Italian) we have expressions like "nozionismo" or "educazione nozionistica" or "didattica nozionistica". But, after I looked in the dictionary, it seems to me that the word "notion" in this case is a "false friend". In fact, "nozione" seems different from "notion", which is rather like an opinion.


title: Word for almost black and almost white

text: Or, a word for really dark grey or really light grey.


I work in a hospital. I want to know what we should call the proof of appointment. And I want to know the name of the place where we pay the bill after treatment.


title: "Offence threat" vs. "offensive threat"

text: I was watching an NBA game. After Omer Asik missed an easy shot, the commentator said that Omer was not much of an offensive threat. I used to say _offence threat_ often. Which usage is more established or more correct?


title: "Do you want" vs "Do you not want"

text: I recently came across a funny picture with these questions: Do you want som drugs? No Do you not want some drugs? Presumably the answear is supposed to be "no" since you always say no to drugs, but does not both these questions result in him saying no to drugs? http://buttersafe.com/comics/2013-11-07-Drugs.jpg


title: About the 'as in'

text: > if "minus" is conceivably an operator, **as in** "the band reunited, minus > one member", you would use the singular. Which is preposition? the 'as' or 'in' or both as a whole is preposition? In English, can two preposition be used one after another?


title: To add someone "to" Facebook or "on" Facebook

text: Which one is correct and why: > It was the first time a girl asked me to add her **on** Facebook Or > It was the first time a girl asked me to add her **to** Facebook


title: What does it mean to use a single quote to abbreviate things?

text: I see people use the single quote every now and then. I know common phrases like _can't_ , _you'll_ , _I'd_. But otherwise, I am quite confused why, when and how it should be used. To name a few,   1. Sweet Child o' Mine (A song from the band Guns N' Roses)   2. Jammin' (A song from Bob Marley)   3. 'cause (short for because) Update: after reading the links provided in the comments. I still have some questions. That is, how do I know when to use them? Or, when I saw them, how do I know what they stand for? Can I create omissions arbitrarily?


title: A better word for "synchronised"

text: I'm struggling to find a better and less "harsh" word for _synchronised_. I'm trying to convey a message of simplicity for our product which synchronizes viewing of documents on multiple iPads. (The same file opens up simultaneously on multiple iPads, ready to be discussed.) Anybody has any ideas?


title: Origins of the phase "smash-and-grab capitalism"

text: I want to find the first use of the phrase "smash-and-grab capitalism." (I want to use the expression but I want to make sure I am not unwittingly quoting Ronald Reagan.) I have googled "origin 'smash and grab capitalism'" and similar phrases, but this comes up with current usages of the phrase, and I'm not really sure as to how to improve the search. I also tried to make a google ngram but both `smash-and-grab capitalism` and `smash and grab capitalism` seem to give zero usages, strangely. Also, since it is a phrase, a dictionary doesn't seem very helpful. Does anyone know the origin of this expression? If you can advice as to how I can improve my searches to help myself, then that would be great too.


title: What would you call someone who makes no lasting impression?

text: What word would describe someone who doesn't generally leave much of an impression on people?


title: What is the origin of "pan" as a slang term for "face"?

text: I was think of posting a picture of my ugly _pan_ here instead of the gravatar, when I started to wonder, why is it my ugly _pan_? The slang term _pan_ meaning face occurs chiefly in phrases such as _ugly pan_ and _smack in the pan_ , suggesting that is not very complimentary. Green's _Dictionary of Slang_ has several different meanings including the female pudenda, the mouth, the head and the anus but suggests no etymology. Does anyone have any idea where the term came from?


title: “Solution to” vs. “solution of ”

text: What is the difference between saying _solution **to** the problem_ and saying _solution **of** the problem_? Are they both equivalent, or is there some difference?


title: Appropriate word for a young person who behaves like a cynical old person?

text: What is an appropriate term for a young person (child, or teenager) whose words and actions mimic that of a much older person from a previous generation? Such a youngster would demonstrate strong nostalgia for the past, despite never having lived during that time period. An example I can think of is a 12 year old boy who observes that "children nowadays spend all their time with their faces glued to smartphones", or who prefers to write letters rather than emails "like it was done in the good old days". This child would never have a Facebook or Twitter account, because they are "silly fads of the 21st century".1 A possible phrase would be _mature beyond his years_ , although that does quite capture the characteristic in question, in particular the underlying contradiction, cynicism and nostalgia. I can think a perfectly fitting term from another language, but not English... 1The motivation behind this question is an interesting youngster I know who makes these statements!


title: Word for a portion of house for guests

text: Is there any specific word for a portion of a house either attached with main building or at the back of the house having one or two rooms specifically for guests?


title: sensible, sensitive, and sentient

text: Despite the apparently same meanings of the three words (which I looked up in Wiktionary), I would like to know if my interpretation is correct regarding their differences. "sensible" is used to describe a person who can be perceived and understood by other people. "sensitive" is used to describe a person who can perceive other people or things. I am not sure about "sentient". Is it the same as "sensible" or "sensitive"?


title: Can you kindly elaborate on which option can be correct and why?

text: Mr. Hill decided to offer the position to Henry, ………… .   1. Having rejected his job offer by Bill   2. Bill having rejected his job offer   3. Bill rejecting his offer   4. Being rejected his offer by Bill


title: Accents of characters in Downton Abbey

text: To continue the question started in identifying accents of British actors, there is one popular current cultural artifact with an excess of non-standard British accents, and that is The BBC series Downton Abbey. For one very specific example, Anna Smith pronounces the word 'money' not as in standard English 'MUH-nee' (IPS /'mʌ nij/) but instead says something like 'moo-NAY' (IPA /mʊ 'ne/). 'Upstairs' I figure the accents are entirely RP except for Lady Grantham (with the well discussed General American/RP mix). But I'd very much like to know what each of the 'downstairs' characters' accents are. A google search says nothing more than what the IMDb FAQ about the show says: > Some of the servants (eg Mr Carson, Mrs Patmore, Anna and Sarah O'Brien) > speak with northern accents (either Yorkshire or Lancashire). And there is dialog and/or plot that identifies Branson as Irish and John Bates as Scottish. What I'm looking for is something more definitive. So, excluding the upstairs characters, what are the regions/accents of the following? (if possible please be specific, that is if you can tell the difference between, say, Mancunian and Yorkshire). (for identities, consult IMDb )   * Charles Carson - butler   * John Bates - the earl's valet   * Sarah O'Brien - the countess's maid   * Anna Smith - Lady Mary's maid   * Thomas Barrow - footman   * Mrs. Hughes - housekeeper   * Daisy Mason - cook's aid   * Mrs. Patmore - cook   * Tom Branson - chauffeur   * Joseph Molesley - footman   * Dr. Clarkson - physician   * Ethel Parks - maid   * William Mason - footman A simplified answer is sufficient. If all are Yorkshire (whatever that is) except for Branson and Bates, then I'd like that confirmed. But if more can be said then so much the better. (e.g. Dr. Clarkson sounds 'different' to me, but I just can't tell.)


title: Meaning of "mentor in a box"?

text: Is **mentor in a box** an idiom? What is the meaning in the following context : > This book is, in a sense, a "mentor in a box," allowing you to benefit from > our experiences, both positive and negative...


title: What does "drive-in teller" mean?

text: What does _drive-in teller_ mean in the following sentence? > It's as those pneumatic canisters you see when you go to a drive-in teller > at a bank.


title: What is the difference between "It is raining" and "'It is raining' is true?"

text: "It is raining." "'It is raining' is true." Does "is true" make any difference? Thanks. This link gives context to this question and testify that I'm not a nut (yet).


title: More traditional / professional word or phrase for 'Plan of Attack'

text: I'm currently writing up a design document which is essentially a 'plan of attack', however this doesn't strike me as a particularly professional or eloquent term for what I mean and my mind's gone blank as to the alternatives. 'Plan of action'? ...Still sounds too casual.


title: What is the origin of 'yes siree!'?

text: We all know it from cowboy films and the like but where does the 'siree' come from? Is it a deliberate mispronunciation of 'sire' ?


title: Whose conclusion vs concluding

text: I'm attempting to state the conclusion authors drew from a study. At first, I had written my sentence like this: > Reardon, Arshan, and Attebery detail a study in which Texas teachers > selectively diverted resources based on test scores, whose conclusion was > that “there were little to no gains among the least academically advantaged > students” (498). However I changed it this, but it seems just as awkward: > Reardon, Arshan, and Attebery detail a study in which Texas teachers > selectively diverted resources based on test scores, concluding that “there > were little to no gains among the least academically advantaged students” > (498). I've also considered but "coming to the conclusion". Which one seems most correct?


title: Using a comma to avoid using "and"

text: In my writing I often use a comma and the past progressive tense (I think) to make sentences more concise. For example: > The new design was more intuitive and user-friendly, reducing user errors. Is this grammatically correct? Are there better alternatives?


title: Do I capitalize s on "son" when it's used casually such as "Say hi to your pa for me, son."?

text: "Tell your pa I'm here, sonny." or "Tell your pa I'm here, Sonny." (When the boy's name is not Sonny.)


title: Plural noun and plural adjective

text: Which is correct?   * If the editors start being **pedantics** then news won't reach us on time.   * If the editors start being **pedantic** then news won't reach us on time. And why?.   P.S-:the confusion arose from phrases like all time "greats"...I have heard this phrase a lot ,when an adjective is used as an noun , I thought the case was same here and had no idea about a word called "pedant"


title: "You reduced me to tears", What does it mean?

text: It is from an old movie. I don't remember the title but this sentence is also used in 'Grace Kelly' of Mika. Does it mean 'You made me cry'?


title: What is a "magnetic shaped charge"

text: Just reading this article and in one of the first sentences it says: > A few days ago, 32-year-old Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan died in his car, after two > motorcyclists attached a magnetic shaped charge to the door. I'm trying to understand what "magnetic shaped" means or what is a "magnetic shaped charge", if it is some special term?


title: Ambiguity about passive in my textbook

text: In my textbook, it said > "In an active sentence we need to include the agent as subject; using a > passive allows us to _omit the agent by leaving out the prepositional phrase > with **by_** " Ex:   Jackson threw me _into the dungeon_   I was thrown _into the dungeon_ The prepositional phrase is still intact, so why does it say " _leaving out the prepositional phrase_ "?


title: What is meant by "to him" in this title?

text: The title of a chapter in Herman Melville's _Moby Dick_ is named: > Enter Ahab; to him, Stubb What is meant by this title? (I can't tell by the chapter's contents, it simply tells of the interaction between two people, Captain Ahab and Stubb) Can this use of _"to him"_ be used the same way in a sentence, or is it just a result of "shortening" often done in titles?


title: How to say this using catch-phrases: "Test A requires a lot of tissue samples, whereas test B doesn't."?

text: I am about to prepare a talk that would compare two tests in the medical field. The old test requires 5 different sites of the organ to be sampled in order to have a result. The other test (which is the newly proposed) requires only one and gives more meaningful results. If I were to say this in bullets how can I express this idea in short? The nearest thing came to my mind is:   * Test A is _sample-demanding_ while test B is not.  OR   * Test B is five times more _tissue-sparing_ than test A.  I am not sure which one sounds correct, or is there any better way to say it? **Note:**   I am surprised to find one of the answers disappearing. The answer that disappeared was the correct answer and I cannot accept any other answer unless the same one who disappeared comes back to accept his answer.


title: Literal Meaning of 'Gosh'

text: 'Gosh' is a common substitute for the word 'God' in phrases such as 'Oh My Gosh' or 'By Gosh' or just 'Gosh'. Is this just a corruption of the word 'God' or does it have some other provenance? How long has it been in use?


title: Etymology of "Given up the ghost"

text: What is the origin of the phrase "Given up the ghost"? > e.g. "After 10 years, my DVD player has finally **given up the ghost**." Does it have a religious connotation?


title: Subtle distinction between "at once" and "all at once"?

text: According to OALD both " _all at once_ " and " _at once_ " can mean _at the same time_. > I can't do everything all at once > > I can't do two things at once. > > Don't all speak at once! These examples give me the idea that " _at once_ " could be used when referring to a countable thing (in the latter example _all_ is countable because it refers to a specific count of people, e.g. a class) while " _all at once_ " is taken when referring to a non-countable thing (of course, _everything_ could possibly be a countable thing). Are they always used interchangeably or is one preferred in certain contexts?


title: "Both are not," or "neither is?"

text: Straight forward question. Are both correct or is one better. "Both are not." "Neither is." Also, are they interchangeable or are there correct times to use one or the other?


title: Error vs mistake and transmission vs transfer

text: I original message: > Create a log file when mistakes occurred during transmission data between > device and PC I think this wrong and should be: > Create a log file when errors occurred during data transfer between device > and PC Can you prove/correct it?


title: Helping with a book?

text: I have been reading a book about programming and i came across a sentence which says: > but if you don’t reuse some of what you’re doing, you’ll eventually wear > your fingers down to painful stubs through overtyping. And i don't get this part: What does "Painful Stubs" mean? Thanks.


title: The counterpart to "overheard" when reading?

text: What is the counterpart to _overheard_ , when I did not heard, but read something in passing? _Overread_ is rather the opposite, namely > To read over, or peruse. Possible alternatives I could think of are _notice_ and _found_. From: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Overread


title: Pray as if he sees you vs. Pray as if he is seeing you

text: When we want to write or say about something general as in the following, which sentence makes more sense over the other? And what could be the differences? > When you pray to God, pray in a way as though he **watches/sees** you.   >  When you pray to God, pray in a way as though he **is watching/seeing** > you. > > When you pray to God, pray as if you **see** him.   >  When you pray to God, pray as if you **are seeing** him.


title: Is it correct to say, "I strive for quality"

text: I'm trying to apply to a software engineer job, and I'm trying to write a phrase something like: > I always strive for quality. I try to improve and find a different way for > every program that I work on. Is there any way to improve this phrase, or better alternatives?


title: 'equity' in finance

text: I'm not asking about its formal definition (a windy one here) or its general definition in English, the latter of which states: > Stocks and shares that carry no fixed interest: Instead, I'm asking how definition 1 implies or relates to definition 2, the one for finance?


title: Self-conscious vs. self-aware

text: I've often wondered why the words _conscious_ and _aware_ are synonyms, yet _self-conscious_ and _self-aware_ have such different meanings. Is there any reasoning behind this stark contrast in meaning between two compound words with such similar roots? Were their meanings always so different, or did usage cause their connotations to diverge over time?


title: "I hate when..." vs "I hate it when..."

text: Growing up in Australia (and with an English mother) we would say "I hate it when " It seems, based on TV and movies, that in the USA it's more common to say "I hate when " The two phrases mean the same thing, but the word "hate" is used slightly differently; one seems directed (they hate the bad thing) where the other describes the emotion. Is one more correct, or is it just a case of common usage? Is it related that I find the phrase "write me" or "I'll write you" odd? We tend to say "write to me" or "I'll write to you". Though we do say "[phone|email|text] me" not "[phone|email|text] to me"


title: Difference between "larder" and "pantry"

text: What is the difference between _larder_ and _pantry_? Is it size? Or content? I found very similar definitions for both terms, something like > a room/place in which food is stored. Which of the words is better for a separate room next to the kitchen, and which is better for a food-dedicated cupboard? Or even for a separate house for food storage, like they used to have in castles?


title: How to describe a document that is a "near-plagiarism" of another?

text: I'm looking for a word or phrase to describe a work that is a sort of "inferior copy" of another work. For example, one can often find published scientific papers in China that avoid direct plagiarism, however, re-perform or copy the same experiments, with very minor modification, and then analyze the results in the same manner as the previous research paper. Here, "derivative work" or "derivative copy" seems to grant the concept of some originality... I'm looking for something that more strongly implies the lack of any real originality, a kind of "near plagiarism" that would almost get a high school student in trouble.


title: May I use the word "miscreant" in my thesis?

text: I am writing my thesis. May I use the word _miscreant_ to refer to people who create viruses to spread them on the Internet? Or is it a slang term that I must avoid?


What are some uncommon but valid portmanteau words that people use? Example: Turducken is a portmanteau of turkey, duck, and chicken or hen. People outside US are not familiar with this.


title: Don't understand the connotation of the modal verb "may"

text: In the sentence > there may be no legitimate form of reasoning to the best explanation > understood as an alternative to inductive reasoning. does _may be no_ mean   * that it is possible that there is no legitimate form of reasoning    * it is impossible that there is any?


title: "Fixing to" at the beginning of a sentence

text: Use of _fixing to_ at the beginning of a sentence is prevalent in the southern states of Amerca. Is this the right usage? And is this only a southern US thing? Examples: > Fixing to call her. > > Fixing dinner. > > Fixing to leave the house.


title: What is the name given to organisation that hosts other organisations?

text: There are many businesses that hosts other related or unrelated business as part of their service. Example a plaza/shopping mall will have various stores, owned and operated by others, a university may host other organisations such as book stores, restaurants, computer stores etc. The University of Technology, Jamaica has an organisation/business called the Technology Innovation Centre (TIC), that is a business incubator. TIC itself hosts various businesses not relating to the University. All these hosted businesses uses the address and name of their host as part of their own address.What name is given to these type of businesses that play hosts to other businesses?


title: Looking forward to follow vs. following

text: I was reading this today: _We look forward to following your progress._ Am I correct in thinking that it is missing a _be_ or -ing should be removed? So _We look forward to be following your progress._ or _We look forward to follow your progress._ Interestingly I get the same jarring feeling when reading the examples here What's the difference between "I look forward to" and "I'm looking forward to"?


title: Suitable adjective for implying romantic connections?

text: I'm looking for an adjective which I could use in the following situation for example: "Don't try to understand the joke Joanne said to George; it's a in-joke between romantic partners." becomes: "Don't try to understand the joke Joanne said to George; it's a [X adjective] in-joke." Does the X adjective exist? Is it defined in a thesaurus? P.S. Sorry if the format or nature of the question does not comply this is my first time posting here.


title: What is an 'Iron Ring Event'

text: In a recent podcast of .Net rocks (at 45 minutes 29 seconds), regarding the future of software craftsmanship, it is postulated that there will be an 'Iron Ring Event' (if I heard it correctly). From the context it seems that this is an event where very bad things happen due to poor workmanship. Is this is a common term? What is its origin? What does it mean?


title: Hyphenating complex physical units

text: I have been reading about writing conventions for scholarly articles recently - specifically, physics - and have learned that when writing units, write them out if they are not associated with a numeric value ("how many meters....?" rather than "it is 5 m long"). But what about more complicated units? Take momentum, which is kg⋅m/s. Do I write "Momentum has units of kilogram-meters per second" or "Momentum has units of kilogram meters per second"? Wikipedia seems to accept both but prefers no hyphen. Can someone give me a reference which actually states a preference of one over the other?


title: Is there an established term to describe quarterly repeating transactions?

text: I'm the developer of a personal finance app for iOS called My Finances. The app supports repeating (daily, weekly, monthly and yearly) transactions and presents a summary of the repeating settings to the user e.g. _Every week on Sunday._ I want to add quarterly and half-yearly repeating transactions and I'm not sure how to summarise them correctly. Would it be correct to summarise a quarterly repeating transactions starting on April 3rd like this: _Every quarter on 3rd day in 1st month_? Same goes for half-yearly transactions. **Update** : Rephrased question.


title: When saying 'He pointed out the bank of England' which of the following statements is correct?

text: > He pointed out the bank of England... ... he said that London's City was a > village in its way.... Do the extracts above mean:   1. one time in the past he pointed out and he said...   2. more than one time or every time they were out, he kept pointed and said... NB As we know simple past does not always refer to completed action in the past. I want to translate it to Farsi and I do not know which one is correct. Here is the passage: > Among these adult people Cecilia was lonely, and friendless, too, in > Buckingham Street. At weekends her father did his best, making an effort to > be interesting on their strolls about the deserted city streets - the Strand > and Ludgate Hill, Cheapside and Poultry, Threadneedle, Cornhill. He pointed > out the bank of England, the Stock Exchange: he said that London's City was > a village in its way. Sometimes, as a change, he booked two rooms at a small > hotel in Suffolk, usually at Hintlesham or Orford


title: Confused about tense usage

text: "A little heat might get things cookin'." I heard this in a movie. Is it correct? Shouldn't it be, "A little heat might get things cooked?" What's the difference? Thank you.


title: How do I improve on this question from the suggestion given?

text: I wrote: How do we visualize something that is a independent of experience? How do we visualize green for example without ever seeing it? We can describe it through language but we would never have that subjective and indescribable experience of seeing green for the first time and explaining what it is after. Same goes for mathematical objects. And let's say Modular Functions which even professors have a hard time explaining. How do we even explain what a modular function is to a person who doesn't understand the language of mathematics? We can explain it in the simplest terms but will possibly stop and say it can't be explained easily. That's because we don't have the perception of a mathematician or we don't have the perception to see what green looks like. We could explain it in thousands of words and still not have the simplest clue. * * * They wrote: I'm not really sure what the question is getting at-- the question title speaks of the a priori, yet the text of the question uses examples (like the color green) that are clearly a posteriori. And are we really speaking of "visualizing" without "seeing", or about indirect knowledge in general? Finally, is the OP actually arguing that it is impossible to teach things to people? I really need help I've did this to the best of my ability , will someone help me?


title: Are there any rules I can follow to make my own derived adjectives from a noun in English? E.g. xenogamy to xenogamic

text: I'm currently looking through dictionaries (both online and "offline") for an adjective of the word **xenogamy**. Basically I want to translate the Dutch phrase " _De kruibestuivende onderneming_ ". What I came up with was " _The xenogamy endeavor_ " or " _The xenogamy undertaking_ ". It seems there's no adjective for the word " _xenogamy_ " in English, or am I wrong? In Dutch the noun is " _kruisbestuiving_ " and the derived adjective is " _kruibestuivend_ " or " _kruibestuivende_ ". I was thinking I could use some artistic freedom here and translate it as follows: " _The xenogamic endeavor_ " or " _The xenogamic undertaking_ "... Or should it then be " _xenogamical_ "? Basically:   1. **Are there any rules I can follow to make my own noun derived adjectives in English?**   2. **I'll be using this as a title for a CD/Album, so I think some artistic freedom is allowed - but I still want people to know what I mean... and use proper English if possible.**


title: Can you use "extremely lesser" in a sentence?

text: I read this on a blog: ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/CTqa5.png) This sounds wrong to me, but I'm not sure which rule it breaks. Surely it should have been "much less intensive...". Is there any grammatical justification for using "extremely lesser"?


title: Conviction before trial

text: Is there a word that expresses the idea that someone has been convicted before trial, either in the media or by public opinion?


title: Condition which is likely to happen

text: For example, after I run one mile I start to sweat. So should I say > I'm likely to sweat. Or if there is any other expression more accurate?


title: Information that the reports can work 'off' or 'of'

text: Should it be > Last years data set contains information that the reports can work off or > Last years data set contains information that the reports can work of ?


title: Can I say, "the article claimed", "the focus of the article is", etc.?

text: I once went to a writing centre at a community college and asked if it's more correct to write _the article explains..._ or _the author explains..._. The instructor replied that the latter was preferable, as the article _is not saying anything_. Is this right? Can the concept be extended farther? I just caught my self writing _The focus of the article is..._. Does the same principle apply in that it's the _author's_ focus, not actually the _article's_ focus? I'm assuming it doesn't matter if it's an article or other piece of written (or spoken) work.


title: Punctuation of a Direct Quote

text: Is any particular punctuation necessary when a quotation is the subject of a sentence? For example, in the sentence below, should there be a comma after _export_? Or anything else? > "Laughter is America's most important export" is a well-known quote of Walt > Disney's.


title: What is this "Nor"?

text: > And I saw Tityos, son of glorious Gaea, lying on the ground. Over nine roods > he stretched, and two vultures sat, one on either side, and tore his liver, > plunging their beaks into his bowels, **nor** could he beat them off with > his hands. > > — _The Odyssey_ This _nor_ is not like _not . . . either_. This _nor_ is similar to _never could he beat them off. . . ._ Is this correct? Is this an archaic use?


title: With "to+infinitive" & without it

text: I am having problems writing sentences of the pattern "to + infinitive". Long ago I heard that in a sentence there should not be two verbs, but I feel if I write it as below, then that rule is violated. Any clarification on the sentences   1. without to + infinitive    2. with to + infinitive > (1) Data gaps, occurred in between two planar regions, also **_leads for > missing of_** important boundary edges. > > (2) Data gaps, occurred in between two planar regions, also **_cause to > miss_** important boundary edges. Are both sentence correct? What would be the best way to write what I want to say?


title: Which is the proper response to “I love you”?

text: When my wife says _I love you_ , my natural response is _you too_ , meaning “[I love] you too.” I realise that I’m in the minority here. I more frequently hear _me too_ , but I don’t feel comfortable with that response: I can only hear it as “[I love] me too”. Is there an argument that the grammatical would be _I too_ , as in “I [love you] too”?


title: Is it correct to intrigue me?

text: In conversation if someone pitches something to you but you're not entirely convinced, can you ask for more details by saying "intrigue me"?


title: Grammar: French conditionnel in English?

text: Could anybody help me here, please? I’d like to know the grammatical form of the verb “can" in the following examples: > 18y old Tim is asked by a relative what he’s going to do with his life. > After some hesitation, he finally answers: “Well, I COULD help my father on > the farm - but I’m not sure if I want to be a farmer. I COULD also go to > university but I don’t like studying… or I COULD train really hard and > become a football pro. I don’t now yet, too many options…” Ten years later, > Tim is lying on the street, an empty wine bottle in his hand, and he’s > saying: “What ever happened to me,… I COULD HAVE become a football pro, if > only I had tried harder,... or I COULD HAVE helped my father - but now he’s > sold the farm.” It's like conditionnel 1 and conditionnel 2 in French ("je pourrais / j’aurais pû”), but how is it called in English? Thank you!


title: Meaning of "in a look of a frame of reference"

text: Does "in a look of a frame of reference" mean "regarding to sth."? Sorry, unfortunately I couldn't find a simple example.


title: Origin of the word "Bluechip"

text: The word "Bluechip" is used to refer to large cap companies which are in existence for at least 10 years. But why are they called Bluechips? What does the word denote?


title: Where does the anglicisation "Ottoman" come from?

text: Wikipedia on Ottoman Empire gives its naming as coming from the Ottoman Turkish language, but on that very page, the name of the language is transliterated as _Lisân-ı Osmânî_. In Russian we call the empire and language "Османская"/-ий, also transliterating as "Osman[suffix]". The trail vanishes there... Were telephones that bad that the Turks said "Os" and the English heard "Otto"?


title: Correct form for a page range?

text: Is, for example, "pp. 1567–93" an acceptable way to denote pages 1567 through 1593? In what contexts must you always write it in long form "pp. 1567–1593" instead? Also, what about in the case of smaller numbers, e.g. "pp. 54–7," or more complicated ranges, e.g. "pp. 6, 23–5, 7, 67–8, 94–117"?


title: What does ‘a man with 20/20 vision' mean other than ‘a man with a normal sight?

text: In the latest Time magazine’s “2013 Time 100” presenting the annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, former governor of Alaska, Salah Palin endorsed Senator Rand Paul for Kentucky as: > “He is a voice of reason awakening the public to what must be done to > restore our prosperity and preserve the blessings of liberty for future > generations. His brand of libertarian-leaning conservatism attracts young > voters, and recently he inspired the nation with his Capraesque filibuster > demanding basic answers about our use of drones. \- -. There’s more where > that came from for this **bold Senator with 20/20 vision** willing to take a > stand for liberty.” http://time100.time.com/2013/04/18/time-100/slide/rand-paul/#ixzz2R36iTY7l I surmise ‘the bold Senator with 20/20 vision’ here means the senator with the common sense and sense of balance, but I’m not sure. Is it common to use ‘20/20 vision’ metaphorically for anything like this other than the measurement of visual acuity?


title: Is the difference in "sake" in English and Japanese a form of semantic change?

text: In Japanese, "sake" means any alcoholic beverage, whereas in English, it means a particular beverage from Japan (Nihonshu, literally "Japanese alcohol"). Is this a case of semantic change, or is there a different term for it? The examples given in Wikipedia only list changes over time, not changes when it's taken from one language to another. **Edit:** I may be mistaken - it looks like the Japanese used to say "sake" rather than "nihonshu", and the latter only occurred once western alcoholic beverages came into Japan.


title: "A lot of ideas" is or are?

text: My boyfriend and I are arguing about whether the phrase "a lot of ideas" should be followed with _is_ or _are_. I say that it should be _is_ because the verb is linking to _a lot_ , not _ideas_. If it were "lots of ideas" I would say it is definitely _are_. He thinks, though, that since _a lot_ is synonymous with _several_ it should be _are_. Which is correct?


title: Is 'set phrase' a set phrase?

text: Some words or phrases have 'special' meaning beyond the combination of constituent parts. For example:   * 'White House' is the white house where the US president lives.    * 'black board' is where you draw on with chalk at school [actually more recently a green board and in the past 20 years a 'white board' (which is white)]. Negative examples (phrases or constructions that are _not_ examples of the concept):   * 'quasi-' anything: (I find) is -not- a 'special thing' for me, it is not a new word with a meaning all its own, 'quasi' is just a productive modifier that doesn't mean anything more than itself and the new word it makes can be judged simply as 'almost like an X'   * colors usually (with some example exceptions above) don't make anything 'new' - a 'red door' is just a door colored red. If it took on some cultural connection, then it might need an additional dictionary specification for that term 'red door'. I'm not talking about the figurative (non-literal, metaphorical) uses of such terms, but certainly **metaphor** ("White House' as the seat of American government), and **idiom** ('raining cats and dogs') are examples of the idea 'a set phrase'. When a **neologism** or coinage becomes an accepted item. For example, if you look at a list of words that begin with the prefix 'quasi-', almost entirely, these words are not special or used ever again, or if they're used again it is simply out of logical need of the construction. They don't describe a recognizably repeatable 'thing'. What I'm looking for is the appropriate way to designate a locution that is more than the sum of its parts. I've been using the bland term 'set phrase' to call this phenomenon. It itself is not particularly evocative of the 'noncompositional' aspect of some phrases. **Is _set phrase_ the best way to name this phenomenon? or is there another**?


title: Usage of dash in the sentence

text: I came across the below line in a newspaper > Wayne Rooney finally scored his first World Cup goal for England - after 759 > minutes, in his third cup and 10th game. Why is the dash required in the sentence? If the sentence was like below without the dash, what difference would it make? (I do not see any difference, or perhaps I am missing something) > Wayne Rooney finally scored his first World Cup goal for England _after 759 > minutes_ , in his third cup and 10th game.


title: Is "please let me know if otherwise" grammatical?

text: Is this sentence grammatical? > "please let me know if otherwise" The context for it is when I am sending an email to the boss saying: > I am gonna do this and that, please let me know if otherwise. What I am trying to say is " _please let me know if you disagree with my approach_ ," etc.


title: Using quotes around a nickname that's in the possive

text: I wanted to send a reading list to my dad about the state of the economy. One such commentator is known as "Dr. Doom". I went to write :   * _"Dr. Doom's" view is ..._ **but that didn't look right because his name is Dr. Doom, not Dr. Doom's** , so I tried   * _"Dr. Doom"'s view is ..._ **but that looked pretty terrible because I have three apostrophes in a row making it look like some crazy emoticon or something.** This might not have a solution. My question is how to correctly use "double quotes" around "nouns" that are in the "possessive form" ? <\-- _and where should that question mark go, **inside** or **outside** the qoutes?_


title: How do you create the adjective form of an irregular verb such as "read"?

text: If I understand correctly, some adjectives can be derived from verbs. For example, an **interested** person is someone who is interested in me, and an **interesting** person is someone who is interesting to me. So how you do it with irregular verbs? In the phrase "do something with data which was read" could the "data which was read" be replaced with something like "the **read** or **readed** data"? I'm confused by fact that this verb irregular and is spelled the same in 1-3 forms.


title: What does "even the Generation is still in motion" mean in this passage?

text: > The Beat Generation is a group of American post-WWII writers who came to > prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both > documented and inspired. Central elements of "Beat" culture included > experimentation with drugs and alternative forms of sexuality, an interest > in Eastern religion, a rejection of materialism, and the idealizing of > exuberant, unexpurgated means of expression and being. **Even still the > Generation is in motion**.


title: Is the etymology of the word "pandaemonium" in any way related to that of the mythological figure Pandora?

text: Do _pandemonium_ and Pandora (she of the box) come from the same etymological source?


title: What is the difference between "bush" and "shrub"?

text: What's the difference between "bush" and "shrub"? Are these absolute synonyms?


title: What does 'ironic' really mean?

text: I've heard different meanings and uses of ironic everywhere. But I still can't wrap my head around what exactly is ironic. Can someone explain or provide an example?


title: Word for a male that prefers female companions (no slang such as "pimp")

text: I am looking for a word describing a man who has a lot of female friends, and who prefers female friends. I was "Wikipedia surfing" (going through Wikipedia pages and clicking on links found within the wiki), and I came upon the page of a man who had a lot of female friends, and there was a word that described that attribute succinctly. I do not remember any details about the bloke. I looked up the word (I seemingly immediately forgot it), and, to tell the truth, I am unsure whether the word defined "someone who has a lot of friends of the opposite sex" (which, if true, means in my memory I incorrectly paired the word's definition to his gender), or more specifically, "a man who has a lot of female friends (and/or) prefers female companionship", where companionship does not insinuate sexual relationships. If there were _two_ words for the two definitions I just gave that'd be all the better! I have tried to remember for quite a while to no success. An update: perhaps an example for some clarification is necessary. Imagine a scenario where you have a gay man (who has never had sexual interests in women) who has all female friends, who know he is gay, and no male friends. Here he prefers the companionship of women, and not of men; thus, he _could_ be a "ladies' man", but only speciously, since I believe the word implies some yearning, from either the women or the "ladies' man", to copulate, which doesn't exist here. The word would also apply for a lesbian who only has male friends (who she has no desire to copulate with), and who thus prefers them as companions. So, generally, we'd get: "someone who prefers the company of members of the opposite sex". I hope this clarifies the request some. Thank you.


title: What is an adjective made from a verb called? For instance, "disconnected" in "a disconnected phone"

text: What would you call an adjective that is created from a verb? Typically, the adjective comes from the past participle form of the verb. For example: > A _disconnected_ phone > > A _possessed_ man > > An _inspired_ art piece You wouldn't say these words are past participles, because they are not, they are adjectives. What type of adjective are they, though?


title: Is the clause "chances are" grammatically correct?

text: You've most certainly heard this: > _Chances are, he overslept this morning._ I realize the comma is a splice, but it's there only to emphasize the pause that usually accompanies it. When written out, it should probably look like this: > _Chances are he overslept this morning._ However, when you read into it, it doesn't make any sense. I would say that using such a clause is grammatically incorrect. Instead, I believe people should be saying: > _The chances are high that he overslept this morning._ Am I correct?


title: Tenses with "until then" - Is past perfect needed or is it optional?

text: If I understood correctly, "until now" can be "until then" in the past sentences. Would this be correct? > 1) _It was a new approach that **was** never successfully performed until > then._ or should I use past perfect? > 2) _It was a new approach that **had** never **been** successfully performed > until then._


title: Present or Past tense to describe a past condition which is still present?

text: Scenario: My friend John has a personality disorder, intensely paranoid for example. Can I say: > There were three events last year that told me John _had_ a problem. or can I say: > There were threee events last year that told me John _has_ a problem.


title: "Has received" in past tense sentence?

text: "It occurred to me that no Korean has ever received the Nobel Prize in Literature." In this sentence, is "has received" right, rather than "had received"? Is it because "that" indicates continuation into the present? In other words, there's no Korean Nobel Prize recipient even now?


title: What is the role of "virtually" in this sentence?

text: > It is virtually impossible to escape this place! I don't really understand what is _virtually_ doing there. First, I can hardly tell what it means to be _virtual_ , and second, I still don't see any extra value added to the sentence compared to > It is impossible to escape this place! As far as I can tell, _virtually_ seems to simply give **emphasis** to the current situation. But I'm lost. According to http://www.thefreedictionary.com/virtual, > 1 . Existing or resulting in essence or effect though not in actual fact, > form, or name: _the virtual extinction of the buffalo_. I don't get that meaning, and I certainly don't even understand the difference between _the virtual extinction of the buffalo_ and _the extinction of the buffalo_. Now then, I may have grabbed the wrong definition. Here's the other one: > 2 . Existing in the mind, especially as a product of the imagination. Used > in literary criticism of a text. This definition seems to suggest me that _virtually_ is used to create some kind of **psychological** (of the mind) context. So when they say > It is virtually impossible to escape this place! It is meant to say something like "even though it is physically possible to escape, people are too scared to even try to do it - therefore, it is rather impossible to escape". Not sure. Any ideas about the usage of _virtually_? **Note** : The context in the sentence I provided is basically this: It is from an article about a community where people are so poor that > It is virtually impossible to escape this place!


title: Is this sentence structure correct?

text: I'm trying to state in one sentence several things that are lacking. > There's no A, or B, or C. What about > There's no A, no B, and no C. Are these both grammatically correct? What's the difference?


title: Theorem about uniqueness of solution

text: I want to write down such a theorem. **Theorem**. Strong existence and pathwise uniqueness hold for Equation (8). A unique solution is a continuous Markov process. I have a question concerning the usage of an article. Should I write "A unique solution" or "The unique solution"? As a non-native speaker of English, I have problems understanding how to use the phrase "a unique solution" solution correctly.


title: Difference between "testified" and "stated" in a legal context

text: If you're working in a law firm, do the words "testified" and "stated" have two different meanings? For example, > The witness testified that...   >  The witness stated that... And is it acceptable to use the two as synonyms?


title: Why can we say 'an American' but not 'a British'?

text: I am confused with the use of an indefinite article in front of _British_ or _Chinese_. To my understanding, we can place an indefinite article in front of any “countable noun”. So, we can say _a cup_ and _an orange_. But when it comes to nationalities, it is very confusing. For example, we can say _an American_ or _a German_. But we cannot say _a British_ or _a Chinese_. I looked them up in a dictionary as at first I thought _British_ and _Chinese_ are adjectives in the above statement and that is why we cannot place an article in front of it. However, the dictionary mentions that they are nouns. Does that mean they are uncountable nouns?


title: Percentages - singular or plural when it's a % of a group of items:

text: Example : 50% of paper and board produced globally is/are used for packaging?


title: Unrespect vs Disrespect

text: Is it ok to say "do not unrespect me" instead of "do not disrespect me"? I heard someone say it and it struck me as odd.


title: Is it ok to say “mutually practice together”?

text: Is it correct to say > This way we can mutually practice together. Since _mutually_ has already been mentioned, is it correct if I use the word _together_ at the end? It may be redundant, but is it wrong?


title: "I went for a run with Victor" vs. "we went for a run with Victor" when only the two of us went

text: Myself and Victor went for a run, no one else. Can I say > "We went for a run with Victor?" OR > "I went for a run with Victor?"


title: Earliest use of an asterisk (*) to indicate a zero-to-many character wildcard?

text: I was explaining to someone what the * in "trans*" means (zero-to-many wildcard. In this case, it's used to refer to both "transexual" and "transgender" people with the same word), and another friend chimed in saying it came from computer programming. While I could tell them it was used in operating systems such as DOS and Unix before that, I couldn't say whether it came from computer culture or appeared before that. It seems reasonable that there would have been use for it, but a different character may easily have been chosen. _What is the earliest recorded instance of an asterisk being used as a zero- to-many character wildcard?_ Note: I'm not referring to masks such as "f*ck". That is a different concept, in that it's a replacement of exactly one character, and is referring to only a single word.


title: Meaning of "far and few between" in this context

text: I came across the following sentence in "The Carpetbagger Report": > The administration published this afternoon a newly released, and > surprisingly short, declassified summary of the key judgments of the > National Intelligence Estimate on al Qaeda. The document is online for all > to see. > > The startling new revelations are ... far and few between. The terrorist > network is rebuilding, its leadership is located largely in tribal areas of > Pakistan, and it’s still focused on committing acts of terror ‘without > requiring a centralized terrorist organization, training camp or leader.” Can someone explain the meaning of the phrase "... **far and few between** " in that context? Presumably it is an idiom, but I have not been able to find its meaning on the internet.


title: What's the meaning of following sentence

text: I got this sentence from a book, but i don't understand it: > Orgasm gets the lion's share of her attention.


title: What's a word for father and mother without the "family" connotations?

text: Is there a word to refer to "father" and "mother" without the _family_ connotations? For example, there was a guy who refer to his parents using the terms "sperm and egg bank": > They were my sperm and egg bank. That’s not harsh, it’s just the way it was, > a sperm bank thing, nothing more. What other more grammatically correct alternatives are there?


title: Typographical symbol to indicate page

text: There are many typographical symbols, for example:   * The pilcrow (¶) is used for paragraphs.   * The asterisk, dagger and double dagger (*,†,‡) for footnotes.   * The hurricane (§) for sections. Is there any symbol for pages?


title: How to spell 'ewww' as in 'ewww ahhh'

text: I was wondering how I should spell 'ewww' as in 'ewww ahhh': > Bob showed Jill his most impressive set of magic cards. Jill, impressed, > said, 'ewwww[sp?] ahhhhhh.' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-yCg-0-baE


title: What does "cable" mean?

text: I came across the word "cable" very often in http://www.guardian.co.uk. Like:   * WikiLeaks cables: Drive to tackle Islamists made 'little progress'   * US embassy cables: How the Guardian protects sources   * WikiLeaks embassy cables: the key points at a glance I know what a cable is, but what does "cable" here mean?


title: What is the difference between "truthfully" and "honestly"?

text: These are different words, and their usage (context) differs substantially. How would you define them or explain the difference (if you believe there is one)?


title: Why is this a hyperbaton?

text: According to Wikipedia, this is a hyperbaton: > "Whom god wishes to destroy, he first makes mad" — Euripides Is that right, and if so, why? My native language is Swedish, but I speak English fluently. Anyway, why isn't the following considered hyperbaton too? > It's not that hard, I suppose. It's very common in Swedish, which may be the reason why it sounds so natural to me, but still, it's rather common in English too.


title: "on the one hand" without the other hand

text: I've been wondering if it would look strange if I didn't include both "pairs" of this idiom, e.g.: > In recent times a significant increase of popularity of teaching English as > a foreign language in kindergartens is observed. However, it may be > surrounded by many doubts, the main reasons being the great demand for this > type of activities from parents, and at the same time the lack of specific, > clear guidelines governing the teaching of English, which could be of help > to those responsible for introduction of such classes into kindergartens. I know it's possible (and indeed used) the other way around but I am not sure in this case.


title: "Drag & dropping" or "Dragging & dropping"

text: _"Drag & dropping"_ sounds better to me, but _"Dragging & dropping"_ has more Google results... Which one is correct and why?


title: correct usage of “instead of”

text: Would any one let me know the correct usage of _instead of_? Here, I have written an example. > In this example case, if we traverse from vertex 2 to 3, _in stead of_ > vertex 2 to 4, the problem can be solved.


title: Relative nonrestrictive clause: "where they can debut unreleased and sought-after music"

text: > It has been designed to become an artist’s haven for unannounced top DJ > performances where they can debut unreleased and sought-after music. What kind of clause is "where they can debut unreleased and sought-after music"? Noun, adverb, or relative? I'm guessing it's not a noun clause, but I could be wrong. I'm leaning towards relative adjective clause.


title: How do you tell if synonyms of "almost" default to meaning "less than"?

text: Having just had a chat with Em1, I noticed that some words or phrases that mean _almost_ will mean _less than_ when used alone, and other synonyms will mean _greater than_. For example, _nearly_ and _close to_ seem to mean _less than_ when used alone: >   * You're nearly 30! >   * You're nearly there. >   * We've close to the required number of participants. > Whereas _barely_ and _just_ seem to mean _greater than or equal to_ : >   * He's barely 18! >   * We've barely enough for breakfast. >   * We've just finished. >   * They'll just be coming over the hill. > If you swap any of the adverbs around then the meaning goes with them. However, if you change the context a little bit then the meaning can switch around: >   * 31 is close to 30. >   * We're just short of the required number. > If we take the over/under question of Em1: > The village is located [almost] 30 km to the south of London. How can you tell if a synonym for _almost_ means _less than_ or _greater than_?


title: A situation when you do too many thing but achieve nothing

text: I am looking for few nouns describing "a situation when one does too many things but achieve nothing important or useful".


title: More Scientific/Psychological Terms for "Acting the Part"

text: Is there a scientific term or psychological phonomenon for meeting your goals by imagining you have already met them? For example, if I wanted to be a corporate executive, then I might decide to act and work like I was already a corporate executive, in the hopes that one day hiring representatives might notice that I already have the persona and work ethic required for the job, and therefore promote me to such a role? I guess I'm looking for something like "acting the part"... but in more of a behavioural science kind of way.


title: Does "[noun] of choice" imply the best possible option, or merely *an* option?

text: If I say something is the "treatment of choice" or the "pencil of choice", etc., does that imply that this is the _best_ of all the possible choices available -- that those who _know best_ would choose this -- or just that there are many choices available, and this is the one that happens to have been chosen at the moment?


title: "It is to be discussed", what is the infinitive doing in this sentence?

text: > It is to be discussed. Is _be_ \+ infinitive forming the future tense here? > You are to be dressed and ready by 8:00. I was thinking it's almost commanding (or speaking of a command) but this doesn't seem to be the case, as sentences like this are commanding without this structure: > You will be dressed and ready by 8:00. or > You are going to be dressed and ready by 8:00. And there's sentences like this that don't imply commandment in any way: > I am to go home tomorrow! or > I am to be home tomorrow! (Slightly different meaning, same general sentiment) So what's going on with the _be_ \+ infinitive structure?


title: Commas in a complex sentence

text: > Modern English words, then, concerning more complex and theoretical, rather > than utilitarian, ideas (astronomy, poetry and epistemology) can generally > be found to be of Romance origin, whereas more mundane words such as > pronouns and auxiliary verbs can be traced back to German origin." **Question:** I am unable to understand the meaning of above sentence. I am confused with the use of commas in the above sentence and to me this makes the meaning of the sentence unclear. Can somebody explain this sentence structure and how commas are used? _Context_ : This is an excerpt from a reading comprehension passage. The passage is long but I have added a few more lines so that context becomes more clear. One theory to explain this is that the more elaborate and complex words are primarily used by the elite after the Norman Invasion - who would have favored a Latin-based (or Romance) vocabulary - wheras words with the same meaning in the Old English were used primarily by the lower classes and fell into disuse.


title: Using "not" versus the negation prefixes for negation

text: Let's take this sentence as an example > He is able to move. Now, what is the best negation of that action between those two? >   * He is not able to move. >   * He is unable to move. > And what makes one better or more correct than the other? **Edit:** In case these sentences aren't good enough, give examples of your own if you please.


title: Generic word for hyphen, dash, minus sign, etc.?

text: I look for a proper English word that could be an informal generic term for “bar-like” typographic marks such as hyphens, dashes, minus signs and so on. Is it _bar_? _line_? _stroke_? or another?


title: Word meaning "to make more efficient"?

text: I think this question came up in a conversation with a friend...we were discussing how serving lunch could be made more efficient. > They could **___ ____** the lunch line by doing this or that. The only word we could think of was "efficienize", but I doubt that's an actual word. Any ideas?


title: "Through the course" vs. "over the course"

text: I have heard the following used often > Over the course of the semester, ... but a friend recently told me > Through the course of the semester, ... Are both of these usages of the idiom acceptable? I feel like the second one is strange while the first one is acceptable.


title: "Scheduled to September" vs. "scheduled in September"

text: >   * She is qualified to attend the test being scheduled [to/in] September. > Which is right?


title: Noun that means "To not take advantage of anyone"

text: I am writing an essay on _To Kill A Mockingbird_ and need a noun that is synonymous with "not taking advantage of anyone" as I need to be able to say: Scout learns [Insert the noun here].


title: Is what you "transcend" singular or plural?

text: I'm working on making changes to some text for a project that I'm on. One of the proposed changes is to the following: > [He] has fostered creative environments that attract diverse talent who > understand how to **transcend medium** and know how to intuitively build > community around brands. The part in bold has had a proposed change to "transcend media" (going to plural, instead of singular). Which one is correct? If they both are, are there situations where one would be favored over the other?


title: Is there a word whose meaning is "to dissociate from another or others for mutual benefit"?

text: I read that _cooperate_ means "to associate with another or others for mutual benefit," but what is the verb, possibly a single word, that means "to **_dissociate from_** another or others for mutual benefit"? The word that comes to mind immediately is _divorce_ because there's a benefit at the bottom of it, but that benefit can hardly be considered mutual, and, aside its metaphorical sense, it can be applied to no more than two persons. Thus, what is the word meaning "to **_dissociate from_** another or others for mutual benefit"?


title: Term for pertaining to the polar direction

text: I am discussing a system (in a scientific context) which is described with spherical polar coordinates. This has a radial coordinate _r_ , a polar angle _θ_ and a azimuth angle _φ_. A diagram can be found on the linked page. I would like a term to describe (for example) motion in the polar direction (increasing or decreasing _θ_ ). The equivalent terms for the other two directions would be "radial" and "azimuthal". There are several possibilities:   * "Polar" is the obvious choice, but this could also mean motion of the pole itself.   * "Poloidal" seems to mean the correct thing, but might only refer to a toroidal, instead of a spherical, geometry.   * "Poleward", but this has connotations of only being towards the nearest pole. Hence the word we are looking for is to "poleward" as "vertical" is to "upward".   * "Vertical" is used by some, as the _θ_ direction is parallel to the _z_ -axis in the equatorial plane, and the _z_ -axis is commonly taken to be the vertical direction. However, this is inappropriate close to the pole when the _θ_ direction becomes horizontal.   * "Latitudinal" describes the correct direction, but seems odd when not paired with "longitudinal" for azimuthal motion. Is there another term, or is there a clear best option?


title: What is the meaning of this sentence?"I shall pay for this later."

text: What is the meaning of this sentence? "I shall pay for this later."


title: Online Grammar checker

text: I often find myself debating about the correct use of English grammar in many situations. Some of them are obvious and silly. It would be nice to know a tool like spell checker for grammatical errors. There are many websites that I find useful but not effective. I would like to collect some online resources specifically for the grammar related error. Some resources I know are:   * "SpellCheckPlus" Online Spelling and Grammar Checker for English   * Free Online Grammar Checker   * Instant Grammar Check - Online Proofreading|Grammarly   * Grammar | Check English Grammar Online for Free   * Check Grammar Free Online with Fast English Corrections | Ginger I have also looked at previous posts like:   * What are your favorite English language tools?   * English tools for non-English-speaking people and many other individual posts.


title: "I want to be much than more" vs. "much then more"

text: The doubt came after listening to _Fireal_ from Deftones. I'm not sure of the meaning, or should I say the point the singer wants to make. This is the context: > Life before I would shine down unshy   >  It comes from the first one   >  While I watch you   >  I want to be much than more   >  While I watch you Lyrics aren't present on the or the disc itself so while researching on the internet I've found some sites where the lyric is shown as "I want to be much, then more". But most of them say "...much than more". So I guess that's the right one (my ears are not trained enough to actually get it right from the get-go by just listening to it). What do you get from "I want to be much than more"? * * * On the other hand, if you do believe "much than more" is wrong and the right one has to be "much then more" please say so. English is clearly not "my" language, so feel free to teach me a thing or two.


title: Opposite of "specialized" in the context of computing units

text: A graphics card or an algebraic co-processor is a **specialized** computing unit. A conventional CPU, which understands a lot more instructions, is a **flexible** computing unit. I'm not happy with using **flexible** in the second sentence. What are other possibilities?


title: Is the SE "new privilege" notification message a sentence?

text: When a Stack Exchange user gets a new privilege, it's accompanied by the following notification: > Congrats, you've gained the privilege – talk in chat **learn more** That phrase "may be oddly worded, but it is a valid sentence," according to Jeff. I'm not so sure. Who's right?


title: using the word found in a poem

text: I have the line: > Whereupon the new found its gallows. In this case, could _found_ double as "found having come upon" and "found having outfitted or equipped" and be used without having to used "founded"?


title: Where do I position the apostrophe in a plural possessive?

text: I wanted to write _parents birthdays_ but I wasn’t sure whether the apostrophe went before or after the _s_ in _parents_. Please explain which is correct and why.


title: what do you call the feeling of pain addict have before using drug?

text: when addicts don't use drug for a rather long time, they feel kind of angry and are in a bad mood. they also feel pain over their body I think(esp opium users.) what is that feeling or mood called?


title: A word for someone who comes from one city but supports a team from a different city?

text: Is there a word that describes someone who, for example, supports Manchester United but was neither born nor brought up in Manchester but comes from another city in the UK? I'm not looking for a rude or humorous word but rather a descriptive one.


title: A word for blowing air into baby's tummy to make him(her) laugh

text: How do you call the action when you press your mouth against baby's tummy and blow the air to make the baby laugh?


title: Is there any phrase for journalists lies?

text: I need a word or a phrase or expression for journalists lies.. There must be something...


title: "obstacle to developing '" vs "obstacle in developing"?

text: Which proposition are used after obstacle? I have seen both "in" and "to". what are the difference between them? for example, what is the difference between the following sentences/ There is an obstacle in developing ..... or There is an obstacle to developing ......


title: What do you call a person who dies an honourable death?

text: What do you call someone who dies for a good cause or an honourable reason? An example would be a soldier who dies while saving his country.


title: Is "update" transitive or intransitive?

text: According to many dictionaries including merriam-webster, **update** is a **transitive** verb. So I expect the following sentence (used in Firefox) to be incorrect: > Please wait while Firefox is updating. I think Firefox is the object of this sentence and it should have been used like this: > Please wait while Firefox is being updated. Is the first sentence grammatically correct?


title: Is "today's" grammatical as a singular possessive?

text: Is the following correct? > Today's easy to use models can come in handy for a variety of purposes. Is _today's_ correct as a singular possessive?


title: How did the use of "could of" and "should of" originate, and is it considered correct?

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Is “of” instead of “have” correct? It bothers me that so many people use `could of`, `would of`, `should of` instead of `could've` or `could have`, etc. For instance, I have seen people write `I could of been hurt` or `I should of seen that truck`. Does anyone know how this originated? Is this a mistake only American English speakers make, or is it common with British English speakers too? Also, is that actually legal English?


title: Would you say "not of been" or "not have been"

text: I have just wrote out a sentence that ended, "this would not _of_ been possible." but the more I look at it, the more it looks wrong. Would the correct saying be, "this would not _have_ been possible."? Or do both apply?


title: Is "of" instead of "have" correct?

text: I have noticed a lot of people use _of_ instead of _have_ , for example: "that must of been really annoying". Is this correct?


title: Position of "yet" in a causative sentence

text: If I have to write a causative sentence in Present Perfect, where should I put _yet_ , at the end of the question or right after the negation? >   * She hasn't had her doors mended by the carpenter yet. >   * She hasn't had her doors mended yet by the carpenter. >   * Has she had her doors mended yet? > Could I say this: >   * She hasn't had yet her doors mended. >   * Has she had yet her doors mended? > Which is the right order, or are both acceptable?


title: Opposite logical fallacy to "straw man"?

text: The straw man fallacy is where an attacker sets up a "straw man" that looks superficially similar to their _opponent's_ position, but is more easily _attacked_. They then attack the straw man and claim to have successfully defeated the opponent's position. In the reverse of this, a defender sets up an "iron man" (perhaps?) that looks superficially similar to _their own_ position, but is more easily _defended_. They successfully defend the iron man and claim to have successfully defended their own position. Is there an existing word for this latter fallacy? I get the impression people often do it subconsciously, and sometimes before an attack is even made (examples). You could call it a straw man attack on behalf of the defendant I suppose (i.e. your straw man is your misrepresentation of the attacker's stance as an attack on the iron man) but that adds a level of indirection over the original situation that the fallacy describes. Also, if the defense is conceived of before an attack is made, the "straw man" wouldn't even exist yet - only a plan to construct him should the need arise - but the "iron man" is definitely there all along.


title: How can we use "do"

text: If I have to write the same name many times like > Ramesh Mishra   >  Ramesh Mishra I can write it as > Ramesh Mishra   >  \----do------- Here, what is the meaning of _do_?


title: Idiot vs stupid

text: What is the difference between the subject words?


title: How to ask in a polite way

text: I am an international student in the U.S.A. I am writing an email and I am stuck on one sentence. I would like to say: **"Do you know when I can get the flyers?"** I would like to make the sentence more polite. Could I say: **"Would you know when I could get the flyers?"** If there are other ways to use polite language, could you please tell me? If possible, please post an online reference as a citation. Sorry, I forgot to mention about the situation or so on. I am writing an email to someone who is going to deliver the flyers and organize an event. I'm going to promote the event with the flyers. So technically, the person who I'm emailing is kind of my boss. Thus, I think I should write a polite email to him.


title: "on most of the accounts"

text: > On most of the accounts, life of a farmer is very hard. Is the use of the phrase 'on most of the accounts' right here? If not, what will be the best substitution?


title: About the usage of term 'come again'

text: Last week I was attending a communications training program. The trainer said that the term 'come again' has sexual meaning in American English. I was surprised as I have seen many Americans using the term in movies and meetings. Is there any such negative sense to the phrase?


title: Is "take care" always a friendly utterance or can it sometimes be considered threatening?

text: A little while ago someone wrote to me, in a not-too-friendly internet exchange, "take care, man". I interpreted that as a threat, but now I realize that Americans often use this expression "take care" in a very friendly, benevolent way when leaving each other. So my two related questions are:   1. Considering this widespread usage, is it still possible (in the US) to use that expression in a threatening way?    2. If you _wanted_ to threaten someone (!) what would you say? I'm thinking of some scenario in a film where a character approached by some suspicious guy would want to say "be careful [ I'm armed]". Is "be careful" right? Is some other expression more adequate?


title: "Look into" vs. "look at"

text: Are _look into_ and _look at_ interchangeable? If not what are the differences between the two? > I will **look at** my options and see what I have. > > I will **look into** my options and see what I have. > > I will **look into** it and let you know. Or the government is going to > **look into** the case.


title: Is there a name for the stars you see when you hit your head?

text: When you hit your head, you may see stars or flashes. Is there a specific name for them?


title: What term can be used to describe Yoda's speech?

text: What is Yoda's speech called? Is there a particular name for it (such as "dangling...")?


title: Meaning of "true north"

text: > Roz, I'm just trying to find my **true north**


title: What does “She was young and blithe, 22 going on 16” mean?

text: I found the phrase ““She was young and blithe, _22 going on 16_ ” in the article of the Time magazine (July 6 issue) dealing with the Casey Anthony Verdict, under the title, “The Casey Anthony Verdict The Jury Did the Right Thing.” I know Casey Anthony was 22 when her 2-years old daughter was killed, but I have no idea about “goes on 16.” What does it mean? “Is the phrase, “ _go on 16_ ” understood without question to any native English speakers? The sentence in question reads: “And yet, why would Anthony kill her daughter? When Caylee died in 2008, her mother was young and blithe, _22 going on 16_. Anthony lived with her parents, dated lots of guys and wasn't thrilled about having to care every day for a 2-year-old. And so she chloroformed the girl? Or duct-taped her face?”


title: A term for released software that is still being actively developed

text: I'm writing an academic paper that deals with classifying software and I'm trying to think of a term to describe software that is still being actively developed, with new versions being released periodically, like Windows, MS Office, Firefox, etc. An example of software that wouldn't be included in such a group would be any type of legacy software. Terms that come to mind are "survived" and "endured", but I'm sure there must be a better word. Any suggestions?


title: "because" after "since"

text: Can "because" come after "since?" Here's an example sentence. > I don't like when you do that, because since it makes you look weird, it > also makes me look weird when I'm with you. Is there anything grammatically wrong with that sentence? "Since" after "because" works here, right?


title: Alternative phrasing to "getting work done"

text: I find myself using the phrase **"I need to get some work done"** in a misleading way. At any given time, I'm working on projects for my employer, projects as a podcaster, projects at my home or just projects I've assigned myself that are more open ended research and development type. That leaves me with the phrase "I need to get some work done," which gives an impression workaholism as opposed to a curious self-starter. What's a single phrase or phrasing syntax that'd help me be more aligned with what I want people to convey?


title: When do you use "you don't say"?

text: **you don't say** My doubt is whether you use this for _exclamations_ or for _agreements_ , all the references pointed out for saying it when one is surprised but I am sure I have heard some one say this in an _agreeing_ way > _I failed in my maths exam_ > > _You don't say!_ > > * * * > > _The weather is nice today_ > > _You don't say_


title: Is the following idiomatic English: "At what time do you go to sleep?"

text: I once asked some English people the following question: "At what time do you go to sleep?" They gave me a blank stare. You see, I tried to avoid the standard expression "At what time do you go to bed?" because it is ambiguous. I may get into my bed but may not fall asleep right away. I may be reading or emailing on my iPad or watch TV.


title: "the average person" vs "an average person"

text: There's a question in a forum I frequent, and I'm trying to decide whether "the average" or "an average" is appropriate in its title. Let's say the question is: > "Why is **the** average Canadian more polite than **the** average American?" > [see note]. Another member of the forum feels that this is incorrect grammar and wants it to be changed to: > "Why is **an** average Canadian more polite than **an** average American?". I disagree on both counts with him: I don't think the original question was grammatically incorrect, and I don't think the edited version conveys the same question as the original. However, I only have a vague sense of the difference, that " _the_ average Canadian" talks about the average of all people in that society, whereas " _an_ average Canadian" refers to a particular segment of the society, the segment which is nearest to the average (in some measure) of the society. Is the original title correct, and does the edited version convey the same meaning as the original? What exactly is the difference between " _an_ average" and " _the_ average" in this use case? [Note: The original question was equally loaded and stereotyping, which is one reason I'm not linking to it here.]


title: "Which professors..." or "Whom professors..."?

text: Which one is correct?   1. Which professors do you recommend?   2. Whom professors do you recommend?


title: Name for setup and reversal style of writing?

text: What is the name of an expression where two noun/verb sentences are reversed in the second half of the expression? Here's an example: > People were created to be loved. Things were created to be used. The reason > the world is in chaos is because things are being loved and people are being > used.


title: Ways to greet a third person in a conversation?

text: For example a situation where you are on the phone with a friend and he is with a person that you know. You would ask him to say hi for you. The french equivalent would be "Passer le bonjour" I am looking for formal and informal ways to say that.


title: Can 'on' be used in a temporal setting?

text: I usually replace _upon_ with _on_ because it sounds less pompous. Is it correct to do so when the meaning is temporal? Consider > Languages change (up)on contacting others. Should I replace _upon_ with _when_ intead?


title: What is the difference between two words "amorphous" and "mercurial"?

text: The meanings in the dictionary are as follows: amorphous: without a clearly defined shape or form. mercurial: subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind. What is the origin of the word "mercurial"? If the chemical element mercury is it's origin, then since mercury is amorphous, should both of these words not mean the same?


title: "Are those a new [object]?"

text: Is this question grammatical: > Are those a new [object]? I know that the singular form of that question, " _Is that a new [object]?_ ", sound perfectly fine but the collective form of it sounds odd, at least for me?


title: Origin of "despicable"

text: I was looking at the wikiquote of Daffy Duck, when I noticed the word _despicable_. What is its origin? Is it Latin or Greek?


title: difference between "to share in" and "to share"

text: The following is part of a Washington Post article of today. > This may be Obama’s military intervention, but if she is a candidate in > 2016, Clinton could share in whatever credit or blame the public assigns to > his decisions. Is there any difference in the meaning or nuance between > _share in whatever credit or blame_ and   >  _share whatever credit or blame_ (without _in_ ) ?


title: Citing a name with punctuation at the end

text: I'm using IEEE citation and the title of the work I am trying to cite has punctuation at the end. I'm unsure how to proceed because part of the citation includes putting a period at the end of the title. For example, I am citing this webpage and am not sure if the title should appear with a question mark **and** period when I cite it. > Editor. **“What is a Hypervisor?.”** Internet: .... > > Editor. **“What is a Hypervisor?”.** Internet: .... > > Editor. **“What is a Hypervisor?”** Internet: .... Also, I've seen others claiming to use the same style of citation but having the period appear after the closing quote. Is there some flexibility in citation or are people really supposed to follow it exactly?


title: What does the word "tie" (and the thing called "tie") imply?

text: I find the symbolic meaning of standard pieces of clothing or jewelry fascinating. For instance, high heel shoes for women. A colleague of feminist persuasion once said that apart from all other values and signals high heel shoes might convey, they make the wearer look like a "prey that cannot run away". A delicate chain necklace adorning the neck of an attractive young lady could add to this look, because it suggests, to the male libido, that she might, with the right moves, be captured and enslaved. Needless to say my colleague never wears high heel shoes or necklaces. What might the symbolic meaning of the male necktie be? I'm referring to the collar-and-tie formally required of men in recent centuries. Is any inkling given in the word "tie"?


title: I have been sick for the last week?

text: I' would like to know whether or not the following sentences are correct and why: > I have been sick since last week. > > I have been sick since the last week. > > I have been sick for the last week.


title: For as long "as" ... ? When is the last as not used? What are the rules?

text: For instance: > For as long as it takes... but > For as long we have a future... I know how to use them because I heard them being used, but I don't know whether there is a rule or not.


title: I'm looking for an idiomatic expression meaning 'that old problem'

text: It's on the tip of my tongue but I can't think of the expression referring to a repeated problem that gets verbalised; something like 'that old nugget'??!


title: Can "edition" be used to mean "the act of editing/changing something"?

text: As one say _creation_ for "the act of creating something", couldn't the word _edition_ mean "the act of changing something"? I was under the impression it was the case. But a remark from one of my colleagues, telling me I should use _editing_ instead, prompted me to check on Wiktionary. As it turned out, I didn't find the meaning I searched under the definitions. Note that my colleague and I both are not native speakers. So which of us is right?


title: What is the opposite of the verb "animate"?

text: What is the opposite of the verb _animate_? I am looking for something meaning "take life out of something."


title: Use of the term Hans in an American name in the 1700's

text: I'm doing some research on family history. I am trying to track some people that came to the U.S from Germany in 1737 on the ship "Charming Nancy". Here's the link: http://www.progenealogists.com/palproject/pa/1737cnan.htm Close to the bottom of the list are the names:   * Thomas Spiri   * Sara   * Anna Eva, 27   * Hans Peter, 26   * Hans Henrich, 24   * Hans Jacob, 21   * Hans Thomas, 20   * Hans Nickel, 16   * Johan Jacob, 14 I'm trying to decide if the term "Hans" is an English/American version of a German term for men of some age (maybe 16?) or older. For example, the first name "Thomas" with no age given might be a very young boy (under the age of 14?). Where, Sara with no age might be a young girl. And, Johan Jacob, 14, a boy, does not have the "prefix" Hans. Can anyone point to a source/reference for this problem? Edit (08/01/2011) ========================================== After more research, it is possible that the first two names (both without an age) in the list are the names of the parents of this group. They didn't make the trip to America, but it could have been the names that would have identified "the group".


title: Why use 'I are' 'You is'?

text: I've seen many American and English people writing their sentences like this:   > I are...   >  You is...   > * * * While the way I've learned it, and seen most widely used is like this: > I am   >  You are   > * * * Is this some kind of a slang, or have I missed an English lesson?


title: "To hear" or "to hearing"?

text: I often see constructions like this one: > I look forward to hearing from you soon. It seems a little strange to me. In my mind it would look better using the infinitive form "to hear". I don't know if it has something with the verbals... Anyway, what I want to know is which form is correct and why?


title: Is there a double-meaning to "picking my belly button" in this context?

text: I understand all the individual words in the following remark, but there doesn't seem to be any connection between the first half and the second. I am left wondering whether there is an English idiom that gives a double-meaning to part of it (perhaps "picking my belly button"?), but if so it does not appear to be in any dictionary. > I'm not Catholic, but I gave up picking my belly button for lint. Reference: _The best God joke ever - and it's mine!_


title: Should I use "who" or "whom" as the only word in a sentence?

text: I understand that "who" is for the subject and "whom" is for the object. However, sometimes they are used as the only word in a sentence. For example: > Person 1: Yeah, he ate the entire cake. > > Person 2: Who(m)? Which form is correct? I can see it being short for both "Who is the person who ate the cake?" and "Whom are you talking about?"


title: Expression "that's the top and bottom of it"?

text: What is the meaning of the expression "that's the top and bottom of it"? In which situations can be used?


title: "Demonstratable" — a dictionary word, or just a well known hack?

text: Someone has just pointed out a mis-spelling on my site - _demonstratable_ , as in "demonstratable experience of...". I can't see it in the _New Oxford American Dictionary_ or the _Oxford Dictionary of English_. A quick Google shows it in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, but it has a note attached: > This word doesn't usually appear in our free dictionary, but the definition > from our premium Unabridged Dictionary is offered here The closest matching word seems to be _demonstrable_ (which means the same but sounds like it shouldn't!). My question is, is _demonstratable_ a recognised dictionary word or just one that is generally accepted? Where do these edge-cases fit in? For example, when writing copy for a website or other literature, is it acceptable to use words like this on the assumption that, even if they are not in the dictionary, people will recognise the meaning?


title: Why is 'shucks' (as in 'aw, shucks') used with an '-s' ending?

text: I understand that 'shucks' is a slang that is: > used especially to express mild disappointment or embarrassment and this definition is listed separately from 'shuck' (the verb/noun) in merriam-webster. Oxford dictionary online  lists 'shucks' under 'shuck' as: > exclamation > > (shucks) informal > > used to express surprise, regret, irritation, or, in response to praise, > self-deprecation: 'Thank you for getting it.' 'Oh, shucks, it was nothing.' But neither explains why the exclamation must be 'shuck' + 's'. I don't really know if the 's' expresses a plural (from the noun 'shuck') or a 3rd person singular (from the verb 'shuck'). Some online sources like Urban Dictionary says it is > a combination of f*** and sh*t which I'm not really believing as I don't really hear people say 'aw f**k sh*ts' -it'd be more like 'f***ing sh*t'. So, why is there an '-s' ending in this usage?


title: Weaved or woven

text: Is _weaved_ an acceptable past-tense form of the word _weave_? Does it have to be _wove/woven_ or are both acceptable like _hung/hanged_?


title: What does "He who sups with the devil should have a long spoon" mean?

text: I've recently read this quote somewhere in a book and I can't seem to comprehend it.


title: Is "shined" correct? If so, is "he shined X on the tree" also correct?

text: Recently, I overhead a former professor of mine use the word _shined_ , a word that makes me grammatically uncomfortable. She used it as following: "Then, after we shined a light on the other ball, what happened?..." My first question is: Is using _shined_ mainstream, over what sounds better to my ear, _shone_? If so, is there any historical flip-flopping between the two usages? Secondly, if _shined_ is in fact legit, can it be used transitively? Saying something like, > The light shined all throughout the night. while odd, doesn't sound as bad to my ear as, > He shined the light on the ball throughout the night. The latter sounds quite bad to my ear. Indeed, à propos the original question, can _shone_ -- the better sounding alternative to my ear -- be used transitively?


title: proper way to write the slang term for “gravitational force”

text: I came across something very similar to this in a thriller novel: > At this stage, the rocket is experiencing its maximum acceleration, say > about ten gees. Here, the author has spelled out the common military-pilot slang term for “gravitational force” using _gee_. However, as this term is an abbreviation, and is in essence a unit of measurement, I'd have expected the written form to be _G’s_. Similarly, I have heard people speak the unit “kilometer per hour” using the two-letter symbol for kilometer. However, I would expect this to be transcribed as “km per hour” versus “kay em per hour”. Is this use of _gee_ common? Is it correct?


title: Past participle used as a noun?

text: Some examples include: > We fear the _damned_.   >  He honored our _fallen_.   >  This is a _given_.   >  You are the _chosen_.   >  The _lost_ were among us.   >  They obey the _venerated_.   >  My _beloved_ kissed me. ( _TIL “beloved” is a verb thanks to RegDwight АΑA_ > ) Is there a word to describe the past participle used as a noun? I’m hesitant to refer to it as a gerund, since it doesn’t end in _-ing_. Another possibility is adjectival noun, if you originally treat the word as a participle (e.g. “the _damned_ man”) that has given up its modified noun. Also, why does English tend to preface such nouns with _the_?


title: What is the meaning of "the green and blue of the crops"?

text: I'm reading the _My mother never worked_ essay by Bonnie Smith-Yackel. > In the other fields, when the oats and flax began to head out, the green and > blue of the crops were hidden by the bright yellow of wild mustard. What does this sentence mean?