title: Use (or non-use) of articles before abstract nouns

text: I know I have asked a similar question before but this time I have examples taken from COCA and they do puzzle me. I would love to hear explanations from native speakers. The following (incomplete) sentences taken from COCA show three different ways of article usage before "reduction of _something_ ". (1) $1.5 billion could be used for things like restoration of fish and wildlife, the reduction of mercury pollution and greenhouse gas reduction. (2) Fasting imposes a reduction of calorie intake, which is particularly significant if the hours of darkness are few (3) A key goal of the optimization phase is reduction of communication over- head via a range of techniques, including execution of communication in parallel Can you say "a reduction of mercury pollution" instead of "the reduction of mercury pollution" in (1)? Likewise, can you say "the reduction of calorie intake" instead of "a reduction of calorie intake" in (2)? If you can, what difference in meaning would that make in each case? My guess is that, in using "a", the speaker (or writer) has in mind some image of what is to be reduced, whereas in using "the", the speaker (or writer) has in mind more of the fact of reduction itself than what is to be reduced, lacking a better description. Even if my guess is right, (3) still remains to be explained. Is the lack of article before "reduction of communications over-head" a case of ellipsis? If not, why don't you need an article here as in the other two examples? What difference does the absence of an article make in comparison with "the reduction of communication over-head" or "a reduction of (in) communication over-head"? Can you or should you use "a" or "the" in this case? In addition, there is another issue in (1). There is no article in front of "restoration". Why is there no article here, whereas there is a definite article in front of "reduction"?


title: Is "swimming" a gerund in "I went swimming"?

text: What is the function of _swimming_ in the following sentence? > I went swimming with some friends yesterday. Is _swimming_ a gerund here? If it is, what is the grammatical function?


title: "Unexpected" quotation marks: Why?

text: I frequently run into uses of quotation marks on public display that simply baffle me. I have no idea who or what is being quoted, what the original reference is, or why it's necessary to indicate that this is a quote. ![Quotation marks and ALT text don't mix](http://i.stack.imgur.com/yY9a2.jpg) Clearly it's no accident: **the quotation marks take effort to add**. Someone had to go to the trouble of putting them there, someone who felt he had a reason to do so. If it were a one-off occurrence, I would chalk it up to miscommunication. But this is so common a practice that I wonder if there's some common misconception, or perhaps convention in a foreign language which leads people to place quotation marks where they are not, in English, traditionally expected. Alternately, is there some meaning communicated here that I am missing? Do these quotation marks actually indicate something of which I wasn't aware?


title: "Distribution worker" vs. "distributed worker"

text: I cannot differentiate the meanings of the two words. Could you please clarify? In general, when should I use a noun ( _distribution_ ) or an adjective ( _distributed_ ) for verbs similar to _distribute_ , like _organize, create_?


title: What on Earth does "cheap at half the price" mean?

text: I hear this all the time, "cheap at half the price", to indicate that something is cheap (mostly in an ironic sense, but often used literally), but it makes no sense to me. Of course, if something was half the price it could probably be considered cheap, especially when compared to its actual price. But it is not half the price, it is the price it is.


title: proper phrasing for "avoid X in favor of Y"

text: I'm having a brain cramp: if cookies should be avoided, and carrots are preferable instead, is it correct to say: > Avoid cookies in favor of carrots. or if not, what's the correct way to phrase?


title: What does "morally important" mean?

text: I didn't understand the usage. What does it mean and when can we use it?


title: "All X are not made equal" - ambiguous meaning?

text: A phrase commonly heard in English (at least informal English) is something like the following: > Well, this car is good, but all cars are not made equal! This would be commonly understood by most English speakers to mean the following sentence, which is what I'd use: > Well, this car is good, but not all cars are made equal! Isn't the first sentence ambiguous? It could mean what most English speakers would take it to mean, but it could also mean (and I'd argue this is what is _should_ mean): > Well, this car is good, but every single car is made differently! Another of the many variants on this form of words is where it is identified that not all members of a class are the same as a specific member, for example: > This might be bitter, but all fruits are not lemons! Again I'd take this to mean: > This might be bitter, but not all fruits are lemons! And again I'd say that the first phrase is in this case not only ambiguous, but plain wrong. It should literally mean: > This might be bitter, but NO fruits are lemons! When did this curious form of words start to be used, and by whom? And, are my literal meanings correct, or is there a grammatical sense in which, for example, the latter phrase could mean something other than "NO fruits are lemons" when interpreted strictly?


title: "Piece" as a verb, meaning to snack?

text: When I was growing up in the 1950's, my mother used "piece" as a verb, meaning to snack on something outside of mealtime. She might say "Do you want to piece on something?" while offering me a cookie. Or she would tell me not to piece too close to dinnertime. I have never heard anyone else say it excepet members of her family. She was born in southeast Kansas in 1926 to people of German and British descent.


title: All X are Y. Then Some Y is X?

text: I have the following statement: All the actors are girls. All the girls are beautiful. The conclusions are given below: **Conclusions** : 1)All the actors are beautiful. 2)Some girls are actors. My text book says that Both (1) and (2) conclusions follow's from the given statement. There is no doubt in (1) conclusion. But how come the second conclusion will become true. If it's become true then it indicates that if a statement is given in form `All X are Y. Then Some Y is X` is true. Is it so? In what all cases does this contradicts?


title: What is the meaning of 'this is not here'?

text: What is the meaning of the phrase "this is not here"? I saw this on a door in a John Lennon video and wonder if this is a Zen phrase or specific English usage.


title: Past continuous or past simple?

text: In this sentence, should I use past continuous form of the verb or past simple or it in the gap? > Last night, I was sleeping in my bed, when I ------- (hear) a terrible > noise. I ------ (get up) immediately and ------- (run) outside.


title: Writing "A , so B, so C..." for series of implications

text: Is it correct to write _A, so B, so C..._ to represent a series of implications? For example, > He is sick, **so** he is on leave, **so** you have to do his work, **so** > you cannot leave now, **so** please let her know. If not what is a good way to express this?


title: Is there a word specifically referring to the stand upon which a large book is displayed, opened to a page?

text: I'm thinking in particular of dictionaries or illuminated bibles being displayed on these stands, which are at least waist-high on a standing person, constructed of wood. Is there a particular word for this, other than "book stand"?


title: why differences in Object vs Subject

text: We have different pronouns to express objects vs subjects: he vs him who vs whom etc. What's the point? What extra information is communicated by expressing object vs subject? Shouldn't it be better to standardize on one form of pronouns and disregard objects and subjects?


title: Is there a word to describe an offensive term reclaimed by the offended group

text: Is there a word to describe the process, or result of the process of, an offended group reclaiming a word for themselves. For example, it is common for gay people to call themselves queers, or sexually liberated women to call themselves sluts, or black people to refer to themselves by various offensive terms. I seem to remember there is a term for this process. Wikipedia suggests "reappropriation" but I seem to remember there is a more specific term.


title: What does "Graduates from business school or Economics with mathematical background" mean?

text: Hello I have a question about "English logic". For instance on a job offer I see this requirement: > Graduates from business school or economics with mathematical background. So If I understand the sentence it means: ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/JI65c.png) ## However, how to say : ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/2GBP8.png) Being a non native English speaker I would say: > Graduates **from** business school or **from** economics with mathematical > background. Am I right? Moreover, is there any field who deals with that kind of question. If possible any fields who would use the kind of notation I'm using?


title: Word for not feeling part of a social or economic class

text: Is there a word for a feeling or person that is part of a social class, but doesn't feel like they belong in that class? Say someone was poor their entire life and won the lottery. People they may associate with, and are friends with, poor people but may live around and attend functions with people in their economic class. In those cases they feel out of place.


title: Participial clauses

text: Can you explain which one is true and why? > 1) Founded in 1636, Harvard is one of the most famous universities in the > United States > > 2) Being founded in 1636, Harvard is one of the most famous universities in > the United States


title: Difference between speculation and guessing

text: The background to this question is in the comments below this answer on Sci- Fi. Is there a difference between _"speculating"_ and _"guessing"_? My understanding is that they are pretty interchangeable but _guessing_ is broader. Eg you can _guess_ the next roll of a die but you can't _speculate_ what it would be. So I think that _speculation_ is an _informed guess_. Is that correct?


title: saying "hello" when somebody asks something obvious

text: What exactly does it mean, when somebody answers "hello" to my (perhaps naive) question? Also, I have heard people say "hello" when they are outraged about something, such as for instance "for all his effort, he got absolutely no reward. Hello ???) or when saying something shocking. Are there some other situations, when people might say "hello" ?


title: Idiom: to hesitate when something is nearly finished

text: I have an idiom on the tip of my tongue, or at least I think I do — **the meaning I want is roughly “to hesitate or falter on a task, when it’s almost completed”**. The phrase that first came to my mind was “to balk at the last jump”, but (while certainly serviceable) that doesn’t seem to be an established idiom, nor do any of the variations of it I’ve tried searching for. Can anyone place such a phrase?


title: Why used 'occurrence' in the sentence?

text: The sentence is > Removes the first occurrence of a specific object from list. I don't understand why 'occurrence' is used.   Is its meaning like 'encounter', so the sentence could be rephrased as below? > Removes the first encountered object from list. Their meanings are the same?


title: What is the name for the class of computer programs that act as a front end for a database?

text: If you are writing a computer program that manages a large database of clients, like a rolodex, or a program that stores medical records for patients. What is that "class" of program called. The specific term my company uses for the software it develops is "Practice management software" but I am looking for the next broader up in specificity, as I want to use this word in a non medical software context. A good example of this type of program would be Microsoft Access.


title: Why does "air conditioning" always mean "cooling" and never "heating"?

text: For that matter, _air conditioning_ could include humidifying or dehumidifying, but it doesn't: only cooling. Why weren't air conditioners called _air coolers_?


title: respectful owners ? Is that right?

text: I am reading on many many websites or videos something like: > "All rights goes to their respectful owners"   >  "Jack and other characters mention are property of Dreamworks and > respectful owners"   >  "All characters are copyright to their respectful owners"   >  "All Photos belong to their respectful owners and are being used..." I am puzzled. Should it not be "respective owners" ? Well I am sure there should be owners who "show respect", but I am suspecting they are just misspelling a word in this context. Is that wrong ?


title: Hypernym for "trimester" and "quarter"

text: I am looking for a hypernym for _trimester_ and _quarter_.


title: A word encompassing both an IP address and the port used?

text: For example, if I were to connect to a service with the following address: `68.146.63.194:3609` Is there a word for this type of address? I suppose I could call it just a generic address but I was wondering if there was a word for this specific type of connection..


title: If you're starting a sentence with "and" or another conjunction, must you follow the conjunction with a comma?

text: When I was a kid, I was always told that starting a sentence off with "and" was improper. However, now it seems as if the consensus amongst members of the English cartel is that it is totally acceptable with one addendum, "you must always follow the conjunction with a comma." My girlfriend just started a sentence with "and" and she didn't use a comma. Was she wrong? Could someone elucidate on "and", and conjunctions at the start of a sentence, and subsequent commas? Here is the exact context, > Did you see those people giving us the finger? And the counter protest? Should that _and_ have been followed by a comma?


title: "in order to" vs. "for the sake of"

text: These two phrases seem to be interchangeable in most cases. But I found one case where it seems that "in order to" works, and "for the sake of" sounds like it's not as good a choice of words. Example:   1. I've probably continued to sing _in order to_ write these words.    2. I've probably continued to sing _for the sake_ of writing these words. To me, _in order to_ seems to be a better choice. _For the sake of_ doesn't seem to be as good a choice, because it doesn't seem to be a good choice in general for things that you're going to do in the future. _For the sake of_ seems to be more appropriate for **things that already exist** , not actions that are going to take place in the future. For **actions that are going to take place in the future** , _in order to_ sounds sort of more appropriate. Am I right? Is there anything to what I'm saying?


title: Hypernym of "triad", "tetrad", "pentad"

text: Does the English language have a hypernym for words like "pair", "triad", "tetrad", and "pentad"? I'm not sure where to look.


title: Phrase for order is done or order received?

text: I am developing a mobile application, which gets orders from client and sends it to us. What I am wondering is what kind of a statement can I use in order to inform the user that we have received his order. It must be a short statement as well as informative.   * Order Is Done   * Order Received   * or?? Since I am not a native English speaker I think I need some help here :)


title: Upstairs/downstairs neighbors

text: I just moved from the suburbs to my first apartment building a little less than six months ago, and I was wondering how I could could concisely refer to all the other residents of the building. I can, of course, use the phrases "upstairs neighbors" and "downstairs neighbors", but I live in the middle of the building, and I would feel awkward saying "upstairs and downstairs neighbors" or "same-building neighbors". Is there a word for this? EDIT: I would just say "neighbors", but I would like to make it clear that I mean just the people in my building, not other people in my region of Manhattan, or people in adjacent buildings.


title: Does the washing up fairy exist outside of Australia?

text: Just to clarify, I'm not talking about the Lush product of the same name. In Australia, the washing up fairy is a mythical creature. People leave their dishes unwashed overnight, and lo and behold, the next morning the dishes are clean thanks to the washing up fairy. Sadly, she (I assume it's a she) is more often noted in her absence than her presence. As in "The washing up fairy didn't come, I'll have to do the dishes now." An example of her being mentioned: > Her theory is simple – we must replace the behaviours we don’t want with > those we do. For example, leaving dirty dishes on the kitchen bench for the > washing-up fairy to tidy should be replaced with loading the dirty dishes in > the dishwasher. Her existence has been documented neither by Wiktionary nor Urban Dictionary. Is her distribution limited to Australia, and presumably New Zealand, plus the households of those who have moved from these countries?


title: "Internship at" or "Internship in"?

text: Which one is correct in what case? I have found someone suggesting that you use "at" for organizations and "in" for fields or disciplines, e.g., > I've got an internship at NATO, and he's got an internship at Red Hat, but > she's going for an internship in engineering. These are clear, but there are corner cases less clear to me. For instance, would you say:   * _"I've got an internship **at** the department of psychiatry at a hospital in Boston"_; or   * _"I've got an internship **in** the department of psychiatry at a hospital in Boston"_? ...since here we are speaking of a place, however the emphasis lies on the discipline. Or are both fine?


title: Origin of 'jive', 'jive turkey'

text: What's the origin of the word 'jive'? I'm partly confused because I thought "to jive" meant "to go well with," like "that approach jives well with me." Then someone called me a jive turkey. Is that the same "jive"? Looking at dictionary.com it's defined as "deceptive, exaggerated, or meaningless talk", "to engage in kidding, teasing, or exaggeration," etc. That works for "jive turkey" but not for what I originally thought "jive" meant. I think that meaning exists, though, as evidenced by the all-powerful google.


title: What Does 'Share and Share Alike' Mean?

text: What Does 'Share and Share Alike' Mean?


title: Why are baseball statistics called "sabermetrics"?

text: Loosely defined, sabermetrics is the study/usage/development of baseball statistics. I get the "metrics" part of the word, and I know what a saber is. But, what do sabers have to do with baseball? My only idea is that the baseball bat is kind of like a saber, but that seems to be a stretch.


title: Phrase that means "gaining money for someone" in a negative context

text: In German, we have a phrase _"jmd. in die Tasche spielen"_ , literally _"to play into someone's pockets"_. I am looking for a fitting English equivalent. The phrase means, you are causing a third party financial gain with your actions. These words are nearly always used in a negative context. For more details read on:   In a story, a character is asked to do a small favor, but by doing so an unnamed third party would gain money. Sarcastically, he responds: _"Sure, I'll play into their pockets"_.      I'm looking for an actual phrase that keeps the meaning but is valid English.


title: What is Mongolian Trait ? when referring to medical scores of a newborn child in USA

text: What is Mongolian Trait? I have been unable to find the meaning to this My Niece was classified as having Mongolian Trait ..


title: How to express "Help someone secretly"

text: One of my friend always helps me but does not want me to know that he helps me. Is there a word or phrase to describe this _secret helping_? Also, if someone wanted to thank the secret helper, is there an expression to do so? The expression that comes to mind is > _Thank you for always helping me silently._ But seems this expression does not seem as if it would be used by a native speaker. I have also come up with some expressions like >   * _Thank you for always helping me in the background_ >   * _Thank you for always helping me under the hood_ > Are either of these acceptable? Is there a even better expression?


title: Is the second period necessary after an abbreviation?

text: Which one of the following is correct?   1. only in the continental U.S.A. For all other countries...   2. only in the continental U.S.A.. For all other countries... I am not sure if I need two periods after "U.S.A." or just the one.


title: Is 'co-conspirator' redundant?

text: I've noticed in the news that multiple individuals involved in a crime are referred to as co-conspirators. Etymonline gives the origin of conspire: > **conspire** (v.): late 14c., from Old French conspirer (14c.), from Latin > _conspirare_ "to agree, unite, plot," literally "to breathe together," from > _com_ \- "together" (see com-) + _spirare_ "to breathe" (see spirit (n.)). > Or perhaps the notion is "to blow together" musical instruments, i.e., "To > sound in unison." Related: Conspired; conspiring. Given that the _con_ portion of the word means with or together, is the _co_ redundant?


title: This statement is false

text: **This statement is false** : What does this one liner mean? I just read this in a site of one-liners. Though this is grammatically correct, I wonder if it will have a solid meaning. Can we use such a sentence?


title: Usage of "would" for future

text: Where can we use "would" for future without conditional sentences? Please describe with example of sentences.


title: Expression for a transaction where there was no change or advantage

text: I'm looking for an expression to describe a situation where there was a transaction where some kind of advantage was expected but in the end there was not actual change or advantage. I was trying to describe a scenario where one owns a business, say a pawnshop, that involves multiple complicated transactions, but for various reasons, in the end of the month she finds out all her trades resulted neither in profit nor loss. I've considered _status quo ante_ but I see that expression mostly applied to situations where a change was attempted on a situation, and not for transactions between two parties where a trade of some sort is attempted. There's also _six of one half a dozen of the other_ , but I understand that as a comparison of two things that are identical, but not outcomes of situations.


title: Have I used too many commas for this sentence?

text: Here is what we are trying to say: > Before you hit any of the URLs below, please, make sure you have logged into > the application first using your default browser. Are the commas correctly placed? How else would you fix this sentence?


title: sorry that I did something, sorry for doing something, or sorry to have done something?

text: Should it be: 1) "I am sorry (that) I did this to you." 2) "I am sorry for doing this to you." 3) "I am sorry to have done this to you." From what I have learnt about 'sorry', I would exclude 3) 'sorry to have done this to you' because 'sorry to do' is like 'regret to do' – with the regrets coming before the deed – as opposed to 'regret doing', where the regrets come after the deed. Consequently 'sorry', like 'regret', shoud not be used with a perfect infinitive. Am I right? Then, which to choose between 1) and 2), and why?


title: Why are words such as "that" and "those" not considered articles?

text: According to Wikipedia (disclaimer: of course I realize that Wikipedia should not be regarded as an absolute authority, but I generally consider it to be a fairly accurate and reliable resource): > Articles specify the grammatical definiteness of the noun . . . I guess I can understand how the words _the_ , _an_ , and _a_ fit this description. But what about words such as _this_ , _that_ , _those_ , etc.? It seems these serve essentially the same function (specifying definiteness), but unless I'm mistaken, they are categorized as demonstrative adjectives. I find this _particularly_ puzzling in light of the following two excerpts from Wikipedia: > Every noun must be accompanied by the article, if any, corresponding to its > definiteness, and the lack of an article (considered a zero article) itself > specifies a certain definiteness. > > [. . .] > > In languages having a definite article, the lack of an article specifically > indicates that the noun is indefinite. It seems to me that, in light of the above two statements, an expression such as "those boots" should somehow be considered indefinite (since there is no article), but isn't this absurd?


title: "Favorite" vs. "favourite"

text: Excuse my stupid question, but do "favorite" and "favourite" mean the same thing?


title: What is the meaning of "This will be shown to all users but John"?

text: What does the following sentence mean? > This menu will be shown to all users but John. Does it mean that the menu will be shown to _all users except_ John or _only to_ John?


How to read aloud a sentence like 'In the year 18.. they decided to move to Bricktown'? Such sentences are common especially in Victorian literature. My only option is 'eighteen and something' but I feel that it will not do when reading aloud formal texts, e.g. citations from legal documents included into some fiction books.


title: Simple past or past perfect in this example

text: In the following examples:   * When I was five years old I had a dog. Is this a past perfect sentence? Here, I know that the 'dog' is not a verb and because we use third form of verb after 'had' so this got me confused.   * I just had a meal. Is this a simple past sentence? Here, 'meal' is also not a verb.


title: Where is great in "Great Britain" coming from?

text: Is it just because of the colonial history of Britain?


title: Use of "leave good memories"

text: Is it correct to use _leave good memories_ for someone after a particular experience or event? Are there any other options or examples?


title: Word for large, short, wide, roundish, fat bottle

text: What word would you use to describe a large, short, wide, roundish, fat bottle, the kind used for some wines: _tubby_ or _chubby_? This kind of flask called _growler_ would match my request, but I'd like to learn what adjectives could describe this shape. ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/0E5ex.jpg)


title: *Deja vu* all over again

text: " _Deja vu_ all over again" is an example of either a semi-literate (when the speaker does not know what _deja vu_ means) or a jocular use (when the speaker tries to be funny). Can you give similar examples of (possibly double) usage?


title: The stages of history

text: Is there a word or short phrase that encompasses the three main stages of Western history: ancient, medieval, and then modern?


title: Storage for abstract things?

text: Are there any synonyms or alternatives for the words _store/storage_ in context of storing abstract things? For example: > **storage** of user's posts > > to **store** functions


title: What is the pronunciation of mutinous?

text: What is the pronunciation of mutinous?   I looked at the pronunciation reported in a dictionary, which uses /ˈmjutn=əs/ as American English IPA transcription, but I don't understand which sound should be associated with /=/. I have already seen /ː/ used in British English IPA, but it is the first time I see /=/.


title: Word for "stating the obvious?"

text: Is there a word or term commonly used to describe the act of stating the obvious (or a person who continually does so)? > He constantly states the obvious, he is such a ___ _. > > She is always ___ing.


title: What's the difference between "I'm happy" and "I have a happy heart"?

text: What's the difference? Could you say that romantically? About an infant?


title: Usage of “in” vs. “within”?

text: I am writing about activity happening inside an organization. Should I use the word _in_ or _within_ their organization?


title: Which sentence structure is better?

text: Which sentence structure is better?   1. Completed his education at the Basic Vocational School for working people at the "ELWRO" Wroclaw Electronic Company in Warsaw in the profession of turner.   2. Completed his education at the Wroclaw Electronic Company Basic Vocational School for working people in Warsaw in the profession of turner.


title: What's the meaning of bulk rate?

text: As per this joke, what's the meaning of _bulk rate_? > ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/u5HhK.png) I understand "bulk" is a bunch of elements, but does it mean in this context that _you get a better price if you buy many_?


Can "installation" be used to mean software installed in a computer? (e.g. portable or stand-alone USB installation) Example sentence: This feature works in my standard installation of the software, but not in the portable USB installation. If not, what word could be a good alternative for "installation" in my example above? I am wondering about this because some software installers, like Opera's (screenshots: example 1, example 2), seem to use "installation" to mean software installed in a computer. But dictionaries like Oxford's Advanced Learner's Dictionary and Wiktionary, don't seem to include that definition for "installation", despite including the technical, computer definition for "install": OALD, Wiktionary.


title: How do I complete these fragments?

text: Simply Put, I have the following(similar) sentences:               Transducer Introduction.     An introduction to Transducer/Sensor.     A methodology to meet the deadlines.     Introduction to XYZ.      **All** of these are marked **GREEN** by _Microsoft's grammar check_. Those Green lines are really **_Annoying_** . Whats the proper way to write these Fragments so that the _Grammar Check_ spares me. Update I learned from some answers that _Microsoft's Grammar Check_ is way too sensitive. And it has a habit of annoyance. Still, is there some way I can solve the problem?


title: Word for compact, parenthesis-writing style: A (B) is x (y) for A is x, B is y

text: In English, is there a word to describe the compact writing style in the example below? > The highest (lowest) recorded temperature was 20°C (5°C). meaning > The highest recorded temperature was 20°C, and the lowest was 5°C. I encounter this sometimes in academic texts, particularly when there is a strict word count limit. I quite dislike it. Does it have a name?


title: Is there an equivalent of the spanish "que hueva" slang expression in English to denote that you feel lazy about doing something?

text: In Spanish slang, particularly in the west, the expressions "que hueva" or "me da hueva" are used, respectively, to convey that you are lazy about doing something. The context might be as follows: A: "Do you want to play soccer?" B: "Que hueva" [meaning something like "noo, feeling too lazy right now for that"] In the latter case ("me da hueva") literally translates to "it gives me hueva" and is like saying that something (perhaps a homework assignment or menial task) "gives you" that lethargic feeling.   Are there possible equivalents in English or expressions/constructs similar to the above?


title: Helper: loose vs. lose

text: Does anyone have a good way of remembering when to choose _lose_ instead of _loose_? I often find myself mistakenly using _loose_ in emails and such when I really mean _lose_ (which, in my mind, should be pronounced _loss_ ).


title: Period before or after short form for inches

text: When writing a sentence that contains the short version of inches as a double quote, (e.g. _the box measured 14"_ ) does the period come before, or after the quotation mark?


title: Something can be estimated therefore it is "estimatable"?

text: While the meaning of the word _estimatable_ is quite clear, it is not a real English word. Is there such a real English word with the same meaning? In case it helps, this is based on the INVEST user stories in Agile. The E stands for _Estimatable_ aka "should be be possible to estimate". I am, of course, happy for such a word not to exist. If so, how would you phrase it so that it still makes sense in the above context?


title: What do you call two words that contradict each other in a sentence?

text: I'm having trouble as to what you call two words that contradict each other. For example, "That was weirdly normal." I think this kind of word play is used in puns and jokes. But I do not know how you call this king of word play. Also, I think this can go beyond just using two words, like two phrases in a sentence or two clauses in a sentence that contradict each other. My questions are: How do you call this kind of weird play? Is this type of word play used in Jokes(Well, I think it is but I'm asking you guys)? Lastly, can you give me examples of this kind of word play?


title: Is "to take part to join us" a valid sentence?

text: I've seen it quite many times but it sounds like it repeats same thing twice?


title: I'm looking for an incredibly obscure word meaning "obscure / holy / hidden away"

text: I am fairly certain it starts with the letter 'd', but if not, it at least has that letter in it. Other words that describe it: recondite / cryptic / secret / arcane / "not many people are allowed access." A friend told me what it was it a ways back. Apparently it was the word-of- the-day on dictionary.com once. (I have not been able to find it there...)


title: What is the difference between "equal" and "equitable"?

text: I read a presentation note today mentioning that "space is divided equitably between each cell nucleus". Would it make any difference if it was "equally" instead of "equitably"? Or are the two identical in usage?


title: "In spite of" vs "other than."

text: I would like to know which sentence flows better. This one: > I was a taken aback by Limei's little confession. **In spite of her > impulsive personality, she seemed like a normal girl, leading a normal > life.** Could she be more exceptional than I thought? or this one: > I was a taken aback by Limei's little confession. **Other than her impulsive > personality, she seemed like a normal girl, leading a normal life.** Could > she be more exceptional than I thought? Suddenly, I'm unsure which one to use. What I want it to say is that, _except for her impulsiveness, Limei seems like a normal person._


title: What is the correct verb for 'driving' a ferry?

text: The captain of a ferry appears to _steer_ or _drive_ it. What is the correct verb for this?


Are there any differences between fund and funding when used as a noun? They seem both to have a meaning of "money made available for a particular purpose", and I was wondering why we need "funding" when "fund" means the same. Is it because "funding" is the gerund of the verb form of "fund", and therefore more emphasizes on the action than fund(n.) does?


title: Is "Marco Polo" slang?

text: I have heard some people utter "Marco Polo" in distress or shocking cases. Is it slang? Or is it used as something else? Can someone great as Marco Polo be used as an abusive word?


title: Where should I put comma and full stop?

text: "Hi Jordan, Greetings from XYZ Solutions, I have analysed the content provided by you." **OR** "Hi Jordan. Greetings from XYZ Solutions. I have analysed the content provided by you." Which one is correct?


I used to think those are random events but someone over at physics.stackexchange.com insists that randomness means something else so I am at a loss here. Can someone help me out? What do you call an event that happens without a cause?


title: "I have chosen," "I choose," or "I am choosing"?

text: In a week time I'm taking an exam. I want to know whether I can say 'I have chosen' or not. It is present perfect too. The task is: > You would like to go on a party. Look at the picture and decide which outfit > would suit you best. Justify your opinion. The problem is that English is not my native language, and my teacher said that "I have chosen is wrong," but (as far as I know) it also indicates finished action: "I have just done my homework, I have already seen the film." Why is it wrong then if it is at all? Other options have been suggested, e.g. _I am choosing_ , _I chose_ , or _I choose_. Anyway, I'm not convinced, as they all refer to different tenses. Why would _I've chosen_ be wrong?


title: "Living like Jim Morrison" . what does it imply or refer to?

text: In the Gods and Monsters song by Lana Del Ray “No one’s gonna take my soul away”, there is the line: > I'm living like Jim Morrison What does this line mean?


title: Work around an issue or workaround an issue?

text: I'm writing an essay for college admissions, and this snipped is highlighted by my auto-correct as incorrect: > There are many obstacles I face while working on a project, most of which > take a lot of time and energy to fix or **_work around_**. I can't see anything wrong with using _work around_ in this context, but I'd like to know how to correctly use this phrase.


title: Is there a word like biped that applies to creatures that move like snakes?

text: The SAT version of my question would be this analogy: > Fill in the blanks: > > 1) human : biped :: snake : **__** The best I've gotten is "legless vertebrate" but I was hoping a single word answer.


title: Is unknown certainty oxymoronic?

text: If someone started a story thus, > In a time lost, in a certain yet unknown place, is the Castle of Umberdeen > ... How could an entity be a certainty and yet unknown? It does not make sense. But then, do we need to apply logical mathematical principles to a fantasy romance. Is the kick-off sentence to the story oxymoronic? Perhaps, someone has a different interpretation of "certain".


title: Is there a word for "extreme disgust"?

text: I've been trying to avoid using the two words "extreme/extremely" and "disgust/disgusted" in my sentences, but I can't find any appropriate substitute for "extremely disgusted". I was thinking something along the lines of "abject horror" but that doesn't necessarily convey "disgust". Is there a more specific word that describes extreme disgust?


title: What do you call someone who says they will do things but doesn't?

text: And if they do it, they take 6 months rather than the 6 days he said he could but not necessarily specified that he would? My husband is a tow truck driver, so he barely has spare time as it is. He also has an odd job business, which doesn't get much business. He still has a heater here at my apartment left from 8 months ago that he was supposed to fix. Still has to fix his truck and put the new motor in it which he still has to drive 2 hours to get, even though he has a perfectly good one right here. He has also claimed in the last year that by next year (so that'd be pretty much now, right?) he would have rebuilt a tractor, a snowplow, 2 trucks, a house trailer and a flat bed and he was going to build one, and a motorcycle, plus a 3 wheeler, 4 wheeler, help his dad with his house, get him and I a place...I could go on and on. Yet he barely sees his son and me and hasn't been home for dinner in 6 months because he is busy working. I will admit he has gotten some jobs done but just at max only 2/3 of them. I think it's more like 1/3 but I'm trying to give him credit. So what would he be called?


title: When to use unbeknown and unknown?

text: Recently, I've seen the word _unbeknown_ , which was new to me. Is there any difference between _unknown_ and _unbeknown_ in meaning and/or usage?


title: Is an areligious person secular?

text: An areligious person is one who is: > unconcerned with or indifferent to religious matters. A secular person is one who is: > in the state of being separate from religion, or not being exclusively > allied or against any particular religion. Do these words refer to the same beliefs? Also, are the connotations of each of these words the same? Can they be used interchangeably?


title: Why are Kansas and Arkansas pronounced differently?

text: _Arkansas_ is typically pronounced like so: > “ahr-kuhn-saw” IPA: `[ˈɑɹkənˌsɔː]` However, _Kansas_ is typically pronounced like this: > “kan-zuhs” IPA: `[ˈkænzɨs]` Why are these two words that are so similar in spelling pronounced so differently? Both are apparently linked to “Native American” origins. So what’s the difference in the original usages?


title: Is this sentence grammatically correct?

text: "If we were in a physical relationship, you just lost sex tonight". This is a line from the TV show, 'Big Bang Theory'. It seems incorrect but I may be wrong.


title: OK, here's a weird one: "I appreciate ya"

text: Say you do something simple and nice for someone. A normal reply would be " I appreciate that, thank you." (phrased in either order) But for the past year or two, down here in the southern US, I've been hearing a new phrase (at least new to me) that seems to conflate "I appreciate that" and "thank you." > " I appreciate you. " Tack a southern drawl on it and you get > " I appreciate cha. " The first time I heard it, I was thrown, thinking "wow that's pretty strangely sloppy." Then I heard it again, and... again. Now, it's very commonplace here. So my questions are:   1. Do you hear this in your area ?   2. If so, is it new?   3. Anyone know it's origins ?  I don't think it's just sloppy / lazy --- or we would have already had it decades ago :)) (I hope this kind of question is appropriate for ELU.) Thanks - and, yes I do appreciate cha. < rimshot >


title: Term for distinctive wasp flight pattern

text: Many wasps have a characteristic way of flying back and forth while approaching the opening to their nest (see for example the intro paragraph in this Wikipedia article on yellow jackets). Is there a term for this characteristic flight behaviour? In entomology, in folklore? I have searched, but found nothing.


title: Can I use less-common technical terms metaphorically?

text: Can any technical term be used metaphorically? For instance, can I use the word **assimilable** which means **_capable of being absorbed and incorporated into body tissue (because it's broken down into a form that can be absorbed)_** in a sentence like "Calculus is not readily assimilable by students without appreciable Mathematics background" I'm also wary because technical terms ( _assimilable_ belongs in Biology) are not always popular. I know technical terms are already being used metaphorically. One may even use these words without realizing they've been adapted from a certain discipline for everyday use. Their derived meanings seem denotational because of its pervasive use. (I know I won't be forgiven for my lack of examples, they're not coming to mind atm. But I'm praying you get the picture.) So my question is about the aptness of using these less common technical terms. I know I risk my audience not comprehending me when I use them, but surely there was a point in time where these very familiar (technical) expressions we use today weren't as commonplace as they are now. I hope someone understands me :-)


title: When are Roman Numeral suffixes appropriate for number abbreviations?

text: This question was asked and closed last year as general reference. However, it did not attract the caliber of answer I expected it to. I suggested the below content as an edit, but it was rejected for "changing too much" (even though I believe "the original meaning or intent of the post" was well preserved). Additionally, "what is the correct abbreviation for millions, billions and trillions in a financial context?" touches on the topic from a financial _news_ writing perspective without touching on financial _documents_. And this question admits to the commonness of **M** and **MM** , but merely concludes not to mix the two. Therefore, I am posting this question because I believe it would benefit from a canonical, thorough answer. It is a common accounting practice to use Roman Numeral suffixes to abbreviate numbers that are in the thousands and millions. See this google search, which includes this article1 as the most authoritative explanation. > The Roman numeral M is often used to indicate one thousand, and MM is used > to indicate one million. For example, an expense of $60,000 might appear as > $60M. Sales of $3,000,000 might be written as $3MM. Internet advertisers are > familiar with CPM which is the cost per thousand impressions. > > In recent years some people began using k to represent one thousand. For > example, an annual salary of $60,000 might appear as $60k instead of $60M. > > In a recent business publication I saw million represented by mn and also by > m (both lower case). This means it is possible for you to see $1,400,000 > expressed as $1.4 million or $1.4mn or $1.4m or $1.4MM or $1,400k or > $1,400M. Wikipedia's article on Roman Numerals implies that this is no longer the case: > Roman numerals however proved very persistent, remaining in common use in > the West well into the 14th and 15th centuries, even in accounting and other > business records... Even while the article on the number Million mentions it is still in use. > [One million] can be abbreviated MM in some financial contexts. And neither article (or the references) provide any guidance to what s As an author, how can you decide when it is appropriate to use metric abbreviations or roman numeral abbreviations? When writing a quote for an order for products, would you write 25K or 25M to refer to 25,000 parts(or pounds or units)? As a reader, how can you decipher whether a document is using metric or roman numeral abbreviations? If all the numbers are in the same range and abbreviated the same way (i.e. there are no occurrences of _k_ or _MM_ elsewhere), what other clues can you use? **1** : _Accounting Coach_ , accountingcoach.com by Harold Averkamp, who claims CPA and MBA status. Retrieved 2014-08-25 19:25 UTC.


title: University research or Academic research

text: What do you call researches that are carried out in the universities as thesis or...?   * academic researches   * university researches    * researches in university


title: "As Applicable" Concluding a Sentence

text: I am a technical writer, and often I find concluding a list of requirements with "as applicable" is useful, because not all items in a list of requirements are relevant in all cases. Consider a sentence such as: > In your application, please include your telephone number, cell phone > number, e-mail address, names of maiden aunts, and a list of schools you > have attended. It calls for an "as applicable" at the end because you may not have a maiden aunt, for instance. Should the phrase be written as: > ...schools you have attended, as applicable. or > ... schools you have attended as applicable. The first has the comma after the list, the second does not. My intuition says you should use the comma, but I cannot think of a reason why. I would like a reason, so I can convince another writer that the comma should be there.


title: Phrases for placing emphasis

text: Scientific writing often involves writing down a list of facts. I frequently come across a situation where I need to point out a fact or an observation that is not obvious, and sometimes not completely connected with the previous sentence. I mostly use "Note that..." followed by the observation. I am looking for variations to open a sentence in a similar way. I tried looking at charts related to cohesion, linking phrases etc. but did not come across any category that precisely provides me with substitutions for "note that".


title: What is a less wordy way of describing how this car is situated?

text: I'm sitting on a bench in a park and I see this car sitting in the middle of a side street. Well, it's not actually in the middle of the street, but like right at the spot where you're about to make a right/left turn out onto the main road. It's been sitting there for about half an hour now. It's not an intersection where the car is at, it's just a side street that's leading off from the main road. If I were to describe what I had seen to someone else, how do I say it without sounding too wordy? For example, instead of describing all that I've just did above, is there a single expression that can describe the position of the car at where it's sitting, like "The car have been sitting at the [...] for half an hour now without moving, there have been no cars coming out or else it would have gotten chased off". Edit: actually I've found a similar image: ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/52KWj.jpg)


title: How does “rest easily” differ from “rest easy”?

text: The New York Times (August 17) reported that the N.F.L. has decided to cracked down on several players who wear fierce and funky face masks to make them look tougher or cooler under the headline, “Uniform police give face masks a closer look.” The N.F.L. considers the use of such accessorized helmets without a legitimate medical reason violates the league’s uniform policy. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/sports/football/NFL-uniform-police-give- face-masks-a-closer-look.html?ref=sports?src=dayp&_r=0 The article reads: > “Gone is Brian Orakpo’s corrugated headgear, modeled after the Batman > villain Bane, and Darnell Dockett’s square-bottomed mask, which looked oddly > like a panini grill. Tuck’s face mask fans, however, **can rest easily.** He > provided N.F.L. officials with documentation, signed by the team doctor and > head athletic trainer, certifying that his mask protected his neck by > preventing opponents from grabbing it.” I was drawn to the phrase, “Tuck’s face mask fans can rest easily.” I can find the idiom, “rest easy” in the meanings of “(1) not to worry - CED” and “(2) go to sleep without worries – OED” in any of English dictionaries at hand, but no dictionary carries “rest easily” as an idiom, because I think, it’s a simple combination of verb and adverb. However, I’m interested in what’s the difference is between “rest easy’ shown in “This insurance policy will let you rest easy “ shown as a sample in OED and “rest easily” in “Tuck’s face mask fans can rest easily” in the above quote. Does the addition of two letters - ‘ly’- make any difference? If it does, what’s the difference?


title: Is it a "Texas Accent" or a "Texan Accent"?

text: Is it proper to say "Texan accent" or "Texas accent" - or does it make any difference?


title: Does empty have a gradable antonym in English?

text: Empty doesn't seem to have a gradable antonym. If something is _not empty_ and _not full_ , then it is **not empty** , but is there a single word expression for this? ## Edit: To make it more evident, I'm looking for something like what _warm_ is on the scale of _cold_ and _hot_.


title: Notice vs. pay attention

text: I want to ask you, the English native speakers, regarding to a post in my blog which was commented by a visitor: > Before applying for a job, please notice the following requirements: write > down your application letter neatly, attach your latest CV, …. the copy of > your IDCard and your latest close-up photo, and send to us using well-sealed > envelope. > > a. to enclose > > b. enclose > > c. encloses > > d. enclosed > > e. enclosing Here is the comment of a visitor: > I have seen examples of national exams where the English was so wrong that > there were no correct options. Even the example included here is a bit > strange. We would never use ‘notice’ we would say ‘pay attention to’. And > write down is not appropriate in this context, it should be write. Could you explain me about that "wrong example"? I found that example somewhere on net and I do forgotten the source. Is it possible for you to mark and correct the example (plus the options)? Why 'notice' and 'pay attention' are different, and why 'write down' couldn't fit the context? Thank you, Khadis


title: How to name a 15-minute period?

text: In Dutch, we have the word "kwartier" to denote a 15-minute period. It is derived from the word "kwart", which means _quarter_. It is very common to use this word in both spoken and written language. Is there a similar word or expression in English (e.g. _quarter_ )? And is it very common to use this word, or is it more commonplace to use expressions such as _quarter of an hour_ , _15 minutes_ , etc.? The scenario I'm considering in particular is that of labels on forms or in software. The 'user' has to indicate how much time was spent on something, in time units of 15 minutes. What would be the most appropriate way:   * Time spent: # quarters   * Time spent: # quarters of an hour   * Time spent: # times 15 minutes   * Time spent: # minutes (in software, make 15-minute increments the only possible way to input the time)   * …


title: Owner vs. operator of a machine

text: The owner of a machine may be a company, while the person operating a machine (push buttons, feed material, etc) may be an employee of said company. But is the company also the operator of the machine, as it owns the machine with the intent of having it active/in operation/doing work? I'm trying to avoid confusion between the person pushing the buttons and the more abstract 'commisioning' (does that make sense?).


title: Why does spelling matter?

text: If I write _mispelling_ as supposed to _misspelling_ why does it matter? The meaning still exists. Everyone knows what I meant to write. There is no ambiguity. Why do some people consider the proper use so important? Isn't language flexible? Can't I use it as I wish? I don't say these things to irritate or insult people, I'm saying them to convey meaning, meaning is achieved, so isn't the purpose of language in that instance satisfied?


title: In answering a telephone call, why do you say "Who is this?" instead of "Who is that?"

text: On the telephone, the person answering it may say "Who is calling?" or "Who is this?" Why do you say "this" to the caller on the other end of the phone? Is is wrong to say "Who is that?"


title: Is "I also don't know" less correct than "I don't know either"?

text: When do you use "I don't know either" and when "I also don't know" (or any other verb instead of "know")? I've been taught that "I also don't know" is not as correct as "I don't know either" - just like "I always don't know" is not as correct as "I never know" - but I've been hearing recently native speakers use "I also don't know" quite often. Perhaps "I also don't know" is also correct, but it has some different meaning?


title: What does "it is not an option" mean?

text: In general, what does it mean when people say "something is not an option"? It sounds like it means "something is a must". Am I right?


title: "Stumble" and "tumble"

text: Take the word _tumble_ \- by prefixing it with a single letter you get a whole new word _stumble_ with a slightly different meaning. When it occurred to me I tried thinking of other words like this but could not find any. Is this unique to this pair of words then? Also, any history of this pair of words will be welcome.


title: tom todger meaning

text: I have been researching the meaning of "tom todger" as used by New Zealand/Australian author Ruth Park in her autobiography A Fence Around the Cuckoo (Penguin Books 1993 pb Page 90). Her Irish grandmother, born mid-19th Century, called Park a "tom todger" in the 1930s.


title: Can a noun be supported by 2 prepositions?

text: See this sentence: > Partner A will have a contract with our company with following missions:... It can be written into two separate sentences: >   * Partner A will have a contract with our company. >   * The contract has the following missions:... > If I write > A contract with our company with following missions like as in the first sentence, then would it cause a certain ambiguity or not?


title: "In all events" as opposite of "in no event"

text: I was recently trying to explain to a non-native English speaking colleague the meaning of the phrase "in no event" which often appears in legal documents. This produced the question: "Can you say 'in all events' to mean the opposite?" My curiosity piqued, I did a search in Google. First, as I expected, I noticed many hits for the word combination "in all events" in commonplace sentences such as "I am participating in all events." However, to my surprise, I also saw examples of "In all events" at the beginning of sentences, used in the manner that my colleague had imagined. For example, I found this sentence at the end of Section 3 of a text on the Classified Information Procedures Act by Jim McAdams, Senior Legal Instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center: _"In all events, you, the Criminal Investigator, should consult with the CSO concerning the transporting of classified documents through unclassified areas."_ So, then, is "In all events" an acceptable phrase and can it be used in legal documents as a counterpart to the expression "In no event."? To give a specific example, if we are given the sentence: "In no event shall we be liable for XYZ," could we write the sentence: "In all events, we shall not be liable for XYZ" to convey the same meaning?


title: Difference between "World" and "Universe"

text: What are the differences between the two? I thought that "World" means everything, i.e the same as "Universe". But people seem to think it means the same as "Earth".


title: Usage of "without strain" word combination

text: Can word combination "without strain" be used in figurative sense, for example "He speaks English without strain." and is it literary?


title: Matryoshka words

text: Since it's Friday and others are playing games, here's another one to take us into the weekend. Everyone knows about those Russian nesting dolls (called matryoshka dolls, I believe). A small doll nests inside a larger, which itself is inside a larger doll, and so on. This game does the same with words. You start with a three-letter word, add a letter to make another word, and so on. Longest word wins. The catch? Each additional letter has to form a legitimate word. Here's one to start you off: > bur   >  burr   >  burro   >  burrow   >  burrows Good luck.


title: Is there a Latin, or English, phrase or acronym for "in summary"?

text: Is there something similar to _TLDR_ that can be used in professional emails and messages?


title: Do synonyms exactly stand for the same

text: I have a question about synonyms:   I'm wondering for quite a while if synonyms always stand exactly for the same thing. Is there sometimes a little difference in meaning?   Let's use clumsy and clunky for example. Can I always replace clunky with clumsy? Since I'm not a native speaker, as you may have noticed, I cannot tell them apart. According to my dictionary, they mean exactly the same. Is it always true? If the question has already been ask, sorry I couldn't find it. Edit: Thank you very much! Every answer has helped a lot and thank you so much for it. I really appreciate it. I've voted all your answer because every answer helped me in a different way. I've accepted Barrie England's answer because it was the best one in my case. But all of yours were really good and helpful :)


title: Compliments — for people, things or both?

text: Are compliments applicable both to people and things, or to people only?


title: How many words/phrases were coined by Milton?

text: In studying the works of John Milton in _The Riverside Milton_ , I've noticed that the footnotes repeatedly point to the OED, which cites Milton as having coined a seemingly endless number of words and phrases that are still in use today. Knowing that he was fluent in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Spanish, French and Italian, I've become extremely curious: Does anyone have a clue as to how many words/phrases Milton contributed to the English language?


title: Job interview question

text: I'm a French man in my late 20s and I'm applying for a job for a prestigious American company. I've had a job interview with an American woman and she told me all was well but I'd have to be molded to be just like ''the rest of the girls and the rest of the skirts.'' It's true, it's mainly a female company. I don't understand this expression. Please explain. Should I be worried or was it a joke?


title: Can I use 'macaronic' to descibe light verses involving three languages?

text: Possible _macaronic_ confusion: >   1. 'Of or involving a mixture **of two or more** languages.' (American > Heritage) > >   2. 'characterized by a mixture **of two** languages' (Merriam-Webster) > > Since in an essay I'm writing I want to use the word 'macaronic' to descibe light verses involving three languages, I have the fear of not being understood because above dictionaries don't read the same definitions.   1. Can I use, contrary to what Merriam-Webster reads, 'macaronic' to descibe light verses involving three languages?   2. If not, can you suggest me an alternative adjective meaning 'light verses involving three languages'? I ask because I want to avoid confusion in reader's brains.


title: Meaning of jersey in this sentence

text: What is the meaning of "jersey" in this sentence > Kent proceeds to kick the shit out of Greg's jersey" I don't know if it is slang or something about New jersey.


title: Antonym of selfie

text: I am looking for an antonym of _selfie_ , meaning _a photo/portrait of others_. The ancient Greek word for self is like _auto_ , and what I am looking for is an English word for _hetero_ (its opposite). Do you have any idea of that?


title: What is the antonym of "distaff"?

text: What is the antonym of "distaff"? It's not in my dictionary, but it must exist. Right? **edit** By _distaff_ I mean, "the female equivalent of something typically male", not just "female" generally. I could write "Joan Jett is the distaff Adam Ant" or "Adam Ant is the [what?] Joan Jett". **further edit** no cracks about my musical ignorance.


title: “An exclamation” or “An ejaculation” ? Are these words synonymous?

text: Exclamations and ejaculations are usually expressions of surprise or anxiety, something said quickly and suddenly. Grammatically they are always interjections and may seem to be the same kind of utterance. Are they ?


title: Can you use the word "where" in a sentence this way?

text: Is it proper grammar to use the word "where" after a comma, or can I replace this word with something more appropriate? _"I was employed as a **______** at ABC Company, **where I was responsible** for managing a team of 20 employees."_


title: A lot of numbers in a paragraph, how should I phrase them

text: The formal grammar demands that numbers be written out as words at the beginning of a sentence. I have a paragraph like the one below and I am not sure how best to re-phrase it so as to conform to the academic grammars. General suggestions on writing this type of sentences (sentences with "complex numbers") are especially welcome. (I intentionally put all numbers at the beginning of all sentences to highlight the issue) > 4165 cases of respondents reported pain in knee joints, hand joints or > wrists. 60.77% of them reported only knee pain whereas 64.71% reported pain > in hand and wrist joints. 74.89% of the patients with osteoarthritis > complained knee pain while 87.64% of the patients with rheumatoid arthritis > complained hand and wrist pain. 69.55% of the patients 60 years old and > above showed signs of knee pain while 46.78% of the patients 40 years old > and younger showed similar signs. 69.24% of the patients 40 years old and > younger complained about hand and wrist pain and 62.50% of the patients 60 > years old and above have a similar complaint.


title: Why is the sentence "Statistics 'is' often misleading" incorrect?

text: Why is the sentence " _Statistics **is** often misleading_" incorrect? I know that statistics can be singular but also plural. Should I use singular in this case?


title: Why is the sentence "The sheep 'stray' when the gate is left open" incorrect?

text: The sentence should be written as "The sheep _strays_ when the gate is left open". Does the use of the definite article, _the_ , always makes the grammar number singular?


title: Word for "how it fits"

text: What are some synonyms for relationship which encompass how something fits - like how a couch fits in a room, or how a building fits on a block, or how a neighborhood fits in a city. Its "fitting-in-ness", or ability to properly fit into a place and even improve it because it fits so well


title: IPA pronunciation of 'Bazinga'

text: You might be familiar with the tv-series the Big Bang Theory. Sheldon, one of the main characters, often says "bazinga". How would I write this in IPA? This is what I have, does that make sense? /bəˈzɪŋɡɑː/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skQGve3XksU


title: When did 'going to ...' replace 'will ...' in the future tense in colloquial usage

text: The future tense in standard written English uses 'will' as the verbal modifier, but increasingly English speakers use 'going to' as the verbal modifier. When did this come into common usage?


What is the origin of the expression "to prick one's ears up"? Does this come from an actual physical action seen in animals or from some literature reference?


title: Phrasal Verb request for cover in a cursory manner

text: Can someone suggest a phrasal verb which means "not covering something in full detail" or treating the subject in a "cursory manner". Something which implies that the details have been omitted probably to make the discussion more concise etc.


title: A word that describes something that has been given a name

text: Is there a word besides _named_ that describes something that has been given a proper name? For example, a guitar is just a guitar, but if I call it, say, Shirley, is there another word that would now describe the guitar? I'm looking for something specifically that can be used to identify things that have names (like people) but could also include books and movies, or say "Old Glory" for the flag. Is there such a word? EDIT: Here's a bit more information: I'm looking specifically for a noun, a word which describes any object, person, or idea that has a name. Perhaps an example will help: say you had a hat full of names, movie and book titles, as well as say names of famous characters from tv shows, and maybe even important events in history like "The Great Depression". If I asked you to reach in and pick one, what could I say to pick besides "choose a name" (and of course, besides "choose a piece of paper"!) that would describe every one of the items in the hat? EDIT2: Okay here's some final context for everyone. The reason I posed this question is I am developing a game for windows phone that involves guessing a name, but although "Name" is a simple enough name for the object, it also has additional properties like "category" and "description". So if I called the object "Name", I need an additional property to reference the actual name of the object. If I used "Name" again I would be accessing it via Name.Name, and that's just silly. In truth, this isn't a big deal, I ended up using "Name" as the object, and "Title" as the name. This was more a "curiousity" thing, where I wondered if there was a way to accurately name the object, so I could keep "Name" as a property. Ultimately, my favorite solution is to keep the "Name" as the object and "Moniker" as the name. This feels like the most intuitive way to do it, but I'll probably keep it as it is with "Title". But since that's my favorite that gets the answer, thanks to all who contributed!


title: Use of "Who am I" and "Who I am?"

text: I am confused between these two: "Who am I" and "Who I am" I read this phrase: "Do you know who am I?" - The person was threatening someone. But what is the main difference in using these? "Do you know who am I?" or "Do you know who I am?" Please explain in which case we use what?


title: One word noun for "truth-teller"?

text: There is a single word to describe people with a lack of honesty: _liar_. Is there an equivalent single word to describe an honest person? The word must be a noun and not an adjective. The are obviously many adjectives that describe people who tell the truth. I am looking for something somewhat like the Spanish word, _verdadero_.


title: non-essential/non-restrictive prepositional phrases

text: 1:   * a: I entered the house, through the window, and saw a few dancing cats.   * b: I entered the house through the window and saw a few dancing cats.   * c: I entered the house through the window, and saw a few dancing cats. Which is one is the most correct? Which one would you most likely see in a book teaching about grammar. 2:   * a: Which one would be considered the most correct, by rigorous standards?   * b: Which one would, by rigorous standards, be considered the most correct?   * c: Which one would be considered, by rigorous standards, the most correct?   * d: Which one would by rigorous standards be considered the most correct?   * e: Which one would be considered the most correct by rigorous standards? Which one of those would you most likely see in a grammar book? Which is the most correct and formal sounding. If more than one are correct, just tell me. I hope somebody can clear up my confusion. Greetings :)


title: Schwa insertion into the bi-consonantal onset for emphasis?

text: I want to know if American English speakers have regional differences in inserting the schwa between initial consonants of words such as great, crazy, professional, and crash for emphasis. For a case in point, Americans that are born and raised in Maryland do not insert the schwa for emphasis whereas Americans that are born and raised in Los Angeles CA and Texas do insert the schwa for that purpose in the plosive and liquid clusters. E.g. (1) Gareat! /gə'ret/   and (2) Carazy! /kə'rezi/


title: Yours vs. your's

text: Which is correct _“Is that yours?”_ or _“Is that your’s?”_? I ask because it is possessive, so I would think it would be the latter, but I typically use and see the former usage. Are there particular cases in which one should be used instead of the other? Or is one simply correct and the other not? This is one of the few things that still confuse me, so help is greatly appreciated.


title: Announcing married couple

text: In Boston Legal (TV series) married couples are announced as "Mr and Mrs Ivan Tiggs" or "Mr and Mrs Denny Crane" - including the husbands' first names. Why is that?   Is it used commonly or only in this series?


title: What is the difference between 'inclination' and its varieties; that is 'tendency - propensity - disposition - inclination - proclivity'?

text: As someone who is at (near-)native level of English, I know all of these words, but as I'm not immersed in an area where use of English is prevalent, (as of now I am living in the Netherlands,) I don't encounter these words often enough to start seeing obvious patterns between the differences, and the dictionaries I have used didn't help. I have some general ideas, although I have general ideas on the meaning of some of the words. Propensity seems to be a 'natural' inclination, i.e. "Man has the propensity to be selfish", and disposition seems to be related to opinions as in "He has a disposition to agree with those that are close to him." I don't have the faintest idea about the differences between the other three words that are left though. Could anyone care to explain this all to me?


title: Word that means "to worsen esp. suddenly"

text: I'm trying to look for a word(verb) that means _to worsen especially suddenly_ to describe an injury/swelling. I have chronic swelling in my lips and whenever I become too active, the swelling worsens and becomes painful and I'm trying to look for a verb to describe that without being too wordy. It's like similar to the word _attack_? but in verb form.


title: Different pronunciations of "Pakistan" versus "Afghanistan"?

text: Should there be any difference in the pronunciation of (the suffixes in) "Pakistan" and "Afghanistan"? I noticed that Obama treats the words quite differently, pronouncing "Pakistan" like PUH-KIST-UHN, but pronouncing "Afghanistan" in an American way, with the end syllable "-stan" as in "stand" or "stance".


title: Comma or period after the words: I remain at the end of a letter?

text: Do you ever place a period after remain? For example: With best wishes for a happy holiday, I remain. Sincerely yours,


title: Is it ok to omit a possessive apostrophe before a capitalized appellation (President, country name, VP, PM)?

text: In a recent Financial Times article (Yemen PM Escapes Assissnation), the apostrophe necessary to show possession was left out. I've seen colleagues do it as well. Isn't it supposed to be "Yemen's PM Escapes...?" Other times I've seen people write "Japan Minister of Finance tackles deflation..." or "India VP resigns..." I have noticed that in most of these cases, the omission of the apostrophe was right before a captilazed appellation (president, country, municipal, etc.) What's going on? Firm grammar rules stipulate that there be an apostrophe, yet there isn't one. If the FT does it, then there must be an exception (in journalism?) that I'm unaware of. Must there or must there not be an apostrophe?


title: What's the meaning of the expression "Grab a hold"?

text: What does it mean to "grab a hold"? There is a song by Cyndi Lauper that says > If you wanna grab a hold, let it go...


title: "In the hope of" vs. "with the hope of"

text: While solving a question I encountered a situation when there was a subtle difference between the two: > After meeting together near Mediolanurn in 313, Roman Emperors Constantine > Augustus and Licinius Augustus issued _The Edict of Milan_ **in the hope > of/with the hope of** ending years of internal religious strife and the > persecution of minorities. I think _with_ sounds more appropriate. But I am not sure about the usage of _in_. Could anyone explain the correct usage in this sentence? Also give some instances where we can use the latter one.


title: Is there a better term for 'low-level?'

text: In computer programming, _low-level_ means something used as a base upon which to build more complex mechanisms. To the untrained ear, I think the term might imply inferiority, which is simply not the case. I'm worried that people will think it is synonymous with _basic,_ which is just plain wrong! (Indeed, low- level programming can be extremely complex.) Is there a better term I could use? It should, in a nutshell, describe something that is necessary to form more complex things. A slightly technical tinge to the word is preferable, but not strictly necessary.


title: Want something applied - grammar

text: > While it may be obvious to you that you want the aggregate functions > **applied** to each set of products found in the account table, this query > fails because you have not explicitly specified how the data should be > grouped. Therefore, you will need to add a group by clause to specify over > which group of rows the aggregate functions should be applied... I always tend to understand past participles used like that as something kind of like postpositive adjectival phrases that describe the word or words which directly precede them. For instance: > He was a guy **sold out** to his enemies by his own friends. This tells me what kind of guy he was in that situation - a guy who was sold out by his own friends. So, basically I can go ahead and try to understand this sentence as follows: > While it may be obvious to you that you want the aggregate functions **that > are applied** to each set of products found in the account table, this query > fails because... Which does not sound right because the thought obviously sounds incomplete. Therefore, it leaves me with only one option which is to understand it as a causative like in this example: > I want my hair **cut**. And I think this is the only way it should be understood. My first question: am I correct? On the other hand, it seems like I can easily add the verb to be right after **the aggregate functions** , thus making it mean basically the same thing but, at the same time, making it much more easier to understand: > While it may be obvious to you that you want the aggregate functions **to be > applied** to each set of products found in the account table, this query > fails because... Which now does make perfect sense. So, my second question is this: by adding the verb to be, do I change anything as far as the meaning goes? If not, are the two completely equivalent then? Much appreciated.


title: Second conditional when making plans for the future: "If it rained tomorrow, I would go to the cinema."

text: >   * If it rained tomorrow, I would go to the cinema. >   * If it didn't rain tomorrow, I would go to school. > Which conditional is the best for this use case? Is it correct to use the Second Conditional or do I have to use the First? ("If it rains tomorrow, I will go to the cinema.")


title: "Philippines" vs. "Filipino"

text: Why is _Filipino_ spelled with an _F_? _Philippines_ is spelled with a _Ph_. Some have said that it's because in Filipino, _Philippines_ starts with _F_ ; but if this is so, why did we only change the beginning of _Philippines?_


title: Onomatopoeia in "O madness of discourse"

text: While writing a commentary for Shakespeare's _Troilus and Cressida_ , my classmate and I got into a small quarrel over the classification of an onomatopoeia. We were wondering, for the line “O madness of discourse”, would _O_ (which I guess is equivalent to the more modern _Oh_ ) be classified as an onomatopoeia? My classmate claims that it’s nothing more than repetition, but I still believe it’s the former.


title: Opposite of 'for-' prefix

text: I understand that often the opposite of the 'for-' prefix is 'back-', ie. "forwards" and "backwards," "foreground" and "background." But what is the opposite of 'foreshadowing,' 'forgiven' or 'forthright?' 'Backshadowing?' 'Backgiven?' 'Backright?' Does 'for-' have different anit-prefixes for different situations?


title: Is there a synonym for "defenestrate"?

text: Thesaurus.com lists no synonyms for _defenestrate_ , and I can't think of any (aside from its definition). However, according to etymonline, it has been in use since 1620 (although Wikipedia refers to two major incidents in the 15th century), and according to Google Ngrams, it was not used in writing before the 20th century (with a steady increase until a peak around 2000). ![ngram image](http://books.google.com/ngrams/chart?content=defenestrate&corpus=0&smoothing=3&year_start=1500&year_end=2008) Are there any synonyms that may have been used in those 300 years where it was apparently not used in print? Could revived popularity of such a synonym be responsible for the slight decrease in use over the past decade, or are people just not thrown out of windows often enough anymore? **Update:**   I've searched Google Ngrams for defenestrate vs. defenestration vs. defenestrated, and found many more occurrences. However, there is still a 200-something year gap. ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/CyHSL.png)


title: Meaning of 'after which'

text: > Please sign the document and return after which our agent will contact you. What does the sentence mean?   1. I should sign the document   2. I should return the document   3. After the second party receives the signed document they will contact me. Am I right ?


title: Someone who walks on a tightrope

text: Is there a single word or concise phrase for someone who walks on a tightrope?


title: Is jargon proper English?

text: Examples:   * _Database_   * _Performant_   * _Hyperlink_ Are these correct usages of English, or not, and why?


title: "Unexplainable" vs "Inexplicable"

text: What is the difference between _unexplainable_ and _inexplicable_? Are they exact synonyms or are there situations where one is preferred over the other? Is _unexplainable_ a clumsy modern variant (perhaps only existing due to uneducated usage) or an old word that's fallen out of fashion?


title: Why don't English nouns have grammatical gender?

text: English nouns — other than those with natural gender, e.g. people or animals — do not generally have grammatical gender, and so are referred to as 'it' rather than 'he' or 'she'. However, modern English has its roots in Norman French and Anglo-Saxon (Old English), both of which used grammatical gender for their nouns. In addition, other modern languages related to these continue to use grammatical gender today. So, how come English doesn't?


title: Word meaning a place contains a lot of a certain type of people

text: Here's what I'm writing: > The way I think it actually is - is that some companies are able to attract > and retain the good talent (through being able to pay well, having > interesting work, or being a [centrepoint] of talent). What I'm getting at is that some companies contain a lot of talented people, and so people are going to want to work there, to be surrounded by them. What's a noun to describe a place this kind of place?


title: Are there sentences in languages which use grammatical gender that lose meaning when translated into English?

text: English nouns which don't denote people or animals with natural gender do not (apart from a few rare examples) use grammatical gender. So for example, "table" is always an "it" in English, whereas it could be masculine or feminine in another language. So, is English missing out by not using genders in this way? If so, are there sentences which cannot be translated into English without losing some of their meaning?


title: Coney and rabbit: what’s the difference?

text: Are the words _coney_ and _rabbit_ full synonyms in English? Are there any slight differences in usage or meaning? Are there any cases when one word is more appropriate in the modern writing or speech than another one? Merriam-Webster and Wiktionary reference _coney_ as a rabbit (especially, the European rabbit) without additional remarks. The OED does the same, but with a note _British & Heraldry_.


title: sentence formation and use of preposition

text: how would we say "to transfer something in somebody's name" for e.g. in sentence i would "transfer the property paper in/to/on your name" Is there a better way. Thanks in anticipation


title: The correct word order in "Dear My Love"

text: The phrase "Dear My Love" is found in this page made by keepcalm-o-matic in the UK. I would assume all English teachers say that possessive adjective always comes first, as in "my dear friend" and "my private idaho", and we never say "dear my friend". So the correct word order is possessive adjective, attributive adjective, and noun. Then could you tell me why in the UK saying "dear my love" is possible? I have learned that, in a non-English speaking country, Japan for example, word order is sometimes off and people there usually accept both "my dear friend" and "dear my friend" as correct English. "Dear my friend" in particular is acceptable in their English and I suspect that's because "dear" in this phrase is not an adjective but an adverb to mean "with love and respect" (Merriam-Webster), or they regard "dear" as a preposition and mistake "dear my friend" for "to my friend". Is this type of misunderstanding also the case in "dear my love" by a UK designer? Or is there any other explanation?


title: "Notepad" vs. "notebook" — what's the difference?

text: Can you please tell me the difference between a notepad and a notebook (as in paper, not electronic ones)? To me, they are the same but I guess there must be some difference.


title: Examples of different roots (and different meanings) coming to be spelled the same

text: Apparently the two opposite meanings of _to cleave_ have different roots: the _to adhere_ meaning comes from one old English root ( _clifian_ ) and the _to cut_ meaning comes from a different old English word ( _cleofan_ ). According to this wikipedia page Similarly, in the expressions _to run the gauntlet_ and _to throw down the gauntlet_ , the word _gauntlets_ in question has quite different provenances: in the fist case it is from an old Norse word for a passage (if my memory serves), while in the second case it is from the French _gant_ (glove). What other examples of this fascinating phenomenon do you know of?


title: Correct usage of "awhile"

text: I've seen "awhile" defined as "for a time," and I've seen examples like "Go play awhile" and "stay awhile." But what about the phrases, "Do you want your salad awhile?" or "Would you like your coffee awhile or with your meal?" They seems to define "awhile" as "while you wait" instead of "for a time." Do these phrases correctly use "awhile" or are they more in line with a colloquialism?


title: What's the meaning of "ran for"

text: I'm reading a Aesop's fable, The Kingdom of the Lion. I cannot understand the last sentence in the fable: > And after the Hare said this, he ran for his life. What's the meaning of the phrase "ran for"?


title: Word for using example to refer to the whole

text: I was talking with a friend about the word "portmanteau", noticing that it is itself a portmanteau (making it autological), but in particular its meaning seems to have nothing to do with the concept other than being an example of it. If history had run a different course, we might be calling "smog" a blaxploitation. I'm wondering if there is a word for words in which an example of the concept is used as the concept's name. Would "synecdoche" be appropriate? It doesn't feel quite right.


title: Difference between "accountability" and "responsibility"

text: I've looked them up in many dictionaries, it seems the two words have the same meaning, right? I don't know when we use each of them properly.


title: How to express combinations using "any [...] by [...]"

text: I'm writing a text in which I need to repeat combinations of k out of n - for example, "any 2 out of 6" - but I think something the likes of "any 6 by 2" would be more appropriate since the subject is sports gambling (calculating combinations and odds on a betting ticket) and, as I said, there are several of those on a page. English is not my native tongue and I'm having trouble finding such information / examples on the web. Maybe the right way would be "any 2 by 6" or this "any [...] by [...]" is not even used to express combinations in English. So, I didn't want to make this question ambiguous, but I would appreciate any pointers / more appropriate alternatives you can give me in addition to your answer. Note: On the Wikipedia "Combination" page, I saw "n choose k", but I don't think that would go well with my text either. **EDIT:** I have received complaints and most people seem not to get what I'm asking so I'll just provide some kind of a sample and what I think it should look like in light of Invoker's comment below: > Any 1 out of 3 = 3 combinations > > Any 2 out of 3 = 3 combinations > > Any 3 out of 3 = 1 combination I need to make this text even less formal, I mean express those in a shorter form, yet still common or familiar. I'm looking for the appropriate, most common way of expressing combinations that would be easy to understand, yet not be lengthy. I think the following would be most suitable: > Any 1/3 = 3 combinations > > Any 2/3 = 3 combinations > > Any 1/3 = 1 combination Of course, this is only an example and after each line other calculations including odds may come up. Also, the numbers involved get higher as well. Thank you for the patience with my inability to express this in a more straightforward manner.


title: Is there an idiom that corresponds to the Hungarian expression "fall off the other side of the horse"?

text: There's a Hungarian phrase that can be literally translated as something like "fall off the other side of the horse". (The literal implication is either that instead of falling off this side of the horse, you fell off the other side; or that in your zeal to get on the horse, you overshot the target and fell off the other side.) It means that you are at one extreme of a situation, and you want to change it so hard that you fall into the opposite extreme. Is there an equivalent of this phrase/idiom in English?


title: Did Victorians say “We are quit”?

text: Is “We are quit” (meaning “We’re even, no more mutual obligations”) a usage from the 18–19th centuries? Or are the examples of this on Google hits just people making it up (possibly a bad cognate from German “Wir sind quitt”)?


title: "First thing I did" vs "First thing I have done"

text: What is the difference between the simple past and present perfect in the following? > When I first got here, I bought a car. [Assuming I still own the car]. This > is the first thing I have done. > > When I first got here, I bought a car. [Assuming I still own the car]. This > is the first thing I did.


title: Use of the adjective Nearshore

text: I'm working on a web page which target are American companies interested in hire Mexican Engineers for work in USA (in place or remote). I have a version of the web page headline: "PAINLESSLY HIRE THE BEST NEARSHORE TALENT". Is right the use of the adjective 'nearshore' in this sentence? **EDIT:** What I'm trying to express in my sentence is an easy way to bring talented candidates from Mexico to phisicaly or remotely work for American companies. I don't know if the term nearshore is restricted to outsourcing, or if it can be used in this sense too.


title: definition of "you are churning it"

text: What is the definition of the expression "you are churning it", other than its literal sense? I heard it in the context of someone playing music.


title: Generic term for songs, movies, TV episodes, etc

text: For the model of a software project, I need a generic term that is abstract enough to encompass a single song, TV episode, movie, audiobook, etc. The word _content_ comes to mind, but it is plural. The words _entity_ and _item are_ much too ambiguous. Any ideas?


title: "She hasn't said but a few words to me..." or "She has said but a few words to me..."?

text: > "She hasn't said but a few words to me since last winter." or > "She has said but a few words to me since last winter." Which of these is right? I think the latter is heard more often, but the former makes more sense to me. It's saying that she hasn't said anything to me except a few words since last winter, whereas I can't break down the second in a similar fashion. I can also think of sentences constructed in a similar fashion to the second sentence that are in common usage, such as, "I have but one request to make." This doesn't make sense to me, except to the extent that it is idiomatic or uses "but" in a different sense (e.g. "only"?), and I suspect that this is idiomatic. Using "but" with a negative, however, makes more sense to me, if we use it to mean "except". Quite possibly, I could be wrong in everything I've said above.


title: Is "you are looking at the clock through the mirror" correct?

text: Mindy: That clock on the wall is so strange! Henry: What’s so strange about it? Mindy: Its minute hand is moving in counterclockwise direction. Henry: No, it’s moving in clockwise direction! Mindy: No, it’s moving in counterclockwise direction! Henry: Hey, you are looking at the clock through the mirror! Is the last sentence in this dialogue correct? If not, what's the best way to point to Mindy on her mistake here?


title: Should I capitalize a contraction at the beginning of a sentence?

text: In the following sentence: > 'cause I know what you been doing on your weekends, girl. Should the "c" in _cause_ be capitalized or does the fact that the first two letters have been replaced by an apostrophe mean that it stays lower case?


title: Adjective for the likes of someone who consistently has a hard time finishing what s/he has started?

text: What adjective would you suggest for the like of someone who consistently has a hard time finishing what s/he has started? I thought of the word "distracted", but I don't feel it's sufficient to describe the full story.


title: Can "née" be used for entities other than people?

text: The qualification née is typically used to signify the name a woman previously had, most likely before her marriage. However, today I've seen it in a Spiegel article applied to a company name: > When German retailer Arcandor (née QuelleKarstadt) went bankrupt in 2009, it > marked the end of a company rich in tradition. Obviously, in this context it means the previous name the company had. I understand that it might be used humorously, but I wonder if this usage is actually correct.


title: What does 'hypocrite' have to to with 'critic'?

text: I looked at the origins of > hy·poc·ri·sy 1175–1225; Middle English ipocrisie < Old French < Late Latin > hypocrisis < Greek hypókrisis play acting, equivalent to hypokrī́ ( nesthai > ) to play a part, explain ( hypo- hypo- + **_krī́nein to distinguish, > separate)_** \+ -sis -sis; h- (reintroduced in 16th century) < Latin and > Greek and > crit·ic 1575–85; < Latin criticus < Greek kritikós skilled in judging > (adj.), critic (noun), equivalent to krī́t ( ēs ) judge, umpire ( **_krī́ ( > nein ) to separate_** , decide + -tēs agent suffix) + -ikos -ic and saw that they both have same word 'krī́' but I can't make the connection. A critic separates and judges i.e. Looking at the source-code by dividing it into smaller pieces and looking through each part carefully. But then what does a hypocrite do? Separate less than is needed? I must be missing some other Greek terms that give the entire word its meaning...


title: What adjective would you use to describe someone who uses the right vocab consistently?

text: I thought of precise, but not entirely sure even after checking a dictionary. Would you think it is the best choice?


title: What does humor-challenged mean?

text: When describing a person as humor-challenged, what does it mean?


title: Word for a person whose vocabulary is very limited (as in like 100 words)

text: Is there a word for a person who hardly knows English as in like 100 words, but pretends they are an English major?


title: Can the verb "underline" be used to emphasise a word?

text: Example: > You will never do that again and I underline never! Probably "and I mean it" is used this way.


title: is gentile used to signify people of indigenous origin?

text: While "gentile" is used to describe people of non-Jewish or pagan origin, can it be used as a synonym for "indigenous" (with regards to connotation?)


title: What is it called when I see another person in the mirror when there is only me

text: Sometimes when I look into a mirror, I see a vague vision of a woman standing behind me and when I turn my head she's gone: there is no one. I don't think the word is _haunted_ because I don't believe in ghosts. I am not superstitious. I'm a physic undergraduate, I work on string theory. _Then I remember it only occurs in lucid dreams._ And I now have spectrophobia.


title: Does “Make for the hills” still hold currency as an idiom?

text: I found the phrase “ _make for the hills_ ” in the following sentence of the article titled “The Hex on Paul Ryan” in New York Times Sept 3 issue: “The best morsel of political advice I can offer? If you catch even the faintest whisper that you might be nominated for the vice presidency, _‘make for the hills_.’ Run as fast as Paul Ryan pretends to. Your reputation depends on it. Maybe your sanity, too." I first thought “make for the hills” is a popular, everyday-use idiom meaning ‘to head (challenge) for the high hills (goals),’ but when I checked online English Dictionaries to make sure of it, I found none of Cambridge, Oxford, and Merriam-Webster English dictionary registers either of ‘make for hills’ or ‘head for the hills” On the other hand, Google Ngram registers both “make for the hills’” and “head for the hills,” showing the trend of the usage of the former almost extinct being replaced around 1950 by “head for the hills,” which emerged as an synonym for “make for the hills’” around 1920. I wonder whether “Make for the hills” is still a current English idiom that I can tell young people “You should ‘ _make for the hills’_ in order to achieve your dream,” or it is better for me to use other straightforward expressions. My first impression of ‘the hills’ here was ‘the goals for you to achieve, the obstacles that you have to conquer.’ Am I wrong?


title: Use of the word "that" in formal tone, technical writing

text: I need help settling a disagreement. I have read many posts about the word "that" — probably _too_ many, since I have gotten myself confused! In this first example, there are _two_ subordinate clauses, and I believe the first sentence (below) is correct. Which of these is preferable, and why? > Marine biologists at the University of Utah examined the louse genes and > determined **_that_** their hosts split into three species 5–6 million years > ago, and **_that_** these species were all equally abundant before whaling > began in the 11th century. vs: > Marine biologists at the University of Utah examined the louse genes and > determined their hosts split into three species 5–6 million years ago, and > these species were all equally abundant before whaling began in the 11th > century. Here's a different example in which I'm again of the opinion that the word "that" is necessary, but once again, I know not why: > During the winter months (July–October), southern right whales come **_so_** > close to the shoreline **_that_** visitors can watch whales from > strategically placed hotels. vs: > During the winter months (July–October), southern right whales come so close > to the shoreline, visitors can watch whales from strategically placed > hotels. _**I might also note that we are aiming for a formal (encyclopedic) tone._** Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!


title: etymology of "sesquicentennial"

text: The word _sesquicentennial_ means "150th anniversary". When I first found this out, I thought about the prefix **sesqui-** and what it could mean. My first thought was that it meant 6/4 = 1.5, because it seemed that the syllables matched up with "six" and "quart". After deciding that that must be right, I decided to check online. To my surprise, it appears that the prefix literally means "half and". Was my first revelation a complete coincidence or is there actually a legitimate reason for what I noticed?