title: What’s the meaning of ‘they don’t make them like that’?

text: (As an incredibly beautiful girl with silvery hair crossed the Hall, many boys gaped at her.) > "I’m telling you, that's not a normal girl!" said Ron, leaning sideways so > he could keep a clear view of her. " **They don’t make them like that** at > Hogwarts!" > > " **They make them okay** at Hogwarts," said Harry without thinking. Cho > happened to be sitting only a few places away from the girl with the silvery > hair. > > (p252-253, Harry Potter 4, US edition) **NB** – Hogwarts, the school of Ron and Harry, is having a lot of guests for Triwizard Tournament. **The beautiful girl** is one of the guests in a guest school. **Cho** is a pretty girl in Hogwarts. Harry likes her very much. I’d like to know   * who ‘they’ are.   * who ‘them’ are.   * what ‘make’ means. In other words, the whole sentence! I’d be happy if you could help me.


title: Relationship words for a 'Semantic Network' and also a Sentence Dilemma

text: The two sentences below are for a user input form for a _semantic network_. It is a standard, HTML-based form with two drop down menus (the square brackets represent the drop-down menus). Users use the form to correlate their new 'knowledge nodes' into the network. > 1) " _This new node [points to, is pointed at from] the existing node._ "   >  2) " _The 'pointer' is [a, a kind of, prerequisite to, a part of, an > example of] the 'pointee'._ "   >  (Phew, it hurts to read those.) I would like to accomplish two things:   1)I would like to combine those sentences into one sentence (I think it will read easier).   2)I would like to know of any lists of words/phrases for the 'relationship' words that are typically associated with a semantic network (two common ones are 'is a' and 'a kind of').


title: Is this phrase "now processing..don't terminate this program" correct?

text: I'm developing an application in English, but I'm not a native English speaker, so it's hard to put some English phrases in my app. The following message will appear when my program is processing, so users will have to wait until the process ends. > Now processing...don't terminate this program. I don't know if the phrase is used correctly. Can anyone help?


title: What's the word for a word that suddenly becomes famous?

text: What's the right word for a word that suddenly becomes famous? I know _buzzword_. Are there any similar words or common phrases, like _shot up word_? My specific context is that I am looking for some suitable word for the heading title of a section which shows charts of words that have suddenly become hot and used a lot in the media (TV, magazines, radio, etc.).


title: A word or phrase for "temporarily not working"

text: Is there a word or phrase for _temporarily not working_ since one has gone on vacation? I thought _out of work_ could be used but that means unemployed or having lost one's job **EDIT** I am looking for a more general word that is applicable that may also be used when one is sick or just taking leave to stay with family


title: A word for changing shape/size?

text: For an assignment this term I have to come up with an anti-cliché superhero. I am going to do a superhero that changes shape from thin to big and was wondering if anyone knew a word for this change of shape/size.


title: Raise and Rise revisited - But what if it's a noun?

text: I come to you again from the cooking site. I see this: What is the difference between "raise" and "rise"? and it comes close to answering my question, but not quite. In my world of the cooking obsession, the words in question (or at least one of them) can also be a noun, as in "the bread's second rise". This is a quote from my most recent answer on the cooking site, "When you're ready to bake, punch down the dough again (if necessary), shape, and allow to rise as if it had never taken its little nap in the refrigerator. Of course this raise is going to take longer than non-refrigerated dough as it reaches room temperature." Those lines are clumsy as hell, but are they grammatically correct?


title: Semicolons at the end of list items

text: In school, we were taught to end each list item with a semicolon. But I have never actually seen this. Can somebody please confirm this? Should we end each list item with anything at all? I've seen people use periods after each list item, colons, and even commas. But I've never seen a semicolon at the end of each item — and even if I have, it would be that rare that I've forgotten. Example:   * item;   * item;   * item;   * item


title: What do you call the person who always picks up the phone when you need them?

text: Looking for a word that someone would use to describe this person. eg. "Michelle is my ___ _. She's always there when I need her"


title: Is the 'fore' in 'forewarn' redundant?

text: In what situation would you use 'forewarn' instead of plain old 'warn'? The 'fore' part seems redundant to me.


title: Difference in usage between "Dependent" and "Reliant"

text: Based on the comments on a question on another SE site, I'm trying to define the difference between something being "Dependent upon something" and being "reliant upon something". The sentence in question was: "It is well know that if you feed animals that they become dependent." The comments devolved into a debate over whether the animals were _dependent_ on the provided food, or whether they were _reliant_ on it. One contention was that the former is a subset of the latter - if you rely on something you can find other sources, but if you depend on it, you can't. The other was that they were entirely equivalent, which the dictionary seems to support. Is there a correct usage? Are there implied differences that a straight dictionary lookup doesn't provide? **Edit:** Answers based on the verb forms ( _depends_ and _relies_ ) would be fine, if they transfer over to these adjectives, but not ones based on the positive adjective form ( _dependable_ and _reliable_ ).


title: Pronunciation of "banal" in British English?

text: How is "banal" properly pronounced in British English? I know three ways to pronunciate banal but I don't know how to write them here.


title: Specific numbers as pronouns

text: As "none" and "some" are pronouns, so can specific numbers function as pronouns: How many students failed? In "none failed," _none_ is a pronoun. In "seven failed," _seven_ is a pronoun. But in what category of pronoun do numbers belong? The categories I know of are personal, demonstrative, interrogative, indefinite, possessive, reciprocal, relative, reflexive, and intensive—and specific numbers would not seem to belong to any of these.


title: The adjective "dashing": can it be used to describe a woman?

text: Can you say of a woman that she is "dashing", meaning that she looks stupendous, graceful etc.?


title: When do you use what word to express that something consists of something else?

text: There are various ways of saying that something consists of something else:   * composed of   * comprised of   * ~~contained in~~   * consist of Maybe there are more. Are there hard and fast rules when to use which or are they synonyms?


title: Pronunciation of trailing "i" in Latin-derived words

text: Some pronounce the trailing "i" in Latin-derived words (e.g., "Gemini") as a long "e" and others pronounce it as a long "i." I was taught the long "e," but is this mere preference or is there a firm basis for one or the other?


title: The correct way to title a work of art

text: Should a work of art have an author first, and then the title, or the title first, and then the author? Answer: (...less than 10 rep ATM..) A work of art may have the author first, and then the title. Or, it may have the title first, and then the author. Both are correct usages of English. (P.S. I asked this before.. apparently it was deleted. So, I am re-asking and re-answering to make both the question and answer more specific..)


title: Noun to describe a "typo-filled" letter

text: I am changing my e-mail signature on my phone to read: > Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4. Please do not mistake my brevity and/or > misspellings for apathy and/or ignorance. I am looking for a better word than misspellings to describe my email that might be filled with typos. "Misspellings" makes sense, but it doesn't feel like it truly fits in. _I think it's because all the other nouns describe a quality (mass, or non-count nouns), while "misspellings" describe an actual, physical thing (count noun)._ "Error prone" sounds better, but doesn't make sense lexically. Is there a word that fits here that sounds like it fits with the rest of the nouns in the sentence? _I am more looking for a word that describes an email that is "full of typos", not a synonym for the typos themselves._ Thanks! * * * From suggestions, this is what I have changed it to: > Sent from my phone. Please do not mistake my brevity and solecism for apathy > and ignorance. Thanks for all your help.


title: Descriptivism and widespread misspelling

text: If you search google for "fuscia" it asks "did you mean fuschia?". The correct spelling of the word is "fuchsia". (This was pointed out on the xkcd blog a while ago.) So enough people are spelling fuchsia wrong that it's polluting Google's autocorrection algorithms. Now this got me thinking. If you're serious about your descriptivism, then it seems like you have to accept "fuschia" as a legitimate alternative spelling. Lots of people use it, so it's right, right? What do you think of this? _Is_ "fuschia" acceptable? Is there some way to discount those misspellings and insist on the correct spelling? This isn't some anomaly of the way google's autocorrection works. There are 10m hits for fuchsia, 4m for fuschia... Is this enough usage to make "fuschia" a legitimate alternative spelling? If not, what criteria do you use to decide when a misspelling becomes acceptable?


title: Comma placement following a coordinating connector

text: Is there a de jure standard in print media for comma placement following a coordinating connector? > The situation is perilous, but if we are prepared to act promptly, there is > still one chance of escape. Vs. > Josie originally wanted to be a teacher, but, after finishing university, > she decided to become a lawyer instead. > > Josie originally wanted to be a teacher, but after finishing university she > decided to become a lawyer instead.


title: Is there an English phrase for an inability to actually *leave* already?

text: There is a Hungarian expression, _küszöbgörcs_ , which literally means "threshold-cramp", and is used to describe that long conversation you have in the entryway, with all the guests awkwardly holding their coats and purses, and every so often somebody says something like "Ok, we _really_ have to leave now, but just one more thing...", and then the conversation is good for another half an hour at least. I've searched in vain for an equivalent idiom in English, yet I feel sure it must exist: I know English speakers are equally susceptible to this malady, it's not a uniquely Hungarian thing. I will sometimes use literal translations, like the aforementioned _threshold-cramp_ (or _doorway-spasm_ ), but then I need to explain it, and that's less than satisfactory. (Plus it leads to more threshold cramping.)


title: Lost in the Midst vs Mists of Time

text: Which of the following is more correct, and why? My attempts at Googling haven't produced a definitive answer, and all seem as sensible as each other going from base definitions.   * Lost in the _mists_ of time   * Lost in the _midst_ of time (or, possibly, _midsts_ )


title: Why is “definitely” so frequently typoed?

text: _Definitely_ seems to be one of the most frequently typoed words in written English on the Internet, enough to bring somebody to create d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e- l-y.com. ~~Simon~~ Google says, in a completely unscientific manner:   1. `defini tely` ×105,000,000 (43.4%)   2. `defina tely` ×  80,000,000 (33.0%)   3. `define t ly` ×  21,900,000 (  9.0%)   4. `defina t ly` ×  18,300,000 (  7.6%)   5. `defi ant ly` ×  15,900,000 (  6.6%)¹   6. `definant ly` ×       858,000 (    .4%)   7. `definent ly` ×       217,000 (    .1%) Why is this the case? What are the reasons behind these misspellings? Are those mistakes limited to the Internet, or are they also present in handwritten English as well? 1Defiantly actually is a word, so that obviously skews the numbers.


title: Why do you write "occurred" but "listened"?

text: The past tense of _to occur_ is _occurred_ (not _occured_ ), but the past tense of _to listen_ is _listened_ (not _listenned_ ). Why? What is the general rule that is applied to make the past tense of a verb?


title: Is it necessary to begin a new paragraph after a person speaks?

text: When I was in school, I was taught to always begin a new paragraph after a quotation or after a speaker concludes a segment of dialogue. However, in recent years, I have seen authors abandon this rule, continuing a scene's description after a quotation. To clarify, I'm not asking whether I should create a new paragraph when changing speakers. Rather, I'm asking if a paragraph such as: > Joe said, "This is a placeholder sentence." He wrote the same statement on > the chalkboard. is correct as is, or if the second sentence should begin a second paragraph.


title: How does the word "that" function in this sentence?

text: It's the last sentence of the 6th paragraph from an article at yale.edu. > In fact, as population grew, another pattern of human history emerged > **that** of overpopulation, which led, unfortunately, to over-exploitation > of resources. I guess " _that_ " is an appositive word refering to " _pattern_ ", but I feel somehow farfetched to understand it this way. Because I always subconsciously think the sentence should have ended at the word " _emerged_ ", and the whole sentence will be better without a " _that of overpopulation_ " since it reads more comfortable and fluent. The way of this phrase showing up is so abrupt and uncommon to me, and I'm not quite sure about " _that of overpopulation_ ". There's no predicate, no punctuation, like the author just casually dropped it here, and I even doubt if this is a grammar mistake. So how does " _that_ " function? If you think it does refer to " _pattern_ ", could you please give me some more examples of using "that" in such a way?


title: What do you call someone who is always looking for loopholes?

text: As someone who is always looking to find their way out of or through a situation with the use of loopholes.


title: Usage of "yet" and "but"

text: I want to convey "Something is important. But it is hard to achieve". Can I use "yet" as in the following sentence? > It is an important yet non-trivial task. Also, can I use "yet" to connect sentences with opposite meanings? For example, > This book is very well-written, yet few people know about it.


title: Are all Congressmen idiots?

text: Really couldn't resist the question title :-) This question asks about the famous quote by Mark Twain:               Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.      which I'm sure most people here know. When I first read it I obviously interpreted the meaning as "All congressmen are idiots" - but when trying to actually reason through the construct in a comment for the question, that actually doesn't work out I find. Let's go for a slight formalism with propositional logic:   * `I` means that the person is an idiot.   * `C` means that the person is a congressman. Now Twain states that the person is an idiot so we know that `I` is true. Then he states `C`. So far so good, `I ^ C`. But the next sentence is: "but I repeat myself" which I can only interpret as "but the second statement doesn't add any new information to the first". So this means that `I -> I ^ C` (since otherwise saying `C` is true would add information). This can be simplified to `not I v C` and since we know that `I` is true, this means that `C` must be true - nothing surprising there. So now the options are: Did I make a mistake in my reasoning? Did Mark Twain screw up in his and actually wanted the opposite order or I guess #3 did Mark Twain really want to imply that every idiot is a congressman?


title: What is the definition of plain cereal? What is the definition of plain wheat germ?

text: Searching on the internet left me with no answers. Later edit : plain cereal in this context : http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/breakfast-cereals/1562/2


title: This word doesn't make any sense in this context

text: Cowley's Poems: > But I within me bear alas too great **allays**. What does this 'allay' mean? This poet says, _I wish I could be overheat with praise!_ , so this man is unhappy. However, _allay_ means 'to soothe'.


title: Is this usage of "lest" possible?

text: The only danger is, lest it should be Too strong a remedy ...Source Can this "lest" be used in this way? Like this... My apprehension is lest my advice should kill her motivation.


title: What does ‘regimen’ mean in English grammar?

text: I happened to find that definition of the word, ‘regimen’ has the meaning of ‘governing word’ such as prepositions (sic from Reader’s English Japanese Dictionary) besides a popular notion of ‘a set of rules about food and exercise or medical treatment to stay healthy, or improve one’s health.’ What does ‘regimen’ as a grammatical term mean? What are they? How do they function? Are they different from simple modifiers such as adjectives and subordinate clauses?


title: Doing Nothing More Than Doing "Nothing"

text: What would be another way of saying "It'll do more harm than good" but in the context of "it'll do nothing for you?" Here's some context. > The common mistake, however, is believing that only lifting weights multiple > times a day will get us to where we want to be. This is **wrong, and > unfortunately, it may even do nothing for you**. I'd like to rephrase this to match and compare like "Nothing more than something" but that sounds really stupid.


Need help replacing "connected" with a more informal word in the following line: "Preeti connected with neighbors on Chats and Discussions." Connected to me sounds like a very "enterprise" term. Please suggest.


title: Can a noun (such as “duct tape”) be used as a verb?

text: I found the phrase “duct-tape together” in the following sentence of a _Washington Post_ (June 21) article written by Chris Cillizza under the title “Gingrich campaign hit by more departures.” The sentence in question is a quote from Newt Gingrich’s former spokesman, R.C. Hammond: > “We are going to duct-tape together one coalition of Americans after another > that believes in his large, bold vision of change.” As it was the first time that I came across ‘duct tape’ being used in verb form, I consulted several dictionaries at hand and online dictionaries to check whether it can be used as a verb or not. None of them shows the usage of ‘duct tape’ as a verb. For example, Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia simply defines it as > n. duct tape is cloth-or scrim-backed pressure sensitive tape often sealed > with polyethylene. Audio English Net. defines it > a wide silvery adhesive tape intended to seal joints in sheet metal duct > work but having many other uses without any mention as a verb. Is it normal or taken for granted to use ‘duct tape’ in verb form as quoted in the _Washington Post_ article?


title: An exact word for the opposite of academic progress?

text: I have been confronted with a word so many times for which I couldn't find any equivalent in English. What is an opposite term for _academic progress_? I mean specifically when one is no longer doing well at school or university, like one did before. What do we call this? I do not mean dropping out of school or academic failure. **edit** Imagine you're describing one's academic standing. So, can we say he has had "academic stagnation"? The results I found for _stagnation_ showed it's not often used in this context. I also searched for "academic probation", which seemed a good option. Is it a good option for the opposite of "academic progress"? "Academic failure" does not suit my situation. I want words that suit a formal situation.


title: What does "brought up by hand" mean?

text: In the book Great Expectations, Pip narrates: > My sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery, was more than twenty years older than I, and > had established a great reputation with herself and the neighbours because > she had **brought me up ‘by hand.’** What does this term mean? Is it an idiom?


title: Which is correct: "...infinite ways..." or "...an infinite number of ways..."?

text: "There are infinite ways to..."   "There are an infinite number of ways to..." One of my colleagues wrote the first sentence, but it didn't sound quite right to me. The second version seems more grammatical to me. Are both of these grammatically correct or is one version preferable to the other?


title: "Dissociate" vs "disassociate"

text: Both "dissociate" and "disassociate" are defined as removing an association but is there a difference between the two? Does the "associate" part of "disassociate" imply a stronger former connection missing in "dissociate?"


title: Why is "plaid" pronounced "plad"?

text: Why is there an 'ai' in _plaid_ if it is pronounced "plad"? That's a word that used to trip me up when I was a little tyke. ( _This_ time, unlike my previous question, I hope I'm right in saying that this word is an oddity in having an 'ai' pronounced as 'a'.)


title: What is the meaning of the phrase "X° of frost?"

text: I ran across this phrase in The Cherry Orchard: "3 degrees of frost," and I assumed it was a colloquialism for 3 degrees AND frost, or something of the like. But I just ran into "45° of frost" elsewhere, so it is not a colloquialism and "of" does not represent "and," for that would be impossible, right?


title: "-ic versus -ical" what's the difference in meaning between adjectives ending in -ic or -ical?

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Why is it “geometric” but “theoretical”?   >  “Ironic” vs. “ironical”   >  “Comic” vs. “comical”   >  “Historic” vs. “historical” What's the difference for instance between _ironic/ironical, rhythmic/rhythmical, historic/historical, comic/comical, economic/economical_? If these adjectives are identical in meaning why the need for the different endings?


title: What is the difference between words like "historic" and "historical," and "instructive" and "instructional?"

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Why is it "geometric" but "theoretical"? They're all adjectives, so how do you know when to use one over the other? Does it matter? I think it does...


title: Why is it "geometric" but "theoretical"?

text: I just came across a course name: _Geometric and Theoretical Optics_. The mismatched endings bug me. Why do we have both -ical and -ic endings? Is there any difference in meaning between, say, _theoretic_ and _theoretical_? I know that _acoustic_ and _acoustical_ mean slightly different things, but is this difference inherent in the words, or is it just usage — we happen to use the former for sound, and the latter for ceilings?


title: What is the difference between "neurologic" and "neurological"?

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Why is it "geometric" but "theoretical"? A Google search was not immediately helpful, but I found this document: http://www.aan.com/globals/axon/assets/3078.pdf According to this, a Standards Guide by the American Academy of Neurology, _neurologic_ is preferred over _neurological_. Is there any difference between these two words? If so, what is it? When should I use which and why?


title: What are the rules for the use of words that have a variant ending in -al?

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Why is it "geometric" but "theoretical"?   >  "Electric" vs. "electrical" I think I'm clear on the difference between word pairs such as elector and electoral, where the latter pertains to the former, I'm not sure if the same rule applies to the following examples:   1. Numeric vs. numerical   2. Electric vs. electrical Is the relationship between these the same as e.g. _elector_ and _electoral_?


title: Failing sometimes for unknown reason

text: _Context:_ I have an automated test that sometimes fails for unknown reason. It's a sort of false positive: the feature it tests is not broken. Most of the time, either it succeeds or fails for right reason (the feature is broken). How would you describe this phenomenon of doing the expected job most of the time, but failing a few times for (apparently) no reason?


title: Hyphen in physical quantities before nouns?

text: In cases where a physical quantity (consisting of a number and a unit) is used like an adjective to describe a property of an object, should it be written with or without a hyphen between the number and the unit? Examples:   * "A 2 kilogram potato" or "A 2-kilogram potato"?   * "We use 4 Gbit memory devices" or "We use 4-Gbit memory devices"? Is one of the forms correct, or are both forms possible? The second example is supposed to refer to an unspecified number of memory devices with 4 Gbit (gigabits, of capacity) each, rather than four memory devices. Does any of the following modifications make difference?   * The quantity is written as a word instead of digits, i. e. "A two kilogram potato" vs. "A two-kilogram potato" ("two" instead of "2")   * The unit is abbreviated rather than written out, i. e. "A 2 kg potato" vs. "A 2-kg potato" ("kg" instead of "kilogram")   * The quantity is a decimal fraction, i. e. "A 1.5 kg potato" vs. "A 1.5-kg potato"   * The quantity is a simple fraction, i. e. "A 1/2 kg potato" vs. "A 1/2-kg potato"? Furthermore, would it ever be correct to use a hyphen in a case like "This potato has a weight of 2-kg" (or "2-kilograms")? An answer to this question (which discusses a different case) states that when there is no ambiguity, hyphens may be omitted. Does that statement apply to this case? Note that this case is different from the case where an ajdective is explicitly given (another example).


title: "flat" vs. "apartment"

text: _Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 8th edition_ **Flat:** noun. [ countable ] ( BrE ) a set of rooms for living in, including a kitchen, usually on one floor of a building. **Apartment：** noun. ( especially NAmE ) a set of rooms for living in, usually on one floor of a building Does that means _Flat_ is used in BrE and _Apartment_ is used in AmE? And is there any other difference for the two words when one uses it? I feel that _flat_ is used more widely, is that right?


title: Why is a mule driver called a "skinner"?

text: An AmE synonym for muleteer is "mule skinner". Where does "skinner" come from in this term, and why does it only apply to mule drivers and not cattle or oxen drivers? The closest I can come is some anecdotal evidence, namely that mule drivers would make the animals bleed when whipping them, thus exposing their skin. The same term, skinner, should apply to cattle drivers, but it doesn't. So, I'm guessing there is more to it. Does anyone know the derivation of skinner in this context, and why it only applies to mules?


title: View "Content" or "Contents"

text: We're providing a web service where users can create topics and categories. A category can either just be a list of topics or have authored content(s) in addition to a list of subtopics. It is therefore possible to view a category in two modes: "List" (showing subtopics) and "Contents" (showing authored content). I'm not native English and I don't know how to label the links that switches between "List" and "Contents" view mode. Should it say "Content" or "Contents"? I've tried searching for an answer to this and for example read this q&a but due to the lack of knowledge in English from my part I still cannot figure out which one to use. Perhaps we should label those view modes differently all together, i.e not use "List" and "Content"/"Contents" at all? Any help/suggestion would be appreciated.


title: Word for top and bottom of range

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Term for minimum or maximum Is there a word that can apply to both ends of a range; for instance, either the youngest or oldest child in a family, or the largest or smallest number of a group of numbers?


title: "Styles" for Mr/Dr/Hon

text: Apparently the word "styles" can be used for the list of honors someone has during one's life. For example: > Styles:   >  Mr. John Smith (1950-1960)   >  Dr. John Smith (1961-1970)   >  Dr. John Smith MP (1971-1980) Is this correct? And where does this come from?


title: Can 'revert' be used as a synonym of 'reply'?

text: I am a native speaker of American English, and I have only ever heard this usage of the word _revert_ from one person. This person is not a native English speaker (he is from India), so he may just be mistaken, but I'm curious if anyone else has seen/heard this usage. He will write an email, bringing up a point for discussion. He will explain the issue, and then end the paragraph with something like _Please do analyze and revert on the status._ The best I can tell, he is asking for a response, and not asking for the something to be undone, or changed back to the way it was before (which is the meaning that I associate with the word _revert_ ). Is _revert_ used with different meanings outside the US?


title: "[Brand] Terms and Privacy" vs. "the [Brand] Terms and Privacy"

text: I just developed a sign-up form for my website, but as English is not my native language I'm not sure which wording of the following sentence is correct: >   * I agree to [Brand name] Terms and Privacy. >   * I agree to the [Brand name] Terms and Privacy. > I've searched on several big websites, but I've come across both.


title: "Habitat selection in/of birds", "concept in/of statistics", "theme in/of evolution"

text: It seems to me that _in_ and _of_ work equally well in sentences such as these: >   *     * Habitat selection **in** birds is frequently studied. >     * Habitat selection **of** birds is frequently studied. >   *     * Variation is a key concept **in** statistics. >     * Variation is a key concept **of** statistics. >   *     * The function of behaviour is an important theme **in** evolution. >     * The function of behaviour is an important theme **of** evolution. > Should either _in_ or _of_ be favoured in the above sentences?


title: Correct usage of "to this effect"

text: Is this a correct usage of "to this effect"? > I plan on coming to your soccer game on Sunday. Unfortunately, I cannot make > any guarantees to this effect.


title: Ones as Pronoun Reference

text: Take the following sentence: > Are mathematically proficient students, or even mathematically brilliant > students, always motivated? Can _students_ be replaced by _ones_? > Are mathematically proficient students, or even mathematically brilliant > **_ones_** , always motivated? My intuition says yes. If it is acceptable, does it make the first sentence unacceptable?


title: Adverb for "multiple"

text: Say that I have a Pokemon with 2 types: Fire and Flying. One could say this Pokemon has "multiple types." That is because the designer of this Pokemon "typed" it that way. Is it correct to say the Pokemon was "multiply typed," where "multiply" is an adverb describing how it was typed? Is there a better and succinct way of describing this typing process?


title: "I like number 2 and 3" or "I like numbers 2 and 3"?

text: What is the **correct form** and what is the **exact name** of this phenomenon. I tried looking it up myself but I could only find a German explanation that might also explain the English problem. An example could be: > Please read page 1 and 2 vs > Please read pages 1 and 2 or > I like number 2 and 3 vs > I like numbers 2 and 3 and another one: > I managed to solve question 6, 7, 8 and 9 vs > I managed to solve questions 6, 7, 8 and 9


title: "Concatenate" vs. "merge" vs. "join" in scientific text

text: I wonder what the difference is between _concatenate_ , _merge_ and _join_ from the lexical point of view. These words are often used in scientific or programming text. It seems to me that different authors use any of them with slightly different meaning. How should they be used from the language point of view?


title: Basic or base?What's the correct one?

text: "I speak basic french" or "I speak base french"? "My french knowledge is at a basic level" or "My french knowledge is at a base level"? I know that basic is just an adjective, while base can be an adjective, a verb and a noun. Nevertheless, when you want to express your knowledge of a language or your ability level in any discipline what's the most correct one?


title: Can one observe an absence of something?

text: It seems to me that because there is an absence of something, it should be impossible to observe it. Therefore, if I wanted to say > This is supported by the experimentally observed absence of... what word would I use instead of _observed_? I need to keep the implication that no experiments have observed this particular phenomenon, but the word observed itself seems oxymoronic.


What is the difference between "beneficial" and "beneficent'? They seem to have the same meaning of "helpful".


title: Let's go hike/hiking at the park

text: Which is correct and why? `Let's go hiking at the park.` or `Let's go hike at the park`. On the second example ( _hike_ ), should that actually be `let's go to hike at the park`? Also works for things like: skate/skating, bike/biking... (I'm not sure if this is a duplicate because I'm not exactly sure what I should be searching for...?)


title: Is there a female or gender-neutral equivalent to the colloquial "man"?

text: I don't know how to define the usage of man I'm talking about*, so I'll do it with examples: > Hey, man, what's up? > > C'mon, man, don't make me do this. Is there a female or gender-neutral alternative for this word or is this sort of talk restricted to men only? Is "man" in the examples a normal noun or is it a different grammatical phenomenon, maybe an interjection of sorts?


title: Which is correct: "for you who loves knowledge" or "for you who love knowledge"?

text: In this case, the "you" is singular. Further, does adding a comma after "you" make a difference? Thanks.


title: Why a u-turn instead of an "n-turn"?

text: I'm sure we all know what a "u-turn" is. However, people seem to go from the top of the U. Wouldn't an "n-turn" make more sense, because driving logistics force you to go in more the shape of a lowercase "n", from your perspective.


title: Better word for "bidirectional"

text: In the physical public forums where democracy began (the Athenian Agora, etc.), the "public conversation" was face-to-face, meaning anyone capable of hearing it was also capable of speaking into it. This meant that each citizen's engagement with the public conversation was "bidirectional" - they were constantly being informed by the thoughts of others, while inserting their own thoughts where they please. They are both speaking and being spoken to on an ongoing basis. What's a better word than "bidirectional" to describe what I'm trying to describe here?


title: Where does the use of "why" as an interjection come from?

text: Examples: >   * Why, I'd love to. >   * Why, of course! > I get the concept of starting a sentence with a word not completely related to the overall response, but this one seems to be a particularly odd choice — is there any semantic meaning I'm missing?


title: Meaning of 'Why?' interjection?

text: i wanted to ask that,Is "why" an interjection if it's an interjection so please tell me that what"s it means while using it in sentence as an intejection...?


title: Origin of "Why, hello there"

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Where does the use of "why" as an interjection come from? This is a common English phrase that I'm sure everyone has heard before. However, I find it puzzling that the phrase begins with "why" but isn't a question and doesn't end with a question mark. If there is any story or explanation behind this, I would love to know.


title: Choosing a section title for scientific papers: "How it works" or "How does it work?"

text: I am writing a scientific paper and confused with choosing the correct form to use as the section title. Which one is the correct one? > How it works or > How does it work?


title: "Mortals" vs "Human Beings"

text: There is a book titled _Running for Mortals_. I didn't recognize word _mortal_. Then I looked up it and get the meaning as below. > **mortal** N - A human being I wonder, is _mortal_ widely used as _human being_ or it is used only for special areas like sports, medical, etc?


Arrange, settle, reconcile — could these words be used before "their differences"? What are the differences in meaning?


title: Patterns for words with "iev" and "eiv"

text: I usually misspell words like "believe" or "receive". For words like these two I would usually google it first to see if I got the spelling right. Is there a pattern for words like these?


title: Meaning of a ubiquitous sentence in patents

text: I noticed this sentence in many patents: > _Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part > appear hereinafter._ What exactly are the authors trying to say by "be obvious"? For examples of how much this sentence can be found, search for "other objects of the invention will in part" (even in quotes, it returns over 1 million hits).


**So if you're making a game that a person who plays Limbo might like, you should....** I heard this in one of the videos by Totalbiscuit. He's a game commentator on youtube. I'm pretty sure the guy is from Newcastle. Just in case if it matters. Limbo is a video game. My question is, is it ok to have a relative clause inside another relative clause?


title: Is rephrased sentence for "subject to" correct?

text: I originally had "Changes which a Product shall be **subject to** as part of its life cycle", but felt that using "subject to" was bad form and rephrased the sentence as follows: > Changes to which a Product shall be subject as part of its life cycle. Is the above correct? Somehow, "subject to" sounds better, although it may be wrong. I feel separating the two words leads to loss of the meaning. PS: How would I tag this question?


title: "City air," or "city feel?"

text: > The neon signs brought a **city feel/city air** to the countryside. Which alternative is more adequate? Or is there a better option? The example above means that _the neon lights made the countryside feel like the city._


title: Can I say “he lost his brave face”?

text: _"Put on a brave face"_ is to express that someone try to hide it's feeling and pretend to be alright. What if someone tries but fails, can I say, "He lost his brave face after that"? Or what would be a better word or phrase to express this situation?


title: "from where I hail" vs "where I hail from"

text: When to use the two? Is the sentence "England is from where I hail" grammatically correct? (It sounds ok to me but it looks funny.) Or do I have to write "England is where I hail from"?


title: The use of "or", "and" and commas in a sentence where various verbs should be correlated to various subjects

text: Assume you have a sentence where nk verbs v(1), ..., v(nk) should be correlated to n subjects s(1), ..., s(n), and you would like that, for each i = 0, ..., k-1, v(ni+1), ..., v(ni+k) are correlated _only_ to s(i). Can anything in these lines be accomplished by an appropriate use of "or'', "and'', and commas? A concrete example would be as follows: > [...] the obvious advantage of the underlying philosophy is, in fact, that > various constructions, or questions, or theorems and conjectures can be > conceived and performed, or formulated and answered, or stated and/or proved > once and for all, without any need to replicate them in each case as if they > were completely unrelated. Here, the subjects are "constructions", "questions", and "theorems and conjectures", and the corresponding verbs are "conceived" and "performed", "formulated" and "answered", and "stated" and "proved". Does the sentence sound correct? An alternative phrasing would be as follows: > [...] the obvious advantage of the underlying philosophy is, in fact, that > various constructions can be conceived and performed, and questions > formulated and answered, and theorems and conjectures stated or proved once > and for all, without any need to replicate them in each case as if they were > completely unrelated. But for some reason this sounds even more weird to me. Thank you in advance for any help or suggestion.


title: Can “itch” be a transitive verb, i.e., can an itch be itched?

text: Can _itch_ be used as a transitive verb? In other words, can you _itch an itch_ as you would _scratch an itch_? Dictionaries differ, with the bigger hitters saying no. Are they bearing the proper standard or just playing it conservative?


title: What is an appropriate word for someone's "humanness"?

text: Is there a word that references someone's "humanness"? Something that one would posses, that would characterise them as human. I wouldn't say "human" in terms of morals, but "human" in the most literal sense. I'll give an example: > "He demonstrates extreme physical ability, to the point where I question his > **__** ". What would be the most appropriate way to express this?


title: "For every day" vs. "with every day"

text: Consider > (…) and they were getting stronger **with/for** every day What's the difference/the correct one to use?


title: "Living in the South" or "Living in the south"?

text: The sentence I'm wondering about: > Living in the [S/s]outh during the early 1900’s, the most decisive factor of > a man’s life was determined at birth: the color of his skin. Should South be capitalized because it's a noun?


title: Everything shimmered "through" the heat haze OR Everything shimmered "in" the heat haze

text: Which is correct? > Everything shimmered **through** the heat haze   >  OR   >  Everything shimmered **in** the heat haze


title: Why do you "let out the clutch" when you technically "engage" it?

text: In a simplified view, there's a motor and a gearbox and when they both are connected the gearbox makes the motor work. You only can shift the gear when both motor and gearbox are disconnected.   For this part, there's the clutch. The clutch is the connection between motor and gearbox. _To engage_ means _to fit two parts of an machine together_ and the opposite _to disengage_ is then _to free those parts_. From a technical point of view, when you engage the clutch, the motor and gearbox are connected and you are able to drive and when you disengage the clutch, the motor and gearbox are not connected.   Thus, if the clutch is engaged and motor and gearbox are connected, it's **not** possible to change the gear. But I found this example in OALD: > Engage the clutch before selecting a gear. Technically, this means you put motor and gearbox together and then change the gear. That's not possible as discussed above. And this is taken from Merriam-Webster's Learners Dictionary: > I have to learn how to let the clutch out smoothly. Actually, the part you need to do smoothly is to lessen the pressure onto the pedal and eventually to take the foot away. But by taking the foot away, you rather put the clutch between motor and gearbox; hence, technically you let it in and not out. And in Collins Learner's Dictionary, they say: > Laura let out the clutch and pulled slowly away down the drive. You can only drive when the clutch is between motor and gearbox, so actually you can't drive when the clutch is off. In my mother-tongue we literally say _to clutch out_ when we put our foot onto the pedal and _to clutch in_ when removing our foot from the pedal. This corresponds to the technical function. I wonder why in English the terms seem to be used opposite to what they actually represent. Why do you _let the the clutch out_ when actually putting it in, and why you _engage the clutch_ when actually take it out?


title: What is the difference between "it's up to you" and "it's down to you"?

text: I see both "It's up to you" and "It's down to you" in conversations. So what's the difference?


title: "Music with rocks in" - British English?

text: I've been reading a multitude of Terry Pratchet books lately, and been exposed to some British terminology that doesn't generally make it over to the states. The book Soul Music refers to rock music as "Music With Rocks In". That bothered me at first. As an American, I expect there to be a pronoun at the end ("Music with rocks in it"). Is this merely a quirk of Pratchet's writing, or is it common to drop the pronoun at the end of a phrase like this? Might a British purchase order a "burger with cheese in"?


title: intellectual and intelligent

text: What does one mean if he says he is intellectual but not intelligent? What does one mean if he says he is intelligent but not intellectual? Does being intellectual imply being intelligent? Does being intelligent imply being intellectual?


title: What does "get a workout" of the usage of diaeresis mean?

text: I found the phrase ‘ _get a workout’ of (the use) of diaeresis_ in the following sentence of an article titled “The Curse of the Diaeresis” in New Yorker magazine (April 2), which I think might be of interest for those who are particlular about the rules of writing: > The special tool we use here at The New Yorker for punching out the two dots > that we then center carefully over the second vowel in such words as “naïve” > and “Laocoön” will be **getting a workout** this year, as the Democrats > coöperate to reëlect the President.   >  Those two dots, often mistaken for an umlaut, are actually a diaeresis > (pronounced “die heiresses” [...]). The difference is that an umlaut is a > German thing that alters the pronunciation of a vowel, and often changes the > meaning of a word: _schon_ (adv.), already; _schön_ (adj.), beautiful. As I am unfamiliar with the usage of “get a workout,” I checked a couple of dictionaries at hand and online: Cambridge Dictionary Online defines **workout** simply as _a physical exercise_. Oxford Advanced English Learner's Dictinary defines it as _a period of physical exercise that you do to keep fit._ Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as: >   1. a practice or exercise to test or improve one's fitness for athletic > competition, ability, or performance > >   2. a test of one's ability, capacity, stamina, or suitability > >   3. an undertaking or plan intended to resolve a problem of indebtedness > especially in lieu of bankruptcy or foreclosure proceedings. > > I thought definition 2. of Merriam-Webster is close to the meaning of “get a workout” used in the above quote, and guessed _“getting a workout this year”_ means “is going to be examined or studied.” Is my interpretation right? Is this expression frequently used in this sense as against ‘physical exercise or test’ as an established idiom?


title: Word or phrase meaning "working hours have ended, and it's time to go home"?

text: What word or phrase is used to signify that the work day has ended?


title: Is "will just need to [verb]" grammatical?

text: Consider this sentence on an official form: > To change the arrangement, you will just need to fill up a new application > form. For some reason, the phrase "you will just need to" sounds awkward. Is it correct/grammatical?


title: Are emails, videos, and audios, etc, considered telegrams?

text: What does the word "telegram" mean? It sounds familiar though I've no idea what it is. The dictionary says "telegram" is defined as: "A message sent by telegraph and then delivered in written or printed form." And I looked up the word "telegraph": "A system for transmitting messages from a distance along a wire, esp. one creating signals by making and breaking an electrical connection" Would I be right to say "telegram" is a general term for anything over the wire, and also that: 1) the emails that I receive are telegrams 2) the audio that I hear off of a website is a telegram 3) the webpages that I'm viewing are telegrams 4) the videos that I'm watching over the internet are telegrams 5) every time I hit a submit button or type in a url I'm sending a telegram 6) if a MSN notification pops up on my computer, it's because my friend just sent me a telegram 7) my bittorrent is constantly sending and receiving telegrams


title: Did regular Americans speak the way actors in the 30s and 1940s did?

text: I watch a lot of old movies, and I've noticed that American actors of the 1930s and 1940s often spoke in a quasi-generic-posh-British accent. Katherine Hepburn's accent would be the perfect example. It seems exaggerated, and I imagine it was not common off the stage and screen. What was that? Was it just an accent or was it a dialect? Did real people actually speak that way?


title: Difference between "shall not exceed XXX" and "may be XXX but not longer"

text: >   1. The candidate's statement shall not exceed two hundred words. > >   2. The candidate's statement may be two hundred words but not longer. > > I think there is no difference in meaning between these sentences, but I'm uncomfortable with the first one. Can I always use the second one in any case? Or is the first sometimes preferable?


title: How to treat a country name that has a plural meaning

text: I was wondering if there was a sentence that contains a country name (or generally a proper noun) that has a plural word in it - e.g., the United States or The United Emirates - how do we treat it? (Sorry if I sound non- technical, as I'm not exactly very good at language). > The United States of America have done something. OR > The United States of America has done something. which one is appropriate? Usually, I've been using "has" for countries (treating it as one entity).


title: Whats the past of present unreal conditonal?

text: What is the past of present unreal conditional ?   1. I wish I were king ( how to make it past, is it - I wished I had been king ) What's the difference between the following two -   1. "I wish it stopped raining" (actually raining here right now.. lol) and "I wish it would stop raining"


title: Is the sentence "Anne looked at me disgusted" grammatical?

text: I have always thought it acceptable to say and write, "She looked at me disgusted." However, I know some consider it ungrammatical, saying it must instead be either "She looked at me disgustedly" or "She looked at me, disgusted." Please give me your opinions and explanations as to whether any of the foregoing sentences _must_ be deemed grammatically wrong. Briefly, my own analysis is as follows. It is correct to say, "She looked disgusted." So why would it be incorrect to say "She looked _at me_ disgusted"? (She was disgusted while looking at me-- _or_ , she was looking at me while disgusted.)


title: What formal English syntax tree notations are there?

text: I don't have enough karma to comment on their answer itself, and so I was forced to create a separate question, though this is probably otherwise for the better, anyway. Link to the answer: http://english.stackexchange.com/a/93417/58096 Samples of the syntax used to denote English ASTs:               {The children} forgot either {       their shoes,       their mittens,       or their hat     )          Either {       {the children}{forgot their shoes},       {the children}{forgot their mittens},       or {the children}{forgot their hat}     }          {Each child} forgot either {       his or her shoes,       his or her mittens,       or his or her hat     )      Where can I find more information on this AST denotation style? Is it formally specified? If not, and it was just an adhoc invention of @Blessed Geek's, then what formally specified syntaxes are there for English grammar tree denotation?


title: Which words to capitalize in Master thesis headings?

text: I'm writing my Master thesis in English and now I do not know about the headings. Do I have to write heading in upper or only lower case printing? For example: >   1. Processing and Distribution Server >   2. Indoor Navigation and Positioning App > or >   1. Processing and distribution server >   2. Indoor navigation and positioning app > Which version is correct and can also be used in presentation slides?


title: An adjective or a noun?

text: In the collocation "baby girl" is "baby" an adjective or a noun?


title: Is "to share or to have a common interest" a tautology?

text: I often read and hear "to share a common .." but it seems very pleonastic to me. Isn't it saying the same thing twice? In other words, is it a tautology, and if so, should it be avoided or is it acceptable, even in a scholarly context?


title: “based in” vs “based out of ”

text: I have seen people use both forms below. Which is correct? If both are, in which situation is each better used? > I am a software engineer **based in** New York. > > I am a software engineer **based out of** New York.


title: Sentences which read the same forwards as they do with their words (not characters!) reversed

text: Are there sentences which read the same backwards as well as forwards once the order of words is reversed? What is the name of such sentences? Just to clarify, I'm not talking about palindromes, in which individual characters are reversed. I'm thinking, instead, of sentences like "that is that" where the characters within words are left alone and the order of the words itself is reversed.


title: Single word for the feeling of having done the right thing

text: I cannot think of a word that describes the feeling of "doing the right thing". I.e. the feeling as a result of having made the right choices, of committing an act of altruism, of having made the correct decision. It needs to describe the feeling — there are lots of words for the act itself. EDIT: Great feedback thanks. None are quite hitting it on the head so I'll go further and say that the word needs to imply no selfish motivation - the act of "doing the right thing" is implicitly done for the greater good, rather than to satisfy their own ends. I guess the philosophical arguments about whether anything is ever truly done for non-selfish reasons will need to wait ;)


title: "Spell check" vs. "spelling check"

text: I can't remember the exact place I saw this (but I believe it was on another StackExchange site), but when someone was commenting on a software's "spell check" function, they said something to the effect of: > A spell check is something I do with my local coven, a spelling check is > what I do when I'm reviewing a written document. Is it more correct to say: > This paper is horrible! You didn't even use a spelling check. as opposed to > You didn't even use a spell check. ?


title: "Managers are one group to which" vs. "managers are one group to whom"

text: Which of the following is grammatical? >   1. Managers are one group to which these findings are relevant. >   2. Managers are one group to whom these findings are relevant. >


title: Plural forms which end in -x such as tableaux

text: Words borrowed from French and ending in `-eau` originally had plural forms which appended an `-x` rather than an `-s`. For e.g., the plurals of _tableau_ , _beau_ , and _plateau_ were _tableaux_ , _beaux_ , and _plateaux_ respectively. While the use of _plateaux_ and _beaux_ has petered out in favour of _plateaus_ and _beaus_ , _tableaux_ has not. My questions:   1. How are these `-x` plural forms pronounced?   2. Is there any particular reason why _tableaux_ is still the preferred plural form unlike _plateaux_ , _beaux_ , and _portmanteaux_?


title: "Not possible" and "Impossible"

text: When we say, > It is **not** fair. or > It is **unfair**. I'm not sure enough to say whether both of the sentences have the same meaning or not though superficially, there is no difference between them but if we say, > Something is **not** possible. or > Something is **impossible**. then there is **really an observable difference** in my first language. Hence, the question - is there a difference between the preceding two sentences **in English**?


title: As + Adjective only

text: > The prices _at_ The Economy Center _are_ as reasonable, _if not more_ > reasonable, _as_ those at comparable to the United States. The words in italics are the possible mistakes according to my book. I think that _as reasonable_ must be followed with an _as_ , what's wrong here?


title: What is the meaning of the phrase "made out to", in the current context?

text: I have received a letter which has the following sentence. The letter is about reimbursement of my travel costs to their location. > Please note that for tax reasons all invoices have to be made out to the > company. What is the meaning of the term _made out to_ in the current context?


title: Is it possible to use "extraordinaire" instead of "extraordinary"?

text: Since they are both adjectives, is it possible to use them interchangeably on various occasions? When is the right time to use _extraordinaire_?


title: “A threat to us people” or “a threat to we people”?

text: Which of these is correct:   1. Global warming is a great threat to **us** people.    2. Global warming is a great threat to **we** people.


title: Present Perfect vs Present perfect continuous

text: Could you correct the comments in parentheses, please? Are they right? >   1. I have lived in Los Angeles. (A completed action; the person does not > live there anymore). > >   2. I have lived in Los Angeles my whole life. (The person is still living > there, or spent her whole life in Los Angeles, but is currently living in > another location). > >   3. I have been living in Los Angeles. (She doesn't live there anymore, but > was living there recently, or is still living there). > >   4. I have been living in Los Angeles my whole life. (The person is still > living there or spent her whole life in Los Angeles, but is currently living > in another location). > > Thanks


title: What is the difference between "I have worked here" and "I have been working here"?

text: What is the difference between the following sentences? When can I use either? > I have worked here and > I have been working here


title: Asking for an idiom according to literal translation

text: I translated a sentence into English: > When the details are ignored, the whole problem will be ignored > unintentionally Seems like a logical sentence that says when you don't consider all details while solving a problem, it'll affect the result and the whole problem. I'd like to know if there's an idiomatic expression meaning the same.


title: Meaning of “bile” from Great Expectations

text: In the book _Great Expectations_ by Charles Dickens, the character Joe tells Pip, > “Somebody must keep the pot a **biling** , Pip, or the pot won’t **bile** , > don't you know?” What does the word _bile_ mean in this sentence?


title: Why does the word gobs mean a copious amount?

text: Gobs is a word I've never seen in print; however, I've heard it used in an old moving picture and in an old situation comedy. I'm curious to know the origin of the word gobs as well as when it was first used to mean a copious amount. I heard it used in the 1930 moving picture _Ladies of Leisure_ when Marie Prevost is ordering a meal at a restaurant and tells the server she'd like "gobs of cheese" on her dish (I believe it was cheese). The next time I heard it used was in an episode of _Three's Company_ "Ground Rules" which aired in 1977. Jack Tripper is with a young lady at the Regal Beagle and tells her "we can have gobs of fun here." Those are the two examples I have for hearing gobs used to mean a copious amount. Any ideas for why gobs is slang for a copious amount and any ideas as to when it was first used or which decade/decades it was most popular.


title: What's a word or phrase to describe a good book that I cannot put down when starting reading?

text: What's a (big) word or phrase to describe a book that is so good that I cannot put down when I start to read it?


title: Question related to cover letter

text: I have a few queries regarding how to write a cover letter:   1. "make a real contribution as member of your team." or "make a real contribution as **_A_** member of your team."   2. "If I may be a further assistance" or " If I may be of any further assistance"    3. Should we add references before closing the letter with a signature or after ?   4. Any site or source where one can check the American English and British English versions ?


title: Ellipsis or semantically incomplete sentence?

text: I've got a resource, say a web-page. The page represents a product that belongs to one of the categories. For instance, Toys(category) -> Robocop (product). There's a link on the page that takes user to another page with suggestions on places where the toy can be bought. Is it going to be grammatically wrong to entitle this link "Where to buy" or it's fine to appeal to ellipsis in such situations ? Thank you.


title: "In cases when" vs. "in cases where"

text: This is one I struggle with from time to time. Which is better? >   * Methodology X is more suitable in cases **where** users' needs are well > understood up front. >   * Methodology X is more suitable in cases **when** users' needs are well > understood up front. > Is one of these ungrammatical? Or is it purely a matter of personal preference?


title: What connotation does "to fork one's repo" have?

text: In a recent news item, an employee was fired partly for making jokes about "big dongle" and "forking repos", which were alleged to be inappropriate sexual jokes. The employee admitted the dongle joke but defended the other joke, > While I did make a big dongle joke about a fictional piece hardware that > identified as male, no sexual jokes were made about forking. My friends and > I had decided forking someone’s repo is a new form of flattery (the highest > form being implementation) and we were excited about one of the presenters > projects; a friend said “I would fork that guys repo” The sexual context was > applied by Adria, and not us. What inappropriate meaning can be mistaken from "forking one's repo?" and how can it be taken that way? Forking sounds like a legitimate terminology in software development.


title: The use of "black box" as a synonym of "mysterious"

text: > Full details are provided so that the method is less mysterious. I would like to replace "less mysterious". Is the following proposal valid for (scientific) writing? > Full details are provided so that the method is less like a "black box".


title: has just had or just had a baby

text: My question is not whether the correct grammar is either "She has just had a baby" or "She just had a baby". I am aware that the official grammar is "She has just had a baby". But in a way that sentence sounds wrong. It is correct in the meaning that it follows the grammar rules and guidelines. However, when you "have just had a baby", somewhere in my mind it is as if that person is still having that baby. As in, the birth is still going on. But when you say "She just had a baby", the birth is done. It's finished. Which is (hopefully) the case. So my question is actually more of a wiki-question expecting opinions on the implementation rather than a question expecting a valid and factual answer.


title: "by" in a Title

text: If creating a cover page for a draft, should the "by" in the following format be capitilized? Microsoft Word seems to think so, but it looks visibly appealing when it is lowercase.                             Underlined Title Name                   by Firstname Lastname      or                             Underlined Title Name                   By Firstname Lastname


title: Alternate wording for 'verification and validation'

text: In technical contexts the idea of 'verification and validation' is often used. However novices to the terminology (or so I claim) on more occasions display a hard time grabbing and remembering which concept is which, or even what are they. An example expression of this confusion can be seen in Difference between "validation" and "verification" It would be unfortunate if people talking about the things meant by either verification or validation would have unclear ideas of what they are talking about. This is a field where communication should be clear. Eg. you don't want to lose time verifying your communication _about_ verification... I think the problem with the two term may include that they both start with `v`, end with `ion`, are generally somehow unfamiliar in precise meaning, denote somehow abstract things, not to speak of the fact that they can include or apply to each other (eg. 'verification is validation by empirical means'). So all in all, introducing them together is risky and inherently prone to errors. I'm looking for alternate wording for either or both of these words, assuming they each have a single intended meaning. If suitable terms could be found that better express their difference, the learning curve to their usage hopefully could be shortened.


title: Middle English Date citations in Oxford English Dictionary

text: I have seen some citations in the OED that use dates such as ' _c. 1295_ ', which I assume to mean 'circa 1295'. However, I have also seen dates that appear as ' ** _a. 1393_** ' - what does this ' _a_ ' stand for?


title: Synonym for "slacker"?

text: Here's the idea I'm trying to convey: "He was by far the least proficient in his class." Here's the sentence I want to use: "He was the (slacker) of the group." Except that "slacker" sounds a bit wrong for what I'm trying to say. Is there a better noun that would fit here?


title: Made + Advance and Made + Afford?

text: I'm flummoxed by how these bolded clauses from The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith should be parsed, structured, and interpreted. I'm not asking about its philosophy. > The produce of the soil maintains at all times nearly that number of > inhabitants which it is capable of maintaining. The rich only select from > the heap what is most precious and agreeable. They consume little more than > the poor, and in spite of their natural selfishness and rapacity, though > they mean only their own conveniency, though the sole end which they propose > from the labours of all the thousands whom they employ, be the gratification > of their own vain and insatiable desires, they divide with the poor the > produce of all their improvements. They are led by an invisible hand to make > nearly the same distribution of the necessaries of life, **which would have > been _made_** , had the earth been divided into equal portions among all its > inhabitants, and thus without intending it, without knowing it, **_advance_ > the interest of the society, and _afford_ means to the multiplication of the > species.** Is **_made_** supposed to be coupled with **_advance_** & **_afford_** to form a verb clause, so:   "which would have been made .... advance .... and afford ..." ? If so, could someone please explicate this? These sound aberrant but novel to me (I'm cognisant that this book was published in 1759):   ● "which would have been made advance the interest of the society"   ● "which would have been made afford means to the multiplication of the species. Wouldn't it be more natural to write   ● "which would have advanced the interest ..., and afforded means ..." ?


title: How rude is "to eat like a pig"?

text: How rude is it to say : > People eat crabs like a pig. Maybe it's not rude in plural sense like the above example but when you talk directly to someone? Also other terms which relate humans to animals, "to eat like a horse" and "to eat like a bird".


title: Less Objectifying Than If

text: > KATIE COURIC: Some newswomen dress like they’re going clubbing. > > RACHEL MADDOW: It’s un-businesslike. … But there’s an interesting question > in there: If you make a decision about trying to succeed on the basis of > your looks, **is it less objectifying than if it’s somebody else’s > decision?** Could someone please elucidate the bold sentence? Definition of objectify as a transitive verb:   1. express (something abstract) in a concrete form:   2. degrade to the status of a mere object: Is the apt definition #2? If so, does the bold sentence mean:   Is [ making a decision about trying to succeed on the basis of your looks ] less demeaning/degrading [ of those newswomen who dress inappositely ]   when it's somebody else's decision ?


title: How do you most correctly use the word "than"? (SAT writing question)

text: The Piraha people of Brazil communicate(A) almost as much by singing, whistling, and(B) humming than(C) they do(D) by pronouncing consonants and vowels. No error(E) I had chosen E, no error, but the correct answer is c, than. Why is C the right answer?


title: Why are dictionary definitions for verbs prefixed with a 'To'?

text: I look up a dictionary for _allow_ and I get   * To permit   * To assign   * To grant or give, esp periodically   * To concede or acknowledge Similarly for _flow_ , I see   * to run   * to move or change form like a fluid   * to rise or come in Why is a 'to' prefixed to all meanings? The meanings work well without that too.


title: How to properly number paragraph according to APA style

text: If an article cites (Mara, 2010, “Mission,” para. 1) using APA style, does para.1 refer to first paragraph within   * the "Mission" section?   * or the whole page?


title: What is the difference between "raise" and "rise"?

text: What is the difference between _raise_ and _rise_? When and how should I use each one?


title: "In its original formulation" versus "On its original formulation"

text: I want to write: > "On its original formulation, the method uses ..." However, I am not sure if it is " _On_ its original formulation" or " _In_ its original formulation". Searching in Google for both cases I found that "in its original" is more common (250,000 hits versus 76,000), but not by a margin big enough to make a conclusion. Which one is the right one?


title: Which spelling is correct: "benefiting" or "benefitting"?

text: Which spelling is correct: _benefiting_ or _benefitting_?


title: Present Continuous instead of Present Perfect Continuous?

text: Is it possible to simplify sentences like: > **"I've been having soy milk for 10 yrs now"** > > **"I've been standing here for an hour"*** into: > **"I'm having soy milk for 10 yrs now"** > > **"I'm standing here for an hour"**? Seems like I've just heard something like that on TV, but I may have missed or misheard the " _vbin_ " part.


title: Is there a term to describe speech that has a hidden meaning but is not sarcastic?

text: I want to describe how someone is saying something but hidden behind their words they are blaming the person they are talking to. It's kind of like sarcasm but not quite as strong. With sarcasm the meaning is obvious and it's meant to hurt. With the situation I'm describing it's not really about cutting down the other person and making yourself feel smart, more like blaming them for something that went wrong and feeling sorry at the same time. The speaker isn't really trying to hit the listener with the hidden meaning, but with just a tiny bit of effort the listener can infer the extra meaning in the speaker's words. If sarcasm doesn't describe this, then what does? What words or phrases can be used?


title: Is It More Appropriate To Use "One" or "You" When Speaking Of An Indefinite Person?

text: In high school English, it was imparted to us that in formal American English when speaking about an indefinite party, we should use the word _one_. For example, "One should cover his or her mouth when he or she has to cough". This seems a bit stilted and awkward--before this instruction was given to us, I believe most of us would have used _you_ \--"You should cover your mouth when you have to cough." In formal and business writing, which word should one (or you) use?


title: Is it acceptable to use the noun "swing" for both a short round trip and an extensive circular tour in AmE?

text: I remember once coming across, while browsing some bilingual dictionary, the noun "swing" pointed up as an AmE equivalent for "circuit". But, sadly enough, what the bilingual dictionary didn't say was if this usage had any currency at all in modern day AE -- and if it was to some extent more common than the term "circuit", as well as appropriate to use for both a short round trip and an extensive circular tour. In addition, how does a _swing_ differ from a _circuit_ and from a _round trip_? You might want to consider the following sources for this. > http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/swing (head to Definition 6b by > the bottom of the page) > > http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Swing?s=t (head to BOP also) > > http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/circuit > > http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/circuit?s=t The prince and princess, winding up a seven-day swing throughout the US... source


title: Should "time" be capitalized in "it was his time [to go]"

text: The phrase "it was his time" means that the subject is deceased. In other contexts that require the same meaning for "time" as this, would it be best to capitalize "time" to personify it as an omnipotent thing (or whatever) in the same way "God" is capitalized? For example: "...to escape his inevitable time." Yes or no?


title: Confusing meanings of "inexorable" and "unstoppable"

text: I saw these two words, which I had always assumed meant the same thing, in the same sentence (below). It begs a question as to the difference between them: Sentence: > This restless and perpetual change, as **inexorable** and **unstoppable** as > the waves and tides, implies a world in which all human actions necessarily > have uncertain effects.


title: "Reflects that" versus "reflects the fact that"

text: > **Possible Duplicate:**   >  'The fact that' versus just 'That' I want to write something similar to "This reflects the fact that his family is very supportive." There is this notion that "the fact" is redundant and so I thought maybe I could write, "This reflects that his family is very supportive." It sounds wrong to me. I think it is because his family being supportive is a verb whereas something must reflect something else (an object, a noun). So, "the fact", though redundant in a sense, is necessary in terms of structure. Any inputs? Thanks.


title: Are "so" and "so that" interchangeable?

text: A book suggests that we should not interchange "so" and "so that". "So" means "therefore", and "so that" means "in order that". However, it seems to me that in many cases they don't actually have a difference. For example: > Alice got up at 5:00 A.M., **so that** she could drive her son to school. If I substitute "so that" with "so", this sentence presents the exact same causal relation to me: > Alice got up at 5:00 A.M., **so** she could drive her son to school. I must have missed something here, since English is my second language. Could somebody explain the difference?


title: Is using "eager beaver" completely benign?

text: Person A uses the phrase "eager beaver" to mean an enthusiastic person. Person B chuckles. Basically my question boils down to who the weirdo is, so to speak:   * A, because "eager beaver" is outdated and the sexual connotations are too strong to hope that one should understand the "normal" meaning   * B, because "eager beaver" is a perfectly benign phrase with no sexual meanings whatsoever. Anyone who sees sexual connotations in this phrase is simply being immature.


title: Difference between "getting divorced" and "splitting up with someone"

text: Could you kindly tell me what exactly is the difference between "splitting up with somebody" and "getting divorced"? I think _getting divorced_ is done officially and it needs you to sign some paper. However, _splitting up with somebody_ is not like this. You just live separately from someone (that you have been married to) without officially separating from him/her. Are my definitions correct?


title: What does "on the outside" mean?

text: > He will be here in 90 minutes on the outside. At the outside means "at the most". Is "on the outside" an equivalent expression?


title: Why was the ruler of the British Empire not an Emperor/Empress?

text: Alternatively, why was it called the British Empire when it was really the Kingdom of Great Britain? To me, having a empire without an emperor is as nonsensical as having a kingdom without a king. They seem to imply each other, yet it didn't work that way. Is there a good explanation for it?


title: Males, Females, Girls and Guys

text: Is there a predominant pattern of usage of the terms _girls_ and _guys_ based on age of the described individuals? Are the patterns the same in the US and UK? At about what age is it considered inappropriate to refer to young women as _girls_? Is there a point at which such terms are definitely offensive. With young men is the issue the same, or can males of all age can fall under the category of _guys_? Finally, is _guys_ okay to be used in reference to women when not contrasting them with males, or is it considered inappropriate?


title: Strange usage of "collide"?

text: I was reading the paper today about a skier > ...losing control on an icy ski slope and **colliding** with a tree. This seems to be rather a strange usage of _collide_ ; the word seems to me to carry the implication that the things that _collide_ are both active agents, and the tree cannot by any stretch of the imagination be held responsible for this accident. This definition here seems to support that idea:- > to strike one another or one against the other with a forceful impact; come > into violent contact; crash: The two cars _collided_ with an ear-splitting > crash. Is that so, or can stationary or even immobile objects _collide_ with things?


title: He is in his room 'with a book'/'with a table'

text: (1) He is in his room with a book. (2) He is in his room with a table. Why does (2) sound strange even if it has the same grammatical structure of (1), which works perfectly.


title: Is it correct to say semi-promise?

text: I want to say, someone _sort of_ promised to do something, yet it was not a full promise: > She had a semi-promise from his employer to get a raise this year. Is _semi-promise_ correct in this sense? What are the alternatives? **Edit:** Thanks for the comments. I have also come up with _provisional promise_ : > Her boss has made a provisional promise to finally give her a raise.


title: Most number of items vs Most items

text: Consider this phrase, would you write this: > The bucket containing the most items or in this form: > The bucket containing the most number of items Some information here: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3439 Or would you suggest another form instead of "the most" ?


title: Why is “cannot” spelled as one word?

text: Why is “cannot” spelled as one word whereas other similar constructions such as “do not,” “will not,” “shall not,” “may not” and “must not” are spelled as two words (unless they are contracted as “don’t” and so on)? (I know that languages are not always logical, so I would not be too surprised if there is no known reason for this. But I am asking this in the hope that there is some explanation.)


title: Is "Can not" a valid usage in English, or I can not use that and must use "cannot"/"Can't"?

text: > **Possible Duplicates:**   >  Why is “cannot” spelled as one word?   >  Is "can not" unambiguous? Is "Can not" a valid usage in English (American English if it differs), or I can not use that and must use "cannot"/"Can't"?


title: Is "can not" unambiguous?

text: I always try to remember to use "cannot" when applicable as in "I cannot take an umbrella" (because I do not have one). I also thought that the problem with "I can not take an umbrella" was that it was ambiguous: it could also mean that I could decide not to take an umbrella. Trying to write unambiguously most of the time, I would therefore never use it. Now I see it claimed that it is in fact not ambiguous, and only carries the second meaning. Usually I would accept such advice at face value and start using "can not" when the second meaning is unambiguously meant, but this comes from a style guide I have other reasons not to respect very much. Does "can not" have a single unambiguous meaning? (I have read http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/4510/why-is-cannot- spelled-as-one-word but my question is more about current usage. The length of the answer to that question does confirm my prejudice a bit, though)


title: Using conjunction "while" as an archaic prepositonal form for "until"

text: In my _Penguin English Dictionary_ , I've encountered the word _while_ marked as an archaic form for the preposition _until_. Furthermore, according to my online research, Oxford Dictionary states that it is a Northern England dialect. For me, as an non-native speaker and someone who is interested in poetry, it is a little bit confusing, and therefore I have two questions:   * Is it still used exclusively as a Northern England dialect, or it is an archaic word (which could be used in poetry)?   * And if it's an archaic (literally) word, would it fit into the following concept: **While the end of time.?**


title: Other academic field distinctions like math vs maths

text: Growing up in the US, I was taught to say "math" and the British "maths" sounded very awkward to me until I noticed mathematics had an 's' at the end, and it occurred to me that it could be considered plural. (To any British reading this, we use the full word "mathematics" in a singular sense also.) I suppose from this perspective, algebra is a math, calculus is a math, topology is a math, etc., though it seems to me that a Brit doing only algebra would still say they are doing maths. From this new perspective, it occurred to me that physics must be plural as well, but I suppose it would be more granulated. The various physical phenomena themselves (comparable to theorems I suppose) would be too "small" to constitute a single subject (comparable to algebra), and various related phenomena would be grouped together into subjects for study and specialization. (Perhaps this is why we both abbreviate it as the plural physics ... er, wait.) I looked around for other examples of singular vs plural fields of study and couldn't find much. Biology, chemistry, history, etc. all seem to be singular and follow a different naming pattern. One can study art, or study the arts, and an expert in the field might care about the distinction. So here's what I'm wondering. **Are there other good examples of plural fields of study, especially ones that in various nations (Australia, English as used in India(?), ...) are treated differently with respect to singular/plural?** If someone can publish one comprehensive answer, that would be great, but otherwise I'm guessing the localized info will trickle in from many different people, in which case this will probably work better as a community wiki where we can edit all the various information into one good answer.


title: What's the shortest abbreviation for "see attachment" or "see enclosed file" in an e-mail?

text: I often send empty e-mails with just some attachments. Since some e-mail clients don't show the presence of attachments very clearly, I prefer to indicate that the e-mail contains attachments. In French I just write "cf pj", which means "see attachment". What's the shortest abbreviation in English for "see attachment", "see enclosed file" or anything equivalent in an e-mail? The best I have found so far is "see att".


title: Where does the phrase of "boredom punctuated by moments of terror" come from?

text: I have often seen war described as "interminable boredom punctuated by moments of terror," or some variant thereof. More recently, it seems that I have been hearing this phrase used to describe other activities such as some jobs (i.e. long-haul trucking). I had always attributed this quote to Hemingway, but when I did so the other day I realized that I had no good reason for doing so. Several internet searches offer other attributions such as Emerson or any number of military men. As there seems to be no consensus, I thought I'd ask here. So, Where does the phrase "interminable boredom punctuated by moments of terror" come from?


title: Are there by chance any synonyms for "synonym"?

text: I was discussing with some friends about synonyms when we found, that ironically nobody of us knew any synonyms to the word "synonym" itself. Are there any?


title: *Compared to*: Preposition or dangling participle?

text: I got these examples from the COCA. Which, if any, strike you as prepositions?   1. _**Compared to** ICS alone, there was a significantly greater improvement in FEV1 with the addition of LABA._   2. _**Compared to** the United States, there is greater interest in exchange of ideas and in cooperative research on political education in Western and Central European countries, where academic interest has not waned._   3. _**Compared to** the Femmes au jardin there is an amplitude here which is a function of the domesticity Monet has meant to parse._   4. _**Compared to** other poets of the period, there is much to recommend the totality of her work._   5. _I like Foursquare because I can actually pick who sees where I actually am, **compared to** Facebook, where I have 1,200 friends_   6. _But part of the beauty of the nuclear path, **compared to** all the energy-farming approaches, is you don't have a problem with location_   7. _These differences may explain why HCV is higher among whites compared to African Americans in incarcerated populations, **compared to** the opposite effect in general populations._   8. _In each panel, the shaded bar (male respondents' ratings) is higher when the lesbian thermometer was administered first, **compared to** when the gay male thermometer came first._   9. _That he is not free -- apparently, pending appeal -- to deliver this message at funerals does not infringe on this nation's legacy of free speech to any significant degree, at least not **compared to** the relief it brings the entirely innocent families of the fallen at their moment of greatest grief._   10. _Second, **compared to** the solution state, molecular mobility is much reduced._   11. _Not one of these programs increased their licensed capacity, **compared to** an average increase from 11.1 to 29.6 in the funded grantee group._   12. _There is a leftward shift in the recovery curve, **compared to** controls._


title: Purchase vs. Order

text: What is the difference in meaning between `Purchase` and `Order`? Is there a preference for `Purchase` vs. `Order` in some cases/regions/dialects etc. Specifically in e-shops, when should we use `purchase` and when `order`? When should we use them as a verb, and when as a noun?


title: He was getting vs being beaten

text: I would need to understand the difference here: > He was being beaten.   >  He was getting beaten. I know "get" + ppt can be either passive voice or a change of state. What is that in this example? I guess this is the passive voice. But what about this: > He is getting ready.   >  He is being ready _\- obviously wrong but I cannot say why._


title: Is it grammatical to have duplicate 'it'?: __ it it __

text: Is it grammatically correct to use the word _it_ twice in a row? When doing so, do you have to separate the two using a comma? If there are different situations please use examples. My examples:   * When I find it it can be filed away.   * Because of the size of it it doesn't fit in the array. I am asking because I am a habitual double it'er and a colleague called me out on it.


title: Distinction between "belief" and "beliefs"?

text: Under what circumstances does “belief ” use the plural form “beliefs” ? Does “beliefs” have any unique sense distinguished from “belief” ?


title: Origin of "Make someday today"

text: I guess there are other variations for this expression that one can google out on the Internet such as " _Make today your someday_ " and " _Make that someday today_ ". However, is it possible to find out its origin?


title: Is this quote about music correct?

text: There's a (famous according to Google) quote by the German-Jewish poet Berthold Auerbach: > Music is a universal language, and needs not be translated. With it soul > speaks to soul. Is the quote grammatically correct?


title: "afraid to speak up"

text: What is a the adjective that describes someone who is afraid to speak up? For example: As a young child, I was **___ _**, but as I grew up, I transformed into a courageous and determined woman.


title: Word for a frequent behaviour?

text: Don't know whether it's an English literature question or a psychology one but one may have witnessed a very frequent behavior associated with bosses or maybe teachers where they start asking you questions (assuming you are brilliant enough), you start answering them but they don't stop until they have got a question you can't answer...then ridicule you for not answering that last question forgetting the former ones.. Is there a word for the boss's or teacher's behaviour? Is there some named disease for it?


title: Using "only" to describe amounts? Is it used correctly here?

text: Say someone notices there's frost and ice on the road. "Wow, there's ice on the road..." they exclaim. They then look at the temperature reading and see 9 degrees celsius, "...but it's only 9 degrees outside!" Is that correct usage of the word "only"? Thanks!


title: Is there a verb meaning "to come back from fishing without any fish?"

text: In A Grammar and Dictionary of the Samoan Language there is a verb that means "to return from fishing without any fish." >   * **Taufua** , v. to return from fishing without any fish. _Syn_. ʻAsa.   > > My question is, how is "taufua" translated into English? I'm looking for a single word which renders that meaning in English, but I will accept an expression, too. A bit of searching came up with "duffer" ( _an incompetent, ineffectual, or clumsy person_ ) but it doesn't seem strictly related to fishing, and it isn't a verb.


title: Reported speech commands - negations which aren't related to subject

text: First my english ain't pretty good but I hope you can understand me. :) So at the moment I'm doing my homework and I'm pre-finished with it but 2 sentences are very difficult for the exercise. I need to put commands in direct speech to the reported speech. **For example:** Mother: _Don't lose your passport. Keep it somewhere safe_.   -> My mother told me not to lose my passport. She told me to keep it somewhere safe. That's pretty simple but this sentence the negation are not related to the subject or I don't know how I can can describe this ... :/ Mother: _Take a present for your French family. It doesn't have to be something expensive._   -> My mother told me to take a present for my French family.   But she told me it not have to be something expensive. I think that's wrong because it sounds wrong .. :/ Do I need it in this way: ....   But she told me that it doesn't have to be expensive or something like this?   Kinda weird grammar :/ And this sentence is also difficult: Mother: _The journey won't feel so long._ Does anyone has any solutions?:) regards


title: How to use 'even so'?

text: _We were staying at the most expensive hotel in town. But, even so, there were no toilet rolls in the washroom._ I was struck by the use of 'even so' in the above sentence. Is it correct? Shouldn't it be more like: _The hotel room didn't have much amenities, but, even so, it had the best view in town._


title: Where did the phrase "sidewalk prophets" come from?

text: Where did the phrase “ **sidewalk prophets** ” come from?   Is this a phrase coined in a song or literature?   I know it is a Christian band, but it seems too familiar for just that.


title: Got started or started

text: I am a learner of the English language. I have written two sentences, please give your two minutes and let me know, which one is correct? In the below sentences an action was started by my dog, for an example, "my dog has been running for an hour". My question is,"if someone is asking about the action like when this action started?", so which one is correct? This action got started an hour ago? This action started an hour ago? Thanks in advance.


title: When was the word "phobia" coined?

text: When was the word _phobia_ coined? And how did the concept of naming different phobias come into existence?


title: Is phrase "will you be needing ..." correct?

text: I'm curious about this phrase > Will you be needing [...] ? It seems gramatically correct; I am also fine with "need" used in continuous time. But I'm wondering if it is used in spoken language... For example, I want to take a shower (which might take a while) so I ask my roommate if he is fine with that: > Will you be needing the bathroom? Is this the proper way to do it? Or would native speaker come up with something easier?


title: Can "still" and "yet" be used interchangeably when placed at beginning of a sentence?

text: Example: > The three picked up their chopsticks and started on the food. The scene > seemed strangely normal to Naomi. It was as if everything were OK, and her > mom were perfectly healthy. In fact, she looked more lively and energetic > than Naomi remembered. The whole illness issue seemed like a distant, bad > dream. Something that belonged to another reality. > > **Still** , Naomi couldn't take the thought out of her head, so she decided > to ask. If I changed **still** for **yet** , would the sentence mean the same thing?


title: Annotation symbols

text: Let's say you were going to put 3 annotations all on one page. What are the 3 different symbols you would use if you weren't going to use numbers?


title: "The title of Bachelor of Engineering" vs "the title Bachelor of Engineering"

text: >   1. ... obtained the diploma and the title of Bachelor of Engineering > (B.Eng.). >   2. ... obtained the diploma and the title Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng). > Which sentence is correct? Which is better?


title: "misunderstand" vs "misunderstood"

text: If speaking or writing to someone and it becomes apparent they did not interpret something correctly, is it correct to inform them "you misunderstood" or "you misunderstand"? I'm not sure because the faulty assumption took place in the past but the person is still under the influence of the faulty assumption. On a related note, I was taught that when speaking of something that could happen it is spoken in the past tense but then why does it sound so unnatural to say something like "Since Bob is not a native English speaker he will surely misunderstood the meaning of the letter"?


title: What does it mean when someone writes a word in upper case while typing?

text: An American wrote this to me: > The runup was completely insane and obvious (and scary). I was in the > financial industry at the time, and everyone was figuring out how to protect > themselves WHEN. It was all about risk management. I am not getting the meaning of _WHEN_ in it.


title: What does "a culture of expectations" mean here?

text: I was reading this. > Many of them just don’t have a culture of expectation at home,... > > Hard to do without a culture of expectation. I don't understand.


title: What does Rick Perry’s “God uses broken people to reach a broken world" mean?

text: In the New York Times article of September 17 titled “Egghead and Blockheads,” Maureen Dowd introduces that GOP Presidential candidate, Rick Perry made light of his bad grades at Texas A&M in his speech to students of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. Aside Perry’s acknowledgement that he ‘struggled with college, Dowd quotes Richard Oppel’s testimony that Perry’s D’s include Chemistry, the principles of economics, Shakespeare, Feeds & Feeding, Veterinary anatomy and Meat, plus C in Gym and one F in courses. Dowd continues: > "It’s enough to make you long for _W.’s Gentleman’s C’s_. At least he was a > mediocre student at Yale. - - -Perry told the students, _“God uses broken > people to reach a broken world.”_ What does that even mean?" It is a great challenge for a foreign English learner to try to understand the line that even a reputed NYT columnist isn’t sure of. But I don’t think the America’s promising Presidential candidate spoke Greek to the university students. My guess of Perry’s line, “God uses broken people to reach a broken world,” means that "the stressed country at the difficult time requires the ‘square- shouldered’ (cowboy type) brave leader who was hammered out of struggles (from collegehood) rather than an intellectual but Hamlet-type indecisive leader who kept being alpha plus at college." But I'm not sure at all. What is the correct interpretation of the “God uses broken people” line? By the way, what is _W_ in "W.’s Gentleman’s C’s."


title: Is "specialness" a mock euphemistic noun form of "mentally retarded"?

text: In https://gist.github.com/brixen/6705046, there's > I recommend monkey patching Symbol#name in MRI. You can even do this with > refinements for extra **specialness**. (As background, refinements is a feature that the author strongly disagrees with) Is "specialness" a noun form of "special" (Urban dictionary link), which is used by some as a mock euphemism for mentally retarded?


title: Might "equivocal" be applied to our scientific understandings?

text: I just read the question and answers about the meaning of "equivocal". Might "equivocal" be used to describe the wave and particle appreciations of light? The results of all inquiries and investigations that continue to be lit by doubt?


title: Difference between "socket" and "outlet"

text: While translating a technical document I began thinking about _socket_ and _outlet_. It seems like they're mostly interchangeable. Is that correct? Or is there a difference between the two?


title: Why does European packaging use "gb" to represent English?

text: Something I've always wondered is why companies that are based in Europe tend to use "country" abbreviations to represent a language instead of the language abbreviation itself. Given that there are European countries with more than one official language does it make sense to use, for example, "gb" which only includes 3 of the English speaking countries? Note, that although many languages are named after the geo-political region they come from, it doesn't guarantee it. What abbreviations would Hebrew and Arabic have? ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/vdiPc.jpg)


title: Subscribed/unsubscribed

text: I am using a notification system where I have trouble naming a category of user. A user can subscribe to the newsletter of the week.   * If the user set his settings, and decides to receive the newsletter of the week, he is a **Subscribed User**   * If the user set his settings, and decides Not to receive the newsletter of the week, he is an **Unsubscribed User**   * If the user did not set his settings, he is a **? User**. How do we call this category of user?