Generate the answer for a given question. The question requires common knowledge of English. Make sure that the answer is in detail, long, consistent with the context, and requires general knowledge of English. To be less repetitive, please vary your language for each question. Give a proper explanation to answer, and if necessary, provide the definition of various terms. And conclude your answer if it's long. If you have used other resources (e.g., Merriam Webster's.) to answer the question, include citations in your answer. You don't need to paraphrase the context of your resources, but make sure that your answer is consistent and complete.

Q: I am watching a UK TV programme called 'The Apprentice'. The candidates have to sell guided tours. Some candidates are terrible at giving these tours. They fluff their lines, or they haven't researched, or they make up 'facts'. Watching their ineptitude cause a feeling of discomfort. What is the best word for this discomfort? The German word schadenfreude means roughly 'the pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others'. The word I want would be almost an antonym of schadenfreude - 'the discomfort derived from the mosfortunes of others'. Except not the misfortunes but the uselessness of others.

A: vicarious embarrassment The very uncomfortable sympathetic feeling experienced while you watch someone else embarrassing themselves. This feeling is often intensified when the person embarrassing themself is not aware of how embarrassing their behavior is. In this case it is more like you are feeling the embarrassment on their behalf. The Opposite Of Schadenfreude: Vicarious Embarrassment Vicarious Embarrassment: Witnessing Awkward Moments Triggers Pain Centers In The Brain Your Flaws Are My Pain: Linking Empathy To Vicarious Embarrassment Validation and correlates of the vicarious embarrassment scale Facepalm (slang) is another possible translation of the import term (from German) fremdschamen. A German term which describes the process of being vicariously embarrassed by someone else. For example when somebody's concept for a great party gag goes terrible wrong and you watch him fail in the middle of all of his friends. Tom was completely wasted while he held the speech on Mike's wedding party. Fremdschamen in perfection. urban dictionary 'Fremdschamen describes the almost-horror you feel when you notice that somebody is oblivious to how embarrassing they truly are,' writes Daniel Hawes in Psychology Today. 'Fremdscham [the noun] occurs when someone who should feel embarrassed for themselves simply is not, and you start feeling embarrassment in their place.' ... the auditions for American Idol and all of the related rip-offs are Fremdschamen factories, Alo's suggestion of 'cringeworthy' is also very valid. More generally, here in the UK we sometimes talk about 'car crash' or 'train crash' TV. In the US they call it a 'train wreck'.
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Q: I know that 'ad hoc' is a Latin phrase and I've typically seen it used without a hyphen. However, many technical articles use a hyphen. For example: Ad-hoc mode is useful for establishing a network where wireless infrastructure does not exist or where services are not required. Is 'ad hoc' always the correct usage? If it can be 'ad-hoc', is the usage of the hyphen specific to certain circumstances?.

A: The rule-of-thumb I've found in researching this issue, (though no reference to a specific style guide was referenced one site linked here) is if Latin and other foreign phrases are not hyphenated in their original language, then they are not hyphenated in English.
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Q: Let's imagine a hypothetical business: Mistake Corp. Mistake Corp makes a lot of mistakes, and as it turns out, the reason they make these mistakes is typically the same. 90% of the time Mistake Corp makes a mistake, it's because of misinformation. I suppose misinformation is the opposite of a linchpin for Mistake Corp. I'd like to be able to use the word like so: 'Misinformation is the [anti-linchpin] of Mistake Corp' What non-ambiguous word, other than 'anti-linchpin', can I use to describe something that is a frequent cause for mistakes to those who aren't as English-savvy?.

A:
I'd say that misinformation is the pitfall for Mistake Corp. A hidden or unsuspected danger or difficulty: 'There are obvious pitfalls of such behavior, if it ever developed into a habit.' They indeed seem to fall in time and again; check the box for unsuspected...
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