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.

Ex Input:
is it 'a usual' or 'an usual'? 'A usual' sounds more correct in my head ('Today was a usual day.') than 'an usual', but u is a vowel. Which one is correct and why?.

Ex Output:
Usual (pronounced /ju.u.l/ as in you) begins with a consonant sound and, as such, it should be preceded by a not an. As an aside, I cannot help but point out that the sentence Today was a usual day is not usually heard in regular conversation. Today was an unusual day is what one might hear, instead! Indeed, I rarely hear the construction a usual. The definite article is more commonly used, in my experience: That's the usual thing. In place of a usual, one would also be more likely to hear not an unusual: Today was a usual day / Today was not an unusual day This is a usual occurrence / This is not an unusal occurrence or This usually happens You are right in saying that a usual sounds weird. As speakers, we tend to avoid constructions which, though correct, do not flow easily from the mouth. In sum, the following are valid and commonly used alternatives: not [an] unusual the usual usually


Ex Input:
Is the word 'dude' becoming gender neutral? I don't think so, however, has modern usage changed? Are there some recent examples of 'dude' being used to refer to a woman or group of women?.

Ex Output:
It is common in my experience (woman in US, 26, liberal hippie type) for groups of women to be called 'dudes' or 'guys' by both men and other women, but not for individual women to be called a 'dude' or a 'guy.' One exception seems to be in greetings using 'dude,' as in, 'Hey dude!'


Ex Input:
Today, I received a folder of Recruiting candidate CVs from one of our HR. In this folder, there is a sub-folder named 'pass'. Question is does this 'pass' mean the CVs inside are OK or not OK? If I want to mean the CVs in the folder that are not OK, what exact word should I use?.

Ex Output:

I have encountered many people using the term 'pass' in recruiting. Each time, the person believed they were making a clear statement. Roughly half of them mean 'I don't like this one, pass' (as one might say when playing cards). The rest mean 'I like this one, please pass him or her to the next round' (as the term is used in quality control). Each group is surprised to learn about the existence of the other. I now insist that recruiting feedback never use the ambiguous term 'pass.' Useful terms to replace it are 'proceed' and 'no hire.' 'Proceed' makes it clear that the candidate is moving to the next round, as opposed to 'hire' which may convey a stronger meaning of 'make an offer now.' Simply using 'yes' and 'no' may suffice in some contexts, such as your example of labeling CVs.