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.
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Question: I keep writing dataset. Is that correct, or should I write data set?.

Answer: As @mmyers notes, dataset does not appear in any dictionaries. However, there are 172 incidences in the Corpus of Contemporary American English, and all but a handful are in the 'academic' section, representing formal academic writing. Its lack of appearance in dictionaries is probably because it is a fairly new coinage, the two examples from the Corpus of Historical American English are from 2001. Nothing from before then. Interestingly, the British National Corpus has 51 incidences, dating from the 1980s to the mid 1990s.


Question: Sometimes I would like to use the word 'inappropriate' when it simply means not quite appropriate, but it usually seems to have the connotation of extremely not appropriate. For instance, if I wanted to say a person was touching inappropriately, it might not mean they are doing something lewd (e.g. touching private parts), but rather, sitting too close and touching in a professional environment where it doesn't make much sense. Or perhaps it's a meeting where a subordinate is dominating a conversation where multiple higher-ups or people more familiar with the topic should be speaking more. Their speech would not be appropriate, but calling it inappropriate seems to indicate that they were making crass jokes or saying something offensive.

Answer: I think the problem here is that the word 'inappropriate' has acquired certain connotations. As the question says, particularly in a US business context, it has come to mean something heading towards sexual harassment. However, I don't think not appropriate has these connotations. Alternatively, just avoid the moral judgement implicit in discussing the appropriateness of the behaviour. If, for example, you describe somebody's behaviour as unnecessary or excessive ('sitting unnecessarily/excessively close', 'taking up an excessive amount of time at the meeting'), the reader can figure out that the person wasn't behaving in an appropriate way.


Question: Possible Duplicate: 'If I was' or 'If I were'. Which is more common, and which is correct? Is this correct grammar? What if there was a Stack Overflow on Shouldn't it be 'what if there were a Stack Overflow on'?.

Answer:
Prescriptively, you're correct, this should be were since this is being expressed with the subjunctive mood. Descriptively, I think you'll find both in the wild. In informal speech, most people I know would prefer was in this case (and those that don't are sticklers for the subjunctive). I do think that you are much more likely to see were written though, especially in formal writing. Either form is correct, and the subjunctive forms are far from dead. A more interesting question, I think, is whether or not the subjunctive mood is still being used and if the two forms have simply collapsed together. Is this a meaningful distinction? How could this be tested?