instruction:
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.
question:
I'm talking about an incurable disease which is a lifelong affliction but is not fatal. Usage - She is suffering from a ____________ illness. I can't use terminal here because terminal means 'predicted to lead to death, especially slowly; incurable.'.
answer:
chronic From the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) Of diseases, etc.: Lasting a long time, long-continued, lingering, inveterate; opposed to acute OED cites as an example: 1994 Jrnl. Internal Med. 236 685 A 23-year-old female student exhibited all the characteristics of chronic factitious disorder with physical symptoms (Munchhausen's syndrome): deliberate simulation of illness, peregrination, fantastic pseudology and dramatic circumstances on admittance. (Emphasis added) OED contrasts chronic with acute acute: Of a disease, symptom, etc.: coming quickly to a crisis or conclusion; of rapid onset and short duration; of recent or sudden onset; contrasted with chronic The Cambridge English Dictionary gives as examples (rearranged): chronic arthritis/pain She suffers from chronic pain in her knees. I have a chronic bowel disease


question:
The meaning of Polish 'doing something on knees' or 'on a knee' is completely different than English. It is rather a metaphor to a student who instead of doing his homework properly at the home, he did it in hurry, supported his notebook on knees and did it in a short break between classes. In other words it means doing something in hurry, usually resulting in poor quality and unsophisticated enough. Some usage: Who designed this building? Looks like some architect 'made it on a knee'... Or nowadays according to software engineering: There are lots of bugs in this application! They came short on deadlines and 'wrote it on their knees' even without unit tests... My question is, is there an English equivalent (in idiom or phrase) which preserves this meaning better? Edit After reading some answers I realized that my examples were a little bit misleading. In reality, the phrase does not carry itself any negative connotations about the 'author'. Rather poor quality of his job results. The only negative connotations about author we can only deduce from the quality of his job: 'He did his job inaccurately so we can assume that he may be inaccurate.' or 'You Will Know Them by Their Fruits' sort of thing.
answer:
slapdash ADJECTIVE Done too hurriedly and carelessly. She frowned at the messy handwriting and slapdash clump of phrases.


question:
Possible Duplicate: Is using the possessive 's correct in 'the car's antenna'? If someone owns something I would say: Mom's car. But if the owner is not a person, does it actually own it according to English rules or common usage? Which phrase is right? The house windows. The house's windows. The windows of the house. (Or something like that.) (Feel free to modify this question so it would be clear for other people.).
answer:

The second and third phrases are correct: The house's windows The windows of the house There is no requirement in the English language that possessors be people, and it's extremely common for inanimate objects to be used with the possessive 's. There is very little difference between the version that uses 's and the version that uses of. Related: Is using the possessive ''s' correct in 'the car's antenna'?