How can I translate "Jeitinho Brasileiro" into English?

_Jeitinho Brasileiro_ can be literally translated to "Brazilian way to do things"! Wikipedia has an article about it. There are various meaning to this expression and one gives the idea of _"Malandragem"_. I want to know an english expression that can pass the same idea of this expression, that is: in an imaginative and dubious way, you circumventing a rule not in fact violating it. This is a _rea_ example of _Jeitinho Brasileiro_. There is a law that _every_ cultural event needs create 50% of discount to students. But businessmen created an imaginative way to solve it. Put the price of ticket in $100 then create a promotion: If you give one kilo of food, you will win 50% of discount. But if you are a student, you pay your 50% of discount in the full price. Everyone has discount, but in fact, no one has it! How can I call what he did? The Brazilian version of Blame it on Lisa from The Simpsons uses this expression, but the original version is: > Bart: Hey, look! There's Copacabana beach! The heart and soul of Rio!   >  Lifeguard: Excuse me, Americans!   >  Homer: How did you know?   >  Lifeguard: There is a dress code on this beach. But we can help you.   >  Bart: I feel so European. When the lifeguard says "But we can help you.", in Portuguese he say "But we have the Jeitinho Brasileiro". This doesn't help to much. So, what expression can I translate it in English with? What expression do you use when someone is being _malandro_ with you?


Dramatic hijacking of a sentence

A common trope in movies. What's it called? Person A: The President was a brilliant man! A truly one-of-a-kind-- Person B: _killer_ , who used his ruthless abandon to get ahead!


Verb to use when your finger are being "pushed" by the current of a stream?

What's the adequate verb to use to describe the current of a stream "pushing" your fingers downstream as you immerse them in it? Like for example: > I immersed my fingers in the stream. Its current [...] them vigorously. I also thought of "dragged" but I think that implies they are being washed away?


Can 'it' be used plurally?

Can 'it' as a pronoun refer to many different imperative verbs? For instance, in the sentence: > Abide by thy customs, thou excellent one: **grind** thy corn, **drink** thy > water, **praise** thy cooking,-- if only **it** make thee glad!


Listing of items in order of their effectiveness

In a research paper, how do I list things in order of their effectiveness? For example, > The order of antagonistic effect of acetic acid against E. coli O157:H7 was > salt > glycine > glucose > sucrose. Is it okay to use ">" or "<" in a sentence for a research paper? It looks a bit weird to me. Is there a better way or any other way to write this down correctly?


What is the logic of having ‘not’ in the usage, “be not above doing something”?

I came across the idiomatic usage, ‘not above doing’ in the following sentence of Jeffery Archer’s fiction, “Kane & Abel.” Allan Lloyd, a banker and Chairman of William Kane’s trust tells William’s mother Anne: > “Although he (William Kane, the heir of deceased bank chairman) has no > authority over the trust until he is twenty one, we discovered through > sources of our own that he is **_not above going to_** an independent lawyer > to find out his legal position.” No dictionary at hand shows ‘not above ...ing’ as an idiom. But according to wordreference com., it means (Someone) will do anything and won't be ashamed to do it. So I understood that the speaker meant William went so far as to consult the lawyer to his trustee’s surprise. I’m intrigued to find why it is in negative form. i.e. why ‘not’ is necessary in “be not above doing something,” because the subject here, 16-year old William Kane is doing something more than expected. I hope my point of question is clear to you.


What is a nice word to describe someone who is never where they should be?

I had a math teacher in grades four through seven who was never in class. What’s a nice word to describe his lack of presence?


"When did you born?"

> When did you born? Can you please tell me which of the items below is the literal translation of the question?   1. When did you give birth?    2. When were you given birth to? Also, how do we answer to this question? I'm trying to ask my friend his birthdate.


Origin of "stop-gap"

What is the origin of the expression _stop-gap_? > stop-gap: A temporary way of dealing with a problem or satisfying a need Where and how did this expression originate?


What's the meaning of "concave" in this context?

What's the meaning of "concaved" in this senctence: > As long as voters’ utility functions are **_concave_** , voters prefer > policies that do not change drastically.


When to use “have” vs. ”get”

For example - > I got $300   >  I have $300 Which is more correct? Please advice proper use of these terms. Thank you.


Is there a word for start and end of a time period?

Is there a word used to describe the extremities of an arbitrary time period? The word "weekend" refers to the end of a week, but it's limited to the week and it only describes the end, but not the beginning. I'm looking for a word that means both "weekend" and "the start of the week", but isn't limited to weeks.


Non-human specific synonym of demography?

I want to use the word demography but that is human specific (demography: the scientific study of human populations, esp with reference to their size, structure, and distribution). Is there an alternative which is not human specific, particularly it's for a biological question about the distribution of trees.


What term means "the places in an episode where commercial breaks once were"?

When a television episode is played on TV, it often has many commercial breaks. When the same episode is transferred onto other formats, such as VHS, DVD, or streaming video, the commercial breaks are deleted. What remains is a very short period of black. What special term can be used to refer to this place? The term "commercial break" is not so suitable, because my readers will not see any commercials and they might also not recognize that such a place once had a commercial. "Scene change" also does not seem to be a good fit, because many commercial breaks were places in the episodes in places that were not scene changes. Furthermore, scene changes can occur at other times in a film too. Does the television industry have a suitable term?


What prefix means "during"?

The prefixes "pre-" and "post-" refer to events before and after. For instance, "pre-season" and "post-season" or "pre-study" and "post-study". Is there a prefix fitting this pattern which means "during" that can fit in the form "(prefix)-season" and "(prefix)-study"? "Mid-season" and "mid-study" seems to refer to the middle point, so it does not seem like a good fit.


What kind of punctuation should I use to embed a question in another sentence?

How should I punctuate this sentence? It seem that I should somehow distinguish the question part of the sentence from the main part of the sentence. > If I didn't know the answer, I would first ask, "Which one of these is more > important?" or > If I didn't know the answer, I would first ask, which one of these is more > important? or > If I didn't know the answer, I would first ask which one of these is more > important?   > Or something else?


Using a verb +prep in a sentence with prepositions at the front

If you are avoiding ending a sentence with prepositions ("That was a situation, in which it was better to not become entangled."), what happens if you use a verb with a preposition? Suppose I wanted to say "This is something we will not put up with." Should I say "This is something with which we will not put up." since _put_ and _up_ form a phrasal verb, or should I say "This is something up with which we will not put"?


Why does "ow" have two different sounds

Why is it that the "ow" in now makes the aʊ sound while "ow" in snow makes the oʊ sound? Has this always been, was it spelled differently and then changed, or was it spelled this way but the sound changed?


Can "so" and "thus" be used interchangeably?

Example: > Although Karla had been in this area many times before, this was the first > time she'd seen this coffee shop. So she decided to give it a try. Can I use **thus** instead of **so** in the example above? Would that change the meaning of the sentence?


Another idiom or phrase (in English) that has the same meaning as 'the fruits of our/your labour'?

I was wondering if anyone knew any other phrases or idiom's for 'the fruit's of our/your labour'? I wanted to use it in the context, of a graduation speech, on how hard they've worked and how far they've come, that they're now about to receive the degree they've been working so hard for, over the last few years. Thanks.


What is the word for grown to the point of rotting?

I remember reading "Light in August" in high school and there was a word that meant something like, grown to the point of rotting. Faulkner was talking about the intensity of the foliage and how full it was at the end of summer. Prurient is what keeps coming to mind but that isn't even slightly correct. Fecund but rank? Virile but spoiled? The taste of an avocado a day past it's prime?


Should I Use a Comma before the Second “and”

> Please enter your email and password, and click on the “Log In” button. Should I use a comma before the second “and”?


"Make something out of" or "Make something with"?

So there was a fill in quiz I had to do, and there was a question it says: > Bill can make a doghouse ___ paper. That's cool. I filled in 'out of'. > Bill can make a doghouse **out of** paper. And my teacher said "No, it's not quite right, it's supposed to be > Bill can make a doghouse **with** paper. _out of_ and _with_ have slightly different meaning." She provided no further explanation. That made me really confused about it. Help?


"Under your sight"

I'm thinking about a motto (slogan) for a company which is trying to give its customers a complete view of the market. I'm thinking of this motto: > Everything, Everywhere, **Under your sight** Is it grammatically correct? I mean, can we use _under_ for _sight_?


using etc. with a list in the middle of a sentence

Is the below syntax correct? > "If the item is unknown, pending, unavailable, etc. please talk to your > administrator."


'pray to someone' vs 'pray someone'

What are the similarities and differences? I had always believed in the first, that 'pray' admits only an indirect object. Yet Google Ngram refutes this. For example, does the following admit of 'prayed to me' instead? Why or why not? > During the reign of Alfred the Great (871–900), for example, a man was > accused of stealing a belt, and one of his accusers tried to claim his land. > One writer of the time recorded that the defendant ‘sought me and **prayed > me** to be his intercessor. Then I spoke on his behalf and interceded for > him with King Alfred’. Source: P47, How the Law Works, Gary Slapper


A proper closing expression for informal email

What is an expression that you can use at the end of an informal email, when you forgot something and want to add it to the email after your signature?


Can "Can you, please, help me" be followed by "as to which"?

Can "Can you, please help me" be followed by "as to which"? For example, > Thanks for telling me which button on that website I need to click. Well, I > clicked on the needed button, but what I got then was a new page written > fully in Korean. I don't read in Korean. I am sending a screenshot of that > page to you. **_Can you, please, help me as to which button there I should > choose now?_** Thank you.


active or passive voice sentence?

Statement : Govt asked about safety of northeast community.


Correct usage of "infringement of copyright"

Does the term _infringement of copyright_ apply in the following situations?   * I am attending a training session conducted by a third-party training company. I want to audio record the sessions. Will this come under infringement of copyright? I would like to raise an another question.   * Say I am attending a meeting in my company. What if I want to record those meetings in my mobile phone for later writing notes? Is this subject to infringement of copyright? I have gone through Wikipedia to find the definition. But these are some situations where I cannot find any real-time references.


Meaning: deconstruct (cooking)?

In cooking what exactly does it mean to deconstruct something? Haven't seen this covered much in dictionaries, etc. edit: as per @Frank's request this is everywhere in cooking recently: > deconstructed shortcake > > deconstructed tiramisu > > deconstructed sauce


Should I use an apostrophe, when the possession appears before the possessive subject?

In the following (poorly written?) sentence: > You improve your co-worker's luck and your **business's**. I want to say that the luck of your business will also be improved... **How do I say this? By putting an apostrophe after "business"?** I'm trying not to repeat "luck".


Word that means common element

What's a word that means "common element"? Cars and Bikes share the common element that they are both wheeled vehicles.


What does "pray" mean in phrases like "pray proceed"?

Is this an archaic form of "please proceed"? I have never heard in in speech but sometimes it appears in novels. My version of "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" is full of it, apparently in place of "please".


Is "should" ever used as past tense of "shall"?

Looking at the dictionary, I read that _should_ has origin as past tense of _shall_. In the modern English, is _should_ ever used as past tense of _shall_? > ORIGIN Old English _sceolde_ : past of _shall_.


How are diminutives formed in recent English words?

A large variety of suffixes were used to form diminutives in English. The Wikipedia page on diminutives shows these:               * -k/-ock/-uck: balk, bollock, bullock, buttock, fetlock, folk, hark, hillock, jerk, mark, mattock (OE mattuc), milk, mullock, pillock, smirk, snack, spark, stalk, talk, whelk, work, yolk     * -n/-en/-on (accusative or feminine): burden, chicken, even, heaven (OE heofon), kitten, maiden, morn, oven, steven, vixen, weapon (OE wæpen)     * -le (defrequentative -l): beetle, boodle, chortle, doodle (shares root with dude, P doudo, dolt, dull, dote, dotterel), fizzle, giggle, kibble, little, mickle, noodle, oodle, puddle, riddle, sparkle     * -ish (disparative): boyish, fiftyish, girlish, largish, mannish, noonish, reddish, smallish, tallish, twelveish, womanish     * -s (degenitive): Becks, Betts, Wills     * -sie/-sies/-sy (babytalk assimilative or from patrici- of Patsy): bitsy, footsie (1930), halfsies, onesies, popsy (1860), teensy-weensy, tootsie (1854), twosies, Betsy, Patsy, Robsy     * -o (American devocative, later Commonwealth): bucko, daddio, garbo, kiddo, smoko, wacko, Jacko, Ricko,     * -er/-ers/-ster (agentive, intensive, hýpocoristic, also elided hrotic -a): bonkers (1948), preggers (1940), starkers (1905), Becker[s], Lizzers, Hankster, Patster     * -a (Geordie assimilative -er): Gazza, Macca     * -z (geordie degenitive -s): Bez, Chaz, Gaz      That same page also contains a list of suffixes of diminutive _loanwords_ , such as:               * -ling (Norse defrequentative-patrinominative): darling, duckling, fingerling, gosling, underling      The suffix _-ling_ , for example, was used to form the following words:   * darling = dear + ling   * sterling = star + ling (from the small star stamped on the coin)   * shilling = shield + ling (?) Most of the words shown above are _old_ words that have been used for centuries. Are there any more recent English words (let's say, from the past few decades) that have been formed with diminutive suffixes? If yes, which words and suffixes are those?


"used word" or "word used"?

> The word used in that context should be gusto.   >  The used word is wrong. Is it correct to place _used_ after _word_? When should I use _word used_ , and when _used word_?


English antonyms to rage, anger, annoyance

I would like to know if there are antonyms to words `rage`, `anger`, `annoyance`. I care about preserving the intensity of opposing words.


Usage of "stood up" to mean "set up"

I was reading this question on meta.ELU and was struck by what, to me, was a strange use of the phrasal verb _to stand up_ : > The site for English Language Learners was **stood up** in large part so > that non-native speakers could have a place where their questions, which > would be regarded by some to be "too basic" for ELU, could ask their > questions. The site was **stood up** in January of this year. Now, to me that means that the poor site was left waiting for someone who never showed up. However, the author of the question (J.R., one of our highest rep users) seems to be using it to mean _was set up_. Is this common usage? Is it from a particular dialect? I have never come across it before and cannot find it in the dictionary definitions that I checked.


What does “to quorble a stank at” mean?

In the foreword to _The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ by Douglas Adams, the following sentence occurs: > You will find quantum tomfoolery, cosmic belly laughs and more absurd one- > liners than you could **quorble a stank at**. I haven’t the slightest notion of what _quorble_ and _stank at_ mean there. Browsing through dictionaries hasn't helped.


Participial clause?

On ELL a user has asked how to parse the emphasized _-ing_ form in this sentence from _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_ : > Harry swung at it with the bat to stop it from breaking his nose, and sent > it **zigzagging** away into the air. I am puzzled how to answer. _Zigzagging_ could be taken as an adjectival participle modifying _it_ ; certainly if you delete _zigzagging_ you're left with _away into the air_ as the ordinary complement demanded by _send_ : you send something **somewhere**. But that isn't how the semantics work for me. _Send_ here seems to me to be a causative and _zigzag_ a non-finite verb, which could be paraphrased with an infinitive: > He sent it zigzagging away into the air = He caused it to zigzag away into > the air.   >  He sent him riding away to London. = He caused him to ride away to London.   >  He sent him packing. = He caused him to pack [ _i.e._ , to hurry away]. Thus _it zigzagging away_ seems to me to be a full clause. But I have not found any formal description of subordinate clauses employing the _-ing_ form where the clause does not act as a nominal, and that is clearly not the case here: ordinary NP complements to _sent_ are Direct Objects and Indirect Objects. So how do Modern Grammars analyze this construction, by what tests do they establish this analysis, and what do they call the construction?


Intention of rising pitches

I have been wondering about the rising pitch used in almost every sentence, by especially young Americans.   1. What is the purpose/intention of rising pitch except in questions?   2. Is it friendly and polite, or condescending?   3. Is it proper to be used in presentation and teaching and other professional occasions? For example: In this video, starting around 0:40, when Amy Chua introduced herself.


How to express the time period between now and a year from now?

I want to say: > "your current quota is one xxx per year" But this is not exactly what I want to express since the year I am referring to is not fixed. That is, user will only be given another allotment after one year has elapsed from the time of last usage, instead of at the start of a new year. How to phrase this elegantly?


Using the pronoun 'one' twice in a sentence for the same person

I often read sentences that use the pronoun 'one' twice to refer to the same hypothetical person, but I've always felt reluctant in using it myself. Here's an example: > One's experiences shape one's expectations. The second _one_ refers to the first, and this meaning is clear from context: Both _one_ refer to the same person. Yet, in this way, the sentence really just says that hypothetical person A's experiences shape person B's expectations (whether or not persons A and B are the same person). Is this kind of construction tolerated or considered bad form?


Is there a word that describes both Spring and Fall, but not other seasons?

"Wet seasons" or "cool seasons" don't apply everywhere, and "equinoctial seasons" blur into Winter. "Isothermal seasons"?


"I said I would/will go" — which one is correct?

> **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Usage of “will” and “would” >   * I said I will go. >   * I said I would go. > Which one is correct?


Difference between "publicly" and "publically"

I know _publically_ appears as an incorrect spelling in most dictionaries (in fact as I type this up on my Safari browser it keeps trying to correct the spelling to _publicly_ ). However I have seen the word spelled in that manner before in certain places so I did a search on Google and found that there is a definition for the spelling _publically_ at dictionary.com and the free dictionary as well. The English wiktionary site considers it an alternate spelling. Are both spellings valid or are there some subtle differences I am missing? Which version would you accept as correct in a spelling bee?


Difference between "random want" and "whim"

What is the difference between the words _random want_ and _whim_? The definition of **whim** can be easily found in the dictionary: > a sudden wish to do or have something, especially when it is something > unusual or unnecessary **Random want** is not on the dictionary. It turns out to be just two words combined together. But it seems to me to have nearly the same meaning as _whim_. I came across this word chunk in the phrase made up by a native American: > They thought the problem to be settled was how on earth to get posters to > understand that CONTEXT is not just some **random WANT** on the part of > those who would like to answer, but an ABSOLUTE REQUIREMENT. But later in the discussion the native speaker writes: > random want fits better than whim , which suggest that there is some difference for him between the words _whim_ and _random want_. So, what is the difference?


A single word for someone who is quick to hate others

What is a single word to describe someone who is quick to hate others? With anger we can say _quick-tempered_ , but what about quick in hating other people/easily hates others. _Hateful_ means full of hate, but doesn't really give the meaning of being quick to hate people.


Grammatical error in following sentence

I am an IT Professional with over 12 years experience in Website Development, IT Management, IT Support and project management. I have the following strap line on my resume > A dynamic, creatively thinking and result-oriented IT professional with 11+ > years of experience in Web Technologies, IT Administration, IT Support and > Database Administration. In Microsoft Word it always shows a green line (like underline) indicating a grammatical error, as shown below. ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/u6bpQ.png) I am not sure how to rephrase it to make it grammatically correct. Help in this regard is appreciated.


Can I use Partty (with double "t") instead of Party?

I am looking for a domain name that ends with Party. However, those names I am looking are already taken. So if I use, lets say , www.WePartty.com (with double 't') instead of www.WeParty.com , would it make a big difference in pronunciation and understanding for English speakers. English is not my first language and it seems okay for me and others whose second language is English. I don't want my website users to get confused. I want them to see it as if the second 't' doesn't exist. Thank you.


The use of "had to"

Does the following phrase mean it must be true? > This fact had to be true. Or it must have been true? I would like a native speaker's opinion on this. I often hear it used in the second interpretation.


Do we have to use any article before job title?

If I have to introduce myself within the organization where I am working what is the correct sentence: I am Senior IT Engineer Or I am a Senior IT Engineer? Also what is the general rule to introduce your job to someone, do we have to use any article before job title?


Gentle scratching

My wife uses her nails to “gently scratch” our 3-year-old son’s back for ~15 mins right before falling sleep. He likes it a lot. There’s a word _škrabkať_ in my native language (Slovak), and I was wondering if there is a similar one in English. Do we _scratch_ our children? Doesn’t it sound weird?


Painting term for the reflective lighting of a surface?

In oil painting especially, I believe there is a technical word for the light that's reflected from one surface onto another (in the scene that's being painted). For example, if there's a reddish-brown rock next to a white wall, the color of the rock is reflected, almost like a glow, off the wall. Likewise, I have some blue boxes under some florescent lights that create a blue glow on the ceiling directly overhead. I'm also interested if there's a corresponding term in physics for this phenomenon.


Why "hoist" in "Hoist with one's own petard"?

_He was hoist with his own petard_ is one of my father's favorite phrases. As a child I had developed a vague understanding of the idiom in which _petard_ was a kind of flag, which is why it was _hoist_ , and being hoist by your own was an unpleasant fate bringing to mind captains being hung from their own ship's mast. I now understand the meaning and origin of the phrase much better and know that a _petard_ was a kind of early bomb and the idiom refers to being injured or killed by your own bomb. I am wondering about _hoist_ though. The Online Etymology Dictionary explains that in this expression, _hoist_ is a past participle. What confuses me is the usage. We would not use _hoist_ to describe being thrown by a bomb today, it brings to mind a controlled movement and does not carry any connotations of speed or violence, quite the contrary: > hoist   > v. hoist·ed, hoist·ing, hoists v.tr.   >  1\. To raise or haul up with or as if with the help of a mechanical > apparatus. See Synonyms at lift.   >  2\. To raise to one's mouth in order to drink: hoist a few beers. v.intr. > To become raised or lifted.   > My question is whether _hoist_ used to have such a connotation. Since the phrase can be traced to Hamlet, was this poetic license or was the word commonly used to describe such violent movement at the time? Did _to be hoist_ mean to die or be injured?


What is correct "Other" or "Miscellaneous"

I'm working on a company Index and want to give users the option to add their company to the index which is categorized by products & sevices. I've got a limited number of main categories and each of them has a limited number of subcategories. Each category is suppose to have a subcategory for companies which don't fit to any of the listed subcategories with the name "Other". I'm using the same logic also for the main categories with a main category called "Other" for companies which don't fit in any of the listed main categories. Example: Main Categories: 1. Cars / 2. Bikes / 3. Other **1\. Cars** Subcategories:   1. Cars / Wheels   2. Cars / Seats   3. Cars / Other (!) **2\. Bikes** Subcategories:   1. Bikes / Wheels   2. Bikes / Seats   3. Bikes / Other (!) **3\. Other(!)** Subcategories:   1. Other / Lawyer   2. Other / Security Systems   3. Other / Other (!) My question is about the word "Other" do I use it correct in this context or should I rather replace it/them with "Miscellaneous"?


real meaning of " i am sorry i love you "

I have seen many cases where people in love mention `I am sorry I love you`. But it might be due to my poor English, I couldn't really understand what they would be referring to. Could you please suggest/tell what could be it?


"Either A, or B, or both"

I want to say that it's possible that at least one of {A,B} is true, and possibly both of them are true. Is it correct to phrase it as "either A, or B, or both are true".


What's it called when someone is crafty and resourceful and creates a solution to a particular obstacle? I saw it somewhere online and blanked on it when I had a golden opportunity. Anyone got me?


Normans vs. Saxons: cow = beef, sheep = mutton, chicken =?

The story goes that after the Norman invasion of England, the words in English for prepared foods took on their French equivalents. The Saxon serfs bred the cows, sheep, and swine, which when served on gilded plates to their Norman rulers were referred to as beef, mutton, and pork respectively, a practice that continues to this day. My question is, why was the humble chicken, a word which does not have a French connection, discriminated against? Why don't we refer to cooked chicken as something like _poulet_? (On the other hand, both _cattle_ and _poultry_ stem from French _chatel_ and _pouletrie_ respectively. Also, I'm guessing that technically, _poulet_ would translate to _fowl_. But, it appears to be the word of choice for chicken in France.)


to locate information

I'm confused by the following sentence: > Will I need to know this particular information again, and if so, will it be > difficult **to locate?** In this sentence, is "to locate" a synonym of "to remember" or "to memorize"?


Is it always possible to say ‘he was (time) in doing’ instead of ‘it took him (time) to do’?

I’m not so familiar with the expression ‘he was (time) in doing’, but it seems to be used here and there and obviously mean ‘it took him (time) to do. When would you want to use the phrase? Are they exchangeable? Here’re the examples. (from Google search) > He threw a famous feast which he was a year in preparing for and invited all > the warriors of Ulster to it but… ( _Harry Potter 3_ [US Version]: p.327) > They reached Hagrid’s cabin and knocked. He was a minute in answering, and…


"Reseller" or "re-seller"?

Which spelling is correct — _reseller_ or _re-seller_? I was writing a question on another Stack Exchange site, and I wrote _reseller_ , but the editor underlined that as an incorrect spelling. Microsoft Word accepts it however, but Microsoft Encarta Dictionary has no entry for _reseller_ , _resell_ , or _reselling_.


What portions of the vernacular were derived directly from popular media?

Once in a great while I stumble across a strange fact about an English phrase or term that originated directly from film or print. For instance,   * "Be afraid. Be very afraid." - Originated from the movie The Fly (1986).1   * The name "Wendy" was a rarely-used name until the _Peter Pan_ character Wendy Darling.2   * William Shakespeare invented a lot of words3a and turned many a phrase3b, including "eyeball," "puking," and "laughing stock." My question is, what are your favorite or most astonishing portions of your vernacular whose origins lie in film, music or print media? Regional or local uses are fine too.


"Dieing" vs "dying"

Which is the formally correct spelling, _dieing_ or _dying_? Is there any history of the alternative spelling? I type _dieing_ naturally, but my spellchecker marks it wrong. This is largely an etymology question in the development of the spelling of the word _dying_ , since when I think of _dyeing_ I see the word meaning _to stain a cloth with colors_.


Some substitution words for "up in the air"?

"Up in the air" is not formal in academic writing. Can anyone provide me another word (as clean as possible, don't use another idiom) which has the same meaning?


Word with three consecutive L's

In a fun discussion, someone used the sentence > That guy is ballless. I can see a slang definition on urbandictionary but this led to a question. Are there words with 3 consecutive l's in them (preferably not scientific words, technical words or abbreviations)?


Can anyone tell me meaning of this paragraph?

> **Possible Duplicate:**   >  Can anyone tell me meaning of given sentence Can anyone tell me exact meaning what this paragraph is trying to say? > Think of a product you would like to sell on the web. Imagine you sell only > predefined packages of various quantities of components. Everything you sell > is red in colour. You will only need three basic components. But you offer > to sell them in four or more different combination packages. I am not able to understand meaning of whole paragraph. In the first sentence, they mention one product, in the second line, they are selling predefined packages of various quantities of components. The fourth line is saying that I need three basic components. The last line is saying to sell them in different combination packages. So what is meaning of this? I got confused trying to understand the meaning. Is it like taking one product, say a tennis ball, and selling them in different quantities like single, 2-ball pack, 5-ball pack? Or taking three different products and selling them in different combination?


Can we regard "lecture" as a monomorphemic word in Modern English?

Judging by the derivative chain lecture appears to be the root itself (comp. lecture, lectur-er, lecture-ship, un-lectur-ed etc.). But I'm not sure if it can be divided by analogy with failure (to fail), creature (to create), departure (to depart) etc. The question is whether "lecture" functions as a monomorphemic or bimorphemic word in Modern English.


Is "I am writing to inform you" awkward or outdated?

I was writing an email, and I started off with > I am writing to inform you of certain errors... However, is this use outdated or awkward in emails (assuming that I don't know the recipient)? What about formal correspondence (e.g. letters)?


"There could" vs. just "could"

In this case I want to match a predicate — a function whose result is always true or false — against a set of number. As an example, given the numbers from 1 to 10, the predicate would be responsible for verify which ones are even. Thus, I want to state that the verification finished, despite of there was more numbers to test. > There could have been more number to verify... or > Could have been more number to verify... Which one of the above quoted sentences is grammatically correct?


What does "I'm all the wiser" means?

What is the meaning of this phrase? > I'm all the wiser for the many wrongs I've done. This is from Armin Van Buuren's _Take A Moment_ song. > Wise - having or showing experience, knowledge, and good judgment. > > Wiser - adjective. Particularly, I'm confused with the form _I'm all the wiser_ — I've never heard someone saying _I'm all the [something]_.


What does "chow-wow" mean here?

I came across a new word while reading Newspaper - **chow-wow**. This context is a Cooking Fiesta workshop happening in the city. **Excerpt from the Newspaper:** > . . . . . "Well, you'll just have to invite me over for dinner so I can > check if you're as good as you claim to be!" piped chef Nikhil in jest, much > in keeping with the **chow-wow** of the event. What does **chow-wow** mean here?


Is there a difference between "for this purpose" and "to this purpose"?

Is there a difference between these two expressions and should one of them be preferred?


Politely asking "Why is this taking so long??"

I am trying to write a business email and, as English is not my first language, I'm having a bit of trouble coming up with a really polite way of saying the following: > Hi, It's been a week since I e-mailed you asking you for the documentation, > and you haven't replied yet. I'm in a hurry, so, would you please send them > to me as soon as possible?" Here's what I've come up with so far: > I am looking forward to receiving these documents, as they are essential to > our development. Would you please forward them as soon as possible? But I feel that "Would you please forward them as soon as possible" is not polite enough. Is it? Are there any other options here?


any relation between "equanimous" and "water"?

Looking at the etymology of "equanimous": > 1600–10; < L aequanimitās, equiv. to aequ(us) even, plain, equal + anim(us) > mind, spirit, feelings + -itās -ity "aequus" sounds a lot like "aqua"... and I can see how calm water is even and plain. is there any relation between the two? if not, where does each come from, if they can be traced further back?


Origin of jive slang

Where did the jive style of slang come from? It sounds pretty funny... specially from that scene in Airplane.


Forgotten usage

Can I say to my friend that, "I have forgotten to bring Sandwich" in the present tense? Is the 'I have forgotten' usage is correct one?


"as to + verb" vs "to + verb"

Are there any differences between these two forms? Example: >   1. "It has been done so **as** \+ to make it easier for academics and > other judges to refer to a particular passage in a judicial decision." > >   2. "It has been done so + to make it easier..." > > Source: P176, Letters to a Law Student by Nicholas McBride


Proper usage of the word "racism"?

It seems that historical definitions of the word "racism" use it to mean something similar to "racial prejudice" and "racial discrimination", without any reference to which race has power or doesn't have power. Whereas there seems to be a growing movement in some sectors to define racism as always being about a race with more power or privilege oppressing a race with less power or privilege in a given society. For example, here was a recent article I read: http://everydayfeminism.com/2013/08/racist-against-white-people/ So, is there any general usage guidance we can give for the word "racism"? Should it now only be used to mean racial oppression of the powerful on the less powerful even though most dictionaries haven't caught up with that sense yet? Or should it only be used in the older sense that most dictionaries list for it? Should it be avoided because of this controversy? Should any user be careful to define his exact meaning if he uses it?


What is the opposite of "avoidance"

I am stuck looking for one word that captures the personal attribute of never avoiding issues; a concise way of saying that one deals with things "head-on" and in a timely manner. I'd also like to phrase it a way that does not rely on a negation, such as "non-avoidant" Update: I wasn't clear enough. The word also needs to describe a positive attribute. Thanks for suggesting "confrontational", which is an antonym, but it sounds negative to aim to be more confrontational. The context for the word I'm looking for is: "Last year I avoided some problems, but this year I resolve to be [insert new word here]". Any ideas?


'Enjoy the rest of your day'. What is the name for such expressions?

Nowadays people everywhere will, after a conversation, invite you to 'enjoy the rest of your day'. When on holiday on one occasion I was urged to 'enjoy the rest of your holiday'. What is the purpose of such expressions which seem to me to be there simply as a way of ending conversations? Is there a name for such things?


When talking about something, where do we place its name in the sentence?

In Computer Science papers (and I'm sure that in papers in many other fields, too), we often have to describe a new tool or method that has a name. Let's talk for instance about Eclipse, and its wide adoption among programmers. Which of these sentences is better?   * The Eclipse development environment has been widely adopted among programmers. _(name first)_   * The development environment Eclipse has been widely adopted among programmers. _(name last)_   * Eclipse, the development environment, has been widely adopted among programmers. _(description between commas)_ Of all three, the first looks better, but why? Also, the last one is similar to this other sentence:   * John, the new intern, was always late. Also, when do I use each of these structures?


Better formulation of "technology helps us to create a better world"

If we (as mankind) want to achieve something like:   * Eliminating poverty   * Allowing as many people as possible to live their lives how they want to then, in my opinion, technology offers many opportunities to mankind. Technology can raise the general wealth, it can accelerate the flow of information, etc. However, so many companies and organisations claim that they are working hard to _improve the world_ or to _help create a better world_. Facebook, Google occasionally claim this, and even FIFA (world soccer association) claims that the World Cup _improves our world_. Is there some formulation of the phrase "It helps us to create a better world" that is   * more original   * less worn out   * less used   * subjunctive ("technology **might** become", "technology **may** be")   * not sounding like from a marketing agency   * not too long The phrase should express that technology **might** be the most important thing that mankind ever tried/achieved; that it **might** be the reason that some day no one on this planet will starve to death or be imprisoned because of his opinion. Please don't discuss whether you think this is true or not. I'm just looking for a phrase that expresses this assumption (or maybe this hope).


"In orbit" vs. "on orbit"

When should one use something like "conducting experiments in orbit" vs. "conducting experiments on orbit"?


The Meaning of "Crew Expendable"?

In a game (Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare), when a soldier (Gaz) asks his commander (Captain Price) about the "rules of engagement," he is answered "crew expendable." As they are fighting on a ship, I have two translations in mind:   1. The ship crew (the enemy) are expendable; i.e. you can kill whomever you want.   2. The team crew are expendable; i.e. the team should fulfill their objective, even at the cost of their lives. Which translation is right?


What is a thorpe?

`#` is an octothorpe `*` is a hexathorpe `+` a quadrathorpe `-` a duothorpe but What is a thorpe??? This question came from an argument in comments on stackoverflow that started over an American calling a `#` a pound sign.


Digital goods' seller-word suggestions

We are creating an online marketplace, so we need some word suggestions.   1. Someone who sells the goods online.   2. Someone who buys the goods online. Given that we already know seller, vendor, customer etc. words; we would like to choose something more creative.


meaning of "yet" "as if"

I don't understand the second part of this sentence: > The Berlin Congress of 1878 and the first set of frontiers drawn on maps > ignored key components of local life, _and **yet** they were drawn **as if** > they represented territorial definitions on the map in human terms_


Is there a regional preference for accenting the first syllable in "finance" vs. the second syllable?

I accent the first syllable in "finance", but I have a colleague who accents the second syllable. The debate in my office (which is strictly American) now falls between people who say accenting the second syllable is "the British way" and those who says it's the "hillbilly way". I've seen this question (UK emphasis on the second syllable vs US emphasis on the first) that seems to indicate that "the British way" might be to accent the second syllable, and I saw that in this question too (First or second syllable accent for "detail"?). Is there a regional distribution of these pronunciations? Is accenting the first syllable considered "American" and accenting the second syllable considered "British" or is it more nuanced than that? I only see the first pronunciation in MW. I think it's the first one at any rate, but dictionary.com appears to list both, with the version accented on the second syllable listed first.


What are the grammatical parts of "You idiot!"?

I've heard native English speakers say "You idiot!". However, is it considered grammatically correct? If so, what are the grammatical parts?


who / how / where / what

There was a question on the test that I was not sure which option was correct. The question is "Fill in the blank choosing the most appropriate word." Duke is not ( ) we think him to be. who / how / where / what It seems to me that "how", "where", "what" could go into the blank, as I thought we could say;   1. We think him to be nice. \--> an adjective "nice" can be replaced with "how."   2. We think him to be a doctor. \--> a noun "a doctor" can be replaced with "what."   3. We think him to be at home. \--> an adverbial phrase "at home" can be replaced with "where." And "who" sounds funny in an ordinary situation because we already know it is Duke. I chose "what" in the end. Will someone please explain to me which one is correct, together with some explanation?


Why do they say "may not" for things which people shouldn't do

I have seen in so many place where they would have mentioned "You may not.." etc for the things people shouldn't do. For eg: in companies where USB is not allowed, they will mention like this "You may not use USB/CD etc", similarly "You may not download free softwares", "You may not tailgate the doors" etc. These all things should be like this right "You should not use USB/CD etc", "You should not download free softwares" etc, this "May not" seems like saying "optional" it may indicate like "people may follow" etc Can anyone guide me in this? I always get confuse in this.


What is the exact meaning of ‘lackadaisical’ in describing the Magliozzis who joked they were about to get “even lazier”

New York Times (June 8) reported that “Hosts of ‘Car Talk’ to retire after 35 years of automotive banter.” and commented that: > “The Magliozzis are the kind of people who wouldn’t care. Famously > lackadaisical, they joked on Friday that they were about to get “even > lazier.” Cambridge online dictionary defines ‘lackadaisical’ as ‘showing little enthusiasm and effort,’ and OALD defines it as ‘not showing enough care or enthusiasm.’ According to these definitions, Magliozzi brothers look like being unenthusiastic and ‘famously lazy’ in keeping their show run. Could it be possible for ‘unenthusiastic and effortless’ (even superficially) hosts to have maintained one of the longest running radio talk shows in the United States? Should I take the meaning of ‘lackadaisical’ as literally as both Cambridge and OALD define? What is the exact meaning of ‘lackadaisical’ being used here?


a complex sentence, and I cannot understand

> The truth is, we are all affected by the people we interact with, many of > whom we don't even know personally we don't know what? those peoples or this truth ?


"Approve (of)," "assent," "consent," and "grant"

I wonder if there is any difference in using _approve (of)_ , _assent_ , _consent_ , and _grant_ as verbs. Can anyone help?


"Proceed" or "precede"

When I use Microsoft Word, it shows me that the word _proceed_ is wrong with the following sentence: > This is the only way I can **proceed** with school and it corrects it to the following: > This is the only way I can **precede** with school Which one is correct?


"In" vs "on" and "below" vs "under"

Which prepositions should I use here ? > Working hours duration time should be below/under the one defined in/on > parameter _default.time_. Here the context was about programming languages parameters.


What do “[People] talk about the baggage,” and “[Candidates] have lots of baggage” mean?

I came across the expression, “People talk about the baggage,” and “[Presidential] candidates have lots of baggage” in Jay Bookman’s article titled “Gingrich, Palin have no shot at being GOP presidential nominee” at ajc.com. (Dec. 28. 2010). What does _baggage_ mean here? Is it political agenda or a promise? By the way, we say “大風呂敷を広げる" or "spread a big Furoshiki" (A large square cloth for wrapping and carrying a bundle) in Japanese when referring to a politician who makes an empty promise to voters. The part in question goes as follows: > Bill Kristol, the Fox News analyst and Weekly Standard editor, made a couple > of predictions on Fox News Sunday about the GOP presidential race: “I think > Newt Gingrich is underestimated. Newt is going to run and Newt will be > formidable. People can talk about the baggage, but lots of candidates have > had lots of baggage, and people think they’re the right guy for the job, he > could do better — and I do think — than people expect.”


Tense used with statistics

I would like to place a statistics in front of the sentence, followed by the agency that has reported it. The findings and reports were done many years ago. Which of the two is correct and why? >   1. Nearly 10 million Americans accept..., the U. S. Office of Public > Affairs reports. >   2. Nearly 10 million Americans accept..., the U. S. Office of Public > Affairs reported. > Likewise, should it be "Americans accept" or "Americans accepted"?


Synonyms and antonyms for "lacking" or "missing" when something is mandatory

I am searching for the correct term usage in my Java code, although you don't need to know anything about programming to answer my question.   * My "something" can be "required" (mandatory) or not (optional).   * If it's required, then I want a term that indicates if it's missing or not   * If it's not required, then it obviously cannot be "missing" I know the terms I stated are "correct" but I'd like to know other synonyms or even antonym that would express that logic better. I thought of "lacking", "absent", or "missing" or the antonyms "filled", "exists", or something like this. I know the semantics are about the same, but I'm sure there's a better way to describe it!


Should "that" or "it" be used in this sentence?

> People say things like ‘all publicity is good publicity’ but that isn't > always true. Should _that_ in the sentence above be replaced with _it_? It's sort of ambiguous as to what _that_ is referring to, isn't it? I meant _that_ to be referring to what's in the quotes, but couldn't someone also interpret it as referring to the whole clause before it? Would it be any better to use _it_? Also, besides the aforementioned ambiguity, is there anything else wrong with that sentence?


You'll have to excuse me, my dear

Here is part of a story. I cannot understand some of it. > Mama tried to remind them what Thanksgiving was really about, but every time > she did, Papa would interrupt. "You'll have to excuse me, my dear," he'd > say. "It's time to water The Giant (The Giant is a pumpkin's name)." I can't understand the sentence, "you'll have to excuse me, my dear," Why is "you'll have to" in front of "excuse me"?


Is 'expanse' an acceptable synonym for 'surface'?


Is there a way to describe a problem that you don't currently know the answer to?

This is easiest described via example. I develop websites for a living and often I'll have a client point out a feature on their website. I can break these situations into two groups: 1) Point out problem and provide solution, e.g. "People are not noticing the blue button enough. Change its color to red." 2) Point out problem and don't provide solution, e.g. "People are not noticing the blue button enough." or even more broadly "we need to improve the blue button" Is there a word, phrase or idiom to describe the second group?


What is the difference between 'roof' and 'canopy'? And would you describe the sky as the roof of the earth or the canopy of the earth? ( _Sky_ meaning everything up to the ozone layer.)


unconventional structuring of sentences

Very often we find sentences which are not structured conventionally in the subject-verb-object format. Here is an example. > When they arrived at the seaside, **out jumped all the children** with a > shout of joy instead of > When they arrived at the seaside, **all the children jumped out** with a > shout of joy Are such sentences grammatically correct?


Is there a word for the decoration on top of a building?

Is there a word that means "the thingy on top of the building"? Like the crescent on a mosque or the cross on a church or the weather-vane on a barn?


Word for people who don't make their deadline

What is the correct word to describe the people who have not finished their work after the deadline? For the antonym, there is _finisher_ , but I can't find * _unfinisher_ in the dictionary.


Is there a saying like "Plum trees bloom most beautifully as they stand and overcome the cold severe winter."? It is a part of Japanese poem translated into English. It basically means a great achievement cannot be conveyed without overcoming great difficulties or sufferings; it is important to keep doing your best even in bad circumstances.


Why “off ” in jerk off, jack off, get off?

I wonder why the particle _off_ is used in these verbs. I know their meanings, but I don’t understand why _off_ is used. Does anyone know why?


"You both ordered drinks" or" You both ordered a drink"

_You both ordered drinks_ or _You both ordered a drink_ or in stated differently: _Both of you ordered a drink_ or _Both of you ordered drinks_ should a drink be in its plural form?


What is "embarrassing" about an embarrassingly parallel problem?

In computer science, a problem that is obviously decomposable into many identical but separate subtasks is called **embarrassingly parallel**. An example is a cryptographic brute force attack, in which the algorithm is to independently try billions of random inputs until one works. But why are they called **embarrassingly** parallel problems? The usual meaning of "embarrassing" doesn't seem to apply here. Wiktionary: > causing embarrassment; makes you feel shy or ashamed; leading to a feeling > of uncomfortable self-consciousness Is high parallelism not a good thing, since it allows you to achieve arbitrary speeds just by scaling up the number of parallel processes? So what is "embarrassingly" supposed to mean here?


Synonym for a pleasurable coming-of-age experience

I’m looking for a word, phrase, or comparison to mean a pleasurable, coming- of-age experience or discovery. Possibly with connotations of surprise or embarrassment. I would really like to be able to compare something to a wet dream, but I suspect that is inappropriate for an audience of potential interviewers. The context: “My discovery of atmospheric science was comparable to a wet dream.”


When can the -ing form of a verb be placed before a noun?

My native-speaker's grammatical intuition tells me that: > There is a **sleeping man** under the tree. is fine but > There is a **fishing man** by the river bank. is wrong. Why? I've thought about this a little, and I've come up with some grammatical hypotheses, but I'd be very grateful if somebody could point me to a general reference on this matter. **Addendum:** Someone asked me what hypotheses I've come up with. I've identified two cases where an _-ing_ modifier can come before a noun:   1. When the _-ing_ acts to modify the noun (like an adjective), rather than describe an action being performed at that time, it goes before the verb. E.g. _flying fish_ , _dancing girl_.   2. When the verb suggests a sensory impression. E.g. _crying baby_ , _shining light_. But there must be at least one more class to account for expressions like _a sleeping man_. **Second addendum:** I should clarify precisely what **fishing man** is supposed to mean. It does not mean _a man who fishes_. That would be taken care of by case 1 of the hypothesis above. The intended meaning is _a man who is fishing_. (Just like _a sleeping man_ is supposed to mean _a man who is sleeping_ rather than _a man who sleeps_.)


In literary terms, what's the best word to describe a collection of locations?

I'm translating a book I wrote some years ago from Portuguese to English, and there's a section that describes the locations, spaces and factions from a specific fictional work. Whats the best word to use for this chapter's title: "Locations & Factions" or "Spaces & Factions"?


What is the difference between the words "as" and "like"

What is the difference between _as_ and _like_?   What is the difference between _such as_ and _like_? > I take many private lessons like (such as) English, French and chemistry.   >  He runs like a horse.   >  He runs as a horse. Are these sentences correct and why?


Baseball metaphor, equivalent to 'lay your body on the line'

The English expression 'you need to be prepared to lay your body on the line' is a football metaphor, referring to the potentially painful act of lying down on the goal line to prevent a goal being scored against you. I have heard there is an American expression which means almost the same thing involving baseball. Can anyone please remind me?


A phrase for "Actions to do"

I want to list some actions that needs to be done and can't find a good phrase for it. I want to write something like: > Now we're creating appropriate elements.   >  Operational summary:   >  1\. doing X   >  2\. Having Y   >  3\. Writing Z What would you suggest instead of "Operational summary"? * * * **Edit #1 (30 Sep, 22:30):**   I should clarify that I have a list of actions that my code does and I want to summarize them by their order.


Is there a concise word or phrase for the action you perform on an option to remove the others?

Say someone is holding a number of items in front of you. What would you call the action you request that they perform to remove all choices but one so that you can examine the item that is left? It is important that the phrase let the other person know which item you want to be left standing. Better, if it makes a difference, what is the action you perform on the object itself to get rid of its siblings? For example, you say "Could you [blank] that item?" and they will remove the others.


Is this usage correct? “versions N and prior”

Or is this correct "version N and prior"? Mainly, I'm asking about this because in > **version** N and prior I think that "versions" are implied by _prior_ , hence one would read it as > version N and _[versions]_ prior while in the first example > **versions** N and prior the usage of "versions" is incorrect since after this we have direct _one version_. First example could be corrected to > versions: X and prior however, without ":" it looks incorrect to me. Thanks for your help.


False premise request

Is there a name to characterize certain requests that look like a good idea at first, but ultimately have a false premise? Example 1: _We need our software product to be extremely configurable!_ Supporting extreme configuration shifts some responsibilities from product designers to end users. It also creates inconsistent user experience, and makes product looks unsure of its own identity. Example 2: _I need real-time stock market data to make better trading decisions!_ Looks like a good idea: a user can react on stock market fluctuations faster than anybody else and beat the market. The truth is that they will be picking up more noise and making bad decisions. Those were just examples, I'm not looking for arguments on those statements.


Irregular verbs in English

The English language has a huge number of irregular verbs(~470). This is significantly more than other languages e.g. French (~130), German (~200) Irregular verbs make the English language notoriously difficult to learn for non-native speakers. And yet English is arguably the most spoken language internationally: > Modern English, sometimes described as the first **_global lingua franca_** > , is the **dominant language** or in some instances even the **required > international language** of communications, science, information technology, > business, seafaring, aviation, entertainment, radio and diplomacy. > > **-Wikipedia("English Language")** (Emphasis mine) My question is: Why is there no move to introduce regular versions of verbs as acceptable alternatives of irregular ones? Could we even _drop_ the irregular verbs all together? Is it simply a case of tradition? Or is it impossible to forcibly manipulate a language- what has history taught us?


Origin of "make ends meet"

Wondering why _make ends meet_ means to _have enough money to live on_. I am interested in knowing the origin of the idiom. Can anyone help me on this?


Is this usage correct? "Please get your parents to come tonight"

Are all of these correct? > Please get your parents to come tonight.   >  Please have your parents to come tonight.   >  Please ask your parents to come tonight. And which is most suitable to sound more pressing and urge that person?


Pronunciation of "Paraguay"

The English article for Paraguay in Wikipedia mentions that _Paraguay_ is pronounced as /ˈpɛərəɡweɪ/, which matches the pronunciation recommended by Merriam-Webster. However, inogolo recommends /paɾaˈɣwai/ which is similar to the Spanish and Guarani pronunciations. I have heard both pronunciations in the U.S. but I could not find the preferred pronunciation in other places. Although I am a native Spanish speaker, I prefer /ˈpɛərəɡweɪ/ since it seems more natural in U.S. English. This is analogous to pronouncing Florida as /ˈflɒrɪdə/ instead of the Spanish-based /flo.ˈri.da/. Does one region prefer one pronunciation over the other? Is there a pronunciation that is preferred overall? This question also applies to the pronunciation of _Uruguay_.


'have been' vs. 'went' with time words

Sometimes I see the following in ESL learners' writing: > I **have been** to America **two years ago**. Am I correct in saying that it should be: > I have been to America. > > I went to America two years ago. My own understanding is that time periods aren't used with 'have been', but is this correct? Thanks in advance!


What is the word for "idiosyncrasies of a specific group"?

The word _idios_ comes from Greek, meaning _one's own_. Can I use "idiosyncrasies of [group]", despite the subject being a group rather than an individual?


Just-in-time jobs

What is the meaning of the term _“just-in-time jobs”_? Of my dictionaries, both Macmillan and Oxford have a definition of _just-in-time_. Macmillan says that it means: > bought, sent, or produced at the last possible time Meanwhile, Oxford says that _just-in-time_ is: > denoting a manufacturing system in which materials or components are > delivered immediately before they are required in order to minimize storage > costs But I still cannot ascertain the meaning of _“just-in-time jobs”_ as a phrase.


What are correct words to use in order to name a user that updates something?

I would like to find correct words to use in order to name a user that updates something. That is, if for a user that creates something I say "creator user", what may I say for a user that updates something? For example, is "updater user" correct?


what part of speech is "fun" in the sentence below

> **"Hiking is fun"** **Hiking** = Gerund **is** = Verb **fun** = ? Is it an adverb or noun?


Job Position term

Anyone from the corporate world, what do you call someone who talks to possible clients (or apply to jobs for a client?!), and seals the contract on the owner's behalf? Does this position exist? Lol.


What is it called when someone says something like: "I'm not a racist, but..."

Other examples are: > I'm not sexist but ( _sexist comment_ ) > > Not to be a dick, but ( _dick comment_ ) > > No offense, but ( _offensive comment_ ) And so on... where they are trying to excuse themselves from what they are about to say? What is the name of these kinds of statements?


What is the difference between a 'rocket' and a 'missile'

Someone pointed out on the BBC News that the Malaysian plane was hit not by a 'rocket' but by a 'missile'. From the dictionary definitions I have looked up I cannot tell the difference. **Missile** _An object which is forcibly propelled at a target, either by hand or from a mechanical weapon._ **Rocket** _a cylindrical projectile that can be propelled to a great height or distance by the combustion of its contents..._ Oxford Dictionary of English Is it therefore the case that a rocket is always a missile, but that a missile is not necessarily a rocket? A cricket ball can be regarded as a missile but is clearly not a rocket. But why could the type of weapon which it is believed brought down Flight MH17 not be described as a 'rocket'?


Word for a false definition used for comedic effect

Is there a word for a false definition given in jest? I don't know if such a word exists, but I'm interested to know it if it does. An example of what I mean would be: > _Politics_ \- a latin word stemming from   >  _Poli-_ -- meaning many   >  _Ticks_ -- meaning blood-sucking butt lumps Or this snippet about oil: > ALL - noun. A petroleum-based lubricant.   >  Usage: "I sure hope my brother from Georgia puts _all_ in my pickup truck."


"How it feels like" vs. "What it feels like"

I am not a native English speaker, and I'm always confused by people saying or writing > "How it feels like" It doesn't sound right to me, and I am always trying to correct it to > "What it feels like" Is it correct to say "How it feels like", or should it be "What it feels like"? ![enter image description here](http://i.stack.imgur.com/iTVnA.jpg)


Need help with the phrase "Travel broadcasting platform"

we're trying to develop the social media sharing platform. It is a niche- oriented application which is thought to resolve the needs of travellers during the trip. The content created during the travel is shared in the form of story. Trying to describe the application in a short and concise way we ended up with this phrase: > APP-NAME is the travel broadcasting platform Or can we say? > Welcome to the travel broadcasting platform Some questions:   * Does it make any sense to you?   * And especially does it transmit the idea I've described before? Thank you!


"Raising your voice". Correct definition and usage

1. Raising your voice is speaking loud and clear (with emphasis), to point something out, mostly in a discussion (e.g. out of excitement).   2. Raising your voice is speaking loud and clear, sharp, more of less angry/aggitated. I strongly believe option 1 is the only correct definition. I refuse to believe you can only raise your voice in anger. Enlighten me!


A word or phrase for "The problem solved itself"

Whenever we close a support ticket at my company, we note the resolution to the problem so that future technicians can see what we did to solve the issue. We also send the resolution to the customer so that they can see what we did to fix the problem. On occasion, the problem will be fixed but we do not know why. We usually put "the problem has been resolved", but this doesn't really give any information to someone looking at the ticket in the future. I'm looking for a word or phrase that means essentially, "The problem fixed itself", "We don't know how this was fixed", or "We don't have a resolution, but it works". The issue with these phrases is that if a customer reads them, they might feel like we're incompetent, or that the issue isn't fixed.


"Imperial Japanese Navy" or "Japanese Imperial Navy"?

Is it "Imperial Japanese Navy" or "Japanese Imperial Navy", and why?


Are these hyperboles?

I have to write a diary entry in the perspective of Romeo about Juliet. We just finished act 1. so are any of these hyperboles ?   * When she walks outside, nature stops for a second to admire her beauty.   * She is perfect in every way.   * My love for Juliet is one that is impassable.


Origin of "pay a visit"

Where did the phrase _pay a visit_ come from? Sometimes I hear instances of conversations like > I **paid a visit** to the local cemetery to see my granddad's > tombstone/grave or something like that. Normally, I don't think you'd pay to go through a cemetery, but, oh well.


Origin of the phrase "on the wrong side of history"

I've been hearing the phrase "on the wrong side of history" a lot lately, most recently today when President Obama said that Russia was on "the wrong side of history" for its actions in Ukraine. There is already a question about the meaning of the phrase, but I'm wondering about the origin. When was this phrase first used, and where did it come from?


The meaning of “riddle me that”

In a course of philosophy I heard “I mean it’s not like you’re going to fall asleep already, riddle me that”. My dictionary gives me only the noun’s signification “mystery”. but I guess it is used her as a verb. It’s mean something like “make that mysterious”?


Is the “the Boredom Room” the best translation of Japanese employment jargon, “Oidashibeya” - the special section or unit to pen unwanted employees?

New York Times (August 16) carries an article reporting Sonny’s case of establishing “the boredom Room” to accommodate ‘regular' employees whom they want to get rid of under the title, “Layoffs taboo, **Japan workers are sent to the Boredom Room**.” http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/17/business/global/layoffs-illegal-japan- workers-are-sent-to-the-boredom-room.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Ahead of this article, the Asahi, a leading Japanese newspaper ran a campaign recently against the prevailing practices of Japanese big companies such as Panasonic, Sonny, Toshiba, Sharp, NEC, Ricoh, Fuji Zerox, IBM Japan and Asahi Life Insurance installing so-called “追い出し部屋 - Oidashibeya (chase-out room by its literal translation)” to streamline workforces under the titles of “Career Challenge Program,” “Career Development (Design) Room,” and “New Business Exploitation Room.” As the firing and layoffs of regular employees for the employers’ one-sided reasons or convenience is strictly restricted by law, big companies have worked out the idea of setting up “chase-out room,” where they pen employees whom they no longer want to keep and wait them voluntarily leave the company. ‘Oidashibeya’ is not necessarily “boredom room” where occupants are not given job assignment. They are more often given never-achievable, heavy work quota on the contrary, and demanded by the managers to achieve it, or resign the company. I don’t know whether such cruel labor conditions and irregular working system exist in any of English speaking countries or not. But I’m curious to know what is the right English counterpart to the word, ‘Oidashibeya’– chase (or force)-out room aside “Boredom Room,” which reflects only an aspect of the cruelty of ‘Oidashibeya.’ P.S. I was surprised to see an inhuman description of reassignment unit which I’d never fancied when I was in office in this article. It says: “The United Auto Workers and automakers had created, under union contracts, places where idled **workers were** essentially **warehoused**.”


"Reward" vs. "award" vs. "prize"

Got the following from this link. >   * Award (n): a recognition of a personal achievement, e.g. a scholarship > for winning a science fair, a plaque for volunteering 100 hours of community > service >   * Reward (n): compensation or incentive for doing something, e.g. cash for > returning a lost wallet, getting to stay up late for tidying one's bedroom. > So, is there anything different for _prize_ too? And what about _medal_? How are these words different from each other? Are there any particular reasons a committee might use one word instead of another when naming a particular achievement?


What is a word or a phrase that means "interactive and amusing stuff?"

I am redesigning my website to have fewer categories, but I am running into problems with the "Games" category. I have a few things that are interactive, and fun, but not necessarily games. For example, a fireworks simulator. I am trying to find a word that means "fun interactive stuff," or "games and other amusement." It needs to be fairly short, because it needs to fit in one of my tabs, so it can't be more than 15-20 letters or so. I was thinking about "interactivity," but that doesn't really capture what the category is about (interactive and _fun_ stuff). Just "fun" might work, but I think it's too vague. Music, video, etc. can be fun, too. A phrase would work too, as long it's not _too_ long.


"Place the television on/in the left corner and sofa set at/in the right corner"

One question came in my exam: > We've decided to place the television _on/in_ the left corner and sofa set > _at/in_ the right corner of the room. For non-livings there should be a common preposition. Unfortunately, I have two English teachers and their answers contradict. One says in both cases _in_ should be used, and the other says for television it's _on_. Could anybody explain?


"Consists of" vs. "consists in": different meanings of the verb, or the same meaning applied differently?

Mark Twain said, > Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how > little we think of the other person. Could he have used _consists of_ there instead of _consists in_ and still meant the same thing? In other words, are there a nuances to the word _consist_ that shade the meaning in such a way that a different preposition is desirable? Note that a search of the corpus shows _consists in_ steadily declining since the 19th century (Twain's), and _consists of_ may be supplanting it in all meanings.


"It's all academic"

What exactly does 'It's all academic' mean when referring to the closing moments of a sports game? You'll often hear 'This one's academic!' or 'It's all academic from this point forward' or 'It's all academic.' Does it mean anything, or is it purely meaningless jargon?


Definite article — “on television” vs. “on the radio”

Why are these different? >   * We heard the news _on **the** radio_. >   * We watched the news _on television_. > In this book, the author says we must use _television_ without _the_. Why? It makes me crazy. Is there a valid reason?


Implication of "Everything is relative"

Does the phrase “It's all relative” mean that everything is quantifiable in terms of individual perception or opinion? In other words, we all have different opinions or viewpoints with regard to a topic or subject. Examples, to me, would be: > I think it's cold out; he thinks it's actually quite mild. > > I think Martha is fairly attractive; he thinks she's quite homely. > > I think that The Beatles were the greatest rock band in history; he thinks > the Rolling Stones are. > > She thinks Obama's budget plan will save millions of dollars in the long > run; he doesn't. Am I on track here?


"Making casts of the melted spaces"

How to understand the word "cast" here? > The modern British artist Helen Chadwick invented a winter game by urinating > in the snow and _making casts of the melted spaces_. Source: The Guardian The "cast" could be a flower, a fish, or whatever. Why call them casts but not images, pictures, scenes, or snow works or something else?


Etymology of "vestige"

The origin of _vestige_ is said to be "from French, from Latin vestigium 'footprint'". _vest-_ means clothes, so does this prefix apply to _vestige_ ?


Good movies for learning English

Sometimes, I find it easier to learn so many English vocabulary and expressions and usage by watching movies. If you're a non-native English speaker, you probably noticed some of them that help you learn. What are good movies you watched that are great for learning English? (Expressions, usage, etc.) For example, in the movie _The Social Network_ , I think some of the dialogue is quite intense. Great for English listening skill training if you watch it without subtitles. **Update:** Someone already asked "Films/Series that are extremely good to understand (and that are not…)". But I'm looking for those who are not just easy to understand, but also rich with more advanced English vocabulary, expressions and usage. * * * > This question exists because it has historical significance, but it is not > considered a good, on-topic question for this site, so please do not use it > as evidence that you can ask similar questions here. > > More info: http://english.stackexchange.com/faq


How can I call these symbols in English?

I'm a programmer and I wonder how I can call these symbols in English:   * ~   * |   * ^   * `


Single word to express an object having a larger radius

If one circular object A (such as a hair rubber band) has the same radius at rest as another B, but stretches to a larger radius than B is able to, is there a way to say "A is xxxxxer than B"?


How derogatory is “chicks” when used to refer to women?

A comment in “What is a feminine version of _guys_?” got me wondering: how derogatory is the use of _chicks_ to refer to women (either in general, or to a specific group). To me (I'm a man), it was quite disrespectful, so that it may be some slang term you use with male buddies (“See the hot chick over there?”), but I would not use the term in presence of women: neither in direct address (“Hi chicks!”, as I would say “Hi gals!” to a group of friends) nor when referring to other women. How derogatory is _chick_? In what contexts would you use it, as a man? And when used by a woman?


What is the difference between "in" and "within"?

It seems they can be used interchangeably but I am not sure. Can somebody explain the difference of use between these two key words? Where do they become different?


Better wording for "Among other [stuff]"

I have the following problem. I need to say > Among other information, [the message] will contain information about the > following... I don't like the repetition of "information" here. I thought of > Among other stuff, [the message] will contain information about the > following... I don't like the non-technical "stuff" here. I also tried > Among everything else, [the message] will contain information about the > following... > > Among other things, [the message] will contain information about the > following... I don't like these either, perhaps because the message contains only information, so other things or everything else actually means other information, but using that leads to repetition (see first example). There is a noun in Russian - прочее - which means other things, other stuff. So in Russian, I would be able to say Среди прочего [ = among other, ...]. Unfortunately, in English I can't say > Among other, [the message] will contain information about the following... When I think about it, it seems that part of the problem is that information is uncountable. If there was a countable noun instead, I'd write, for example, > Among others, the following animals are kept in our zoo. meaning > Among other animals... But with information it doesn't work this well. So can you help me express what I want to express (which I hopefully made clear)?.


Once a super computer, but now no longer?

Is there a word that specifically means or makes reference to a computer that was once considered a super computer in its time, but due to rapid technological advancements, is no longer considered one? Edit: aparrently not. I say we make one.


What is a feminine version of "dude"?

OK . . . another one similar to "What is a feminine version of 'guys'?" "Dude" is masculine; what is the feminine version? The usage I'm thinking of is that "dude" nowadays is used primarily as a way to address a person very colloquially, e.g.:   * "Dude, why are you squirting rubbing alcohol on the grill to start it up?"   * "Dude, pass me a brew." Again as in the other "guys" case, it might be culturally acceptable to say "dude" to a female, but I'm not sure, and it feels a little wrong (and has for 30 years). So what are some suggestions for acceptable female-gendered alternatives?   * babe: might work, but sounds a little too diminutive (or does it?)   * dudette: cute, but hasn't caught on (but could it?) Australians have "bruce" and "sheila" (I hear from the movies) but that just doesn't fly in AmE (and maybe that's already out of fashion). What do Californians say (as "dude" in my description seems to come from there)? What do the surfers say? Any suggestions? It may be the suggestion is that there is no perfect parallel.


Is my sentence a run-on?

Is the following sentence acceptable? The method of invariantly embedding linear orders into ultrapowers is used to find 20 pairwise nonhomeomorphic contonua in BR, under the assumption that the Continuum Hypothesis fails.


comma before "if you will"?

Should I set off the phrase "if you will" at the end of sentence with a comma? I can't seem to find this in any of the grammar and punctuation sites. It seems to be widely used. I come across it in my transcription work frequently.


Using "and" to end a list with an "and" phrase

I'm proofreading a document in which the author ends a lot of lists with phrases like this: We analyzed the responses of students studying: health, sciences and technology, law and economics, **and** human **and** social sciences. Usually when I come across lists that end with two words that need to be connected by "and", I usually just substitute "as well as" or something like that. But I'm not sure if there's a standard rule for these kinds of situations. In this particular paper, there are many examples that aren't very easy to fix this way. What's the rule?


Have you a beef with me?

This is a curious idiomatic expression that I love. Is it more British or US in usage? But mostly, where does this "beef" come from?


Answering a negative question with one word

There has been talk of how to answer a negative question without ambiguity, most often with a qualifying phrase needed for clarification. (For example, "yes, I do"/"no, I don't.) I've noticed that other languages have a single word to address a negative question on the contrary. In German, _ja_ means _yes_ and _nein_ means _no_. Alternatively, _doch_ is used to respond in the positive to a negative question, in essence meaning "No, I intend to do the opposite of what your question presumes." Take for example the question, "You don't want to go to the movie then?" German speakers could simply reply, "nein" if they don't want to go or they would say "doch" if they did want to go; an unambiguously positive response to a negatively phrased question. No need for, "no, I actually would like to go" or "yes, I'll come actually". In French, the respective equivalents of _ja, nein,_ and _doch_ are _oui, non,_ and _si_. I imagine many other languages contain this set as well. I am wondering whether there was at one time an equivalent word in the English language that has since (unfortunately) disappeared. Any ideas?


a single word or short desciption of a person projecting delusional selflessness after hurting someone

What would be a good way to describe a person who is projecting delusional selflessness ? Example would be: Person "A" hurts you. When you try to take revenge they say they are the ones who have the higher moral ground because they wont be "fighting back" and they are not doing so because they are selfless and their love and concern for you is stopping them from "fighting back". If they were selfless and had their love and concern as a priority they should not have "done something not so right" ( I am not interested in debating this scenario, just want a short description for future reference that is all) Is Delusional passive aggressive righteousness a good choice ?


Why is bread uncountable? How do you describe the "three breads" in the picture?

In this picture there are "three breads", but they are not loaves because loaves can be cut into pieces, and they are not slices either because they weren't cut with a knife. ![http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/kozzi/kozzi1209/kozzi120900081/15267167-three- breads-on-a-wooden-plank.jpg](http://i.stack.imgur.com/gFaI2.jpg) So the only way to refer to them is three pieces of bread? Can the word servings be used?


Pure verbal nouns/deverbal nouns vs. gerunds

This is a follow-up to a previous question which I am still trying to understand. I think I'm making progress in my understanding, but I would appreciate feedback to help me refine my thinking. Here is the sentence: Good writing requires hard work. Originally, I thought that "writing" was acting as a gerund in this phrase. After reading through the replies to that question along with backposts related to gerunds, I've since concluded that "writing" in this sentence is a pure verbal noun, also termed a deverbal noun. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbal_noun My reasoning? -In the sentence above "writing" is modified by "good" and is thus acting more like a noun than a verb. -It has no direct object. **Is my thinking correct here? If not, could someone politely help me to refine it?** However, what if I had written: "Writing well requires hard work." or "To write well requires hard work." In these examples, I'm thinking that "writing" would be a different kind of verbal noun-- a non-finite verb acting as a gerund or infinitive, which is one piece of a larger complement noun clause. The last bit is muddy for me, but I will leave it at that. Thank you in advance for your patience and insight.


How do you address clergy in a given circumstance and manner?

I want to ask a question about using titles, but I think it is too broad to be asked here. My question is this: under what circumstance and in what manner should you address Christian clergy? Do you address them by their personal titles, such as mister, mistress, or miss? Do you address them by their professional titles, such as Doctor or Professor, if they happen to have a PhD degree in Theology? Do you address them by "Your Eminence" or "Your Reverence" or "Your Grace"? Or maybe all those titles apply to formal situations, so in informal situations, you simply refer to them by their personal names, even though you would never address a professor by his/her first name or last name without the "Professor" as a prefix? I also wish to know how to address Buddhist and Taoist and Jewish and Muslim clergy.


"win" vs. "win out" in their transitive forms

Is there a hairbreadth of difference between saying "he won the race (or the battle, the fight, etc.) and "he won out the race (...)" either in a literal or figurative sense, or does it all mean just about the same? E.g. > The company won the race to be first in the "smart watch" category.source > > Bell only won out the race for mass installation and patent > rights.>sub>source > > Luckily, my immune system won out the fight against germs.source>/sub> > > Schumacher has already won the fight against pneumonia.source>/sub>


What does “tell someone to hard-delete” mean?

I posted a question about the meaning of ‘hit Delete’ a couple days ago. Now I came across another texting word, “hard-delete” in the headline of Maureen Dowd’s article dealing with Anthony Weiner’s sexting scandal, “Time to hard- delete. Carlos Danger” in today’s New York Times. She wrote; > “Yet, while married to the classy, gorgeous mother of his infant son and > planning a redemptive run for mayor, he told a Facebook friend and phone-sex > partner he had never met that he loved her. Then **he told her to “hard- > delete”** all their correspondence — if that is what you call it.” I can understand ‘hard to delete memory, stigma, and scandal.’ But I puzzle over what “tell someone to hard-delete correspondence” means, because Dowds deliberately adding to “if that is what you call it.” Though I guess “hard-delete” is a computer or texting lingo meaning to remove all messages or memory from the hardware, i.e, PC (or mobile), what does “tell someone to hard-delete “exactly mean? Is it a verb established as computer word?


Why do Americans call hair that turns white "gray hair" not "white hair?"

I searched on YouTube for the reason why hair turns white then I found that Americans called it gray hair not white hair. In my opinion, its color is white so I don't understand why they call it gray hair.


difference between "help to live longer" and "help live longer"

Is there any differnce in the meanings and/or nuances between the following two sentences?   1. Exercise helps to live longer.   2. Exercise helps live longer.


Mars Anniversary

Does a word already exist for the anniversary of an event as measured by the orbital period of another planet? For example, (as of today on Earth) Curiosity Mars Rover has been on Mars for one Mars year, but that's 687 Earth days – nearly two Earth "anniversaries".   1. Does the term "anniversary" have an explicit "on Earth" denotation? In other words does the prefix "ann(o)-" mean _Earth_ year, or can it mean "year" for any given orbital body?   2. Is the simplest way to express this "Mars anniversary", or is there a suitably understandable term?


What does “Barack Obama, circa 2008, may have just clinched the Republican nomination for President in 2012” mean?

I assume native speakers have no problem at all with the beginning lines of the following paragraph of the article titled “In Primary Victory Speech, Mitt Romney Echoes Barack Obama’s 2008 Message” in today’s (April 25) Time magazine. But to me, a non-native English speaker, the line in bold below is confusing. > **Barack Obama, circa 2008, may have just clinched the Republican nomination > for President in 2012.** Mitt Romney doesn’t look like Barack Obama. And > they don’t share a governing philosophy. But when Romney claimed his title > as presumptive nominee on Tuesday night, the former Massachusetts governor > made clear his belief that Obama’s 2008 message of hope for American rebirth > could work again in 2012. Why does Barack Obama, who is a Democratic-party President, need to clinch the Republican nomination for President in 2008, or 2012 whichever? Can you paraphrase the first line so that even a beginning English learner can understand?


Why is the phrase 'Should we not' a Positive assertion?

This phrase is asking the listener to take action in the positive to help our neighbors. > "Should we not stand by our neighbors who seek to better their conditions in > Kansas and Nebraska?" Switching _should_ to a different place now asks the listener to **NOT** help out. > "We should not stand by our neighbors who seek to better their conditions in > Kansas and Nebraska?" How is _should_ and _not_ working in this sentence to change the request of the speaker?


Which one is correct? Using "were" multiple times

Which form is correct? > His palms were sweaty and fingers trembling, but... or > His palms were sweaty and fingers **were** trembling, but...


Is there a fallacy which describes incorrectly correlating the consequences of a decision to the quality of the decision?

EG say a sports team makes a terrible trade and loses their best player. Player then gets injured on new team. That injury doesn't make the decision to trade a good one... I feel like there is a fallacy or some false logic for this... just on the tip of my tongue... but I'm drawing a blank, and so is everyone I've asked (including some English majors). ### Update 1: I should include more examples:   * Bob is a college student who decides to stay up all night partying even though he has a midterm early the next morning. This is clearly a bad decision. However while at the party he meets Joe. Joe has an idea for a business, and after talking with Bob, the two of them start a business, and make millions of dollars. Just because Bob's decision to party all night resulted in making millions of dollars, it does not make the decision a good one.   * George is broke, he has enough money to buy food for the day, but instead George decides to feed his gambling addiction, and buy a lottery ticket. This is clearly a bad decision. However George ends up winning the lottery, and has enough money to never go hungry again. Just because George's decision to buy a lottery ticket instead of food _resulted_ in making millions of dollars, it does not mean that the decision he made to _buy_ the ticket when he did with the knowledge he had was a good decision.   * John is late to work, but decides to stop for a nice long breakfast at a diner on the way. This is clearly a bad decision, because his boss has made it clear to him that he will be fired if he is ever late again. While at the diner, John meets Emily. Emily and John fall madly in love with each other, and make each other more happy than either of them could imagine. They live happily ever after. Despite the ultimately positive outcome of John's decision, based on what he knew at the time the decision to stop for breakfast was still a bad decision.


Short phrase for "things I did (wrote, drew, created, etc) when I was younger"?

What's a one or two word phrase that conveys the meaning "These are some things that I did when I was younger."? The context is a blog that features Writings, Photography, and Artwork. The short phrase will be used as a possible category of the blog's posts.


Are there synonyms for "love marriage"?

I was fascinated by an answer to a comment question I asked under _Is the term “would-be” just an Indian usage or universal?_ about a term for a non-arranged marriage in India. _Love marriage_ was the answer—rife with implications. Are there other English terms or phrases that convey the same meaning as _love marriage_? I'm wondering specifically about regional terms that define an engagement or marriage in opposition to those that are arranged.


noun-modifier word order in 'date certain'

One will occasionally hear the term `date certain` (meaning 'a fixed, definite date') in legal or business contexts. e.g., > The Courts have continually emphasized that the Act demands primary NAAQS > achievement by a date certain. How long ago does this usage date to and how did it get its unusual word order? (I am guessing a calque from French). I have made good faith efforts to learn the answer by myself, documented here, with no success.


Capitalizing a lower case screen name at the beginning of a sentence

When starting a sentence with a lower case pseudonym, such as a screen name of a user account on a website, should it be capitalized? Or are there different cases where it would and would not be appropriate to do so? My curiosity was sparked by this meta EL&U page where a user comments that he does not mind if his name is lower-cased or not. Are there any established standards on this practice?


What is a rhetorical concession?

For context: > The expression is used to bring up an unsatisfactory aspect of the seemingly > agreed statement, thus it is a _rhetorical concession_. It's explaining a construct in Chinese Mandarin.


When talking about decades, is it correct to write "90's" with an apostrophe?

When referring to decades such as the nineties, is it correct to write 90's with an apostrophe?


Help identifying an error type "tried to help me learning"

I have a friend from Russia who is trying to learn English and recently used the sentence "He tried to help me learning..." (implied: the English language) It is obviously wrong and I corrected it telling her that she was supposed to say: "He tried to help me learn.", but I have a hard time explaining to her _why_ it is incorrect since I'm not an expert on grammar either. Is it a case of confusing the present simple and present continuous or does it have something to do with gerunds and infinitives? Any help would be highly appreciated!


Best way to say something affects another but only moderately?

There is a saying that "Correlation does not imply causation." I am trying to find the best way, preferrably in a word or short phrase, to explain when one thing really does have a causal effect on another, but the effect may not be strong. This might be more clear with examples. People tend to get better with experience, so years of experience really might cause someone to be more skilled. But there are so many other factors (intensity of that experience, amount of study and practice, etc.) that the effect of experience might easily get swamped out and someone with fewer years of experience might be more skilled. Similarly, exercise can help cause weight loss. But diet and genetics often play a bigger role than amount of exercise in determining how much someone will weigh. One phrase that I think comes close to my meaning is "loosely coupled", but I don't think that quite captures it and for people with a software development background it will carry a very specific meaning. So what is the best way to express this?


Is there a word for left-to-right and top-to-bottom?

When I was learning about web design, and I remember similar things from art classes, people said that the eye sees things the most on a page which are in a line from the top-left to bottom-right corners. Is there a word or phrase for that line? I've heard "order of the occident" to refer to the order western text is written, but that's not really the same thing. EDIT: So I tried this question on UX, and there is a design term for it: "Gutenberg Diagram", sometimes called a "Gutenberg Diagonal". There doesn't seem to be a single non-industry word for the pattern, however.


What does “have a pastrami on wry” mean?

I was drawn to the expression, “I wish I could have pastrami on wry“in the beginning sentence of Maureen Dowd’s article, titled “Still mad as hell” in New York Times (February 8): > "I often wonder what Paddy would think. **I wish I could have a pastrami on > wry** with the late writer and satirist at the Carnegie Deli and get an > exhilarating blast of truth about “the atomic, subatomic and galactic > structure of things today.” What would Paddy Chayefsky make of Kim > Kardashian?" > > http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/opinion/sunday/dowd-still-mad-as- > hell.html?hp&rref=opinion Though it appears to me the word, “wry” being used as a noun in the above sentence, none of Cambridge, Oxford, and Merriam -Webster English dictionary shows “wry” as a noun. CED defines it only as an adjective: (before noun) showing that you find a bad or difficult situation slightly funny.” OED defines it as an adjective:   1. using or expressing dry, especially mocking, humor: example wry smile, wry comments   2. (of a person’s face or features) twisted into an expression of disgust, disappointment, or annoyance.   3. archaic (of the neck or features) distorted or turned to one side: Merriam-Webster defines it as a verb:   1. (vi) twist, writhe.    2. (vt) to pull out of, or as if out of proper shape :  and adjective:   * humorous in a clever and often ironic way.   * showing both amusement and a feeling of being tired, annoyed, etc. Here are my questions:   1. What does “I wish I could have pastrami on wry“ mean? Is it a Dowd’s usual lingo? Does “wry” here mean twist or irony?   2. Can “wry” be used as a noun as well as wryness?


Word for journey to mastery

I'm looking for a word that sums up one's journey from beginner to master in any given field. Let's say there's a pianist who practiced from childhood 10 hours a day for 20 years to become a master. What would that journey be called? Archaic/nonstandard words are fine.


What do you call those high areas that give you a full view of the city?

A place where you could sit and see something like this (with a fall if you step further): ![Sorry, since I don](http://i.stack.imgur.com/GEqV5.jpg) (Not looking for a technical term, just a common one).


against all odds

What is a simple definition or phrase to replace this idiom, "against all odds"? I could use despite all difficulties but it's too difficult for my 5-6 year old kids to understand. My sentence is as follows. In all his trials he trusted God; to help him through against all odds. Appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!