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There's anagrams, lexigrams, palindromes and many others... But is there a name for words that have the same "size"/"length" (number of characters)? For instance, "car" and "bat" both have 3 characters. "Eggs" and "near" both have four. Is there a special word for the size/length-based relationships these words share? | " Homomegete ", from μέγεθος = size ; in French "homoméguète". | Name for words with same number of letters (size)? | english |
I'd like you to ask if it's ok to use the word "coon" as part of a company name? The website isn't related to racoons at all, but has a racoon head in the logo. Will it offend visitors? As a foreigner I don't get all the finer points of the English language. | Probably the most sensible thing to do in this situation if you want a racoon-themed corporate identity would be to keep the "ra" in "racoon". The word "coon" is in fact highly offensive to black folks in the USA, and there are frankly a lot of people here who have never seen a real-live racoon and never heard the word... | Using the word "coon" as part of a company name | english |
For example, when using "since", you should use "present perfect": Mr Smith _ _ _ the company since 1990. runs has run is running ran Is there any reference on similar rules, guiding principles or hints? sometimes things get mixed up for me when choosing the correct form of verb tense (past/present continuous/perfect/s... | Below is a list of links to resources related to the question above, encountered while searching, I will update this list with interesting materials for people having the same problem! Resources Tenses Table <code> (PDF File, 103KiB) </code> : A table that contains Tense (past/present continuous/perfect/simple...) Sign... | Rules of thumb on using the correct tense forms and auxiliary verbs | english |
I see Unicode expresses the character symbols as simply '[BLACK] UP-POINTING TRIANGLE' etc, but are there any single-word or 'catchier' terms for these orientations of triangles? ▲ △ -- up-pointing (U+25b2 and U+25b3) ▼ ▽ -- down-pointing (U+25bc and U+25bd) It is to be used inside a figure capt... | Given that these are typographic symbols, they are implicitly two dimensional, so these terms should be understandable in that context: ▲ △ pyramid ▼ ▽ inverted pyramid The pyramid oriented symbol also is known as the greek letter delta . The inverted pyramid is used in mathematics as the gradient operator (and Hamilto... | Is there a specific term for an upwards (downwards)-pointing triangle? | english |
If I write article "the" before name of university, it would be a mistake? The Poznan University of Life Sciences Thank you for your help in advance. | Famous universities (Cambridge University, Imperial College of London, McGill University, etc. - my apologies for those not mentioned) are so well-known that it seems useless to specify more with a "the". However I don't feel it is a mistake to add "the", at least according to the British usage, especially when you are... | Definite article "the" before name of university? | english |
I am wondering if "in the scope of" and "in the field of" can be used interchangeably? Such as: ... possesses knowledge and skills in the field of general problems of computer science as well as technical skills in the scope of information systems. ... possesses knowledge and skills in the field of general problems of ... | "scope" is subjective , from one's point of view "This is beyond the scope of my knowledge" "field" is objective , from an external and common point of view "The field of biology has been revolutionized by Darwin and Wallace". "The scope of their independent investigations was the same, and they both concluded simultan... | Can "in the scope of" and "in the field of" be used interchangeably? | english |
"I'll drive you to the MRT, then," her father said. After saying goodbye to her mother and promising to come back soon, Naomi got into her father's car, and drove off to the main road with him. What I want to say is: "She got into the car and then her father drove off to the main road." I'm not very sure but I think th... | Yes, with that sentence, I would understand that it was Naomi who was driving. Since the subject of your sentence is Naomi, any verbs will be assumed to be her actions. The easiest way around this would be to simply say After saying goodbye to her mother and promising to come back soon, Naomi got into her father's car ... | Usage of drove off in the following sentence | english |
In Brazil we call this store by the generic name of papelaria , something like "paper store". What is the correct name for this? Is "Stationery" the name in any country that speaks English? I read about it in Wikipedia, but I am still not sure. | In America, the place you're looking for is usually called an "Office Supply Store". Unless you are looking for construction paper, drawing pencils, inking pens, and other supplies for creating art. Then you would go to an Arts & Crafts Store. You might find such supplies in an Office Supply Store, but a store that... | Is "stationery" the name of the store that sells pens, pencils, paper, school things, etc.? | english |
In this video with rapper Eminem, he makes the following rhymes: "I put my orange, four inch, door hinge, in storage, and ate porridge with george." Following the Types of Rhymes wikipedia article, I can only connect a few types of rhymes used here: imperfect (or near), assonance, and consonance Am I missing other type... | The core of the rhyming scheme is assonance: assonance: matching vowels. (shake, hate) Assonance is sometimes referred to as slant rhymes, along with consonance. Eminem is deliberately bending the pronunciation of each word so that they sound similar. This moves the vowel sounds of each rhyme into an assonance rhyme. A... | What different types of rhymes are used here? | english |
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 impo... | "Distinguishing the question part of the sentence from the main part of the sentence" in this instance is done by putting quotation marks around the quotation and putting a comma before the quotation. If I didn't know the answer, I would first ask, "Which one of these is more important?" The first sentence is correct. | What kind of punctuation should I use to embed a question in another sentence? | english |
There are still problems. There still are problems. Is one word order more correct than the other and do they have identical meaning? | The first is the normal order. The second might be used to strongly contradict a previous statement. In that case the verb would be stressed: There still ARE problems . | "There are still problems" vs. "there still are problems" | english |
I would like to know if the meaning of <code> belong to </code> conform the meaning of <code> pertain to </code> . If no, what is the difference and when each one of them is more suitable? Update Well according to my search on some dictionaries I found there is some common synonyms between them, but non of the both wor... | The meanings of "pertain to" are much more restricted : a) relate to "These documents pertain to the same case". b) be a part or appendage of "The farm pertains to this land". c) be appropriate to "It pertains to observe some rules when in public". | Belong to Vs. Pertain to | english |
I am reading the book Learning Python by Mark Lutz, in which there's a passage I don't understand: I also want to thank my original editor at O’Reilly, the late Frank Willison. This book was largely Frank’s idea. He had a profound impact on both my career and the success of Python when it was new, a legacy that I remem... | It means that Willison, as his editor, corrected Lutz many times on Lutz's (mis-)use of the word 'only' in some context that he doesn't specify here. Lutz remembers Willison's legacy as an early supporter of Python each time Lutz stops himself from mis-using the word 'only' in a way Willison wouldn't approve. | Meaning of "misuse of the word 'only'" in context | english |
I think every single one of us has experienced a dark dot in his/her sight when looking at a white surface such as a white ceiling, there's something in our eye that with a little focus we can see it, and when we move our eyes around, that thing floats around quickly in your sight. It's like a substance on eye's surfac... | You're probably thinking of floaters . Floaters are suspended in the vitreous humour, the thick fluid or gel that fills the eye. Thus, they follow the rapid motions of the eye, while drifting slowly within the fluid. When they are first noticed, the natural reaction is to attempt to look directly at them. However, atte... | The dark dot in your eye | english |
In the case of, for example, birthday and weeding recordings, how do you call the people who are the main focus of the video (e.g. bride, groom and birthday boy/girl)? Example: All the [...] of the videos shared something in common. | If you're talking about everybody in the video you could say "the entire cast of the video". For a single person you can use protagonist the leading character or one of the major characters in a play, film, novel, etc.: ..or you can indeed have multiple protagonists. If that is too cinematic for your needs, you could u... | Word or phrase that refers to the person who is the "focus" in a video? | english |
When testing to see how loud your voice is in a microphone, there is a visual bar/graph that increases as you get louder--what is this called? I'm not looking for the name of a device the measures sound (e.g. decibel meter). | This is a representation of a VU meter . In many presentations it could be regarded as an example of a Skeuomorph , as it's often an imitation of the physical meters of old (for example Magic eye tubes ). | What is the name of the sound-measuring bar on your computer? | english |
Never in her life had she seen such shocking footage, not to mention two in one day. The experience had shaken her like nothing before. But there was something else in them that had disturbed her. Something that still lingered in her mind, like the afterimage of a picture she had overlooked. I thought of omitting the "... | The longer version emphasises the presence of ‘something else’. The shorter version emphasises her being disturbed. | Is it OK to omit the "there was" in the following sentence without changing its meaning? | english |
Suggest a word to express a task/thing has started, is running and is not yet complete. Does inchoate fit? Also, suggest a word to express completed/fully built thing/task. | There are legal terms that relate executory - That which is yet to be fully executed or performed; that which remains to be carried into operation or effect; incomplete; depending upon a future performance or event. The opposite of executed. executed - adj. to have been completed. (Example: "it is an executed contract"... | A word to express 'currently active' | english |
The sentence is like this: Governments must ensure that their major cities receive the financial support they need in order to thrive. I'm not sure about the <code> to thrive </code> . Does this sentence mean: (1) To make the major cities thrive, governments need to support them financially. Or (2) To make the governme... | From a purely syntactical analysis, it could be both. The only thing that can tell us which is the better fit is semantics. In the example you give, even semantics do not make it clear: Major cities are likely to thrive if they receive the necessary financial support; Governments who spend the right amount of money on ... | Which object is modified by the infinitive in this sentence? | english |
English is a so cool that I believe even an adjective which means "happening next month" exists. Tom is a rather strange man. He always has the urge to attend a _ __ _ ___ event but he always changes his mind after fortnight. Nobody can really account for why he loses interest just about one week before the event, not ... | There is a word for this — proximo , meaning "in or of the next (coming) month". It is a loan word from Latin ( proximo mense — "in the next month", as opposed to ultimo mense — "in the last (preceding) month". E.g. (from freedictionary), "on the 10th proximo " (10th of coming month). Since you want a term ... | An adjective for something that will happen next month | english |
What is the difference between agreeing with a persons feelings and validating their feelings? | When you agree with someone's thoughts or feelings, you essentially take it on as your own. If I were to show you a ball and say, "The ball is blue" and you agreed with me, you would be saying that you also believe the ball to be blue. Validating someone's thoughts or feelings is something used quite frequently in psyc... | Difference between the words "validate" and "agree" | english |
I remember reading Dan Brown's the Lost Symbol and coming across a word that was used to call one of Katherine lab/research rooms. I can't remember what it is, and this really bugs me. Does anyone know this word? (Or at least understand what I'm talking about?) Thanks Edit 1: Maybe it doesn't even have to be glass wall... | pod? If I remember correctly... | What do people normally call a glass walled lab or room? | english |
For example, "This doesn't cause any crash but later it can cause unknown memory-crashes." I see here that the subject 'it' is not immediately after 'but'. Do I still need to use a comma before 'but' as it links another subject? | If I understand you intent correctly, try something like: Although this doesn't cause any immediate crash, it may result in subsequent memory crashes. | Do I need to use a comma before 'but' where the subject is not immediate? | english |
I had asked the man in wardrobe to take a photo of me. Why is it that there's no articles before the noun wardrobe ? | It's more than a room. Wardrobe, when used in relation to a theatrical or film studio, means the department responsible for costumes. When wardrobe is used without an article it implies a studio setting. Common expressions heard in studios include: "I need to get to wardrobe for my costume change." "I saw a beautiful o... | Why no "the" or "a" here? | english |
I came across a sentence this morning on a page saying "...take social mileage out of his good behaviour...". So what does "social mileage" exactly mean here? | Mileage is traditionally used to quantify the potential distance a car will travel before it needs some kind of maintenance (e.g. petrol, gas, repairs). It thus represents an abstract value. The second Oxford definition for 'mileage' is: (thanks Matt Ellen) <code> actual or potential benefit or use to be derived from a... | What does "social mileage" mean? | english |
If I have a software that encrypts data, how do I refer to it? 'Encryptor'? | It could be referred to as an encoder or as encryption software/application . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encryption_software | What is a tool that encrypts data called? | english |
There's a ( famous according to Google ) quote by the German-Jewish poet Berthold Auerbach: Music is a universal language, and needs not be translated. With it soul speaks to soul. Is the quote grammatically correct? | The quote is not ungrammatical. It does, however, some some archaic constructions which are no longer heard in modern English. The main stickler is this bit: Music... needs not be translated. The phrasing "needs not" is no longer used in contemporary English, but in a literary register it is an acceptable variant for "... | Is this quote about music correct? | english |
Don't know whether it's an English literature question or a psychology one but one may have witnessed a very frequent behavior associated with bosses or maybe teachers where they start asking you questions (assuming you are brilliant enough), you start answering them but they don't stop until they have got a question y... | This is bullying - abuse of authority that simply does not merit a decent descriptive term. But it should come under rankism defined as abusive, discriminatory, or exploitative behavior towards people because of their rank in a particular hierarchy. see rankism . | Word for a frequent behaviour? | english |
I don't know which sentence is correct for my formal letter? As a foreigner will I need any work permit or personal accident insurance? As a foreigner would I need any work permit or personal accident insurance? My teacher said that "will" is not correct but she also said that "summer" has to be "Summer", so I don't kn... | They are both correct. The would one sounds less direct and is probably a good choice if you want to be somewhat polite. | "would I need" or "will I need" What is the correct sentence? | english |
animus has the etymology of "breath, life", just like animate . How does animus have the meaning of ill will? | Dictionary.com shows the etymology of animus to be: 1810–20; < Latin: mind, spirit, courage, passion, wrath; akin to anima So its etymology is not in fact what you suggest, but more along the lines of "passion" and "wrath", which easily leads to the idea of "ill will". | How does animus have the meaning of ill will? | english |
Someone asked me about what term is used for a person who is called in to work on a public holiday . (He told me that it is called pump of leave , but he himself was not sure of it.) So, there are two questions- What is that person called? What is that leave is called? If there are specific terms for them please tell. | I don't know of any specific terms for the person or the cancelled leave, but I wonder whether your colleague might have said "bump", not "pump". I could understand someone referring to the leave being bumped , i.e. moved to a new position (date). (See definitions in The Free Dictionary ). The alternative day off may a... | What is the term used "When a person is called in to work on a holiday"? | english |
Can you use the phrase ”the fact” without “that”? Consider the two sentences: The fact that it’s Sunday means that I can sleep all day. The fact it’s Sunday means that I can sleep all day. Clearly the first sentence is correct and in common use. The second doesn’t sound right to me, but I can’t find clear evidence to p... | Collins Cobuild English Usage (p238) has this entry on the expression the fact that : You can refer to a whole situation by using a clause beginning with the fact that . The fact that quick results are unlikely is no excuse for delay. Note that you must use that in clauses like these. You don't say, for example, ' The ... | “The fact” vs. “The fact that” | english |
I feel like : Technological Educational Institute is wrong, and that it should be Technological Education Institute. Please explain if I'm right/wrong, and why? | If it's the name of an actual establishment, use the title the establishment itself uses. There's nothing wrong in principle in using two subsequent adjectives ending in -al , but there's a difference in meaning between 'Technological Educational Institute' and 'Technological Education Institute'. The first describes a... | Can two adjectives ending in -al be in a row? | english |
I know there is a word for this! Person A is a seller. Person B is a buyer. Person A is worried Person B will take the her product and not pay. Person B is worried of the inverse. These two hire an unbiased Person C to mediate the transaction by taking the money from Person B and products from Person A and only releasi... | The closest I can think of is escrow . It refers to giving money to a trusted third party, who holds it ( in escrow ) until goods or services are delivered. I have never heard it applied to holding goods as well, but see no reason why it shouldn’t be. | Need help figuring out a word for a certain situation | english |
I was drawn to the phrase, “Seeing right through them“appearing in the New York Times (October 5) article written by Daniel Goleman under the title, “Rich people just care less.” It begins with the following sentence: “Turning a blind eye. Giving someone the cold shoulder. Looking down on people. Seeing right through t... | There is a common view that a people can be read by looking at their faces and determining the sincerity of their presentation. However, people are often described as putting on a mask or a false face to hide their true intentions. The idiom seeing through them refers to seeing through that mask or false face, and bein... | What does “Seeing right through them” exactly mean? | english |
I'm looking for the right word to describe a company which takes photographs and captures videos and edits them for its clients [in exchange for money]. I first came up with "Advertising Company" which is too much general for this purpose, and then "Multimedia Company" or "Media Company" which I'm not sure if that's th... | I think you're close... In my experience I have seen this usually as a company name detailing specific services or else simply a person's name. Some suggestions: Manoochehr Multimedia Services Manoochehr Photography Manoochehr Digital Media | What is the right word for a company which takes photographs and videos for its clients? | english |
Do I need "the" before the name of my university in the header? Header: Politechnika Wroclawska - name of university in my language (the Wroclaw University of Technology) - translated name of university in the brackets This header is contained in the official document. | Generally, where a member of a class (the class of all universities ) is particularised (say by the addition of "Wroclaw") then you don't need the definite article. Wroclaw Polytechnic or Wroclaw University of Technology will be sufficient for a letterhead. Some insititutions do require the The , but that's a matter of... | Do I need "the" before the name of my university in the header? | english |
Is this a valid sentence? Degradation: 1. the condition or process of degrading or being degraded. As used in this context: "...doing so would bring shame to the family. For fear of degradation, ..." | Generally, yes. Your usage is correct. It sounds a bit awkward though, but that may be due to the limited context. As in these examples from Merriam-Webster online , I would tend to expect a direct connection between the passive degradation of something and the item that is being degraded. Something along the lines of:... | "for fear of degradation" | english |
While reading this (interesting) article about how to improve english and reduce accent , I met a concept I've never heard about before: Xerox words. So I visited toastmasters.org and found a club close to me. [...] The club I go to uses a dog training clicker to call people’s attention to their use of filler words lik... | Where a brand name becomes known so well, it becomes used in place of the product. Kleenex is often used instead of tissue . In this case, Xerox is a brand of photocopier but Xerox gets used instead of the word copy . So the stammering of I, I.. is a form of 'speech' copying. The author was coining the stammering as ma... | What's a "Xerox word"? | english |
So today I was sending a picture of my new born to my British manager. I was saying that the baby looks a little bit different than the picture now he is 4 cm taller She replied me saying taller or longer ? I didn't actually think about it before. I thought that taller will be the correct term as this is how we describ... | Taller would normally be used in talking about the height of adults, but, as babies can't stand, longer is more apporpriate. | Is it accurate to say a baby is x inches taller or longer? | english |
With similarities to this question: stackexchange-url ("What is the word for "Slow raining"?") but related to snow, not rain. I'm looking for a descriptive word that would describe slow snowfall. Can you help? | You mean a snow flurry ? a light, brief shower of snow. A snow flurry is a brief instance of light snow, with very little or no accumulation of snow on the ground. A snow shower in which only light snow falls for a few minutes is typically called a snow flurry. Flurries usually produce little accumulation (Definition f... | Is there a word to describe 'Slow Snowfall'? | english |
"Gabi agreed with rule changes big time." What does that mean? In which context is it appropriate to use and where it is not? Word order - is it always used at the end of sentence? Is it official english or colloquial only? Is it US, UK or Austraila specific, or general English? | Used in this context as an adverb, it means 'to a great degree, on a large scale; extremely’. It is colloquial, and has its origin in the United States, and yes, it will usually be found at the end of a sentence. | Meaning and usage of "big time" | english |
In the movie Social Network, there is a scene where Sean Parker corrected a sentence said by a girl who he just spent a night with: She was rather astonished when she realized the man standing in front of her was Sean Parker so she wanted to double confirm, "I just slept with Sean Parker?" Instead of replying her with ... | Sleep on is a play of words here. You didn't know Sean Parker when you saw him -- you must have been sleeping all this while (you were unaware of developments related to Sean Parker). | Difference between "sleeping with Sean Parker" and "sleeping on Sean Parker"? | english |
I"m looking for a word that describes the process or act of identifying a shape, symbol, or whatever from another shape. For instance, if you look at clouds, sometimes you see an animal, or shape. In TV, there was an episode where a person saw a divine image on a grilled cheese (i.e., grilled cheesus ). Johnny Carson f... | Pareidolia: The tendency to interpret a vague stimulus as something known to the observer, such as interpreting marks on Mars as canals, seeing shapes in clouds, or hearing hidden messages in music. | Is there a word for identifying shapes in other objects (i.e., clouds) | english |
Is there a term to describe someone who becomes very worried after reading health information online? They think they have developed those health problems and are always on edge. | It's called cyberchondriasis - combination of cyber and hypochondriasis. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22137465 A type of hypochondriasis that develops in a person who, while on the Internet, identifies one or more personal symptoms—e.g., tachycardia, dyspnea—and ties that to one or more conditions; the individual... | Term for someone worried about health after reading health information online | english |
I have some questions concerning names of university. What is the difference between "The Poznan University of Life Sciences" and "Poznan University of Life Sciences"? Are there any grammatical rules for a university's name? Where and when should we put "the" before the name? Thank you for your help in advance. | "The" is sometimes dropped from a proper noun's title. There is no practical difference between the two, other than making it clear that it is an individual article. A university's name is a proper noun, and should be capitalized as such. "The" is used formally to refer to a university as an individual article. In most... | University names? | english |
I'm a software developer, and as such I often come in contact with situations where I need to name variables related to the following context: 4 apples for $3 each equals $12 My problem is the word <code> amount </code> because it feels as natural to write <code> amount of items </code> (4) as <code> amount each </code... | For your first question: "Quantity" = the countable number of a single item "Quantity per _ " = the quantity that relates to a specific grouping "SubTotal" = just a handy in-between calculation For your second question, I sound sarcastic saying this but the best word to describe a value is what the value actually is. :... | Words to separate value from counting | english |
I've tried my hand at Googling this answer through various terms, and have come up dry. Is there such a specific word for this field? If not, what would could be coined as such? | The answer is rather simple, and quite surprising. <code> idiomology </code> Which according to M-W means: the study of idiom. | Is there a more specific word than "linguistics" for the study of idioms? | english |
In software development, one often has multiple individual files that are referenced or "included" by others. What is the noun for each one of those individual files, and what would you call the collection of them? | For simplicity's sake The program's source is a collection of source files This is suitable for all programming languages in all use-cases, whereas <code> dependencies </code> or <code> includes </code> are generally applicable to only a single language or language-group, or to specify the purpose of files, without eno... | singular and collective noun for included computer source code | english |
When I change Travel to Travelers, what is that? Is that some sort of participle? Also, how is this accomplished with Exodus? As in 'Exodus-ers'. Does one use the Latin ablative? | It is not regarded as inflection but derivation , i.e. traveler (gosh it's hard for me to type the American spelling) is regarded as a different word from travel , where traveling is not. So traveler is not regarded as the "anything" of travel , but as an agentive derived from travel . This distinction is to some degre... | Travel/Travelers & Journey/Journeyers | english |
Which of the following is the most appropriate usage "You have to be always logical in your analysis." "You always have to be logical in your analysis." "You have to be logical in your analysis always ." Thanks. | It depends on where you want to place the emphasis, and that in turn depends on what has gone on before in the text, but the second is the most natural position. | Placement of 'always' | english |
I'm looking for a verb to use want to describe something like benefit is lost / damaged . If you use this technology, your work will be finished earlier. But if you are lazy, the benefits due to this technology will be damaged / lost . I know damaged / lost is not proper verbs, so what verbs should I use to replace it? | curtailed, lost, ruined, squandered, nullified, wasted, rendered ineffective... | looking for a verb to use with `benefit`, to describe something like benefit is lost/damaged | english |
If I want to let a customer know that she/he can only buy spare parts from us, and put this into legal documents by using the word "exclusive", which proposition should I use? "from", "to" or something else? The sentence I have in my mind is: All spare parts shall be exclusive from [our company name]. Will the meaning ... | You don't express your idea, but rather the reverse. You should write : "All spare parts shall exclusively be bought from / provided by [X]" | Exclusive "from" or "to" | english |
I am trying to write a recommendation. How could I improve the following sentence which sounds too informal and it also sounds like it is in the past whereas I am still working with this person: <code> He is one of the best person I got to work with </code> | He is one of the best people that I have worked with. | One of the best person I got to work with | english |
I am currently stuck with the following situation. Imagine that there is a website which offers premium content that only paying members can access. However, there are a few pages which is available for everyone. Which word can be used to describe those public available pages? Problem is, that I cannot use „public“ bec... | Open/free/general/unpaid/complimentary pick one that best suits your need. | Synonym for public | english |
Is there a good word or a great expression that describes not knowing what to do (as a response to an unexpected event that happened)? Something uncanny happened , and I do not know what to do. A raccoon drank my cup of tea on the table (and there was still some tea left in the cup). I do not know what to do. My mom to... | Stumped : brought to a standstill, uncertain which way to turn, at your wits' end. Synonyms are: baffled, perplexed, at a loss, floored (informal), at sea, stymied, nonplussed, flummoxed. Nonplussed : A state of perplexity, confusion, or bewilderment. At sea is a great metaphor for being unsettled, drifting, directionl... | Describing "not knowing what to do" (as a response to an unexpected event that happened)? | english |
If deja vu means already seen or experienced , what would you call the feeling that you're experiencing something again, but in fact you haven't; it's just a strong, but false, feeling of familiarity? | That the phrase means "already seen" in French is irrelevant. In English there is no 'false' or 'true' sense of déjà vu . The phrase is used in English to designate the fleeting and imprecise sense that something (which you cannot name) about what you have just seen or heard is familiar, that there was something there ... | Deja vu meaning | english |
Which is the correct sentence? It is much more simple to resolve the memory leak issues. It is much more simpler to resolve the memory leak issues. | You may say either "more simple" or "simpler", but both together are redundant. | "Much more simple" or "much more simpler" | english |
In my current job, I'm constantly trying to figure out when the next thing I don't know that I don't know is going to bite me in the butt and cause me to have to rework my code. I've been working on a certain project for nearly a year, and still find out things that people have neglected to tell me, or are just conside... | You might try adapting Rumsfeld's "(un)known (un)known" approach , although you would be best served by depoliticizing it in this situation. What you're dealing with are known unknowns, or certain bits of information that you know you do not know. | Is there a word for the phrase "I don't know what I don't know"? | english |
I can't figure out a rule that says whether 'oo' makes one sound or the other. Same number of syllables: one closed, but the sound is different. | There are no 100% reliable spelling or pronunciation rules in English but there are exceptions and patterns which can be recognized and memorized. My accent is British and the following words are how they are most often pronounced in the UK. American English may or may not share the same pronunciation. The letter combi... | Why are "look" and "school" pronounced differently? | english |
The term "in good nick" meaning "in a good condition" came up in conversation and I realised I had no idea where it came from. Searching online seems surprisingly fruitless- there are several roots for nick as it is used in different contexts but none of them to explain why it came to mean "condition." The closest thin... | Andrew Leach's answer has the OED's first quotations [parenthetically in 1884, and] in 1890. Their first quotation for "in good nick" is The English dialect dictionary from 1905. Australia, 1880s I found earlier uses in the Trove archive of Australian newspapers, the earliest in The Referee (Sydney, NSW, Thursday 13 Ja... | Where does the phrase "in good nick" come from? | english |
I came across the following sentence: "Kiran is Kishore's uncle, whose paternal grandfather has only two children." I am not clear which person is 'whose' referring to - Kiran or Kishore and why? | It refers to Kishore's uncle (last mentioned before the comma), who is precisely Kiran. In "Kiran is a friend of Kishore's uncle, whose ...", the paternal grandfather would refer to the uncle, without direct relationship with Kiran, or even a stranger. | Word being modified by whose | english |
Which degree of 'less' is correct in the following sentence - "Seats in this room are much less/lesser in comparison to the adjacent one." Also please state any general rule of English if it is being applied here. Thanks. | A quick Google search provides the solution . So the general rule is that if you’re talking about an amount of something that can’t be counted, it’s less and if you’re talking about a number of people or things, it’s fewer . Another way to remember the main distinction is to think along the following lines: not as much... | Which degree should be used? | english |
Can you grab the blue shirts and socks? Is the above sentence stating that both the shirts and the socks are blue? Or only the shirts? At this stage, I am leaning towards the earlier (only the shirts) — though writing "Can you grab the blue shirts and blue socks?" seems redundant. | It could that be both are blue, or it could be that only the shirts are blue. If the context didn’t make it clear, the speaker who wanted to avoid any doubt that it was both blue shirts and blue socks that were required would have to say something like ‘Can you grab the shirts and socks? Just the blue ones. I don’t wan... | Does an adjective apply to both nouns when joined with 'and'? | english |
If you ask someone what the opposite of "all" was, most times the answer will be "none", such as the example of "no one" is the opposite of "everyone". There are three antonyms for "all" on Thesaurus.com: none, zero, and incompletely. I'm most concerned about the last one, "incompletely". As a math student, I am taking... | The problem here is that the idea of "opposite" is not analogous to a logical negation. Consider a scale from −10 to 10, and let us define the property good as anything greater than or equal to 9. The negation of good — not good —would of course be anything less than 9. On the other hand, "opposite" suggests the invers... | Antonym of all: none, not all, both? | english |
In the novel Dracula I came upon this sentence: "The captain swore polyglot, very polyglot, polyglot with bloom and blood, but he could do nothing." Judging by the dictionary definition of polyglot I think it must be related to using multiple languages. But I really can't understand what it means in this context. Nor i... | Note that this is not idiomatic English. The speaker, Van Helsing, is Dutch, and Stoker characterizes him with odd approximations to English, which are supposed to be funny and occasionally are. Polyglot 's easy—as bib and Mark Thorin tell you, the captain swore in many languages. Bloom and blood is made clear ea... | What does "swear polyglot" mean? | english |
I found this interesting video here http://nickbogardus.com/post/10698767773/mcluhan-on-the-global-village "The global village is a world in which you don’t necessarily have harmony. You have extreme concern with everybody else’s business and much involvement in everybody else’s life. It’s a sort of Ann Landers column ... | I concur with FumbleFingers. Oxford defines "harmony," in this context, as: -the state of being in agreement or concord: man and machine in perfect harmony . Generally, a village is a tight-knit group who tend to live in peace and unity with their fellow villagers which helps them avoid ostracism. McLuhan is collective... | what does "harmony" mean in the context in Marshall McLuhan's global village video? | english |
When I apply less amount of paint, how is the resulting color (or paint) called? Reduced color? Mitigated color? Diluted color? Modified color? Limited color? Decreased color? In other words, when I literally put less paint on the paper (for example, by applying it in thiner layer or by making lots of tiny dots), how t... | A liquid such as paint is reduced by way of thinning, so it is said to be thinned or thinned out. "The watercolours of the painting were thinned out to a subdued degree." A reduction in quantity of paint (a thinner layer) is not necessarily the same thing as a reduction in the color saturation. If you're referring to a... | Reduced color or paint | english |
BBC has a documentary titled Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire . History channel has a documentary titled similarly but without the 'the': Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire . Are both correct? What's the subtle difference? | Both are grammatical, and there isn’t much difference between them. The first refers specifically to the actual rise and fall of Rome. The second refers to rise and fall more generally, and sounds more sensational. | Should 'the' be used in this title? | english |
It was addressed stackexchange-url ("before"), but the question was too specific, thus doesn't resolve my issue. I'm expecting a general answer, though provide an example as well. For instance, I'm writing a letter and attaching some extra files along with important ones. I would write: I have also attached the origina... | Rare is the time when a ‘general’ answer can be given to a question like this. A more formal version of something else will always depend on the context. In your specific context , I would agree with Andrew that simply getting rid of ‘just’ would make the most neutral and mellifluous phrasing. A few other alternatives ... | Is there a more formal option for 'just in case'? | english |
I have come across writing which says "Trending topics in Twitter do not carry much semantics" as well as "Trending topics in Twitter do not carry much meanings" I am aware that semantics and meanings are similar, what I am curious is when is the right time to use "semantics" vs "meanings"? | Semantics is primarily that branch of the academic discipline of linguistics concerned with ‘the study of linguistic meaning, of words and sentences’ (Katie Wales, ‘A Dictionary of Stylistics’). It is, however, sometimes used loosely to dismiss an argument. A speaker who either doesn’t understand a point that is being ... | "Semantic" vs "Meaning" | english |
Parentheses or parenthesis - What's the difference? When each one of them should be used? An example would be appreciated. | Parenthesis is of course Greek and means in fact "insertion". It has taken the meaning of the signs " ( " or " ) ". Parentheses is the regular plural. Usually, you use a pair of the signs showing an insertion, then "between parentheses" - or brackets ; however, "in parenthesis" means : as an afterthought. | Parentheses or parenthesis | english |
If I want to question someone about what makes up a given dish, which of the following sentences is the most appropriate ? What is this dish made up of ? What is this dish made from ? It seems to me that the first sentence is more appropriate when we want to know all of the food found on a dish while the second one is ... | Dictionary.com offers two related definitions for dish : the food served or contained in a dish and a particular article, type, or preparation of food In my experience (AmE), the second is used more commonly than the first; or at least, when the first is used it implies that only one type of food is placed on the dish.... | Made from vs made up of for dishes | english |
From Wiktionary, " abash " means "To make ashamed; to embarrass; to destroy the self-possession of, as by exciting suddenly a consciousness of guilt, mistake, or inferiority; to disconcert; to discomfit." " abeyance " means "Suspension; temporary suppression; dormant condition" " agape " means "Being in a state of asto... | Why do the three words mean so differently, given that they basically have the same prefix "a-" and root "gape"? I haven't understood yet, but the above is what I have found. Semantic shifts can be one of the trickiest and most difficult-to-nail-down aspects of language evolution. There is no real way of answering the ... | Prefix "a-" in abash, abeyance and agape | english |
Full years can be contracted to two digits like He graduated the university in '92. What I'd like to ask is how would this sentence be spelled out: "in 'ninety two" ? "in ninety two" ? maybe, it's pronounced and spelled some other way? | Apostrophes are normally used to indicate omitted letters or digits rather than whole words, and the modern tendency is to avoid initial apostrophes anyway. Therefore, I recommend spelling out the year without an apostrophe (and the few examples I could find concur). Note the hyphen: He graduated in ninety-two. For the... | Spelling of contracted years | english |
This is the only similar spelling mix-up in English that gets me every freakin' time . I can never remember which is which. One is a mathematical notion; the other is a nice thing to say. Does anyone know of any clever mnemonics for complement / compliment to get this one straight? | I like to get compl I ments. | Mnemonic for "complement / compliment" | english |
here is my sentence This makes the best use of balding resistant hair, most of us have at the sides and back of our head. The sentence after the comma does not make sense ALONE. However, grammatically speaking, it is a complete sentence. My QUESTION is whether I should regard is a subordinate clause and use a comma, or... | The words after the comma are "grammatically speaking" not a complete sentence. This is because have (in the sense of possessing ) is a transitive verb that must have an object. An object is missing, however, in the words: most of us have at the sides and back of our head . The way to correct the sentence is to add the... | Joining two sentences with semicolon | english |
If you present someone with four options to choose from (and they can only choose one), should you say: "What would you like more of?" or "Which would you like more of?" Would the answer change if you were offering nouns (pie, coffee, etc.) or intangibles (power, speed, etc.)? | Both are possible. Which limits the choice to just one of the options provided, while what doesn't limit it either to a single choice or even necessarily to those options. But in colloquial use (at least in my British dialect) what is much more likely, unless you are wanting to make it clear that they may only choose o... | What / Which would you like more of? | english |
What I am trying to say: A farmer should provide essential food for his livestock. The failure of farmer to provide this essential food for the cattle will materially impact cattle's health. Farmer's boss is going to hold him responsible only if he does not provide the essential food that directly impacts the health of... | You appear to be trying to convert legalese into "plain language". There is excellent advice on how to do this well in two books by Rudolf Flesch: stackexchange-url ("The Art of Plain Talk") and stackexchange-url ("The Art of Readable Writing"). For this specific example, I would recommend something like this: Farmers ... | How can I rephrase sentence to make it more concise? | english |
I am looking for a dictionary (program / app) that tells me about the plural form of a word. I have tried Dictionary.com, Meriam-Webster and OED but they are not. I know if I look for media, it will tell me it's plural of "medium", but is there a dictionary which does it the other way round? Thanks | All these dictionaries give plurals for English noun that have irregular plurals. For example, Merriam-Webster here says " plural mediums or me·dia ". If one of these dictionaries does not explicitly give a plural for a noun, the noun has a regular plural , meaning you add an "s" or an "es". The rule is that if a word ... | Dictionary which shows plural form? | english |
Is it more correct to say a computer program is <code> erroring out </code> , or it is <code> erring out </code> ? Or are both statements grammatically incorrect? | erroring error ( third-person singular simple present errors , present participle erroring , simple past and past participle errored ) | Erroring or Erring? | english |
"I do," said Mr Takeda. The priest repeated the same question to the bride who/whom gave the same reply. They exchanged rings and the priest declared them husband and wife. What should I use in this case, who or whom? How to deal with this kind of confusion in the future? | "Who" is the subject of a sentence; "whom" the object. "Who told us about that?", "Ask not for whom the bell tolls". janoChen: "I think I got confused because I thought like: "The one who gave the same reply was her." If you rewrite it as "She was the one who gave the same reply", it should make sense. Suppose there ar... | Should I use who or whom in the following situation? | english |
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, impetuous can be defined succinctly as "without thought or reason; controlled by emotion rather than thought". However, violent is listed as a synonym, when violent seems to be relegated purely to emotions of malice or rage. Impetuous seems to encompass all emotions (can act... | Impetuous implies sudden energy or speed. "A bus with loosen breaks will go down a slope impetuously - without personal feeling" Violent involves great strength (especially aggressively), or vehemence. "His speech was violent - but the speaker didn't move" The words are not synonymous. | Why is "violent" a synonym of "impetuous"? | english |
Definition of Notebook : a small, lightweight laptop computer. Definition of Laptop : a portable, usually battery-powered microcomputer small enough to rest on the user's lap. In this case, a notebook is defined as a laptop, so does "notebook" = "laptop"? | The laptop was originally designed to be similar to a desktop, but be small and light enough that it could be used while sitting in your lap. For this reason, years ago, you would find that a laptop had more features than notebooks did, but the tradeoff was being larger and heavier than a notebook. This is because the ... | Difference between "notebook" and "laptop" | english |
What is the difference between a channel and a river? UPDATE I understand the difference between canal and river, but why there is also channel? Is that the same as canal? | It's the same as the relationship between cup and coffee : Literally, the channel is the course in the ground that the river water flows through. Figuratively, we often use channel to refer to the body of water as a whole, as in the English Channel. | Meaning: channel vs river | english |
What is the term for a word that alters the degree or severity of the subsequent word? In the example below, what is the term for "somewhat"? Ex: He was somewhat unhappy. | The Wikipedia article Intensifier refers to them as degree modifiers , or more specifically degree adverbs (or adverbs of degree ). | What is the term for a word that alters the degree or severity of the subsequent word? | english |
It's my understanding that “Is it any wonder . . . ?” is a rhetorical question used to state the obvious, usually with a degree of sarcasm, equivalent to “It's no wonder that . . .” or “Small wonder that. . . .” For example: Is it any wonder that Chris is late to the party? means roughly: Nobody should be surprised tha... | Is the reversed sense of this idiom actually widespread, or is this just artistic license by a songwriter? It is just artistic license. Once you start playing with poetry and song double meanings and word play quickly break common idioms. If you wanted to express "Is it any wonder?" non-sarcastically you would say: Do ... | “Is it any wonder?” reversal | english |
Which of these is more correct for American English in a professional context: Did you have any other prior marriage that lasted at least 10 years, or any other prior marriage that ended due to your spouse's death? Do you have any other prior marriage that lasted at least 10 years, or any other prior marriage that ende... | Prior marriage indicates that it is not a current marriage. That means it is not ongoing, but is something in the past. Did you have means you had (owned, were in the state of, engaged in, etc.) but no longer have it. You had a prior marriage, but you do not have a prior marriage. Did you have is the interrogatory form... | "Did you" vs "Do you" for questions about the past | english |
Background: I have an undefined, informal and ongoing relationship with someone where we often meet in the late evening at his place. Occasionally, we might go to a bar first but we don't really hang out socially at all beyond that. Currently, we are both making an effort to expand on the relationship to include other ... | Hmmmmmm... Just my take. When someone asks "do you want to do something tonight?" That is a common phrase and has a meaning of do you want to partake in an event. Whether that is a dinner out, movie, concert, a walk, movie in, whatever. Now if someone says "do you want to do whatever tonight?" I find that a little play... | Was I correct in my use of "whatever" over "something"? | english |
The screen was showing a close up of some buildings in ruins. Excavators and bulldozers [...] debris aside, while the survivors watched the work with anguish and despair on their faces. OK, I guess I could use put . But I think it sounds too soft for such heavy work. I also thought of push but I guess excavators don't ... | Clear ? based on what they're trying to achieve Shift ? includes lifting (diggers) and pushing (bulldozers) | Verb to refer to putting debris aside with machinery | english |
Definition of taxi : To ride or travel in a taxicab Definition of cab : A taxicab. Since the definitions don't show many differences, is it okay to assume that there is no difference between taxi and cab ? | There isn't any difference between these two, both act as a vehicle of transport for the passenger to get from one place to another. Although, cab might be more of an olden-usage, as it can also mean any of various horse-drawn vehicles, as a hansom or brougham, especially one for public hire. | Difference between "taxi" and "cab" | english |
To act is to put up a facade, yet when put together with natural, it contradicts each other. Yet this phrase is used frequently. "Now, Tom, remember to act natural in front of the examiner and do not be nervous!" | According to Merriam Webster , one meaning of the verb "act" is "behave". "Behave naturally" doesn't seem quite so contradictory. | 'Act Naturally', is it an oxymoron? | english |
Is the word prolers an English word or just rubbish/noise added to the Scrabble dictionary? If it's a real English word, what does it mean? (Not a general reference question by virtue of this word not being in the OED, Merriam-Webster, or any other English dictionary I could find.) | Proler is a real English word, but one that's not used any more. Whether it's accepted in Scrabble or Words with Friends or other word games is up to their official word lists. It has no individual entry in OED online, but proler[s] appears in three 17th and 18th century quotations under prowler . Searching Google Book... | "Prolers" is in no English dictionary and yet it's in several online Scrabble dictionaries. Is it an English word? | english |
Which of the following (if either) is correct? I consider myself equally skilled as LeBron. I consider myself equally skilled to LeBron. | Traditionally, neither is recommended: you would either say Lebron and I are equally skilled or I consider myself (just) as skilled as Lebron . I believe equally as is used by some people, though. Equally to is probably less common. | "equally skilled as X" or "equally skilled to X"? | english |
The first thing that came to my mind was an event like this would makes the headlines very quick . But after checking on Google, I realized there were 0 results. So, obviously I was wrong. What's the right expression for a case like this? | "Viral news" or "has gone viral" Many people refer to this as news that spreads very quickly on television, and especially on the internet. | Expression that refers to an event that appears in the news very fast? | english |
Is there a difference between I didn't use to do that and I used to not to do that For example, I don't use to read books when I was a child. Would both be correct? Is the second even correct grammatically? | According to Michael Swan's "Practical English Usage", the negative forms of used to are: formal: used not to informal: didn't use to, didn't used to Example: I didn't use(d) to read books when I was a child. (informal) I used not to read books when I was a child. (formal) So, the difference would be mostly that of reg... | Word order with 'used to' | english |
I've heard it recently in a movie called " Lone Ranger". Tonto called the lone ranger kemosabe. What does it mean and what is the origin? | This article in Slate states: The phrase has stumped scholars and Lone Ranger fans alike for years, and there appears to be no conclusive evidence as to its true definition or its roots. However, another site (written by a specialist in Siouan languages) asserts: The word Kemosabe is from an Algonquian language similar... | Meaning and etymology of "kemosabe" | english |
We ask people who become the photographing subject(s) to smile when taking a picture of a family, team, and group of people by calling “Hai (Say) cheese!” to them. I think we imported this practice from English speaking countries. I don’t know other variations of “Hai cheese!” than “Waratte – laugh, meaning “Smile!” in... | The reason that people are asked to say "Cheese" is because the "ee" sound brings the speaker's lips up into a smile, while the "se" sound at the end brings their teeth together to form a smile. Any similar word construct works, sucha s "flea's knees", "burt's bees", or even "smile please!" Other words that just have a... | Are there English variations to ask people to smile other than “Say cheese!” when taking a picture of others? | english |
Definition of " vision " : The act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be: prophetic vision; the vision of an entrepreneur. The school's vision is to develop students into gentlemen of high integrity and robust character. Definition of " mission " : An important goal or purpose that is accompanied b... | A Vision outlines WHERE you want to be. A Mission statement talks about HOW you will get to where you want to be. Here's a link | Difference between "vision" and "mission" | english |
For example: <code> I support Bob's decision to quit his job. </code> What word could you use in place of support to make that sentence have the opposite meaning? | Depends very much on what you mean by opposite. If you mean that I am against Bob's decision to quit his job, then GEdgar's suggestions, along with a myriad of synonyms and antonyms from thesaurus, will do I oppose Bob's decision... I reject Bob's decision... However, if you mean that you are not in favor of, but not n... | What is the antonym for the verb "support"? | english |
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