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How do you read section 20.1234 in a regulation by a government agency? For example, the law is 38 C.F.R. section 20.1234. How do you read 20.1234? Do you read it as "twenty one two three four" or "twenty point one two three four? Thanks!

I regularly see films, books, stories and other English usages in which a person uses the term "son" where one might normally use a name. Usually, it's a father and they're portrayed in a reasonably good relationship with their teenage or adult child: “How was breakfast, son?” I would expect a close family member to use the first name instead (not “How was school, daughter?” or “How was work, son?”, but “How was breakfast, Alan?” or “Are you okay, Joe?”) I'm excluding uses of “son” where it's widely used in the UK, such as for emphasis ("Listen, son!") or other proper nouns such as "Father" used as an honorific. I've never heard a person actually use “son” as one might use a name, but it seems quite widely used in English writing and scripts. Maybe it's a UK/US difference or present in some subcultures and not in others? Can anyone shed light on whether this is actual usage, or just a writer's trope?

This is probably related to whether one should capitalize Internet or not. I am looking for the correct spelling of wifi when referring to a wireless connection to the Internet. I want to tell the users of my iPhone app that they cannot use their cellular network to watch the HD videos. If I use the capitalized and hyphenated version as seen on Wikipedia , will I be referring to the Wi-Fi brand rather than the concept of wifi? "Wi-Fi" is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance and the brand name for products using the IEEE 802.11 family of standards. Some dude on Meta.stackoverflow made this claim with no explanation: WiFi" is a bit better than "wifi" as it asserts the etymology, compare history of usage of "hifi" from which it derives. – Steve-o Aug 29 at 3:59 Answer Since you have an iPhone app and it would seem that Apple/iPhone use the term "Wi-Fi" throughout then I would use the same for consistency. iPhone users expect to see "Wi-Fi...

I have two questions. In the UK, to do (or is it read?) a roll call is commonly referred to as "calling out the register". It's been so long since I was a child that I'm not absolutely sure how students responded. I think it was "Present, miss/sir" I also seem to remember students just raising their hands. Are there different responses in the rest of the English speaking world? Secondly, I am experiencing difficulty in pronouncing roll call . I can say each word separately without any trouble but when I join the two together it sounds as if I'm saying "rolkol"; "rolekol" or "rol kol" I've looked in wiktionary and TFD but neither have the pronunciation. Should I pronounce roll in "roll call" as /rəʊl/ or /roʊl/? EDIT It seems responding to the roll call with " present " has become dated both in the UK and the US whether it holds true for Canada and Australia is unknown. Apparently, British student...

So I know I've heard this saying in American English before but I just can't quite find the original. I have come up with several made up variations like: I don't send the Navy (or whole army, or a battalion) when all you need is a diplomat. Don't buy the whole cow when all you need is milk. What's the more commonly heard saying/phrase for this of expression? Answer 'Don't use a sledgehammer to crack a nut.' To use 'a sledgehammer to crack a nut' means to use disproportionate force or expense to overcome a minor problem. ( The Phrase Finder )

That question was directed at Sasha OR That question was directed to Sasha what is the difference? Answer The correct usage is at Sasha . You direct at a person, but to a location.

I posted a comment to the Is "should" appropriate for polite requests? and it was spotted by @FumbleFingers saying that it had a grammatical error. I wonder if someone can elaborate as to where the grammatical error is in the following: To properly proceed with the work, please send me information for all of the following

According to @Mahnax's answer to this question , the Chicago Manual of Style Online states that the correct sequence of footnote symbols is as follows: * (asterisk; but do not use if p values occur in the table; see 3.78) † (dagger) ‡ (double dagger) § (section mark) || (parallels) # (number sign, or pound) What were the actual reasons that gave rise to this sequence? Could it be traceable back to the typewriters of 50 or 100 years ago having keys in that order? Answer This Wikipedia article on the dagger (archived by Swarthmore College Computer Society ) claims: History The symbol was first used in liturgical books of the Roman Catholic Church, marking a minor intermediate pause in the chanting of Psalm verses (the major intermediate pause was marked with an asterisk) or the point at which the chanting of the Psalm was taken up after an introductory antiphon whose words were identical to the opening words of the Psalm. Usage The dagger is usually used to indicate a footnote, in ...

To his amusement, Jason realized that the words Madam Curie anagrammed to Radium Came. Is the above sentence idiomatic? I am not sure if I can use anagrammed to . If this is inacceptable, what is the best verb or verb phrase to express the desired meaning? Answer The general form is ' A is an anagram of B ' Anagram - noun 1 - a word, phrase, or sentence formed from another by rearranging its letters: “Angel” is an anagram of “glean.”. www.dictionary.com Thus in your example: To his amusement, Jason realized that 'Madam Curie' was an anagram of 'Radium Came'

I am preparing a press release, and so far the headline of the press release is: A SOVIET LABOR CAMP SURVIVOR’S TALE A colleague called the word "tale" into question, since this is a book about a person's actual experiences in a Soviet labor camp. She feels that "tale" would be more appropriate for something fictional, whereas "story" should be used in this case. I'm not so sure "tale" is less appropriate for the situation, and on top of that, it sounds better. Anyone have any good reasons for believing "story" is better than "tale"? Answer There indeed is a contra-factual connotation to tale – perhaps due to its long-standing collocation and association with fictious narrative. cf. "fisherman's tale." The ODO has as one of the definitions of story as: 3 An account of past events in someone’s life or in the development of something: the story of modern farming the film is based on a true story   3.1...

Is Valley Girl speak like entering the language? Please can you explain the origins of where the annoying over-use of the word "like" came from? Does this have anything to do with Facebook? Example: Logan is so, like, stupid when he says, like, anything! He's like, he's like an idiot or something. I don't think I like him anymore, like. Answer The usage of like as a random interjection/hedge/quotative particle is older than most of the girls who are using it nowadays. It certainly predates Facebook by several decades. It's one of the defining characteristics of "valley girl" speech, which originated in California (specifically, the vast tract of suburbia known collectively as the San Fernando Valley) in the 1970's.

It's sort of a silly question, but it confuses me and I have no choice but to ask. What is the most accurate way to write: He came, he saw, he conquered. Is it OK to use 'and' as in 'and he conquered'; should there be a comma before 'and' as in: He came, he saw, and he conquered .

“User accounts” or “users account?” I ask because a list of tasks would usually be called a "task list". However a list or previous winners of a competition seems to be called a "winners list" rather than a "winner list". Thanks.

Is there a word to refer specifically to the people who live in the other part of a duplex (two-family house, side-by-side)? Not neighbor, i think, as that's more generic. Answer Following Kris's advice, I searched for a definition. A duplex house plan is a multi-family home consisting of two separate units but built as a single dwelling. The two units are built either side-by-side, separated by a firewall, or they may be stacked. Duplex home plans are very popular in high-density areas such as busy cities or on more expensive waterfront properties. The two units of a duplex floor plan are usually a mirror image of one other, but are also available with attached units varying in size and layout. An example of this would be: unit A has two bedrooms and one bathroom and unit B has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Family Home Plans For semi-detached houses which are side-by-side, the person in the other half is your next-door neighbour. For a maisonette where the building h...

How can I spell the number 125.000? Should I say one hundred twenty five thousand or one hundred and twenty five thousand? Which is correct? Answer This is a difference between US and British English. Americans say "One hundred twenty five thousand." British say "One hundred and twenty five thousand". Canadians side with the Americans. Other than that I don't know which other countries say which.

Can app serve as an accepted abbreviation for application in formal contexts? Is there some context where app is more accepted (for example, when talking about mobile applications)? Answer Your intuition is right. Nowadays, when people say "app" they mean "mobile application." If you want to talk about an application that doesn't run on a tablet/phone, you can say something is a "Windows app". If you don't want to specify the operating system except to say that it's not a mobile application, just go with "application" or "program".

Look at this sentence: It wasn't quiet what I wanted And this one: The music was too quite for me Obviously quiet and quite are mixed up. Is this considered a spelling mistake? In both cases the words are valid, but used in the wrong place. Is there a special name for these mistakes? Or are they simply grammatical errors? Answer They are not grammatical errors since the sentence structure is correct once you replace the erroneous word with the one the author obviously intended. So I would categorise those mistakes as spelling mistakes influenced by homophone confusion.

Using “that” and “this” interchangeably What is the difference? What do you think about that ? What do you think about this ? What is the grammar rule about using this and that in this way?

I'm sure this is silly and won't be terribly difficult to answer: can one climb atop a mountain or is it proper to say climb on top of. Or does it matter? I'm thinking the latter is correct.

When someone asks whether you have completed a task e.g. shopping, dinner. What should be your answer? I am done. or I have done. To me, the former sentence's formation, Sub + VBe+ Past Participle, falls to passive voice. Therefore, it has a totally different meaning from I have done Sub + Predicate (verb intransitive). Addendum: According to Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary 3rd ed., the verb do is an intransitive verb in the meaning of complete/finish. In the sentence, same formation as I am done : I am beautiful. The verb am (of VBe) links the adj beautiful to the subject of the sentence I . Therefore I, the subject of the sentence, is beautiful (in other words, state of being). Then in the sentence : I am done. The subject, I , is linked to the adjective done . So the subject's state of being is done , in other words dead ?

I'm reading Will Ferrell's Twitter where he wrote Just thought a thought but the thought I thought wasn't the thought I thought I thought. Does the sentence still have the same meaning if you remove the last "I thought"? Is this grammatical word play possible with other words? Is there a name for this other than a play on words? Answer The best way to understand something like this is to replace each occurrence of the repeated word with either a synonym, or something that matches its part of speech: Just came up with an idea , but the idea I came up with wasn't the idea I believed I came up with . As you can see, removing the last "I thought" either changes the meaning, or results in a contradiction: Just came up with an idea, but the idea I came up with wasn't the idea I believed – inventing an idea you don't believe is quite different from misremembering what idea you invented. Just came up with an idea, but the idea I came up with ...

People tend to let capability mislead priority. We refer to this as "a solution in search of a problem". If your job is to point these out to people, it would be nice to do so with a single word. Any ideas ?

I'm looking for a word that refers to when a dark room is slightly lightened- for example, by a candle or a weak lightbulb, but not so much that I could use "brightened" to describe the action. "Lighten" works, but I'm wondering if there's a word that fits better in this situation.

Is it acceptable usage to use "or" with "respectively", or is it possible only with "and"? Example: If the light changes from red to blue or from blue to red, you must catch or throw the ball, respectively. I've seen lots of construction with "and" but none with "or".

If I were construct an argument containing the postulation Men commit more crimes than women. I would be guilty of a logical fallacy because this statement implies All men commit crimes. The man who commits the fewest crimes still commits more than the woman who commits the most crimes. There is a name of this type of logical fallacy. I think it is a kind of hasty generalization , but I'm not sure which. Can someone please help me find the right term? EDIT: So to try to clarify what I'm asking (since I don't have the right lingo apparently), I think I have worked out that there are really two parts to this question. We can agree that the predicate "Men commit more crimes than women" is ambiguous . Ambiguity is not a friend of logic; so firstly what might you call a statement that requires disambiguation before it can be considered acceptable in an argument? Secondly, is there a term that describes the exploitation of ambiguous statements to further an argument? (I...

In most languages, gender plays a much more important role than in English. Nevertheless, it is possible to refer to a noun using its gender. The ship was launched on 4 October 1853. Tayleur left Liverpool on 19 January 1854, on her maiden voyage. How does one know that "ship" is feminine? Are there masculine nouns? Answer Well, gender matters with anaphors (Steve shaved him/*herself) and pronouns with antecedents, (Steve retrieved his/*her book). The ship example is very rare in modern English, and is probably a holdover from when English had real grammatical gender (i.e., when it was more like German).

Often in spoken English, I see one sentence or phrase "set up" another much like an interjection. For example: I forgot to ask. Did you find that book I told you about? How do you generally punctuate this? I've seen a comma used for this, but I that's only correct if it can be argued that I forgot to ask is a proper interjection (can it be?). Should I use a colon? Semi-colon? Does it matter? Answer You could punctuate this in a few ways, in decreasing levels of formality With a colon (:) I forgot to ask: did you find that book I told you about? With a dash (–) I forgot to ask—did you find that book I told you about? With an ellipsis (…) I forgot to ask…did you find that book I told you about? The colon is the most formal, the ellipsis quite informal. I personally would use a dash. The ellipsis here is used to indicate a pause or an unfinished thought, which some purists might object to (claiming that an ellipsis can only be used to indicate something which has be...

I am studying for the SAT, and I learned just now that the following sentence is grammatically incorrect: Hopefully, we will be able to complete the building before the rainy season sets in. The reason why it's incorrect is given in my study book: hopefully is an adverb, and yet it is not modifying a verb in this sentence. I don't see how this is the case, because hopefully is modifying the verb complete . And why is that according to Google Dictionary, the following sentence is correct: Hopefully, it should be finished by next year.

I'm looking for a term that a crazy cult member would apply to an outsider, a term that implies that such a "non-believer" is ignorant and of lesser worth -- ideally, something that is humorous because it is slightly ridiculous. For example, an Islamic radical might use "filthy infidel" or an over-the-top Catholic may say "hell-bound heathen," but I'm looking for something that may be uttered by a member of a run-of-the-mill Kool-Aid cult. Answer Heathens Unbelievers Those who choose to live in the dark The unwashed The blind Worshipers of Mammon The unchosen The prodigals Strangers Outsiders The apostates The unworthy Servants of Baal God's rebellious children Lovers of darkness Children of 'The World' (I really need to stop joining all these secret groups!)

Where did this ubiquitous phrase come from? Usually it is used in conjunction with either disputable of downright dubious information but I can't think of how salt helps the situation. The only thing I can think of is that since salt had a higher value in ancient times, that maybe the speaker is trying to almost bribe the recipient ("here is some info and here's some salt for your trouble") but I am just theorizing, take it with a grain of salt. Answer The phrase is likely derived from the Latin cum grano salis , which in turn was used by Pliny the Elder in his work Naturalis historia : After the defeat of that mighty monarch, Mithridates, Cneius Pompeius found in his private cabinet a recipe for an antidote in his own hand- writing ; it was to the following effect: Take two dried walnuts, two figs, and twenty leaves of rue ; pound them all together, with the addition of a grain of salt ; if a person takes this mixture fasting, he will be proof against all poisons f...

Primary question: A common speaking mistake is to exchange syllables of words, saying "It's trace rhyme!" instead of saying "It's race time!", or pronouncing "kickin' chackatory" instead of "chicken cacciatore." Is there an existing name in poetry, linguistics, or English studies for switching syllables of (quasi-)consecutive words? I am not especially interested in the case when switching syllables results in interpretable homonyms or portmanteaus, like in the first example. Secondary question: if not, what would you call it? Tertiary question: is there somewhere a (playful?) taxonomy of fruitful or unfruitful lingual aberrations? Answer It's a Spoonerism .

A quick search suggests that insofar is the American variant of the British in so far . I always assumed it belonged to the set of expressions like hitherto , heretofore , therefore and albeit . Is there a preferred usage, and does it matter? General context for the usage of these expressions would be helpful. Answer From Wiktionary : The form insofar is American English; the standard form in British and other English is 'in so far'. I also have never seen the form 'in so far' used in American English.

When writing an instruction about connecting to a computer using ssh, telnet, etc., I'm not sure what spacing to use in this familiar spoken phrase: " Log in to host.com" " Log into host.com" " Login to host.com" Maybe this is entirely subjective or the realm of industry jargon, but I couldn't think of anywhere else to ask. Any insight? Answer I would write “Log in to host.com.” I think that “login” is a noun (as in “login screen”). I would find the words “loginned” and “loginning” awkward. As for “Log in to host.com” versus “Log into host.com,” I would use the former because I think that “log in” is a fixed phrase. Martha’s answer to another question is also related. Added : The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) lists 65 occurrences of “log in to” and 58 occurrences of “log into,” both including inflected forms and excluding the Spoken section. (The queries used are [log].[v*] in to and [log].[v*] into .) Since “log in to” is a...

Is there any substantive difference in the meanings of these two words? Is the latter considered a proper word at all? If the answer to either of the above questions is yes, what are these words' differences in usage? Similarly, "acoustic" versus "acoustical", etc.

I am always confused with multiple attribute clauses. For example: A complete virtual system composed of virtualized hardware components onto which an unmodified operating system can be installed. For " onto which an unmodified operating system call be installed. " clause, the which points to hardware components or A complete virtual system ? The attribute clause always modify the nearest noun? Answer Your question doesn't seem to be so much about what a clause modifies, but about how to determine the antecedent of a relative pronoun, (the noun referred to by that pronoun), in this case, "which." There are several considerations in making that determination. Proximity. The modifying clause has a strong attraction to the nearest preceding noun, which as you've spotted, makes "hardware components" a candidate. Syntax. Sometimes you will have grammatical help that will tell you whether the nearest noun is the antecedent. Consider the following ver...

The context is: Just so you know, I got a bee up my ass about you two. Answer It's a quaint/inventive conflation of... have a bug up one's ass be very irascible and touchy (Source: dictionary.reference.com) and have a bee in one's bonnet be preoccupied or obsessed with something (Source: oxforddictionaries.com)

Each is an item of jewelry that is primarily distinguished by the body part around which it is wrapped. Jewelry is too generic a term, since it would include earrings as well, which are not wrapped around the wearer. Example: She preferred the versatility of [blunks], which could be on display as a necklace during dinner, but safely hidden around her ankle or wrist while walking home through the city. Answer Circlet may work for you; it's a bit shaky, but jewelry houses clearly often use it to refer to pieces intended to be worn as necklaces, and some sources at least define anklets and bracelets as types of circlet.

Why did the character 'y' disappear in favor of 'i' in English spelling? I've often noticed this replacement when merchants try to sell or advertise something as archaic or old-timey, writing wife as wyfe , for example, or time , as tyme . I think this quote from Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, well illustrates the phenomenon: I amongst other have indured a parlyament which contenwid by the space of xvii hole wekes wher we communyd of warre pease Stryffe contencyon debatte murmure grudge Riches poverte penurye trowth falshode Justyce equyte dicayte opprescyon Magnanymyte actyvyte foce attempraunce Treason murder Felonye consyli … [conciliation] and also how a commune welth myght be ediffyed and a[lso] contenewid within our Realme. Howbeyt in conclusyon we have d[one] as our predecessors have been wont to doo that ys to say, as well we myght and lefte wher we begann. Any particular reason? Answer The spelling change from 'y' in Middle English to 'i...

Growing up I had a friend whose family would constantly say "Are you going with?" or similar. It always annoyed me. Fast forward 20 years and now I have a coworker who does the same. "I'm going to lunch, do you want to come with?" It annoys me, but is it wrong? p.s. Sorry if this is a duplicate. It was a difficult thing to search. Answer There is a fascinating site for dialect maps made by one Joshua Katz of NC State University, based on a linguistic survey by the University of Cambridge. It shows variations in dialects across the USA in a variety of topics, one of them is this "do you want to come with" that seems to annoy you. Looking at this map, you can see that "coming with" is distincly common in Minnesota and the surrounding states, but rather rare elsewhere. I suggest following the link above and choosing Question 51 in the drop-down menu to see a full-sized map, as well as geographical distribution of specific answers to this quest...

In the Hebrew scriptures Abraham's name is Avraham and not Abraham ( אַבְרָהָם ). Is has a v and not a b . The same goes for Rebecca, who is called Rivka in Hebrew. Both v and b sounds are represented by the same letter, the letter ב , but the sound b is represented by the letter with a dot inside (known as dagesh) and then it's called bet , while the sound v is represented by the letter without the dagesh and called vet ( Wiki article for the letter ). Here is how they look: בּ vs ב . In Arabic, Abraham is called Ibrahim , also with b , but the Arabic language has no v sound so it's understandable that it's replaced. What is the source for the change is the sound? Answer Neither Latin nor Greek (at the time of Biblical) translation had the orthographic means (or need) to represent the contrast be /v/ and /b/. These were the source of the English versions of these names (not the Hebrew). They have been further distorted by letters assigned their English, rath...

What is the most appropriate way to address a motivational letter for a graduate program? Multiple people will read the letter. How should I address it if I want to avoid the "To whom it may concern" phrase, and salute the female reader? Is it appropriate to write "Dear Madams, Sirs?" P.S. Many of the salutation posts are marked as duplicates, or closed but I did not see this question answered.

I recently read somewhere a single word that described a person who enjoyed an argument - in the sense of a lively debate. It may have been a word implying a positive or neutral context but I don't think it was negative or derogatory. A complex word (uncommon in colloquial use), medium length (7-8 letters), possibly ending in -ic. One or more of these points may be a false memory. Any ideas? Answer Polemic (polemicist) or Controversialist . polemic (noun): A person who argues or writes in opposition to another, or who takes up a controversial position; a controversialist. Cf. polemicist n. [OED] polemicist (noun): An author of polemics; a controversialist. [OED] controversialist (noun): a person who likes to disagree with other people and say things that make people angry or think about a subject [Cambridge] You can consider argumentative or contentious as an adjective.

My sister says I ask too many questions, such as "What have you been up to lately?" She is the only person who says that. What do you call a person who doesn't like questions being asked?

What's the meaning of the word "mean" in "Greenwich Mean Time"? Shouldn't we simply say something like "Greenwich Time"? I don't understand what the word "mean" is doing there. Answer According to Wikipedia, Greenwich Mean Time refers to the mean solar time measured at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. This article has more information about mean solar time , but it is essentially the mean (in the sense of average) angle of the sun in the sky at any particular time of day. At least insofar as I understand it. So the mean in Greenwich Mean Time is "average." As a note, mean solar time is contrasted with apparent solar time, which is based on how long it actually takes for the Sun to return to the same position in the sky. Apparent solar time varies because the Earth's orbit is not perfectly circular, and the Earth speed of the Earth varies according to its distance from the Sun. I think mean solar time is the average ...

According to the following Google Ngram , in the U.K. the modals should, shall, and must were virtually missing from English writing during the 18th Century (I've added will for a comparison modal which was unaffected). I have never seen this mentioned anywhere, and I couldn't find it in a brief web search. What happened? Was this a real phenomenon, or could this somehow be an artifact of Google Ngrams? Were these modals absent from speech, or just formal writing? More interestingly, how did they get reintroduced? A brief search shows that Shakespeare definitely used these words quite frequently. Answer This was a problem with Google's optical character recognition (OCR) mistaking the long s (ſ) as an f . However, Google has since improved their OCR: When we generated the original Ngram Viewer corpora in 2009, our OCR wasn't as good as it is today. This was especially obvious in pre-19th century English, where the elongated medial-s (ſ) was often interpreted as an...

Is something the matter? I've read or heard this usage of matter many times. For instance, in The pleasure of finding things out , R.P. Feynman writes: I could tell that something was the matter. This usage doesn't seem right to me. It's hard for me to pinpoint what exactly bothers me, but I think it has to do with the use of the definite article "the" when the existence of a problem hasn't even been confirmed/acknowledged yet. I know this usage of matter is accepted by many, but how does it make logical/grammatical sense? Instead of: Is something the matter? I would much prefer Is there a problem? Instead of I could tell that something was the matter. I would prefer I could tell that there was a problem. Note that my issue is with the choice of article, not with that of the noun.

I came across the sentence "Fortunately their are a variety of different offerings out there with zounds of features." Disregarding the misuse of "zounds," how would Elizabeth I have pronounced the word? To rhyme with "God's wounds?" Or otherwise? Answer It makes most sense to me that zounds should rhyme with wounds. When you take two words and combine them and then contract them, they retain their pronunciation. couldn't isn't pronounced cowdn't doesn't isn't pronounced dow-znt bosun isn't pronounced bossun Nevertheless, it seems both pronunciations are ok: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/zounds , and /zaʊndz/ appears to be more prevalent: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/zounds English is weird, eh? EDIT: See Snumpy's answer. It started off as rhyming with wounds and changed during the Great Vowel Shift to rhyme with sounds

What happened to them, and how were they once used? Straining my mind to sound archaic, I came up with the following: Dost thou thinkest thou can escape thy sins? and Bringeth me mine armor and favorite sword. I’d like to use these suffixes intelligently, so my questions are: how are ‑est and ‑eth properly appellated in conjugations, and when and why did they disappear? Answer Verb paradigm in King James English for think Singular Plural -------------------------- 1 (I) think (we) think 2 (thou) thinkest (you) think 3 (he) thinketh (they) think Imperative: think Infinitive: (to) think These unfamiliar suffixes are applied in the same context that the -s suffix is applied in Modern English; for example: He thinks. Thou thinkest. He shall go. (no -s suffix on go ) Thou shalt go. (irregular verb form for shall ; but again, no suffix on go ) During the Early Modern English period, the 2nd person singular suffix disappeared and the -th ...

For a phrase such as the following: each apple and each orange Is it correct to use "has" or "have" when describing properties of both apples and oranges? Answer Both each apple and each orange are respectively singular so it has to be has . If apples and oranges (plural) were the subject, you could use have .

Collective nouns exist for a collection of things taken as a whole, like flock , crowd , school , pride , murder . These are all still "groups". I've read in many places that two things are not enough for a group. Is that true? In Arabic and sometimes Urdu there are different plurals for two things and it is termed as isnain but even then they still form a group, normally named a "group of two" or "form of two people". What is the rule in English and how does it vary across different groups? My base question is about when the word "group" applies, e.g., can I call two people a "group" or two crows a "murder"?

I am reading Of Mice and Men, and I am trying to come up with a word that describes how George manages to shoot Lennie at the end of the book. I have come up with Self Discipline , and Overcoming Weakness , but none of those really seem to suffice. Any suggestions would be great! Answer consider: moral conflict or ethical dilemma An ethical dilemma is a complex situation that often involves an apparent mental conflict between moral imperatives, in which to obey one would result in transgressing another. wikipedia

Example sentence - This problem is a _____ which gets complicated every time you try to solve it. Is there such a word that represents a problem which will become worse if/when one tries to solve it? Note - After seeing the comments and answers I'd like to add that this is not a can of worms or Pandora's box because it doesn't create a new problem but just worsens. Example: Magic leaves protecting a fruit by enclosing it. Every time a leaf is touched, all the leaves close together further, that is more tight than before. Answer can of worms informal. a situation that causes a lot of problems for you when you start to deal with it: Corruption is a serious problem, but nobody has yet been willing to open up that can of worms. —  Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary & Thesaurus

I've come across both phrases for quite some time and I can't seem to distinguish the difference between both of them. Suzy is biased towards Thomas. Suzy is biased against Thomas. In both cases, it is clear that Suzy holds something against Thomas; but what is the difference between "biased towards" and "biased against"? Is it the degree of bias or is it that both are acceptable? Answer Suzy is biased against Thomas can mean only that she has a prejudice against him. Suzy is biased towards Thomas is ambiguous. It can mean either that her attitude towards him is biased one way or another or that she is biased in favour of him. For that reason, it is perhaps best avoided.

I would like to know if there is a word or phrase for a systematic campaign to annihilate every descendant of a particular ancestor. We have the word 'genocide' for killing off an entire race, and plenty of words for killing people based on how they are related to you (fratricide, filicide, et. al.), but looking over the "cide" words on The Phrontistery and the List of types of killing on Wikipedia , I couldn't find a term for systematically killing an entire bloodline. My question is prompted by a US news story about the horrific murder of 8 members of the same family, but those murders are not an example of what I'm thinking of because the children of the victims were left alive, so the motive for the killings was not to kill off the bloodline. The sense that some group had coordinated an attack against just one family is what made me wonder what the "not an entire race, just one bloodline" version of 'genocide' would be called. Searching ...

How do you pronounce "GUID?" Is it one syllable or two?

Which of these are acceptable? Is one preferable over the other? "Chemically-deposited tourmaline is never periwinkle." "Chemically deposited tourmaline is never periwinkle." Also, is the title to the this question asking what I'm trying to ask? (I realize that there are other questions about hyphenation in similar contexts; I'm asking specifically about -ly adverbs.) Answer If you want to be canonical, this might help. Whether the verb is p.p. or not is irrelevant for these authoritative sources: In the Guardian and Observer style guide , they state: Hyphens tend to clutter up text (particularly when the computer breaks already hyphenated words at the end of lines). Do not use hyphens after adverbs ending in -ly, e.g. a hotly disputed penalty , a constantly evolving newspaper , genetically modified food , etc,... The Chicago Manual of Style gives the same advice. (The rules for adverbs not ending with -ly may be of interest. too.) (By the way, this appea...

What should I call a person who write software, computer programs ? I know he/she is a software engineer, can I call him/her as "Coder"? Answer In increasing order of formality: Coder refers to someone who engages in the act of writing source code, and has a very casual, possibly even negative connotation. Programmer refers to someone who writes software, which has a neutral connotation. Developer or dev refers to someone who develops software, which may or may not involve actually writing it, but probably does. Software engineer and computer scientist are more formal terms for those with degrees or other professional qualifications. SE is a commonly used abbreviation in speech for a software engineer, but CS is only used for computer science itself, not the people who practice it.

To me the expression Let's simply share seems wrong. I've always thought the adverb should come after the verb. Is that correct?

In Maltese , we have a verb meaning "to show" corresponding to "to see/to look", and we have a different verb corresponding to "to hear/to listen": inti tara stampa (you look at a picture.) ---- jiena nurik stampa (I show you a picture) inti tisma' diska (you listen to a song.) ----- jiena nsemmgħek diska (I 'show' you a song) In English, do you "show someone a song" (sounds weird to me) or is there a verb that corresponds more directly to the Maltese insemmgħek ?

Today in my city, it's raining very slowly. What is this called in English?. I am from India. In Hindi we say 'Rimjhim' . What is it called in English? Answer We use the words "drizzling" or "sprinkling" here. They both mean "to rain or let fall in fine drops" If it's very, very light rain, you can use the word "mist". "Drizzling" usually implies a little harder rain than "sprinkling".

So there I was, trying to ask a question (now on SO) on Webmaster.SE partly involving a ' header ' and a ' footer '. One part of my code defines shared aspects of both the header and the footer. Anyway to cut a long story short, I became somewhat stuck as to what I wanted to name the class they share. All I could come up with was Xer, HeaderFooter and sandwich. Similar word groups like ' suffix ' and ' prefix ' give me the same issue, coming up with Xfix which is just awful nomenclature! What categorically describes both headers and footers? Commentary: I am *not* concerned about the web design/coding aspect of this at all. I could easily just use: div.CantThinkOfName for my particular case if that were the issue. I'm referring to header/footer as it applies to any document or setting in the English language. Final Results : Best coinage is Running Marginals with runner-up, Horizontal Ribbons . I've chosen Running Sections as the correct answe...

Why don’t we use the indefinite article with ‘software’? Can you say "a software" or "the software"? E.g. That is how you use the software. Answer Software is uncountable which means that it does not accept the indefinite article "a". In some cases, you can say "some" to convey this more indefinite meaning. It is perfectly acceptable to use a definite article on an uncountable noun and say "the software". Note: In more rare cases "a software" can be used to denote "a piece of software". Piece, being countable, allows this to happen. Another example is that while the word beer is typically uncountable, "a beer", often comes to mean "a glass of beer".

Apparently, when a gentleman has forgotten to zip his pants, in the US they remind him thusly Your fly is open Dictionary.com lists the noun fly meaning: 20. a strip of material sewn along one edge of a garment opening for concealing buttons, zippers, or other fasteners. But in the UK a trouser zipper is also called flies , Your flies are open Huffington Post , edition UK, has the following title in their light-hearted article dealing with the social faux pas: “Your Flies Are Undone!” The article then mentions a British euphemism that was commonly heard before WWII that signalled the gentleman to fasten the buttons on his trousers. “There’s a star in the East” The British writer, and The Times journalist Philip Howard, seems to confirm the validity of this phrase . Questions Are the terms "fly" and "flies" interchangeable? Are Americans and British generally aware of the two expressions? What is the origin of "fly" and "flies" (i.e. men's ...

Is there a reason behind the ordering of letters in the English alphabet? i.e. why are we taught “A,B,C,D,E,F,...,Z”? Why not “L,A,S,U,I,Z,...,C”? I am asking this because, in some of the languages I know, I am told that the ordering of the letters in the alphabet is based on the ease with which they can be pronounced or the frequency with which they are used or depending on the part of the vocal cord that needs to be stressed to pronounce the letter. Is there a similar rationale? EDIT You can see a couple of references for arrangement of letters in Sanskrit here and here . Answer The ABC order already existed in some form about 1400 BC , in the Ugaritic script, from which our alphabet is descended. From Wikipedia : It is unknown whether the earliest alphabets had a defined sequence. Some alphabets today, such as the Hanuno'o script, are learned one letter at a time, in no particular order, and are not used for collation where a definite order is required. However, a dozen Ugarit...

I am confused at whether or not there is a weak form at preposition's 'ON'. I've checked at some dictionaries at Cambridge and Oxford dictionary, they don't mention on the weak form's pronunciation. However, I, am a Japanese, checked at English-Japanese dictionaries, they mention on the weak form as /ən/. For example, is there the difference of pronunciation between 'It goes on' and 'There is an apple on the table' in connected speech? Does it exist? Thanks Yuichi *It's Edited

In this sentence from Wuthering Heights I declined joining their breakfast, and, at the first gleam of dawn, took an opportunity of escaping into the free air, now clear , and still , and cold as impalpable ice Do the adjectives "clear", "still" and "cold" refer to "ice" which is used as a comparison to the air? Or is it only the adjective "cold" that refers to ice because it is preceded by a comma which separates it from the adjectives? What if the sentence went like this I declined joining their breakfast, and, at the first gleam of dawn, took an opportunity of escaping into the free air, now fragrant , and light , and cold as impalpable ice Would you say that it is clear that "cold" only refers to the phrase "as impalpable ice" or is it possible that a reader would think all those adjectives are like impalpable ice?

How can a foreign speaker (where a "foreign speaker" speaks English as a second language) effectively improve their spoken English by improving their pronunciation and reducing their foreign accent. To be more specific, let's assume that the foreign speaker wishes to target a particular regional accent in English. Let's take mid-western United States as an example. Note: this is a cross-post from the Stack Exchange site "Spanish Language and Usage". I posted in both places because I expect the methods for improving pronunciation may differ. Answer There is some encouraging research behind the approach used in the English Accent Coach website. It's free and easy to use. You don't even need to login. (I was not involved with and have no commercial interest in the site.)

I'm in my mid 40s and dating this lady of a similar vintage. I am trying to find a good word to describe our relationship, but "girlfriend" and "boyfriend" seems inappropriate for us. It reminds me of those forty year old guys who say "I'm gittin' down wi ma hommies." It communicates, but it seems out of place. Perhaps it is the "girl" and "boy" part that bothers me. Any suggestions for something more appropriate? Answer Depending on how comfortable you are with the mixed connotations of the following suggestions: lover partner companion mistress significant other You also just refer to her by name which would probably be more polite. Depending on the context you can use the term "dating": We are dating. Sue and I are dating. We went on a date. Sue is my date. Edit: Not that there is anything wrong with girlfriend . I understand the desire to avoid it but it has its use even amongst older couples.

I am very confused. Unless I am mistaken, I know "it" has to be a noun of some sort, but I am unable to figure out what noun "it" is referring to. What is "it" in the following sentence: It is clear that Bob likes doughnuts. Heres another couple of examples: It is impossible to fly. Answer The it in both example sentences is, as noted, a "dummy it " -- that is, this it is not referential, and thus doesn't have any meaning, because meaning in pronouns is a matter of reference only. This dummy it (there are several others ) is an artifact of a syntactic rule called Extraposition , which works to make sure that "heavy" subject noun phrases (clauses and the like) don't show up at the beginning of the sentence where they're hard to process, like this unwieldy example: For a child to open this package is difficult. Instead, Extraposition inserts a dummy it in place of the heavy NP and shifts it to the end, where it is much ...

Is there an aphorism or proverb in English which describes attempting to improve something fundamentally flawed by dressing it with a lot of ornament?

What part of speech is handsome in the sentence: The bridegroom looked so handsome.

I have seen the words college and university sometimes mixed in the same article. But there are lots of sources where only one is used. I've looked up them in various dictionaries, but couldn't figure out the difference in their meaning. So, what is the difference (of meaning) that justifies the above findings regarding their usage? Answer Both the definitions of "college" and "university" and the meanings of the idioms in which those words appear (e.g. "to go to college", "to attend university"), differ by country (including native-English-speaking countries), so it would be very difficult to give you a good answer here. I'm afraid the best I can do is refer you to the Wikipedia article College .

Let's say I have an important decision to make and I can't decide between two competing things (like break up with a girl or not break up with her). What would be a word/idiom to express that? Answer Here are several choices: on the fence , indecisive , vacillating . I would use each one a little differently in a sentence. I am still on the fence about breaking up with her. or I am indecisive about breaking up with her. or I am vacillating between breaking up or staying with her.