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What's the difference between "could not have been" and "must not have been"? For example, That could not have been an easy task. That must not have been an easy task. I've seen both used. What's the difference?

What is the purpose of having different auxiliary verbs ("is", "are", "am") for different pronouns ("He", "You", "I"...) instead of simply using "is" for all pronouns? It seems like the pronoun always exists in a sentences where the auxiliary verb that relates to it appears, so, to me, having different auxiliary verbs seems to serve the sole purpose of overcomplicating the language and making it more difficult to learn. Answer First off, you’re mistaken to tie these verb-forms to pronouns rather than to what we call “grammatical persons”. Pronouns are but an ancillary matter that make it easier to demonstrate those. But more importantly, there is no “why”. There is no “purpose”. There’s just “is” — not to mention “am” and “art” and “is” and “are” and “be” and “was” and “wert” and “were”. It’s this little thing called inflectional morphology . It’s just something we inherited from our ancestors. Think of it as being ...

Gender-neutral equivalent for “Take it like a man” Does this make sense? For instance: "John, just man up and get on with it". You can't say this to a female, so what is the appropriate equivalent?

What is the correct possessive for nouns ending in s? When did it become correct to add an 's' to a singular possessive already ending in 's'? Today's Newyorker News Desk says Texas's insurgent establishment. Is Texas's correct usage? Doesn't seem elegant in any case.

I heard "thingy/thingie" very often to refer to "a something". However, I observe it written either way and I don't know what is the correct form. Dictionary.com redirects "thingie" to "thingy" , where the article says: thingy [thing-ee] noun, plural thingies. Facetious. any small item whose name is unknown or forgotten. adjective of, relating to, or characteristic of inanimate objects. Then, the Urban Dictionary mentions both: thingy and thingie thingie n. a non-specific term for anything thingy Used to describe an object on the spur of the moment when you have a sudden brain fritz and forget exactly what you were gonna say was. And Wordreference does not find any of them. What is, then, the proper way to write it? Answer Both forms are correct; thingy appears to be the more common form as shown below. -ie (suffix): alternative spelling of - y ; now mostly of -y (3), but formerly of others. (Etymonline) Ngram thingy vs thingie

Is there any rule you think is valid that discourages the use of a certain word to start a sentence? Because I suspect the answer is no. But it would be good to have a blanket answer to this kind of question. Answer Well, with certain words it's simply impossible to start a grammatical sentence: one such word that comes to mind is "ago". It always comes after other words (e.g. "one hour ago"), never at the beginning of a sentence or clause. [Before someone points it out: note the use-mention distinction . A sentence like 'Ago' is a word you cannot start a sentence with. starts with the word "'ago'" and not with the word "ago".] But if your question "Is there any valid rule discouraging the use of a certain word to start a sentence?" (emphasis mine) implicitly restricts attention to words that can grammatically start sentences, then it's not clear what it would take for a rule that discourages something grammat...

When did it become correct to add an 's' to a singular possessive already ending in 's'? I learned from school to use Dawkins' , for example That is Mr. Dawkins' house. But I see many people write Dawkins's instead. Is it something related to American English as opposed to British conventions? Answer Both forms are valid, depending on the style guide you follow. It does not appear to be a regional thing. Wikipedia has an overview.

I have always run into word twins like tube vs. tubing . More pairs: fence vs. fencing , pipe vs. piping , cable vs. cabling , rail vs. railing , etc. This is an interesting phemonenon. Most of these nouns cannot function as verbs, but adding the ing -form generates a new word with a similar meaning. Can you please explain the morphology behind this? Does the ing -form bring with it a different connotation? Any nuances between these twins?

What is the correct possessive for nouns ending in s? When did it become correct to add an 's' to a singular possessive already ending in 's'? Hey guys I was wondering where to put the ' when using the possessive case of my surname, Franks. I've seen it done all the ways given below, depending on what family member wrote it, but I was wondering which one was correct? Franks' Franks's Frankses'

When one uses simple past tense for some action, does it imply that the action is complete? For instance, when you say “I wrote my article yesterday,” does this imply that at this moment you have a finished article or not? So it’s I wrote a bit of my article yesterday, but I still have to finish it. vs. I started and finished writing my article yesterday and now I have a finished work, so I can publish it. What about present perfect? Does it imply completeness? If you say “I have watched this film,” does this mean that you have actually watched it from start to end? If both these tenses imply that the action was completed, do I have to use past continuous to emphasize the incompleteness of action? For instance, “I was watching this film,” so that the implied meaning is that I started watching it, but it’s not certain that I finished it. Answer when you say “I wrote my article yesterday,” does this imply that at this moment you have a finished article or not? Yes, you finished it. Othe...

I have seen the rule put forward that We need a direct object to form a passive sentence. The following sentences don't have direct objects according to some schools of thought, they have prepositional phrases. But are these sentences passivisible? He is playing with me ["with me"= prepositional phrase] no direct object in this sentence John is sitting by me ["by me"= prepositional phrase] no DO in this sentence I slept in the bed ["in the bed"= prepositional phrase] no DO in this sentence Mary arrived at school ["at school"= prepositional phrase] no DO in this sentence He fell on the ground ["on the ground"= prepositional phrase] no DO in this sentence There are questions I feel can't be asked in isolation: Can a prepositional phrase like these act like a direct object? Should it be called a direct object? Are there exceptional cases? How does all this bear upon passivisability? I will be very grateful to you If you provide the...

This question What is the difference between a phrase and a clause? has an answer, with no embedded examples. The link it provides is not longer active, giving a 404 page not found error . Please don't close this as a duplicate until it, at least, has some answers. The answer to the duplicate explains the differences between clauses and phrases, but fails to answer my question, as this is the explanation given: The short answer: clauses contain a subject and its verb, while phrases do not. Note that phrases may contain nouns and verbals, but won't have the noun as the verb's actor. I do not understand what is meant by verbals and the noun as the verb's actor may as well be written in Swedish (of which I know not one word!). So I am posting this question again, as my question has not been answered. Clauses and phrases were the only thing I failed when studying English at school and forever it has been difficult for me to grasp (I don't think it was explained well,...

It's like a building on top of a roof. I don’t know how to describe it too well, but you can walk out of it and be on the actual building's roof. This building thing is always on a roof, and can have AC coolers on top. Sadly I’m ill so the name is lost to me. Help?

I've heard the phrase "once in a blue moon" used to mean "once in a great while". Looking it up on Wikipedia revealed that "blue moon" originally meant the third full moon in a season with four full moons, but that a popular mistake caused it to mean the second full moon in a calendar month (which is a definition I'd heard before). But that didn't dispel all my curiosity: I've seen a "blue moon", and it's not any bluer than any normal full moon. So why is it called "blue"? Wikipedia becomes vague here: The most literal meaning of blue moon is when the moon (not necessarily a full moon) appears to a casual observer to be unusually bluish, which is a rare event. The effect can be caused by smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere, as has happened after forest fires in Sweden and Canada in 1950 and 1951, and after the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, which caused the moon to appear blue for nearly two years. Other les...

What is the correct possessive for nouns ending in s? I just took a grammar quiz in 10th grade English Honors, and one of the questions was very interesting to me. In this certain section of the quiz, we had to insert (we couldn't take something out) either a semicolon (;), a colon (:), an apostraphe ('), a hyphen (-), or a dash (--). The sentence in question went like this: Jack Walls, Chris Walls, and Jackie Wallses children were very upset when they got home. I decided to take out the 'e' and insert an apostraphe between the two S's like so Jack Walls, Chris Walls, and Jackie Walls's children were very upset when they got home. I knew that I was told to only insert punctuation, but I decided to take the risk anyway. After class I went to my teacher and showed her. She says she might need to make the question a freebie. Am I right, or is the correct version this? Jack Walls, Chris Walls, and Jackie Wallses' children were very upset when they got home. Answ...

How did the phrase "butterflies in stomach" originate or what is the story behind this phrase? Answer Under the definition ‘A fanciful name (usually plural) used of the fluttering sensations felt before any formidable venture, especially in . . . butterflies in the stomach ’, the Oxford English Dictionary provides this as its earliest recorded use, in 1908, of the expression: The three o'clock train going down the valley . . . gave him a sad feeling, as if he had a butterfly in his stomach. The plural form doesn’t occur until 1944: There was no electrical response to the movement of that firmly gentle hand, no butterflies on the backbone. Only in 1955 does the expression as we know it today appear: With butterflies in her stomach . . . she ascended the pretentious flight of dirty marble steps.

Is it correct to say People are benefited by Social Networking when what I really want to say is that People benefit from Social Networking

How should I punctuate around quotes? When should end punctuation go inside quotes? Or is it region specific? I was always taught that when ending a quotation, that punctuation remains inside of the quote. I think he said, "we should go to the store." Are you sure he said, "we should go to the store?" As opposed to: I think he said, "we should go to the store". Are you sure he said, "we should go to the store"? This is just an arbitrary example off of the top of my head, and it's hard for me to come up with an example for the second usage because it looks completely wrong to me. I actually got into a small argument with my girlfriend earlier this year because she uses something similar to the second example, and said that's how she was taught (which is why I ask if it's region-specific.) Anyway, is there a correct usage for ending a quotation with punctuation? Answer In American English, commas and periods go inside the quotation mar...

While waiting for the kettle to boil this morning, I was idling and reading the label on the bottle of milk and was struck by the declaration: "Permeate free, made in WA". Here's a shot of the label for proper context: It's clear that they want to state that the milk is produced in this state, but it sounds odd to me to say that milk is made  — I've always associated that with products that require at least a nominal amount of manufacturing/processing (e.g. butter, cream, yoghurt). For the raw produce though, I can't really recall anything using made but more specific terms like grown , harvested , farmed , raised , etc. So in this context, does anyone has a suggestion what might be a more descriptive, or more appropriate word? The best I can come up with is milked but that sounds awfully clumsy. Alternatively, if people have milk bottles from their side of the world that say something similar, then it could just be me that thinks it's a bit clunky. Answ...

I don't understand what's the meaning of " cited after " in books, when they cite a source, e.g., (cited after Manin 1997: 3)

What word could be used to describe a glowing object or mass that though it has a quality of brilliance, does not throw light to illume anything? Say, "The mysterious ball ____ with a self-contained light." or of a city that though full of lights and vividness cannot extend its glow past the darkness of night? Answer Glimmer: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glimmer May carry a connotation of faintness that you don't intend>

What is the difference between "no" and "not"? We know that "no" and "not" have the same meaning. I'm studying English. I hope to get help. Sorry for my language.

Today on GUARDIAN life&style is this teaser: There's many a garden outbuilding crying out for a makeover. I'm wondering if this sentence is correct. I think there either should many be deleted (i.e. There is a garden outbuilding ) or is should be are , the a should be dropped and an s should be added to verb outbuilding (i.e. There are many garden outbuildings ). Or does the sentence make sense in any way I don't recognize? Answer Yes, it is correct. It's a phrase that is combined with a singular noun. From http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/many : many a : a large number of Many a good man has been destroyed by booze John and I have talked about it many a time

Which of the following is a grammatically correct statement? The value of cars depreciate over time. The values of cars depreciate over time. The value of cars depreciates over time. Thanks! Answer The first one is incorrect. The value of cars depreciate over time. The verb should agree with 'value', not cars. For this reason, the 2nd and 3rd ones are both correct. Their usage depends on context. Consider: The values of (most) cars depreciate over time. Values of different cars and The value of (my) cars depreciates over time. Value of all my cars taken collectively

Does "hungry for X" have different connotations than "thirsty for X"? I did a few Google searches and found that "hungry for X" outdoes "thirsty for X" by about 250% with most values I tried for X. On the other hand, "Thirst for knowledge" beats "Hunger for knowledge"; but "Thirsty for knowledge" loses to "Hungry for knowledge." If you had to choose between the two phrases, what would you consider? Perhaps thirst is more related to need, and hunger to desire? Answer As Dan Bron observes in a comment above, the preference for "hungry for X" over "thirsty for X" depends greatly on the identity of X. Here is an Ngram chart of books in the Google Books database across the years 1800–2000 for "hungry for knowledge" (blue line versus "thirsty for knowledge" (red line) versus "hungering for knowledge" (green line) versus "thirsting for knowledge" (yellow...

I really hate to ask this one, but... When I was a child, some thirty plus years ago, there was a popular juvenile game where you would try to trick a friend into asking a question that could be answered with the mildly obscene reply "deez nuts!" (meaning "these testicles"). Sample: Jokester: Did you get that CD? Victim: What CD? Jokester: See deez nuts! Apparently everything old is new again --I was recently ambushed with a "deez nuts" joke by some current teenagers of my acquaintance. Upon investigation, the old chestnut has apparently returned to currency due to a series of popular Vine videos starring a young man of amazingly unusual looks. However, my question is this --where did the joke originally come from? Does it date from the 80's or is it even older? I'm fairly certain it originates somewhere within the black American urban subculture --maybe a skit on a rap album? I've done some research, but all the citations trace back only to th...

Do they mean the same when used in a sentence? Example: A scream would occasionally escape from her, only to be absorbed by the dark metallic walls. A scream would occasionally escape from her, but only to be absorbed by the dark metallic walls. Do both sentences mean the same? If not, what would be the difference? Answer This is not a special case of but , only or but only . The words but and only mean just the same here as elsewhere in an English sentence. 1 used to introduce a phrase or clause contrasting with what has already been mentioned: he stumbled but didn’t fall 2 [with negative or in questions] used to indicate the impossibility of anything other than what is being stated: one cannot but sympathize Let there be no confusion here with the secondary definition of but that is not relevant here (used to indicate the impossibility of anything other than what is being stated: one cannot but sympathize ) -- use the primary: (used to introduce a phrase or clause contrastin...

I've heard it called 'no mobile phobia' or 'nomofo', but it's not really a phobia, so I'm wondering if there are any other common place terms.

I want to go for wine and tapas, it's correct to say this? - I feel like wine and tapas. - I feel like I want wine and tapas. - What about going for wine and tapas? Answer Yes, you can say 1) I feel like having wine and tapas. 2) I feel like going for wine and tapas. 3) I feel like wine and tapas. The third sentence uses an understood gerund, whether it's eating or having , etc. after feel like . Garner's Modern English Usage explains that using feel like before a food is "perfectly grammatical" and "not at all substandard". That the object of like is the understood (i.e., elided) gerund eating and that the object of eating is the food substance. Cambridge Dictionary feel like something to have a desire to do or have something: I feel like Chinese food. Word Reference If you feel like something, it can also mean that you want to have it or to do it. I feel like pizza for dinner. See also the dialog at ESL Fast : A: Let's go out to eat. B: That s...

When was the word learnings first used as a noun, as a synonym for lessons ?

You can find bluer, redder, greener, and whiter in the dictionary, but not blacker. This seems mystifying. In his "El Paso" song, Marty Robbins sang, "Blacker than night were the eyes of Felina." During the recent Presidential campaign, some pundits asked, "Is Mitt Romney blacker than Barack Obama?" NASA has created a new nanotube material that is "blacker than black paint," according to various published reports. There are several official shades of black, such as taupe and ebony, leading to the presumption that some shades are "blacker" than others. Since "blacker" is not in the dictionary, would the proper usage be "more black"?

Do you pronounce the word like... Ap-PLIC-a-ble Or: APP-lic-a-ble And if so, is there a difference between the two?

Are the closing greetings "see you later", "talk to you later", and the like sufficient to end a conversation (especially a phone conversation) or must they be succeeded by "bye" or another word of definite finality? In other words, is it redundant to append "bye" to "speak to you later" or a similar wish? Answer I think it definitely has a use in some cases. The use is to get the person on the other end of the line to actually stop talking so you can end the call. Usually one starts signalling a desire to end the conversation by abandoning substantive answers in favor of simple affirmatives, transitioning at last to repeated versions of good-bye . Here's how such a dialogue sounds from that side of the conversation: Yeah, that's a great idea, I'll take a look ... yeah ... uh-huh ... I'll have a look ... uh-huh ... yeah ... yeah ... uh .... uh, OK ... OK ... OK, talk to you later ... bye .... bye-bye. [Hangs up] I made...

Can I say "we are expecting a baby" when my wife is pregnant or does that sound funny to native English speakers, saying it as a man? (In German, the phrase has become somewhat common, but it stills sound a bit funny to some. Some use it, some don't.) I don't like the sound of "my wife is expecting a baby" - it sounds too distant, like I don't care, but that's an intuition of a non-native speaker. What other (not overly formal) ways are there to express that one is becoming a family? Answer Yes, in English the idiom is for both parents to say "we are expecting [our first/a baby...]".

When I read some of these Winnie the Pooh stories to my kids at night, the place where the story takes place is the Hundred Acre Wood, not Hundred Acre Woods. Why is that? Answer Winnie the Pooh was written by an English author, and thus follows the British English usage that wood is both plural and singular. Apparently woods is an American construction. In fact, I can't verify that woods is a really a word, but it certainly sounds like one to my American ear.

Movements and philosophies often have a specific term that is used to describe followers of it. For example, Islam and Muslims, the Society of Jesus and Jesuits, Communism and Communists, even the Grateful Dead and Deadheads. The analogous relationship between person and place is called Demonymy . Is there such a term for the relationship that I've described? Answer adherence - noun attachment or commitment to a person, cause, or belief. devotion - noun Love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person or activity. Religious worship or observance. fellowship - noun Friendly association, especially with people who share one's interests. See also: association , commitment , affiliation EDIT: I had a feeling that the words I had provided weren't exactly what you were looking for, so I did some further research. According to textproject.org the term Demonym is not limited to geographical implications: A person can have many demonyms. If she belongs to a club or a sports team, she...

Is it incorrect to say, 'Give me it' ? I am told that it is and one should always say, 'Give it me'?

Is there a word in English that describes a person who never attains a desire or goal? I have found loser or dud or flop but these all seem to be informal, is there a better, more formal word that describes such a thing? Answer If you're willing to use an eponym, consider referring to the person as " a Sisyphus ." Here is the entry for Sisyphus in Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary (2003): Sisyphus (14c) : a legendary king of Corinth condemned eternally to repeat the cycle of rolling a heavy rock up a hill in Hades only to have it roll down again as it nears the top This noun has yielded the adjective Sisyphean , as well, meaning, according to the Eleventh Collegiate : of, relating to, or suggestive of the labors of Sisyphus The crucial characteristic of a Sisyphus is the person's inability to successfully complete a specified task (albeit, in the original Sisyphus's case, an impossible task imposed on him as a punishment for misdeeds in l...

What are the rules in English language to split words at the end of a line? Where exactly must the hyphen split the word? Answer The easiest thing to do, and the only way of being sure you agree with the authorities, is to look words up in the dictionary. Some of the hyphenations currently in American dictionaries make no sense at all. For example, the reason that prai-rie and fair-y are hyphenated the way they are seems to be that 150 years ago, the editors of Webster's dictionary thought they didn't rhyme 1 ; prairie was pronounced pray-ree with a long 'a', while fairy was pronounced fair-ee with an r-colored 'a'. That said, there are a few hyphenation rules that will let you hyphenate 90% of English words properly (and your hyphenations of the remaining 10% will be perfectly reasonable, even if they disagree with the authorities'). Here they are, in roughly decreasing order of priority: Break words at morpheme boundaries ( inter-face , pearl-y, bu...

There are some places where men and women are segregated — for example public toilets and public swimming pool changing areas. By this I mean, for example, that there are "Men's toilets" and "Ladies' toilets". However, in some more cosmopolitan swimming baths, and other places, there are such things as unisex changing areas, or unisex toilets. From my understanding uni- implies one, as in universe , unilateral or unicycle . However when it comes to unisex, this means both sexes, so applies to two things. How does uni- mean one in unisex ? Does it mean one? Answer From the Oxford dictionary online , via Wikipedia : The combining form uni- does normally mean 'one, having or consisting of one': it comes from Latin unus 'one'. It forms words such as unicycle, a term for a cycle with just one wheel, and unicellular, meaning 'consisting of a single cell'. And in fact the 20-volume historical Oxford English Dictionary contains entries fo...

...particularly with respect to the use of technology, taste in music, movies etc. I have seen my share of people like this who like to go "alternative" just to set themselves apart and I would like to know if there's a word for them? I wouldn't mind a casual/Internet-born word either. Just need a term I can label them with in my book. :) TIA EDIT: I am looking for a word that's disapproving in nature. :) EDIT 2: I am actually looking for a term that signifies "fake" in more particular terms with this scenario. Think about the people that only use Linux, only listen to Death Metal, only watch cult movies with the sole motive of being NOT mainstream. I am sorry that I didn't made myself clear enough. Answer Maverick is the obvious choice, but since you want a derogatory connotation, how about wannabe-maverick, faux-maverick, pseudo-maverick, quasi-maverick, mom-can-i-be-a-maverick, maverick-in-vogue, fashionable maverick, trendy maverick, hipster m...

I was speaking to an English learner and said, “All you have to do is read a lot.” And they thought that sentence wasn’t grammatically correct because I dropped the word to between is and read . They thought it should be “All you have to do is to read a lot.” That sounds weird to me. How do I explain to them the reason you drop the to ? Or am I incorrect and it really should have a to ?

Where such a term would reference the location/time of an object, almost like it was of a property of the object. That is to say, if a duck is red, blue, yellow etc, we describe it has having a certain colour. If it's a nanometre, or 10km big, then it's property of size. Now I know that where/when an object exists an object isn't a property of an object, but it is something unique to that object, so I think it would be useful to have a shorthand for 'geographical location', and 'time of existence'. There are terms describing both time and location, such an event, or rendezvous (which I think is used to describe the when and where of a meeting between two humans) but I wan't a term that just describes one of each. Answer The location in space and time of an entity is its spacetime coordinates . (Sorry, I couldn't find a concise reference for this, but if you do a web search, you will get many hits.)

I would say that the former one means the same as 'Not all of my first attempts succeeded' and 'Some of my first attempts failed'. I don't have a persuasive answer as to why. Answer It's a matter of dialect; English speakers differ. This is a well-known and well-studied matter in English. See for example https://books.google.com/books?id=-7ADDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA90&lpg=PA90&dq=neg-q+dialect&source=bl&ots=vQQOPL5xgv&sig=ACfU3U0wLxSe9bdn_cJRrH7MwD6zFF06Jg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiUooqN2p7kAhVXsp4KHVusDJ4Q6AEwAHoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=neg-q%20dialect&f=false and references therein.

I'm looking for a single word that means to be "physically removed from". Imagine someone is being annoying in a public place, and refuses to leave when asked, so he is physically removed from the building. I'm looking for a single word. Some of the ideas I had for words that may fit in are Removed The beggar was removed from the restaurant. I don't think this would work, because I want emphasis on that the beggar was taken and tossed out. Thrown The beggar was thrown from the restaurant. This one is alright, but I'm looking for something even more specific. Both of those words were what I could think of. I'm not too sure if there even is anything that fits better than "thrown", but I'm hoping there is an alternative. Answer Eject verb (used with object) to drive or force out; expel, as from a place or position: The police ejected the hecklers from the meeting. Synonyms: oust, remove, drive out, cast out, throw out. ( Dictionary.com ) I t...

What's the opposite of eye candy? I heard someone say, "Eye broccoli," but that's not very accurate to those of us who love broccoli. Any other ideas? Answer Eyesore? Affront to all that is holy? Mirror-cracker?

Is there a rule that states what word adjectives in a sentence will link to? If I say I have a big cookie jar it's still a correct sentence. The word "cookie" isn't an adjective, but "cookie jar" is a common term that represents a jar explicitly used to contain cookies. In the phrases "dark green box" and "dark, green box" I know that with the comma, the box is dark and green, while without it, the box is dark green. In the cookie jar sentence, is the jar explicitly used to contain "big cookies" or is the "cookie jar" big? Answer A sentence containing a noun with multiple modifiers would be confusing to read if there was not some common understanding regarding what modifies what. Though it's not an absolute rule, the modifier closest to the main noun is most commonly presumed to modify that noun. a big red silk hat is understood first and foremost as a silk hat, specifically a red one, and big in size, as one ca...

Looking for a phrase/metaphor describing a situation where a proposed solution, though valid, is targeted for one of many problems in an entity plagued by so many problems as to render the individual solution unimportant . An example would be discussing improving the energy efficiency in the kitchen of a building that is condemned or on the verge of falling apart; though the methods for improving the kitchen might be totally valid, they're of little practical concern as they'd make no contribution to the long term viability of the building. Something like "a drop in the bucket" but which emphasizes that the "drop" is well-conceived or -intentioned. EDIT: The answers here have been fantastic (and hilarious), though I think the phrase that best fits my request was actually listed by @user9383 in her/his question (not in the answer but in the question itself): Fixing a leaky faucet in a burning building. This phrase perfectly captures both aspects of my reques...

I've noticed a seemingly increasing number of students now refer to the end result of programming to be "a code" rather than "a program", "a script", or even "some code". For example, taken from a report I'm currently reading: Next, code was written to put all of the values in SI units. […] A new code was then written just to provide the density outputs […] The first use of the word "code" I'd consider to be correct; the second not. (It goes without saying that they're not referring to literally a single command given to the computer.) My impression is that this error is a new mistake that "kids these days" are making for some reason. This leads me to wonder: Is this actually a new error that students are making, or have I just not hung out enough in the past with people that don't know how to refer to programming? (This might not be possible to answer.) But on a more basic level, what is causing people to ...

Reading Harry Potter 2, I came across the following, and I wonder if the use of couldn't have is the equivalent of couldn't in this context? "I have got a question, Oliver," said George, who had woken with a start. "Why couldn't you have told us all this yesterday when we were all awake?" If we change it to the following, how does it change the meaning of it? "I have got a question, Oliver," said George, who had woken with a start. "Why couldn't you tell us all this yesterday when we were all awake?" And what is the difference between the following? If you couldn't do it, you should have told us yesterday. If you couldn't have done it, you should have told us yesterday.

Can you explain why do we write e.g. Fourier's law, Ohm's law, Newton's law of cooling, etc. but Soret effect, Dufour effect instead of Soret's effect, Dufour's effect? What is the principle? Answer The only authority I've been able to find on this particular question is The Oxford Style Manual (2003), which provides this summary: 12.1.6 Eponymic designations Names identified with specific individuals may be treated in several ways. Traditionally a disease, equation, formula, hypothesis, law, principle, rule, syndrome, theorem, or theory named after a person is preceded by the person’s name followed by an apostrophe and an s [examples omitted]; ... An apparatus, coefficient angle, constant, cycle, effect, function, number, phenomenon, process, reagent, synthesis, or field of study named after a person is usually preceded by the name alone or its adjectival form [examples omitted]. Eponymic anatomical or botanical parts may incorporate the name either as a poss...

For example, the car mechanic can't replicate the problem you are having every day, but when you drive it off the service dept, there it is again. Or, when seeing the dentist, the tooth ache goes away, and comes back when you leave.

I've tried without success to find the answer to this question for a while. I thought many was correctly used in the phrase "many fewer". However, I read this explanation to the contrary: Many is an adjective, while much is an adverb. As such, many cannot modify the adjective fewer ; only an adverb can modify an adjective. Much fewer is simply more correct than many fewer , despite its cacophony. Many modifies a noun: many apples . Much modifies the adjective: much fewer apples or far fewer apples . ( Anonymous, Wed, 08/17/2005 - 14:08 – comment on " Book Review: In Search of Stupidity: Over 20 Years of High-Tech Marketing Disasters " by Marco Fioretti) Is this explanation correct?

The well-known expression professional bias appears to date back to the very first years when professions started to exist: "Professional bias" designates a mental conditioning brought about by the particularities of one's job. A contrived example is that of a race-car driver, say, who overtakes dangerously when he's out driving in the family automobile with his wife and kids. Ngram shows that the expression was first used towards the end of the 18th century, roughly during the same years when the first professions were born. Professional (adj.): early 15c., of religious orders; 1747 of careers (especially of the skilled or learned trades from c.1793) ; see profession. In sports, opposed to amateur, from 1846. professional (n): "one who does it for a living," 1798, from professional (adj.). (Etymonline) Was the expression coined with the birth of the first professional activities in England or did it already exist in religious contexts where the term pro...

I like color more than colour , but I like favourite more than favorite . For me it is better to write My favourite color is blue. Is it wrong to mix British and American spellings in writing, and if so in which contexts shouldn't I? Answer As far as I know, there are no hard-and-fast rules against mixing American and British spellings, but as you suspected, there are contexts where you shouldn't do so. For example, when writing for an American audience, avoid British spellings; and when writing for a British audience, avoid American spellings; but those cases aside, there should be no problem with mixing of spellings.

Is there a word that describes having a deep desire to have a different life ( because the current life is bad), or a word that describes a longing to forget the past or just forget everything in general?

I'm writing a sentence where pale gray morning light is being viewed through window blinds. I'm trying to think of a way to describe its entrance without sounding cliché. What are some good verbs to use for how light moves?

To continue the question started in identifying accents of British actors , there is one popular current cultural artifact with an excess of non-standard British accents, and that is The BBC series Downton Abbey. For one very specific example, Anna Smith pronounces the word 'money' not as in standard English 'MUH-nee' (IPS /'mʌ nij/) but instead says something like 'moo-NAY' (IPA /mʊ 'ne/). 'Upstairs' I figure the accents are entirely RP except for Lady Grantham (with the well discussed General American/RP mix ). But I'd very much like to know what each of the 'downstairs' characters' accents are. A google search says nothing more than what the IMDb FAQ about the show says : Some of the servants (eg Mr Carson, Mrs Patmore, Anna and Sarah O'Brien) speak with northern accents (either Yorkshire or Lancashire). And there is dialog and/or plot that identifies Branson as Irish and John Bates as Scottish. What I'm looking for is ...

Usually, whenever I post a question on Stack Overflow, I have a habit of using the word but excessively. Is there an alternative word can I use?

I have a grammar which says that: "The 'noun+noun' structure is normally used to say what things are made of." "A few pairs of nouns and adjectives are used as modifiers with different meanings. Generally the noun simply names the material something is made of, while the adjective has a more metaphorical meaning." a gold watch - golden memories; a silk stocking - silken skin I've also heard that the "-en" ending is used in a poetic sense. But when I looked up at my dictionary for the word "wooden", it brought as an example "wooden bench"; even though "wooden" wasn't being used in a figurative nor in a poetic way. Furthermore, I don't know whether to use "wood door" or "wooden door", meaning that the door is made of wood.

I was reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows , and in chapter 5 (“Fallen Warrior”) I came across the following sentence: The suddenness and completeness of death was with them like a presence. I am wondering, since there are two properties of death described here, shouldn't were be used instead?

Here, Cambridge doesn't use a comma. I am confused. Example in Cambridge Dictionary: Unfortunately we can't come this evening after all. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/de/worterbuch/englisch/unfortunately On different pages i found some rules telling there needs to be a comma. Examples follow: We do usually put a comma after adverbs like 'unfortunately'. They are called 'sentence adverbs' because they modify the whole sentence and often give the opinion of the speaker/writer. A parenthetical phrase adding detail to the main clause. Initially placed parentheticals are normally set off by a comma. Cause I'm studying for my Level 2 graduation, i want going crazy reading here and there comma rules followed by looking in the Cambridge Dictionary without finding them there. HELP me out please !

The person who conducts a survey is called a Surveyor. What do we call the people who take the survey and answer the questions? Answer I'm not sure that those who conduct surveys of the questionnaire sort are called surveyors (try pollster instead), but you can call the ones who take the survey respondents . Respondent noun 2 A person who replies to something, especially one supplying information for a questionnaire or responding to an advertisement. ‘most respondents to our questionnaire considered their practices to be in accordance with current medical guidelines’ - ODO See also the following entry from the same page: Respondent adjective 2 [attributive] Replying to something. ‘the respondent firms in the survey’ - ODO Here are some examples of the term in use: