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A person who is not formally enrolled as a student, researcher or faculty in some university or college but who takes interest in exploring academic topics/stuff. For e.g. Such a person could be someone who is working in the corporate & has interest in & explores his academic fields. What could be a simple, 'easy for all to understand' term to refer to this person? I believe there is, perhaps, no easy single word for that, I can accept answers which propose a phrase that can describe this in a short and better way (must be easy for anyone to understand). A not-so-good example: "A learner or academic enthusiast". Answer How about independent scholar ?

I commonly use the word 'guys' to refer to a group of males colloquially. It's colloquial but not rude, off putting, condescending, patronizing (though I wouldn't use it with a group of men at a board meeting (hypothetically of course), unless I knew them). So, some that I would not consider as replacements would be buddies: too old-fashioned dudes: too informal boys: too patronizing men, gentlemen: too formal or false respect I realized that I had also been using it for any group of people, males and females, even just females. It worked for me and I didn't think of the gender implications, that women might not care for it. No one ever complained, directly or indirectly (rule of life: sometimes people don't complain about things they should). But it occurred to me (maybe by reading something that sparked realization) that the intended hearers might not all care for it. What might be a female gendered or non-gendered version of 'guys'? Some that I've

You know when you feel like you need to do something but you can't remember what it is? You almost feel a little anxious because you can't remember what you were going to do / what you need to do. Is there a name for this feeling? Answer There is a term in cognitive psychology for this: The doorway effect From Michael Roizen, MD, answering at Sharecare : Example: You walk across the room to get the newspaper. No problem. Walk through a doorway into another room to get it and -- zap! -- your memory is Windexed. You arrive clueless. In Why Walking through a Doorway Makes You Forget , a Scientific American article by Charles B. Brenner and Jeffrey M. Zacks (December 13, 2011), some thoughts on what causes the doorway effect are discussed: some forms of memory seem to be optimized to keep information ready-to-hand until its shelf life expires, and then purge that information in favor of new stuff. Radvansky and colleagues call this sort of memory representation an “event model,”

Possible Duplicates: “All but” idiom has two meanings? “to be all but X” He all but ran out of the building If I understand it correctly (English is not my native language), this sentence means "he ran out of the building", and the "all but" is here to stress the fact that he didn't do anything else (besides running). That being said, the first time I came across this construction, I understood it the other way round. Eventually, I inferred from context the above meaning, but even today, I still have a feeling that it's somewhat illogical. Where does this construction come from (and what does it really mean)?

When someone is going to drive their car somewhere, I always used to say "drive safely" to them. Recently I was told I should say "drive safe." (From: Would you ask someone to drive safe or to drive safely? ) Which one is correct? Similarly, is "do good" correct?

What is a synonym of jack of all trades, master of none ? I want to differentiate it from a generalist (might have deep knowledge about everything)? On the same note, is there a better way to say jack of all trades, master of all ? Answer A polymath is a person of encyclopedic learning. A Renaissance Man is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. A person who is a jack of all trades, but a master of none might be called a dabbler .

Cut to the chase: While listening to the record 2.0 Boys by Slaughterhouse I've noticed that Joell Ortiz and Joe Budden pronounce such sequence of sounds — namely "I don't know" around 1:55 and "I don't need" in 3:21 , respectively — as indicated. Could somebody clarify the issue technically, in phonetic terms? You can hear the song here .

I'm looking for a noun from English folklore. It should describe a place where unusual, mysterious, possibly magical, occurrences happen. The locals shun and avoid this place. Its influence might be beneficial sometimes, but it's unpredictable - only the desperate, mad, or naive would seek it. I suppose archaisms and obscure words should be fine. I need it for a translation of a fantasy game. The Polish noun I'm looking to translate is " uroczysko " - in case some of the answerers know Polish. The sites in question aren't one-of-a-kind so unique names starting with capital letters, like Shangri-La or Xanadu, won't do.

Does the verb after 'a set of + plural noun' agree with 'set' or 'noun'? For example: 'Law is a set of rules that govern/governs society.'

I'm reading The Great Gatsb y and there's one part when Tom Buchanan is arguing by phone with George Wilson about a car, and Tom says the next: Very well, then, I won't sell you the car at all ... I'm under no obligations to you at all ... and as for your bothering me about it at lunch time, I won't stand that at all! the part: [...] and as for your bothering me [...] has a structure like: possessive adjective + gerund + object pronoun I had never seen such a construction, so my question is: Is there something elided in the sentence, and what's the meaning of the sentence? Thank you in advance. Answer In school I was taught that gerunds take a possessive pronoun and that's that. But it kind of makes sense if you consider that by definition a gerund is a present participle masquerading as a noun. If we substitute an actual noun, we might get something like, "your disturbance [of] me at lunchtime." The subjective "you" would never fit i

I have seen many people use the phrase "my bad" in Internet forums. What does it exactly imply and is it a proper English phrase? Answer Yes, "my bad" is a proper English phrase. It is an apology; when you say "my bad", you're basically saying, "I admit a mistake" or "my fault, sorry for that". Wiktionary says : (colloquial) (idiomatic) My fault; mea culpa. Yes, I realize the humvee isn't supposed to be parked in the heirloom flowerbed. My bad. It also links to this Language Log entry , which provides further insight: The authoritative discussion of the phrase "my bad!" at this Random House site says it originates in pick-up basketball as a phrase used by young urban players when admitting to an error. It has spread to other domains and is now used widely to mean something like "I admit that I have made a mistake." It was nominated for "word of the year" (not that it's a word, it's clearl

Would someone please explain why this means: that civil liberties only go so far, and at extremes, security must take precedence ? I tried to reference a suicide pact and more context here , but I still don't see how to determine it. I'm not politicking or legalising this; I ask only about meaning. Answer The phrase "The Constitution is not a suicide pact" contends that the civil rights guaranteed under a constitution (the U.S. Constitution specifically, but I suppose it could apply to any constitution) should not be construed in such a way as to enable the destruction of the society it governs. While the general idea goes back hundreds of years, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson was the first to use the "suicide pact" language specifically, in his dissent in the 1949 case Terminiello v. Chicago , in which the majority ruled that a Chicago city ordinance banning speech that "stirs the public to anger, invites dispute, brings about a condit

I steal this phrase from a comment on Meta Stack Overflow: yep, I think I've broken my duck or so to speak :) – Kev♦ 51 mins ago The context is one of having been basically broken into a particular fold, or going through a rite of passage - Kev has symbolically become a true moderator because he has gotten a Meta thread about his actions. But the phrase is... unusual, to be soft about it. You don't break open ducks, or really most animals at all you don't break. Is this a common idiom? If so, what in hejudas inspired such a phrasing? Answer This might help, it's a fairly common'ish phrase in the UK. In summary it's a cricket related term. In cricket a "Duck" is where a player has been dismissed from play without scoring a point. "Breaking one's duck" is the occasion where a you break a run of ducks. breaking your duck - boards.ie Outside of cricket the term is often used to describe having done something for the first time.

It it accurate to say this? He feared a U.S. invasion. Or should I say, He feared U.S. invasion. I'm trying to figure out when to place "a" in front of the U.S. when U.S. comes with a noun like invasion/attack/sanctions. What is the difference?

Should you use a comma/period after “Thanks”/“Regards” in email signatures? I see answers on how to end a letter putting a comma after for example sincerely, like: Sincerely, Name Is it incorrect to write it without a comma, like the following? Sincerely Name Does the answer change if one used: "Best wishes", "Regards", "Cheers", etc.? Answer If you look at a How to Write A Business Letter manual, the comma will more than likely be there. For business letters it may matter. For personal letters, there are no strict rules. No, the situation doesn't change with "Best wishes", "Regards", or "Cheers".

According to Google (I'm not sure which dictionary source they use) the meaning of synonym is: a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language, for example shut is a synonym of close. I want to know if there is a similar word to describe when two words or phrases from different languages are used to refer to the same thing or idea. The word cognate almost suffices except, Wikipedia says this about the word: In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. and Cognates do not need to have the same meaning, which may have changed as the languages developed separately. So what word would I use when trying to explain that I have several words from different languages that have the same (synonymous) meaning, but they might have different origins. English and Chinese words for the same concept for example, most certainly will not be cognates. Here is an example sentence where I might use the word I seek: C

For some reason I am convinced that such a word exists, that I've heard it used in classroom settings, and that I'll recognize it when I see it. But I have no idea what it is. I tried googling this elusive word and failed miserably; I asked a few friends, but they couldn't think of it either. Help! Suppose someone says: "Well, I don't know much about this topic, and I could be wrong, but XYZ." I feel there's a word to describe the opening that leads into XYZ. It's a sort of hedging: you aren't fully committing yourself; you're worried about being wrong. I can almost hear a high-school teacher saying "Don't start an answer with a _ ." Any ideas? Answer It may seem oxymoronic to identify the prefatory statement, "Well, I don't know much about this topic" as a qualification , but the speaker is qualifying (that is, limiting) the level of confidence with which the statement is offered and with which it should be receive

Which variety of English — like American English, British English, and so one — is better to choose when translating to Englis, or building it from scratch, for an e-commerce site which intends to operate globally? Is American English a standard choice for such a use? Or is there a trend for some artificial mix of different varieties of English to become such a standard? Answer Even though I'm a Brit I would have to vote for American English. I've lived here (the US) for 12 years, and there have been just too many words that translate OK from American English to British English but not the other way round, examples include; mail/post, dumpster/skip. It is also a lot easier to explain American English spelling, I give you the letter 'u' as an example.

I have seen some people using them while others not. Should I still use a suspended hyphen in the following snippet? I have used upper- and lowercase in my script. Answer Yes, you can use the suspended hyphen. Because they are compound words with identical second elements, the use of such a hyphen is acceptable.

I'm looking for ways to say "I'm having a bad hunch", or more like a bad feeling about something upcoming. The gut-wrenching feeling that something bad will happen. Answer fore·bod·ing : noun - fearful apprehension; a feeling that something bad will happen: with a sense of foreboding she read the note adjective - implying or seeming to imply that something bad is going to happen: when the doctor spoke, his voice was dark and foreboding Synonyms: apprehension, anxiety, trepidation, disquiet, unease, uneasiness, misgiving, worry, fear, fearfulness, dread

I found the phrase “My sincerest contrafibularities, Tim” given to one of the comments to my question about the word, 'Cromulent' in EL&U site. As I was totally unfamiliar with the word, ‘contrafibularities’ (as well as 'Cromulent'), I checked Cambridge, Oxford, and Merriam-Webster online dictionary. None of them registers ‘Contrafibularities.’ GoogleNgram doesn’t carry this word either. However, I was able to find the definition of this word as ‘A form of congratulations as used by Edmund Blackadder to mock Doctor Samuel Johnson, author of the dictionary’ in www.urbandictionary.com, and its origin; Blackadder: "Allow me to be the first to offer Dr. Johnson my most sincere contrafibularities! I am anaspeptic ... Contrafibularities: Obviously from contra, against, + fibula, the smaller of the two bones in the lower leg. Means 'pulling one's leg,' in www.reviewers-choice.com. I don’t understand why combination of prefix ‘contra’ and ‘fibula’ come to

I’m needing a descriptive word that describes both not recent” and “not old” - essentially the latter. However, I am not wanting to describe a living thing such a person or animal, but rather, academician. I understand the complexity of this ask, given if there was a word, a quick google search would show a list. However, I’m also optimistic that given the broadness of the English language, a word meaning such would have to exist. I would be absolutely over the moon if there is a word, but doesn’t use the words I’ve mentioned above, so long as the point comes across. The syntax I’m currently needing to word for is: “______[ Research highlights the important details of neurological disorders associated with transcriptional-translational feedback loops in RNA”. Thank you all very much for your time in helping.

Regulatory bodies and authoritative dictionaries for English Many times I searched across several books for the usage of some words and many times I've found my results quite contradictory. For example, if you look for the plural of "sorry" you will find many dictionaries that don't even consider "sorries" or "sorrys" as a word, but you can find others that do, and/or find many references in books to such terms (both of them in this case). So, which one to believe? And how is one to back that decision up? Try this case: sorries sorrys and you won't find any of those terms in the Collins English Dictionary for example. Answer There is really no "official" source for the English language, but there are sources that are generally well-respected and well-accepted. For spelling, that would be the common dictionaries - Collins, Merriam-Webster, Oxford, etc. While one would hope that all book publishers would hold their books to the same

Who can tell me what day is it today? Or Who can tell me what day it is today? Which is correct grammatically?

I was in a Teacher's selection for a school in my country, and one of the coordinators said that she heard a mistake from another teacher that was unacceptable. I tried to figure out why was that, but I thought it was silly and forgot about it. Then I was asking about the weekend in my classroom and one of my Ss said the same sentence. I corrected him according to the coordinator, as she is way more experienced than me, but I couldn't actually explain why to him. The sentence was: I went to the church. I can't see the mistake in this sentence if the church had been previously mentioned in the context of the conversation. I understand, as a non-native speaker, that if you are talking to a person that doesn't have any idea of where you were and doesn't have any previous information about the specific place, the article 'the' should not be used. Also, I am assuming church as a count noun. So instead, we would say: I went to a church. Is it correct to use the in

The phrase queer at­ti­tude used to be com­mon­place, sim­ply mean­ing a strange at­ti­tude or un­help­ful be­hav­ior. Un­for­tu­nately in the present era, I once used that phrase and sadly of­fended an LGBT per­son, since peo­ple to­day use queer to mean ho­mo­sex­ual. I can avoid say­ing queer at­ti­tude by just say­ing strange at­ti­tude . What's a mod­ern al­ter­na­tive to the com­mon busi­ness phrase "queer the deal" that does­n’t risk giv­ing of­fence where none is in­tended? Other queer- phrases are easy enough to re­place, but I am stumped on this one. (Fun­nily enough the other day I gave some­one the long-winded al­ter­na­tive: “I’m try­ing not to talk about it to not up­set my ne­go­ti­a­tion so don't find me rude but I’d rather not go in to de­tails, etc.”, and my col­league im­me­di­ately re­sponded “Oh, you don’t want to queer the deal, got it!” Geesh!) Answer It reminds me of the usage of jinx , an old word which (at least in my experience) has re

He is the only player who has won GS twice. He is the first player who has won GS twice. Are both sentences grammatically valid? If the tennis player is still active, can I use the present perfect tense in both instances?

What is the origin of the word badass? Why a "bad" ass/"bad" + "ass"? What is an ass that is bad and how can an ass that is bad describe a tough person?

Take the examples: "One in ten children are dyslexic." "One in ten children is dyslexic." "One in ten children has dyslexia." "One in ten children have dyslexia." The "one" is singular so 2 and 3 should be correct. But the "one in ten" is a fraction" so 1 and 4 should be correct. And yet I think I usually say 1 and 3. Which is/are correct?! Answer Both are commonly used and acceptable. There are various common cases where a superficially singular subject can or indeed must be associated with a plural verb: The government [are/is] considering the proposal. A lot of these matters [have/*has] been dealt with. The majority [are/??is] pleased with the outcome. A half of all pensioners [are/??is] living below the poverty line. In the case you mention, a plural verb is probably at least equally common nowadays as a singular, though historically a singular verb appears to have been more common (e.g. do some comparisons on Googl

This hurts my eyes to read it and my ears to say it, but the writer stands by item #43 About the same number of people was awarded bachelor's degrees in 2010 as filed for personal bankruptcy (1.6 million). Is the subject in this sentence singular or plural? Answer The heading for paragraph 7 of Harbrace College Handbook, Chapter 6a states, When regarded as a unit, collective nouns, as well as noun phrases denoting quantity, take singular verbs. . . . The number is singular; a number is plural. "The number of students was small." [The number is taken as a unit.] "A number of students were taking tests." [A number refers to individuals.] Their examples indicate that it's different depending on if the number is taken as a unit or refers to individuals. In your case I think it's individuals and should use the plural.

There's a risk of me potentially offending someone but I am an outsider trying to get to grips with this terminology. Online, I read someone who identified themself as a pansexual trans/gender-fluid person I'd like to know if my understanding of the following terms is generally correct. I just about get the difference between a transsexual and a transgender . The former is someone who has undergone a sex change that matches their personality and psychological identity, whereas a transgender does not necessarily have their sexual organs altered by surgery to match the sex they feel is theirs from birth. I believe that a gender fluid person is someone who can fluctuate between feeling male or female, or they perceive to have the characteristics of both sexes within themselves and as such, they do not assign themselves a specific sex. However, I'm not entirely sure what a pansexual is. Online research suggests it is someone who is sexually attracted and has sexual intercours

Could we use mongoloid with reference to Down's syndrome in informal English? Answer No, don't use use mongoloid to refer to Down's syndrome in any form of English, it's offensive. The Downs Syndrome Association advise the media of What To Say / Not Say , including: Don't Say : Mongol Do Say : person/baby/child with Down's syndrome Down's Syndrome Scotland recently issued a statement , this is much more relevant to informal English, and I'll quote it in full: Statement regarding Ricky Gervais' use of "Mong" on Twitter (24 October 2011) Last week Ricky Gervais, a well known comedian as well as writer and actor in The Office, tweeted his followers using “Good monging” and “Goodnight twongols”. Since these tweets and others last week appeared, the media and Twitter followers have been voicing their various viewpoints. Ricky Gervais defends his use of the word, saying that the word has changed its meaning.He tweeted:“Just to clarify for upti

The expression “my goodness” always seemed clear to me, as it is a simple bowdlerisation of “my God”, as are many expletives. However, I have heard many times the expression “ goodness me! ” , which Google confirms exist (and is less used than “my Goodness”): This expression doesn't make any sense to me on the construction. Goodness is a noun, so why is it formed that way? Is it an alteration of “my goodness”, or was it formed somewhat independently? Is it a shortening of a longer expression, which would explain its weird grammatical form? Answer I believe it is a shortening of the phrase goodness gracious me which I think is a mincing of the oath God grace me , which would be a request for God's help. This is because part of the etymology of gracious is filled with God's grace Shortening phrases is something typical of English, and has left us with three other minces: Goodness gracious Goodness me Gracious me

If someone says that they had been to Florida on a recent trip, which one of the following would be a correct respone: That must had been fun. That must have been fun. Or is there a better way of saying this?

There are some fruits * that cause a peculiar (unpleasant) numb sensation in the mouth. An unripe persimmon or a quince are two examples that come to mind. I can't describe the feeling any more eloquently so my bet/hope is that you will know what feeling I am talking about. Is there a word in English that describes the mentioned quality of these fruits and/or the sensation in the mouth? *I don't know that only fruit can cause it, but I can't think of anything else at the moment. Answer Astringency or Puckering From Wikipedia Some foods, such as unripe fruits, contain tannins or calcium oxalate that cause an astringent or puckering sensation of the mucous membrane of the mouth. Examples include tea, red wine, rhubarb, and unripe persimmons and bananas. Less exact terms for the astringent sensation are "dry", "rough", "harsh" (especially for wine), "tart" (normally referring to sourness), "rubbery", "hard" or &q

A thing I have never had the time to look more closely into. But I find both variants: What I love most is ... or What I love the most is ... I think the more common form is 'the most', and I think 'most' is only a matter of shortening the adverbial. But I may be mistaken. It might also be that it is a thing of regional or individual preferences or that American and British usage diverge.

On a road trip, my wife and I drove by Kings Dominion. We debated whether this should in actuality be King’s Dominion . It seemed that it ought to be possessive, or possibly plural possessive. Upon doing a little more research we found the origin of the Kings Dominion name. To quote the wikipedia article : The park was named after its sister park, Kings Island in Kings Mills, Ohio, which opened in 1972. Which leads to the question: Is it typical in the English language for a place name to lose the possessive in English? If so, I wonder why that should be so. Answer Interestingly, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names has a longstanding policy dating back to 1890 to discourage the use of possessive forms and especially apostrophes in place names. This is discussed in their FAQ (question 18): I have heard that the use of the apostrophe “s”, such as Pike’s Peak (Pikes Peak in the database) to show possession is not allowed in geographic names, so why are there many such entries in the GNI

Could someone please let me know the synonym of "paint someone/somebody into a corner". I don't know any and have to use the idiom all the time, it will be good to know its synonyms. I generally use this idiom to denote situations where somebody is left with limited options or a hard choice (mainly due to their own behavior/actions) as in: By insisting on a pay rise, I seem to have painted myself into a corner. I will have to find another job if I don't get the raise. Answer It's comparable to "to burn one's bridges" as in I've burnt all my bridges. but this idiom has more of a moral aspect to it than yours. Painting oneself into a corner can be done through carelessness, while burning bridges implies will.

How is the spelling of a hyphenated word usually read out loud? For example, with "Anglo-Saxon", do we say: "It is spelt as A—N—G—L—O—dash—S—A—X—O—N." Or do we say: "It is spelt as A—N—G—L—O—hyphen—S—A—X—O—N." Answer The simple answer is, you read out "hyphen". Generally not "dash" or other options. So, that's the answer! em-dash would be "E M Hyphen D A S H". No mystery! Anglo-Saxon would be "A, N, G, L, O, hyphen, S, A, X, O, N" For comparison, "it's" would be "I, T, apostrophe, S". (Just for your information, almost nobody knows what an "em-dash" is: it is a typographical term. Just FWIW you're probably just write "em dash" by the way, with no hyphen in that term.)

Recently I've wondered about two idioms which have a strange relationship. Come Hell or high water and Lord willing and the creek don't rise Grammatical accuracy, alternative formulations, and questionable folk etymologies, and literal meanings aside, why do these two phrases (often used interchangably) have such different implications? My thoughts so far have centered around the former being an expression of an internal locus of control (i.e. I will make this happen) and the latter of an external locus of control (i.e. I hope this won't not happen). Why does the more apparently positive formulation reference Hell while the less (certainly) positive one mentions the 'Lord?' Answer "Come Hell or high water" anticipates the possibility of adverse conditions and appropriately groups those with Hell, while "Lord willing and the creek don't rise" anticipates positive conditions (adverse conditions held at bay) and that is appropriately paired w

What is the difference between alternately and alternatively ? I've seen both words being used, but which one is grammatically correct? He could do X. Or alternately, he could do Y. He could do X. Or alternatively, he could do Y. Answer Alternately means switching between two alternatives, alternatively means doing something different. I love pizza and Mexican food, I eat them alternately. Means Monday I ate pizza, Tuesday tacos, Wednesday pizza again, Thursday burrito, Friday went to the Hospital to get my arteries roto-rooted. I love pizza but alternatively I eat Mexican. Means both choices are good, but says nothing about when or the order in which I eat them. Alternately is about switching. Alternatively is about enumerating options.

Rarely do we hear "should have gone" in common speech. Some background: My father immigrated to the US in the late 60s. He learned English first overseas, British English. Then he studied extensively in America. He always corrected me and my brothers on us saying "you/I/they should have went". And after the 2,762nd time, finally I say "should have gone" The reason I think it's a valid question is that go/gone/went are pretty ABC words. My guess is that the contraction "should've" is partly to blame - i.e. we speak so fast that we pick the more natural-sounding thing. Answer That is confusion of the past tense with the past participle, and it's unfortunately really common in the US. My guess it's because the speaker is interpreting "should have" as a particle indicating expedience and trying to combine it with the past indicative. It should instead be that "should" is that particle, and "have" forms t

Why is right to use this - This will help us proceed with the review of our boss instead of - This will help us proceed the review of our boss?

You need to practise your proofreading. In this sentence, "you" is the subject and "need" is the verb. But is there an object? At the moment I am guessing that there isn't and that to practise your proofreading is just a phrase. I asked someone else and they too did not think there was an object.

These two words are often used interchangeably and the greatest difference I can find between the two is "choose" for choosing multiple items from a set, and "select" for selecting a single item from a set. Are there other qualifiers to consider and is this singular/plural distinction on the right track? So, really, what is the difference between the two, if any? Answer Select means to carefully choose ; it also means to use a mouse or keystrokes to mark something on a computer screen . In both the cases, the number of things chosen or marked does not influence which verb is used.

I need more formal ways to express three related terms: bullshit artist, BS-ing , and the art of BS-ing. Edit -- providing some context: The type of BS I need to talk about is the kind that inflates the success of a program. So, I found the following verbs relevant to the situation, by looking at synonyms of exaggerate : magnify, distort, misrepresent, falsify, stretch, embroider, boast, hyperbolize, and the best of all: lay it on thick. Somehow I would like to capture the artistry aspect. I will be speaking in public and I have to use formal language; it would be good if I could be subtle, too (but still get the idea across). Answer A more formal term for a bullshit artist is hyperbolist . Hyperbolist n. 1. One who uses hyperboles. - Webster's 1913 hyperbole : exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally. - Google

Caesar and caesura are two similar-sounding Latin words which have made their way into English unsullied in terms of their orthography. The same can however not be said of their pronunciations. The original Latin pronunciations of /kaisar/ and /kaisuːra/ have evolved into /siːzər/ and /sizjʊrə/ respectively. Why/how did this come to pass? Furthermore, why does Caesar have the long /si:/ while caesura doesn't?

I have read in a number of places that the NZ pronunciation of "women" must be rather peculiar. Quoting from just one such place : For some years I've noted the tendency of Kiwis to pronounce "woman" and "women" identically (as "woman"). To which an Australian replies: It appears there is a vowel shift going on in New Zealand (NZ) English [...] [T]he vowel in "women" which in Australian English is the same as the vowel in "hit", is often, in NZ, reduced to a schwa [...]. It makes the plural sound like our singular. I don't think the NZ pronunciation of the singular is the same as the NZ plural A New Zealander begs to differ: I've noticed this trend over the last few years also. To me as a kiwi it doesn't sound anything like a mispronounced plural -- it just sounds as if the speaker is using the one word for both singular and plural. [...] I see it as part of a much larger tendency to confuse singular and plural

Take the following paragraph, which would be a description of a websites services. We want to promote and enable greater talent and potential by connecting employers with employees. Whether you're a brand, operator or retailer, this is the place to find your next ??????? I need a one word synonym which implies, 'star employee'. Answer Rock-Star for the last few years has indicated an employee who top the charts, so to speak. From the referenced article, the traits of a Rock-Star are: They Take Initiative They Have Integrity They Deliver results They Communicate Well They’re Adaptable They Don’t Create Drama They Have Passion

Inspired by comments on Proper use of the word “lousy”? : The word lousy is traditionally pronounced with a /z/ sound, as though it were louzy . * Contrastingly, the word mousy is always pronounced with an /s/ sound. The difference seems to be pretty consistent and well-established: these are the only pronunciations listed in the OED and Merriam-Webster for each. But their root words, louse and mouse , are pronounced identically, both with /s/. Indeed, these words are parallel in almost every other way: they form analogous plurals — lice , mice — and have very similar origins. So how and why did the pronunciations of lousy and mousy diverge? And are there any other analogous words that also form analogous adjectives? ( House doesn’t form *housy ; and blousy exists, but blouse is not analogous to the other words.) *: It seems that recently, since the literal meaning “infested with lice” has become rare, it may sometimes get pronounced with /s/ in this sense, as a spelling pron

You know how sometimes you want to cry, but do not cry. Maybe a few tears are shed, but you mostly just choke up. The urge to cry is there, perhaps overwhelmingly, but you suppress it somehow and don't actually cry. Is there a word for this state? I've always used "crying" but it really isn't quite crying yet.

I am looking for an antonym of selfie , meaning a photo/portrait of others . The ancient Greek word for self is like auto , and what I am looking for is an English word for hetero (its opposite). Do you have any idea of that?

As far as I've been able to figure out, tense refers to a grammatical category corresponding to the semantic category 'time reference'. So far, so good. But then there is complete confusion. Some seem to say that we have only two tenses in English – the present and the past (or preterite), whereas others seem to say we have four – simple present, simple past/preterite, present perfect and past/preterite perfect – and then there are those who add future tense (will+plain form of the main verb), and those who also throw aspect in the mix, adding things such as past progressive etc as tenses. I have so many questions about this, but I think my main question right now is this: What is the actual definition of tense – does it refer only to morphologically marked distinctions in time reference (in which case I suppose English would have two tenses only), or does it refer also to distinctions marked by means of auxiliaries (in which case there should be five (present, past, pre

Specifically, I am looking to describe a person whose only purpose is to help others, not caring about what happens to himself or herself (physically or otherwise), though without actively seeking pain.

I could not find any difference... or at least no good source that definitely distinguishes both. I tried: Wikipedia ( Informatics has a redirect to Computer Science), so I guess the only difference is the context in which both are used Google: University of California : Computer Science: internal features, structure and behavior of computer systems Informatics: relationship between what is inside the computer and what is outside (What does this mean? I study ... well, I thought it would be called "Computer Science", but I'm not sure now. ) forum.wordreference.com : Computer Science: software engineering, algorithms Informatics: installing new software, upgrades,networks LAN WANS, firewalls dict.leo.org : Both are translated with "Informatik" in German. No result

What does the phrase 'kick the long ball' mean in the lines below? Real maturity begins when you finally realize that no-one is coming to the rescue.  It is only when you accept total responsibility for your life situation, with no excuses & no blaming of others, that you move into a mental position to 'kick the long ball' in your own life.