texts:
I wrote:

  They are all gorgeous and reflect the beauty and diversity of Eastern Europeans, but I expect pictures from more ordinary people. Those who when you see, you say they are Eastern European.

Is the bold part grammatically correct?


texts: Is it correct to say "this book has immensely influenced my knowledge" (or my learning)

texts:
I want to express that a given book was very enlightening and influenced my learning  (positively) during the last year. This book really helped me to understand other related literature.

Edit:

In the context where I will use this, I need to be formal and concise.
For clarification purpose, I will specify two questions for this thread

1) What is the correct one "influenced my knowledge" vs "influenced my learning"

2) Can you give me some alternatives for "This book has immensely influenced my knowledge/learning"


texts: The show of support includes binoculars and bomber jackets

texts:
Thank you for your consistent support. I appreciate it.

I am currently reading this article, and a paragraph says,

  Every president since Ronald Reagan has visited the 1953 armistice line, except for George H.W. Bush, who visited when he was vice president. The show of bravado and support for one of America's closest military allies has evolved over the years to include binoculars and bomber jackets.

Would two words, which are binoculars and bomber jackets, in my guess try to imply that since 1953 America's support for allies against North Korea provided (probably huge) military support?

I'm asking this question because these two words (goods) are not substantially big enough to imply military support. (Had they been such as "bombers" or "air defense systems", I would've understood.)

Or would they mean "monitoring and staffs in charge"?

Thank you for analysis.


texts:
'scolding' means 'speaking angrily to someone because of his or her unpleasant behavior, but that word from the sentence below, I guess, should be translated differently.

Here is the sentence, which is from 'Baker's blue-jay yarn' by Mark Twain:

  And there's yet another thing; in the one little particular of scolding - just good, clean, out-and-out scolding - a blue-jay can lay over anything, human or divine. Yes, sir, a jay is everything that a man is.


texts:
I was wondering which form of the word "deficiency" is grammatically preferred in the following example and why?

Students mostly have deficiency in math.
2. Students mostly have deficiencies in math.

I think logically, the plural form is better sounding, but I see no reason the former case is incorrect.


texts:
As I know we can use both structures to talk about past ability , but is there any difference between them?

A. He could climb the mountain

B. He could have climbed the mountain


texts:
The movie Field of Dreams has a line:

  Annie: I'll put up some coffee. Why don't you go on outside.

Dictionaries don't seem to have this meaning. The Free Dictionary has entries on "provide funds", but I guess that's not the same as to provide coffee.


texts:
In Oxford Dictionaries, there is an entry:

  Water the plant regularly, never letting the soil dry out.

I don't understand why it is letting. Is let incorrect here? If yes, then why?


texts: Using "would" instead of "will" in "How would be the weather like tomorrow?"

texts:
How would be the weather like tomorrow?

It can be very easily considered right in everyday English or informal style. Since would is always the past tense of the modal verb will —which is only used for future— so logically its past tense, would, should be used for the past time, not the future (tomorrow, in here) grammatically.

Hence, I think this sentence has grammar issue(s). And I would say: "How will be the weather like tomorrow?"


texts: Using a comma after the word "enclosed" in a sentence

texts:
Do I need a comma after enclosed in the following sentence?

  Enclosed you will find a small token of gratitude.


texts:
The first sentence on this page, https://www.wired.com/2015/02/powerspy-phone-tracking/, says:

  SMARTPHONE USERS MIGHT balk at letting a random app like Candy Crush or Shazam track their every move via GPS.

Now I have confusion:

Is "letting a random app like Candy Crush or Shazam track their every move via GPS" a gerund phrase? If so, what are "letting" and "track" called in this case? Is "letting track" considered as one verb?
Is "random app like Candy Crush or Shazam" called the "subject" in this case? If so, is it right for a sentence to have two subjects like "SMARTPHONE USERS" and "random app like Candy Crush or Shazam"? Or there is a different term for "random app like Candy Crush or Shazam"?


texts: "That house is made..." – of vs. from vs. with vs. by (a material)

texts:
For example:

  That house is made of the Stone.
  That house is made from the Stone.
  That house is made with the Stone.
  That house is made by the Stone.

Which of these prepositions is correct in this sentence?


texts:
Can I say like this:

  The letters contain mainly the same annoying idea that he was anxious to see his friends doing experiments outdoors.

I am unsure especially about "that" (there could be other errors). Is this a kind of hidden reported speech because it appears that I can transform the statement in:

  The letters tell that he was anxious ..."


texts: Charlie Williams' bit about the Pygmie tribe

texts:
Would somebody be so kind to translate Yorkshire into English. Suppose the comedian is popular enough that a review will be appreciated by some: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7WucumXbAsk&t=240s (at the four minute mark).
I'm amazed I understood at least half of it after two runs up to that point ("cause he talked like that, the chief, you see"), enough to estimate the punch line, but the last punchline keeps me guessing if it is a pun about the accent itself. What is the name of the tribe (and why is it funny?).
All the fluff in the set up shouldn't matter of course. I suppose its a known joke written down somewhere so the answer could be sourcable.


texts: "daisy sounded like she had a cold, didn't she?"

texts:
'daisy sounded like she had a cold, didn't she?'

is that mean

1) didn't she (sound like she had a cold)?

or

2) didn't she (have a cold)?

what's correct?


texts: "food which riches of fats" or "food which riches with fats"?

texts:
What is correct from these two options (or maybe other option)?

  a) "It's not healthy to eat foods which rich of fats"

  b) "It's not healthy to eat foods which rich with fats"


texts:
Never miss a chance to make those watching you laugh.
My question is that does the sentence elide "who are"? Can I rewrite it as Never miss a chance to make those who are watching you laugh?


texts:
I wonder if writing "an amount of fee" is grammatically correct?

For example: Imposing certain amount of fee will bring a lot of benefits.


texts:
Can Multiply be used as noun, such as in "matrix multiply"? I heard of this from some Americans.

Or should it be "matrix multiplication" instead?


texts:
I got a problem with a sentence, and can't decide which word is the right. I'm writing about my passion (football).

  It is about the qualities, but at most it is about the will.

Is will the right word here?

I am talking about the willpower; the will to win a football game.

I am not really comfortable with English. So be patient please.


texts:
What does "twittering away to itself" mean? Does it mean that the radio is twittering and the sound generated by the radio is outward from it?

  White hair endows you with the demeanour of a friendly witch. Our geriatric radio – a wedding-present from my brother – is twittering away to itself. I’m about to knock on the glass, but your laptop screen glows into life: and suddenly here’s our son’s hazy face, bringing you news from across the ocean.

(Excerpted from David Mitchell's novel The Gardener.)


texts: Difference between the following two sentences

texts:
What is the difference between the following two sentences?

  It seemed to me that she had never sung so well.

  It seemed to me that she never sung so well.

is the second sentence ungrammatical?


texts:
When should I use in or at for a particular point in time?

Example:

1. Joe and Jill couldn't reach us at our time of need. They reached us too late.
2. Big Corporation reaches customers at their time of need.
3. The ambulance reached me precisely at my time of need.

Please note that in each of these situations, the point in time is a brief period.

I recall the general rule of thumb as:

in - periods of time. Ex. "I'll see you in June.", "I'll see you in five minutes."
on - days and dates. Ex. "I'll see you on Tuesday."
at - particular time. Ex. "I'll see you at 6 o'clock."

But I'm unsure which is correct in the above examples.

Which is the correct preposition in each of the above examples?


texts:
does "set up" here means "place it or build it somewhere"?

Finally, the professors bought five hundred feet of new rope, bored with
holes the cabinet set up in one of their rooms, and trussed the boys in
what is described as a brutal manner. All the knots in the rope were tied
with linen thread, and one of their number, Professor Pierce, took his
place in the cabinet between the two brothers.


texts: What is correct usage of 'non-synchronous'?

texts:
I am writing a paragraph on "Learning and teaching dispositions". I am sort of confused about the usage of an adjective: non-synchronous.

What will be the opposite of:
Synchronized (learning and teaching) dispositions.

I have written this way:
Non-synchronous (learning and teaching) dispositions.

Is the usage of "non-synchronous" right?


texts:
I'll be as specific as possible: Is it the case that written English tends to exclude region-specific words and expressions?

The context is the expression on the go, whose regionalism is either changing or debatable. But it can be extended to cover all region-specific words and phrases.

Also, what type of English is used in writing that excludes or tends to exclude region-specific words and phrases? Is there an internationally recognized region-free form of English?


texts: The best way to do it is (to make / by making) him friend

texts:
Which of the following sentence choices is correct? I guess both are. But is there a difference between them?

  The best way to destroy your enemy is to make him friend.

  The best way to destroy your enemy is by making him friend.


texts:
Can we say :

  At one end it's (something).....and at the other (something else) .

Does it mean the same as "on the one hand ....and on the other" ?


texts:
Is the below sentence correct?

  I will confirm once I’m at the office.

I’m trying to tell someone that I will confirm later because I’m not at the office meanwhile.  I could not digest “once” followed by “I’m”. That is why I was confused.


texts: What does "Blooming" mean in this context?

texts:
“Dumbledore!” he called heartily as he walked up the slope. “How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?”

  “Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff,” Dumbledore replied.

I've looked it up and found this definition:

  informal Brit (intensifier): a blooming genius; blooming painful.

But it doesn't seem to fit for this context. What does "blooming" truly mean in this context?


texts:
A player has just been announced as a new team member of Real Madrid
What should he say -
I am so very happy to be playing for real madrid.
Or I am so very happy to play for real madrid.

Can we use Present continuous here because we are talking about an activity that is going to take place in near future ?!?
And does 'to play for' means that he has already been playing for real madrid.

Which one of the above two sentences is right ?


texts:
i have following doubt on wh clause, there are two sentences which i feel are grammatically correct, but i have doubt that, is that fine two use them?

He is the owner of the house, who can assist you.
He is the owner of the house, where we lived for 5 years.

in the above two sentences ‘who’ and ‘where’ describing different words of the first sentence. so are they correct right?


texts:
I will have him believe it

What does this mean? Does this mean “I will make him believe it”?
My friends are saying have + object form is used in the sense of wish. Is it correct?


texts:
I am trying to understand phrasal verb. I thought in this situation:

  (My friend is doubting about two kind shoes: Asics and Geox ...)

  Me: Those shoes look nice but... Why do you want the shoes? I mean, what is the purpose of it? (for: sport, formal, casual, ...).

  Friend: I want them for run.

  Me: Ahh great. If so, I think that Asics shoes are the better choice, for a simple reason, Asics brand is aimed for sports. If you had asked me about a shoes for walk around towns, I would have recommended you Geox shoes because they look great and are comfortable.

When I said "for walk around towns" I meant: walk inside towns. So, I went to Cambridge Dictionary for make sure about "around" term, I got:

  around [preposition, adverb]:

  positioned or moving in or near a place, often without a clear direction, purpose, or order:

  move in [phrasal verb]:

  to go to a different place and begin to live or work there:

So "move in" as phrasal verb does not make sense but if I separate move AND in make sense, it is like: move inside a place (in a town in my example). My question is: Is the context responsible of make words act like phrasal verb or like simple words? (thinking in "move in" as example)


texts: Should the name of a capital Greek letter also be capitalized when the upper case is important?

texts:
In complexity theory, we sometimes have to speak about Knuth’s big omega notation. Or about Knuth’s big Omega notation? Here the confusion starts. I can imagine all four variants of "big/Big omega/Omega notation" and, if you like hyphens, all four variants of "big/Big-omega/Omega notation".  I am typesetting a main-body text (not a paper's title).

Which versions are correct, which are preferrable without a hyphen?
Which versions are correct, which are preferrable with a hypen?

For those who are interested: the notation, in Knuth's variant, is

Ω(f)   ≝   { g: naturals→naturals | ∃ real c>0  ∃ natural n  ∀ natural m≥n :  g(m) ≥ cf(m) } .

An aside: the little omega / little Omega function also exists, defined as

ω(f)   ≝   { g: naturals→naturals | ∀ real c>0  ∃ natural n  ∀ natural m≥n :  g(m) > cf(m) } .


texts: Should I write "X and I", "X and me", "I and X", or "me and X" in a conjoined object?

texts:
A question was asked in one of my friend's interview. The question was to determine the right form from the below sentences.

  Q. Correct form of English:

  Samuel was with Susan and I
  Samuel was with Susan and me
  Samuel was with I and Susan
  Samuel was with me and Susan
  None of these

Now I vaguely remember a rule of thumb from my school days. That is "2-3-1" i.e. where all the persons are acting in a sentence, second person comes first, then third person and it is followed by first person.

So according to this theory, 1 seems to be correct to me. Is this theory correct?


texts: Is 'still wasn't able to' correct in this context?

texts:
Kindly, consider the following situation:

The question says:
Complete the following with was / wasn’t able to.

The context says:
A man said: ‘In my garden, there is a heavy stone, I tried to lift it many times when I was young, but I couldn’t move it. And when I grew old, I still wasn’t able to lift it. Nothing has changed!’

Is this use of 'still wasn't able to' correct? Shouldn't the context be: 'still unable to'?

Thanks in advance.


texts:
Is it idiomatic to say "to increase the quality of code base"? Like for example in the following sentence:

  The refactoring increased the quality of the project’s code base.


texts: What is the main difference between obtain, get, and fetch?

texts:
Typically, we say,

  I got something

I also realize that some software like to use

  fetch a update

When someone got an error, they like to say

  obtain an error

So, My questions is what is the difference between those words? When should I use this one instead of another?


texts: Using the article 'a' in "a formal education" and "a distinctive plumage"

texts:
Is it grammatically correct to use 'a' in the following sentences? (see bold parts)

The author calls them elitist because of their belief that someone without a formal education could never have written the masterpieces ascribed to Shakespeare.
But did you know  that it takes the bald eagle five years to grow into one with a distinctive plumage?

I found these sentences in a practice paper for grammar correction. They didn't use 'a' in any of these sentences and didn't even mention them in the correction. So now I'm wondering about this.


texts:
Why would Filch from Harry Potter 2 say: “… go now, I have to write up Peeves’ report … go …”

Would saying Peeves’s have been a mistake?


texts: Sentence structure , object and complement

texts:
He offered to lend the book to the student.

Subject: He
Verb: offered

I don't know what the object should be, is it "to lend the book"?  but then the object itself would be comprised of a verb and its complement, which makes it S+V+O+V+C , but this structure seems ungrammatical,  what's the correct way to put this?

And what does the PP to the student stand for? I know it adds information to the verb lend , but is it a complement or something else?

  He wants us to use the service.

Subject : He
Verb : wants
Object : us

"to use the service " confuses me, is it a complement consisting of infinitive verb + its complement or object?

But then the structure would look like S+V+O+C+V+C(or O), which doesn't seem grammatical, what's the correct way to explain this?


texts: Mistakes which are made by native English speakers

texts: Which difficulties do native English speakers face when they learn their mother tongue at school or just in life(especially I'm curious to know about high school when people are already supposed to speak rather literally and correctly)?Maybe there are some grammar issues(like possesive case) or a difficulty with putting emphasises in a correct place?And are there such themes in English which seem to be quite hard to understand even for an educated adult person?For example, were there such cases when even politicians, celebrities or someone from other famous people, for whom English is native, mistook?Could you give some example, please?


texts: Is there explanation for why a guitar neck is called a "neck"? I can understand why a guitar body is called a "body" but not the neck.


texts: "Upcoming Events" includes ongoing events?

texts:
StackOverflow opened Developer Survey from yesterday and a banner is up that says:

...Upcoming? The survey is ongoing.

Is "upcoming" not only for future (=not yet) stuffs?


texts:
I have been wondering about the last sentence of the text in the picture. The picture is here because you probably need to know the context. The sentence is as follows:

Researchers wrote/had written the note 132 years earlier.

I have no idea if it's past simple or past perfect, could anyone help me and explain it to me?


texts: The equivalent of "toggleVisibility" for "enabled/disabled"

texts:
What is the equivalent of toggleVisibility (when used for visible/hidden) for enabled and disabled?

As an extra, the equivalent for selected and unselected.


texts: Is there a difference in meaning/semantics between sentences with very similar predicative structures?

texts:
I have a pair of sentences that I would like to join using a predicative construction:

All the windows were shut.
The heat in the room was now intense.

This is what I’ve made:

All the windows being shut, the heat in the room was now intense. (The nominative absolute participial construction.)
All the windows shut, the heat in the room was now intense. (The nominative absolute construction.)
The heat in the room was now intense, with all the windows being shut. (The prepositional absolute participial construction.)
The heat in the room was now intense, with all the windows shut. (The prepositional absolute participial construction.)

So their structure is slightly different, but is there any difference in the meaning of these sentences? If there is, what sentence is the most similar in the meaning to the original?


texts: Was this sentence formed grammatically correct?

texts:
"The charts below show the results of a questionnaire that asked visitors to the Parkway Hotel how they rated the hotel's customer service."

Does this information sentence above look grammatically correct? Doesn't it have to have any conjunction between
these two part?

[The charts below show the results of a questionnaire that asked visitors to the Parkway Hotel]  [how they rated the hotel's customer service]


texts: what is the meaning of "five-at-a-time"?

texts:
A business owner told me his tipped employees will cash their cheques
  five-at-a-time because they're not that important to them. What they
  want are the tips.

$15 minimum wage won't work for restaurants

What does "five-at-a-time" mean here?

Thank you.


texts:
Which sentence is correct?

  Genies are six folds more than humans.

  Genies are six times more than humans.

  Genies are six times as many as humans.


texts: Which of the two is grammatically correct, every possible situation or all possible situations

texts:
The code of conduct reflecting moral principles cannot provide guidelines or rules to cover [ every possible situation / all possible situations ], which creates ethics loophole that may be used by employees, possibly leading them to immoral and enthical behavior.

Which of the two is grammatically correct?  Are both acceptable?   Thank you always.


texts:
In the spoken English if someone loves something so-bad it means that he likes it very much. is it right?

My question if to the ears of the native English speakers is it sounded negatively that someone loves so-bad.


texts: Why is there a difference between these two sentences

texts:
Why is it possible to write this:

  I have had but could not keep

and not that

  I have  had my camera for 3 weeks, I sold it yesterday

I don't see the difference: both verbs are in present perfect then past simple.
Is it because in the first one we are talking about something as a feeling emotion not something as "real" as an object?


texts: The expression "It allows for" doesn't make any sense to me

texts:
English is not my mother tongue so I'm still learning. I have never heard someone say something like "it allows for". But I am in IT and I keep reading this in a lot of documentation. Every time it makes my head hurts. Sorry but I find it kind of 'stupid'.

I have translated in my mother tongue (French) and I understand the meaning. But it still makes my heard hurts every time I see this. Can someone with a very good English background explain the phrase better?


texts:
I am writing a paper. In the paper, I originally wrote

  all vertices that are within c hops of a vertex v

but my teacher later changed it to

  all vertices that are within c-hops of a vertex v

Here, the letter "c" represents a fixed constant. I wonder what is the difference between them. I frequently heard people say something like "... is within 2 miles of ...". So I think mine is the correct one.


texts: What does natural man or natural woman mean?

texts:
Songs like "You Make me Feel Like a Natural Woman" and "Kisses Sweeter than Wine" use this phrase. "I begged her and I pleaded like a natural man..." in Kisses Sweeter than Wine.
In theology the concept of natural man seems to refer to a sinful nature not yet redeemed by God's grace. In the songs, the state of being natural seems to be a positive thing. The context suggests it means direct and free from affectation or pretention.


texts:
Let's say you were just been saved from a car accident that would cost your life. And a stranger said to you:

  You better thank me, coz' if it wasn't for me, you would have been dead.

Or

  You better thank me, coz' if it wasn't for me, you would have been dead by now.

Should I include by now? or just the plain one?


texts:
The other day i was giving an English lesson to some friends :p one of them asked me for a snack, i gave her a frozen yogurt pop... then another friend's son asked me" there is, there is?? Trying to translate "hay hay??" I was so ashamed about not having another for him and i did not pay attention about the way he asked.

Is there a way to say it that short?

Well i guess the correct way to ask it is " is there still any?  Or do you still have any?

Am i wrong?


texts:
What are the possible alternatives to conveying demo session.
Like in tutoring if I want to convey to other student that I won't charge for the first session.
How could one say that in a better way?


texts: How to say "plural things in many groups"?

texts:
I want to make sentence fulfilling this condition:

  Three groups consist of different people in each, let's say "A people", "B people, "C people"

Is it,

  "Three people group"

or

  "Three people groups"

I'm confused about plural things in plural group. Could anyone explain me with examples?

I think my question's title is confusing but I have no good words to make it. If this question is a duplicate, please let me know!


texts: I wish "I had been born" or "I were born"

texts:
"Had been born" or "were born": Which one is correct in the following context?

"Australia is a very nice country. I have always wanted to visit Australia. I wish I had been/were born in Australia."

I think the past perfect tense is correct here. But I am not sure.


texts:
I could have done as good as you did
  or
  I could have done as good as you.

Which sentence is correct and why? And can we use "as better as"—I mean is there any phrase like that?

And is this sentence correct?

  What will you do after my going/his going??


texts: Balls A are circumferentially aligned with balls B

texts:
I created the sentence below in order to describe the image above:

  Red balls are circumferentially aligned with blue balls.

But, after googled, I am afraid that the sentence may describe the image below:

Which image does my sentence describe? I think the first image can be simply described that red balls are on the same circumference as blue balls, but I want to use the term "circumferentially".


texts:
Consider this expression

Can you please transfer the sugar of this packet in that jar.
I spilled some corn flakes when I was transferring them to a jar.

Is it ok using transfer in this context? If not what word should I use?


texts:
I do not listen (but do read) much to English lately, but honestly, I heard it once or twice. Would you consider it old-fashioned?

  "I don't mind if I do" said to politely accept an offer of food or drink -

  A: "There's plenty more cake if you'd like another piece."
  B: "I don't mind if I do."

Source: Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary


texts: Usage of the prepositional phrase ''at the campfire''

texts:
I could hear the man at the campfire singing.

What does '' at the campfire'' work here?
I want to know whether it modifies 'the man' or 'hear' in this sentence?


texts: What does it mean when someone says "He's working on his computer"?

texts:
on (prep): 19 USING EQUIPMENT using a machine or piece of equipment

  He’s been on the computer all afternoon.

  Is Rachel still on the phone?

  work on somebody/something phrasal verb

  1 to spend time working in order to produce or repair something

  He has spent the last two years working on a book about childcare.

  Every weekend you see him working on his car.

  2 to try very hard to improve or achieve something

  A trainer has been brought in to work on her fitness.

  work on doing something

  We need to work on ensuring that the children feel safe and
  confident.

So, "he is working on his computer" may mean

- He is using his computer as a mean to do his work.

or

- He is repairing his computer (changing the Ram)


texts: Is it appropriate to say that my birthday comes (or arrives) in May?

texts:
Is it appropriate to say that my birthday comes (or arrives) in May, Or Christmas comes in December? Which other alternative can I use instead of comes or arrives?

Could I also say, "my birthday 'falls' in the summer season"?


texts: placement and displacement of the adverbs such as "first"

texts:
First off, I have no idea and haven't got any context as to the following problem.
I am wondering what is the difference semantically between the followings?
For instance:
First I do something, then...
I do something first, then...
Any comment would be appreciated


texts:
A man is standing in his own office holding a stack of papers. His boss interrupts him. They talk. After a while the man puts the stack of papers (down) on his desk.
In this particular context would it be more natural to include "down" do you think?
And would it be more natural to write "on the desk" than "on his desk"?


texts: "How did you do in the job interview?" vs. "How did you do on the job interview"?

texts:
Could you tell me if the use of the prepositions in and on equally correct in the following question?

How did you in/on the job interview?

By the way, does the question sound natural when I want to know how succesful the person was?


texts:
Reading this article, I encountered a line which I don't understand.

Capt. Jake Smallfield, a spokesman for the Ravenna Police Department, said he reviewed all the videos from the incident and thought everyone was professional during the incident. He said police have to check out tips on guns.

This dictionary has many entries and the dictionary I subscribe is no use.
What does Capt. Jake Samllfield say police have to check out?
Does the tips mean a number(no definition in the dictionary)of guns or the untidy parts?


texts:
I've just took an English exam and there was a question I must answer using "since".

How long have you known her?

My answer was "I have known her since February". But then I thought what if I wrote like "I know her since..". The question is that if I can use "since" with "simple present tense".

The second thing made me confused is
"have known" is present perfect and I think the sentence means you don't know her anymore and how long it took to know her. Is that true? I mean, is that different from "how long do you know her?"? If so, can we say "how long did you know her" instead of saying that sentence with "have you known"?


texts: What does "stand over against" mean here?

texts: Never, in any earlier period, have the productive forces taken on a form so indifferent to the intercourse of individuals as individuals. On the other hand, standing over against these productive forces, we have the majority of the individuals from whom these forces have been wrested away, and who, robbed thus of all real life–content, have become abstract individuals, but who arc, however, only by this fact put into a position to enter into relations with one another as individuals.


texts: What does "provides plenty to work on" mean?

texts:
For now, we note that programming a computer to pass a rigorously
applied test provides plenty to work on.

Does "plenty to work on" here mean there is a lot of things to be done?


texts:
According to Wikipedia, Changing Table refers a special table for a changing baby's nappy, and I have no problem with that.

However, I recently realized it is also called "Baby Changing Table", and I have a HUGE problem with that since I think it will sound better with "Nappy Changing Table" rather than baby changing table.

When I searched Google I can find those terms:

"Baby Diaper Changing Tables"
"Nappy Changing Tables"
"Diaper Changing Tables"
"Baby Changing Tables"

The first three mean: a changing table to change diapers.
However, the last one does not follow the same logic of the first three since "baby" is not equal to "diaper", "baby diaper" or "nappy".

I wonder if anyone also felt like I did, or anyone let me know how does it really sound.


texts:
The structure of the phrase "I felt relieved as I read it, vindicated, almost personally understood…" is not very clear to me.
It appears to explain why "I felt relieved", because I read it and almost understood it. The problem for me is the meaning of "vindicated" - "(I) vindicated"? It seems that before reading the book (The End of Faith), the author thought it was guilty to criticize religious moderates who respect other people's different faith; as the author went further in reading it, he understood the book's view and vindicated/proved the author of the book.
I am not sure I am on the right track.
What does "vindicated" mean here?

The End of Faith articulates the dangers and absurdities of organized religion so fiercely and so fearlessly that I felt relieved as I read it, vindicated, almost personally understood… Harris writes what a sizable number of us think, but few are willing to say in contemporary America… This is an important book, on a topic that, for all its inherent difficulty and divisiveness, should not be shielded from the crucible of human reason.

Source: The New York Times Book Review


texts:
In Portugal, Germany, France and the Czech Republic,  transgenic crops were primarily grown for small-scale field trials.

Whats the meaning of small scale field trial?

Does this sentence means that those transgenic crops are given to the cattle as food as well as marketed for the mass consumption to satisfy their needs

Source [read first paragraph]


texts: How many vocabulary words should I learn every day?

texts: I am trying to learn new words but pronunciation is difficult. I try to learn new words, but by the next morning I have forgotten what they were and I have to start over again. How many new words should I learn every day so that I can remember them all?


texts: Inversion in consequence clause "thus can"?

texts:
I run into problems in this sentence from Vim documentation:local-options:

  Each window or buffer has its own copy of this option, thus can each
  have their own value.

Why should the modal verb "can" and the subject "have" be inverted?
Is the structure othervise grammatical?
Why is the pronoun "their" plural
     rather than singular "its" matching with the singular subject of the
    clause "each"?


texts: What is the difference between 'if' and 'once'?

texts:
If this plan is carried out smoothly, I'm convinced that...

  Once this plan is carried out smoothly, I'm convinced that...

What's the difference between those two sentences in meaning? I think it almost sounds the same.


texts: How to phrase "I have always trusted and hopefully will always trust you"

texts:
How would I phrase this sentence properly:

  I have, and hopefully will, always trusted (should I add a trust
  here?) you

This is what I thought:

  I have always trusted and hopefully will always trust you.

Seems a little redundant though, any suggestions?


texts:
When you speak to him remember to whom you are speaking.
  When you speak to him remember who you are speaking to.
  When you speak to him remember whom you are speaking to.

What is the difference among these three? If any.


texts: I make this question because in my language Spanish, brown is translated as marrón, and both marrón and maroon looks related in origins (same with the french marron I suppose). If they are all related in origins my guess it's they all should refer to the same color, but it would seem brown and maroon are used as different colors in English? If so the english maroon and the spanish marrón ended refering to different colors?


texts: What's the term for 'positive' or 'negative' ways to describe things?

texts: What is the (grammatical or syntax) term for adjectives you can use them in two ways, with 'not' or without 'not' to say the same thing (more or less). For example: 'not-good' instead of 'bad'. Also 'not-beautiful' instead of 'ugly', and so on.


texts: "apply something to someone" or "use something with someone"?

texts:
Tell me please which phrasing sounds natural in the following context.

  The method of training I used with my client/I applied to my client was pretty challenging.

Would it be more grammatical and native to say ...I used to train... or ...I applied to train...? If the second options are more correct and native, however longer, then which verb sounds more natural?


texts:
Is there another pronoun following these ones? For example:

I have 3 brothers. The former; likes dancing, the latter; likes studying and the third one likes exercise.

Is it correct to use the pronoun "third" on speaking about more than 3 people at this kind of structures?


texts:
Cinder felt her finger twitch, the closest thing to a flinch her body
  was capable of.

Source

I can't understand this sentence.
I think "be capable of" aways connects with something, but here it doesn't.


texts: what's the difference between "send along" and "send"?

texts:
When I read the document:

  When the client next requests the same resource, it might send along a header such as either If-modified-since or If-unmodified-since, containing the date of the last modification time it was sent.

I saw there are send along here, I know its meaning. but you know, we can use send directly, why there is more – an along here?

What's the difference between send along and send?


texts:
I have difficulty understanding why in this article approximately half of the quotes start with a letter in square brackets. What is the reason?
Some examples:

"[S]ame-sex segregation is a group phenomenon that arises from social processes that are related to gender identity and labeling common to all members of a sex, rather than to similarities in sex-typed activities."
"[t]he mental analog of sex: one's maleness, femaleness, etc., as seen from their own perspective"


texts: What is the difference between have and have got

texts:
I have a gift for you

  I have got a gift for you

Which one is correct?
They say that have and have got are interchangeable but I don't think this works here because I have got would mean I have received (a gift for you) which doesn't sound right as far as I think


texts: When I want to say that something has just happened "very recently" I use present perfect  because something has just happened and has a present relevance or because it has just happened only?


texts: What is a good noun to refer to somebody who is unhappy?

texts:
What nouns can be used to refer to somebody who is unhappy and would complete the following sentence?

the ... lost his wife and his job

The unhappy? The unfortunate? Or is it the unhappy one or the unfortunate one?


texts: Who advises whom in "even if advised of the possibility of such damage"

texts:
Here is a disclaimer for some  open source software.

  In no event shall the copyright owner or contributors be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, procurement of substitute goods or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort  (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of the use of this software, even if advised of the possibility of such damage.

It is my analysis here. I deleted some extraneous words and kept the original meaning.

  In no event shall the owner or contributors be liable for damages
  and be liable  on any theory of liability, even if advised of the possibility of such damage.

How should I interpret: "even if advised of the possibility of such damage"?

A  wrote a letter to B.
In the end ,A wrote :
Pls kindly be informed .

Here the action informed was performed by A, not B.

Who advises whom for the possibility of such damage?
Is that means :  users  were  advised of the possibility of such damage by copyright owner ?
The action advise was performed by copyright owner or user of the soft?


texts: Why don’t we use the continuous aspect when asking about someone’s workplace?

texts:
I know that when we ask about someone’s workplace, we say:

Where does he work?

I once read that we can use the present tense’s continuous aspect because it’s an ongoing process and this person might for example retire tomorrow even if they have been working there for ten years now.

Is it correct to think so?

Note: I am not a native speaker.


texts:
I was taught in college to move the I at the end of the sentence and read it from begin to end. For example; yes, I am going to the store no longer yes, me is going to the store. I believe it becomes Patois ot Patwa language.

Which way is correct?


texts: what's the difference between since + present perfect and since + past simple when since is not used as because

texts:
What's the difference between since + present perfect and since + past simple when since is not used as because?
I've seen both being used but never really understood what's the difference -between these two for example

I've been a different person since I've gone to Spain
I've been a different person since I went to Spain

or

The department has been extremely busy since we have had/opened an office in Mumbai.
The department has been extremely busy since we opened an office in Mumbai.


texts: meaning of " Development of an Anomaly Detection Model for a Bank’s Transitory Account System"

texts:
Can you please explain what this means in simpler terms?

  Development of an
  Anomaly Detection Model
  for a Bank’s Transitory
  Account System


texts: Verbatim's Equivalent Word Meaning Letter for Letter

texts: Verbatim means word for word.  I also use it to mean letter for letter.  Is there a better choice meaning letter for letter?


texts: I have been to [place] + Adverbial Phrase of Time

texts:
Can we use present perfect tense to imply that we have been to [some place] before (but we are in a different place now) by adding the information that shows how long we stayed there?

But I have learnt that the sentence below is grammatically wrong:

  I have been to London for two weeks.

Should I say:

  I stayed in London for two weeks last month.


texts: What do you call it when one is looking for what to eat in a particular food shop

texts:
Another new Japanese food shop has opened just next to our office bulding. They have prepared different kinds of cooked food for walk-in order.

The cooked foods are kept in good condition in several window cabinets.

Is there a specific term for when someone like me is looking around for what to eat in the food shop: is it called food window shopping?


texts: People in the gym work out (missed correct adverb)

texts:
Some days ago I've said that "people in the gym work out hardly", then someone told me that when I say "hardly" in this context, then the meaning is in fact opposite of what I want to say (that their workout takes a lot of power).

Then my question is what is the adverb that can replace the incorrect adverb "hardly" to some other correct word in this context?


texts: The different possible ways the phrase " most definitely " is correctly used

texts:
What do Native Am/Brit.Eng speakers really mean when they  say "it's most definitely ( that ) ... " or reply with "most definitely." ?

Is there only one possible meaning or use of it - or perhaps more?


texts: Is it correct to omit repeating the subject after "if" and "when"?

texts:
I think these two sentences are correct and make sense.

Cross the task if the task has been done.
I often swim when I go to a gym.

While I am wondering if the following two sentences are correct after omitting the subjects:

Cross the task if has been done.
I often swim when go to a gym.

Any more references or examples about such situation?


texts: Why article is not used with 'novelist' noun?

texts:
I came across the below passage in a book,

This is not outlier behavior; it’s instead the new normal. When the novelist Jonathan Franzen wrote a piece for the Guardian calling Twitter a “coercive development” in the literary world, he was widely ridiculed as out of touch. The online magazine Slate called Franzen’s complaints a “lonely war on the Internet” and fellow novelist Jennifer Weiner wrote a response in The New Republic

In this statement, author used an article with "novelist" the first time ("When the novelist Jonathan Franzen") but did not use any article the second time ("and fellow novelist Jennifer Weiner").
Is there any reason why the article is excluded the second time?


texts: Reported speech for things not related with communication

texts:
Which of these sentences would be correct?

"Currently we've got no clue how consciousness works."

Or

"Currently we've got no clue how consciousness worked."


texts: What is the difference between "imply" and "suggest" in the sense of saying something indirectly?

texts:
What is the difference between imply and suggest in the sense of saying something indirectly? For example:

Person A: The job involves dealing with figures. In a word, it's not a piece of cake.
Person B: what are you implying/suggesting I am bad with figures?


texts:
If I were to write "He is just doing not good as usual",

which one does this mean? "He is doing badly as usual." or "He is good usually, but did badly this time."


texts: is it okay to say "Please go get it under the bed for me"?

texts:
get [transitive] to go to a place and bring somebody/something back
  SYNONYM fetch

  get somebody/something Quick—go and get a cloth!

  Somebody get a doctor!

  She went to get help.

  I have to go and get my mother from the airport (= collect her).

  get something for somebody Get a drink for John.

  get somebody/yourself something Get John a drink.

You found out that your child "threw your T-shirt under the bed" (not sure if it is ok to say like that), would you say "go get it under the bed for me, please"?

The part "get it under the bed" sounds a bit awkward


texts:
I have the sentence

  This is my first visit of the USA.

Is it correct?

How can I ask a person about this information? I think the following:

  Is it your first visit of the USA?

Is this correct?


texts: Is the word "breaking" in the following sentence correct?

texts:
I always carried an extra mask on my belt, in the case of mine
  breaking.

I thought maybe it could end in "break". Sorry if it's obvious, I'm not a native speaker.


texts:
“Blue shirt and pants“

Does this grammatically mean:
A blue shirt and blue pants or a blue shirt and ALL colors of pants?
And if known, why is that the answer and what is the rule here?


texts: The correct form of the negative of 'to have'

texts:
My cat has no food.
  My cat has not food.
  My cat has not got food.
  My cat does not have food.

What are the differences between these two sentences?
Which one is the correct? Why?


texts:
In the following sentence, can I omit the verb 'drew/was/became)? If so, how is the grammar rule?

  The nearer her wedding day (drew), the more nervous she (was/became).


texts: I hope next year "is better" or "will be better"

texts:
Michael Swan says, after 'hope', a native speaker often prefers to use a present tense with a future meaning, however, I've come across sentences written by native speakers in which they had preferred a future tense after 'hope'.
As a native English speaker which one do you prefer:

"I hope 2021 is better."

Or

"I hope 2021 will be better."


texts: What’s the difference between due to lockdown and due to a lockdown? Can I use article before the word lock down?

texts: People are working from home due to lockdown or people are working from home due to a lockdown? Which one is true? And why the other one is not true incase one of the usages is not correct?


texts:
I parked outside the entrance of/to the building.

Are both correct and mean the same thing?


texts:
Lev pulled his gun fast and pistol-whipped Norman on both sides of
  the face. Norman cried out. Lev held the Colt casually pointed in the
  direction of the thugs.    To her credit, Olga did not scream.
     "You asshole," Lev said to Norman. "I killed Josef Vyalov––do
  you think I'm scared of a fucking accountant?"    Norman got up
  and scurried out of the room, holding a hand to his bleeding mouth.
     Lev turned to the other men, still holding the pistol pointing
  in their general direction, and said: "Anyone else who doesn't
  want to work for me can leave now, and no hard feelings."    No
  one moved.    "Good," said Lev. "Because I was lying about no
  hard feelings." He pointed at Ilya. "You come with me and Mrs.
  Peshkov. You can drive. The rest of you, unload the van."    Ilya
  drove them downtown in the blue Hudson.  (Ken Follett, Fall of
  Giants)

What does the clause mean? (Even if there is some meaning about ‘lie about’, they make no sense with ‘no hard feelings’ to me.)


texts: Is it correct to use "work" instead of "work place" in "I went to my sister's work today"?

texts:
I went to my sister's work today.
  I went to my sister's work place today.

Which of the above sentences should I use? Do I have to use the second one?


texts: "point on the chart" or "point in the chart"?

texts:
There is a scatter plot with many points, referred to as "chart".

Which of the following is correct:

  Move the cursor over a point in the chart.

or

  Move the cursor over a point on the chart.


texts: "The last few days" Vs "the last a few days" (300k hits on Google)

texts:
Somebody asked me this earlier if we can use the expression 'the last a few days'. I've never heard someone use this expression before but when I googled the phrase, there are actually some articles and websites that use this expression.
Examples I found online:

  The rumors that YouTube was accessible in certain parts of the country during the last a few days are true.

  The first letter in the collection is dated 1805 and the last a few days before her death in 1865.

  Over the last a few days, Blizzard has released Over watch game play footage.

Can someone clarify this for me?


texts:
OED

  Year:

  10a. In plural.

  Age; the length of time that a living thing has lived.

  Merriam Webster

  Year:

  5b Years plural : age

  https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/years

What is the subtle difference between “years” and “age”? Dictionaries seem to treat them as the same. Are they interchangeable in the following examples from OED?

1853   F. S. Mines Presbyterian Clergyman looking for Church ii. 17   A tradition that I have since discovered to be not very venerable for its years.

1867   E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest I. vi. 594   William, still a boy in years but a man in conduct and counsel.

1920   R. Macaulay Potterism i. i. 3   They were..as intellectually snobbish as was proper to their years.

2005   R. Douglas Night Song Last Tram 174   Streetwise beyond his years, there was nothing that frightened him.


texts:
Here is a sentence:

Stork will be talking about his knowledge of vision, optics and computers——an entire 30-page CV's worth of scientific achievements——has let him look into Vermeer's light, and discover how closely it matches reality.

I don't quite understand the meaning of "'s worth of " in this sentence. I think it means be full of in this sentence. However, according to my knowledge, it doesn't have this meaning.


texts:
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/loosey-goosey?q=+loosey-goosey
I wonder if it means easy?
It cannot be as loosey-goosey as just wanting to drive loyalty with all consumers. You have to know which consumers you’re targeting and what type of loyalty you’re driving. What is it that you actually want them to do? Do you want them to spend on more profitable products or services? The next thing is to make sure that whatever you’re trying to accomplish with the loyalty program is consistent with your overall company strategy and brand messaging.
Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/customer-loyalty-the-new-generation?cid=soc-app


texts: "Start work date" versus "start working date"

texts:
How should I say the date I start working: Is "start work date" or "start working date"? I googled to just find out that both are used.

Which one is correct, and why?


texts:
I'm answering a question about a text. In the text, it says:

  The train left the station at 10:00PM

and, the question I must answer is

  Did the train leave late in the evening?

I'm not sure about this. I'd say the train left early at night, but I'm not sure if 10pm can be still considered as "Late evening".


texts:
I've recently noticed that I keep writing "an 1973 coin", and similarly for all the other dates that start with 1 (e.g. "an 1639 coin").
This does not only apply to coins, obviously, it's just the most common context (in my writing, at least) where an indefinite article comes immediately before a digit numeral. It also does not apply to dates starting with 2 (so "a 2015 coin").
(What's the correct word here for "digit numeral", incidentally?)

It sounds correct in my mind, but I suspect that I might be mentally sounding out digit numerals in my native language (or a form of it) rather than English, and apply the articles based on that.
Can that actually happen, what should I do to prevent it, and what is the correct English form (so that, if needed, I could apply it manually)?


texts: What does "Some Polos" mean in this passage from "The Ferryman"?

texts:
The following is from The Ferryman, page 7 (depiction of a man, who was found in the bog, he was supposed to be an IRA informer, but something went wrong and IRA itself they killed him). What does "Some Polos" mean?
Was he wearing it or did they find it in his pockets? Was a typical dress for the IRA volunteers a civil dress? Or do brown corduroys, English brand Gola refer refer to something else? I know that the informers were given some expensive staff in the past and IRA bribed new members.

"...your man is wearing a pair of Gola trainers. A Timex wristwatch. Brown corduroys. (beat) So the rummage through his pockets and they find his car keys. His last pay packet from December 1971 (his money from the work?) Some Polos (a polo neck, sweater, a polo t-shirt, a headdress, some Polos corporate gift like a pen, some polos crossword puzzle clue?) A betting slip signed by Georgie Best."


texts:
What is a better way to write X increases as Y increases?

Two increases seem repetitive.

Thanks.


texts:
Should the last "origin" be deleted from "the origins of COVID origin"? Or does the phrase have its special meaning? The phrase sounds as if to mean something deeper than the origin of COVID.  I am not sure.

Daszak told CNN his team had submitted a list of places to visit and people to speak to, receiving no opposition from the Chinese authorities. He said: "We are not running rogue here, we are talking to our hosts. We are in a foreign country, we are guests of China right now. "This is a good, collaborative, scientific approach to understanding more about the origins of COVID origin. "Every place we asked to see, everyone we wanted to meet. … So really good."

Source:   news.com.au


texts: Can I remove "have to" in this sentence?

texts:
What is the meaning of these sentences? What is the difference between them?

  Why did you have to name me after stew?
  Why did  you  name me after stew?


texts:
In English Drama Movie: Short Term (2013), At residential treatment facility, Jack(facility head) sends Jayden back to her abusive biological father without knowing the facts. This incident which really concerns Grace(facility member) who is observing her & asks Jack why did he send Jayden back.

  Jack: Did she tell you that she was being abused by her father?

  Grace: She didn't have to

  Jack: If I'm going to take that child away from her biological parent,
  yes, she does.

Here Jack say "Yes, she does", does refers to what exactly?


texts:
Please tell me the meaning of the word 'approach' in the following sentence:

  The survey team will approach and enter the household.

Merriam-Webster gives the following meanings:

to move or become near or nearer to something or someone
to move or become near or nearer in time to something
to get close to (an amount or level)

However, I am not satisfied with any of the meanings mentioned above.


texts:
We can't afford to buy a new car. [Nevertheless | But], my wife wants to continue to look for one.
  Sales of new cars have been down the past six months, [nevertheless | but] this is expected to change soon.

Which one must be chosen in each case? Which one would you use?


texts: He dared to [Go at/go to] the blast site

texts:
I don't remember having read a sentence using go at + place until today but today I came across this sentence

  He dared to go at the blast site so as to see his colleagues.

Is it all right to use go at here or it is better to use go to? To my ears go to sounds better.


texts:
He arrived at the party sooner/earlier than I expected.

He should have rectified his mistakes sooner/earlier.

In cases like these, sooner and earlier act as synonyms, and the overall meaning is not affected by whichever is used, right?


texts: Roots of words. How better learn every word in English?

texts:
I'm learning English. For the first five years it was a school program, a gramma. I bring from this, that I don't know language very well, because, simply, do not know words.

I'm partially remember rules, gerund, etc.

But I don't have enough skill with speaking, because I simply don't know how to name everything around me. I didn't know that a sprout is a sprout, a stool is a stool, etc.

As I know, every language was born from very deep ancients. Poor ancient's peoples name everything around by the same names, simple change the suffixes and the prefixes.

That is why I'm looking for short dictionary, that I should know, that contain only roots of words.

No matter that words migrated from India or Rome will be skipped in this light.

Only roots of English words. Plus, it would be super great, to have a tree of childes of this roots.

Could you provide me with the right dictionary?


texts: I have read the expression "How are you finding [something] ?" (= What are you thinking of [something] ?) for the first time today. Is it used only/mostly in UK?


texts:
Can I place a restrictive relative clause before a noun that it modifies?

For example, can I re-write the following sentence

  This is an adverb that is usually emphasized by being placed at the
  beginning of a sentence; it is very common in this language.

this way

  This usually emphasized by being placed at the beginning of a
  sentence adverb is very common in this language.

?


texts: Can "the fact that" always be switched "that"?

texts:
Is this the case? Example sentence:

Should he open the envelope? He had no reason to other than the fact that it'd been addressed to him.

Would the sentence still be correct if "the fact that" is replaced by "that"?

He had no reason to other than that it'd been addressed to him.


texts: meaning of "the spare change of myself that no one yet had pocketed"

texts:
I'm reading The Muse by Jessie Burton. The protagonist / narrator is a girl from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago who came to work in London. She describes herself as follows:

  Cynth once told me that I looked better in profile, and I said that
  made me sound like I was a coin. But now it makes me wonder about my
  two sides, the arch impression I probably gave Pamela, the spare
  change of myself that no one yet had pocketed. The truth was, I felt
  so prim before a girl like Pamela. She knew no other blacks, she told
  me on the Thursday of that first week. When I replied that I hadn’t
  known any either by that name till I came here, she looked completely
  blank.

I don't understand what she means by "the spare change of myself that no one yet had pocketed". Does this mean that she thinks she's worthless? Or quite the opposite, she thinks she has her value but no one has seen it? Can anybody help me understand the idea of this sentence?


texts:
Is there a word to describe either under or overweight? I simply want a single word that would mean "this is the amount that is - or + the normal weight range".

I am thinking of either 'deviation' or 'discrepancy', any of them is good for this usage?

The word will be followed by a number with a sign (+,-).


texts: When to use "to finishing" and when to use "to finish"?

texts:
Which one is correct and why?

"We have to work around the clock to finish this video".

"We have to work around the clock to finishing this video".

Thanks in advance


texts: I want to ask a question about the passive

texts:
This is the active sentence:

  "Miss May taught me to draw the Christmas cards."

So how to transform it into the passive one?

Help me please.

Thank you very much.


texts: What's the meaning of the phrase, " He/she/somebody would get you."?

texts:
Whenever I stayed (would it grammatically correct if I used would stay here, instead of stayed?) up late, past my curfew, my dad would come to my bedroom, and tell me if I didn't go to bed quick, the boogeyman would get me.

What's the meaning of the the boogeyman would get me part?
Is it grammatically correct, or should it be some other phrase used there instead of what was used there?


texts: If my teacher ask me this, which is the right way to answer it?

texts:
Q : Are these books borrowed by you yesterday?

A1 : Yes, these books are.

A2 : Yes, these are.

What is difference between A1 and A2?


texts: "What you", "that you", "without you" pronunciations using a "ch" between the words

texts:
I've been trying to learn more about a common English pronunciation oddity. I've been trying to find the right combination of words to google for the last half hour, but I'm at a total loss. Also, I figure this question has been asked on this stack before, but I can't seem to find it.

The question centers on certain words used in front of "you." It's common for people to say the following:

  what you => pronounced "what-chyou" or "what-cha" or "what-chya"

  that you => pronounced "that-chyou" or "that-choo"

  without you => pronounced "with-out-chyou" or "with-out-choo"

There are many examples of this in popular music. For example, you can hear the alternate pronunciation clearly in U2's "With or Without You." Also, the Beastie Boys have a famous song called "Whatcha Want." And there was a famous catch-phrase from the 1980's sitcom "Different Strokes": "Whatchyou talkin about, Willis!"

What is this pronunciation phenomenon called, and where does it come from? Are there particular rules for its usage?


texts: Help to understand: "leaders as diverse, patriotic, and big-hearted as the America…"

texts:
In a tweet, Barack Obama wrote

  Today I’m proud to endorse such a wide and impressive array of Democratic candidates – leaders as diverse, patriotic, and big-hearted as the America they’re running to represent

I saw the sentence on Yahoo! News.

Leaders are persons and the America refers to the country the United States of America. I am confused, how come we can draw a comparison like that? Any thoughts?


texts: Nothing could get any better than firsthand experience (correct phrase)

texts:
Let's say nothing could beat firsthand experience. And you say:

  Nothing could get any better than firsthand experience.

Or

  Nothing can be better than firsthand experience.

Which is correct to express what I am really trying to say?


texts: Leaves of the maple tree turn from green to red

texts: What is the difference between 'leaves of the maple tree turn from green to red' and 'leaves of the maple tree turn green to red'?


texts:
Let's say you are READING AT THE MOMENT, but you are PLANNING TO PLAY a computer game (Starcraft).

  1) 'I just have to finish this article off first before I play
  Starcraft.

Or

  2) 'I just have to finish this article off before I play Starcraft.'

NOTE: Google said, ''finish off'' or 'finish sth off' is the last thing/activity you want to finish before you do another. BUT, as you can see I have included ''first''--to add clarity stating the sequence of my action. Although I am not sure, and this is not based on grammar rules, because I haven't come across this one yet, that is why I am asking.

Which is more grammatical #1 or #2?


texts:
I have an organisation which has several branches. Now I have a list of all these branch names. How can I call this list?

Branches name list? or Branch Names list? or Branches Names list?

What is the rule for pluralizing compound words?


texts: The placement of participles defining the subject of the main clause

texts:
As far as I know, we can use participles right before or after the subject of the main clause to give extra information about the subject. For example:

  1- Dressed in his class-A uniform, the marine looked like a
  recruitment poster. (Original)

  1a- The marine, who was dressed in his class-A uniform, looked
  like a recruitment poster.

  2- Glazed with barbecue sauce, the rack of ribs lay nestled next
  to a pile of sweet coleslaw. (Original)

  2a- The rack of ribs, which are glazed with barbecue sauce, lay
  nestled next to a pile of sweet coleslaw.

But I have seen sentences that use participles at the end of the main clause with a comma or a colon to give extra information about the subject of the main clause.

When I want to give extra information about the subject of the main clause, can I just use this form (main clause + colon or comma + participles) ? Would that be okay?

For example:

  3- The funeral is at 3.00, followed by a reception at Shaw's
  bar. (Original)

  3a- The funeral is at 3.00 and will be followed by a reception at
  Shaw's bar.

  3b- The funeral is at 3.00, which will be followed by a
  reception at Shaw's bar. (I am not sure if this version is correct)

  4- Essos is an immense landmass located to the east of Westeros,
  extending into the far east of the known world. (Original) (describes Essos)

  4a- Essos is an immense landmass located to the east of Westeros
  and Essos extends into the far east of the known world.

  4b- Essos is an immense landmass located to the east of Westeros
  which extends into the far east of the known world.


texts: Difference between " I borrowed some money from him" vs " I borrowed some money of him"

texts:
Which sentence is correct?
I have seen "I borrowed money of him" on the net before.
As far as I am concerned, "I borrowed some money from him" seems to be right.

However, I have seen the follwing two sentences a lot.
"I will do what is expected from me."
"I will do what is expected of me."

Is "I will do what is expected from me"  the same as "I will do what is expected of me."?
If these two sentences can be interchangeably used,
are "I borrowed some money from him." and "I borrowed some money of him." can be interchangeably used, too?

It is so confusing for me.

If any of native speakers can explain the difference between these two, I'd appreicate it.


texts: "Rather than do", "rather than doing" or "rather than to do" after "prefer to do something"?

texts:
Tell me please which one of the following sentences is the most correct and natural.

  I prefer to read books rather than listening to them.

  I prefer to read books rather than listen to them.

  I prefer to read books rather than to listen them.

If all are natural, than which one is more common?


texts: What is the correct English word for "so much high"?

texts:
While mixing Hot Tea with sugar, We take two glasses, we pour Hot Tea in one
  glass & put sugar in other one. we mix them by pouring Hot Tea to another
  glass with so much high. But be careful, Hot Tea may spill on your hand with this
  heights.

This is the sentence I phrase about tea making, But still people feel difficulty in understand because of words "so much high". I need help to replace this three words with single word or more appropriate English words with same meaning.

I am describing tea that must be poured from a some height, which will have enough chances to get spill on the hand.


texts: is this something we can write or just say

texts:
Is the sentence below run on or is it something we say to each other

Isn't "Have a great morning/night" a run-on sentence? or can I say "you have a great morning/night"? Or is that just a sentence we say.


texts:
What do you call a decisive person "who has a purpose" in his / her life and really insists to achieve his / her goals in life?
The only word which I found is:

  "a purposeful person" which is against "a purposeless individual".

Are these adjectives work in AE as well?


texts: What is the difference between "lest", "just in case" or "in case"?

texts:
Oxford dictionary states that lest is synonymous with in case.

Meanwhile, I am too confused about the following. I am wondering when/where would you rather use these? And are they really interchangeable?

just in case
in case
lest

I need an inclusive answer please.

I have looked up dictionaries and I came across different types of definitions and synonyms, especially in the Oxford dictionary, which I provide in a link:

Oxford's definition on lest
Oxford's definition on (just) in case


texts: Definite or indefinite articles before of phrases

texts:
What is the rule for using determiners before of phrases.

  I have a feeling of safety.

  You can use the functions of panning and tilting, too.

Why first phrase has before feeling indefinite article and in the second sentence is before functions the definite article.

I would use the definite article in all cases because I thought that of phrases makes noun definite.


texts: What does this sentence "What a fool I was to do it!" mean?

texts:
What does this sentence mean?

  What a fool I was to do it!

I think it means either of them below according to context.

1.I was a fool that I was going to do it!

2.I was a fool that I did it!


texts: Should we use 'the' every time when writing about a specific thing?

texts:
If I write kinda fairytale and let's say I write about one concrete snowman and one specific fish, should I write 'the snowman' and 'the fish' every time? Or is it understood that I still mean this one concrete snowman if I just write 'snowman'?
Very often the same character repeats in that tale...


texts: What are differences between "job" and "work"?

texts:
Do you enjoy your job?

Can I use "work" instead of "job" in that sentence? Are they synonyms? How about this sentence:

  "Do you want to go for a drink after work?"


texts:
First of all, I think it is worthwhile to mention that "What is nanny state?"
  Well, nanny state is a conservative term that conveys a view that a government or its policies are overprotective.
  The term "nanny state" likens government to the role that a nanny has in child rearing, but she's not very generous, _______ money for their compassionate service, levying taxes and fines for these mandatory services and unconventional laws.

Is it possible and idiomatic to use a verb+ing in the blank? (E.G. receiving, charging, collecting etc)

Are the mentioned verbs appropriate for this situation?

I used the word she to refer to the government.
Is it possible to use their instead of her? If it's impossible, is it idiomatic to use her?


texts:
Is it correct to end a sentence with 'used to'?

Ex :

  You have to find a new shop when you are no longer able to go to the shop that you have used to.

or should it be;

  You have to find a new shop when you are no longer able to go to the shop that you have used to go.


texts: Something planned for the future but which is already investigated, what's the right word? consider, envisage?

texts:
I have a sentence like

  But also more fancy products such as artificial skins are envisaged.

Which is the right word to put in the place of envisaged? As far as I know there are no products yet on the market but such products are planed, and there is research going on to realize such products. However there are other products (using the same technique) which are less advanced and will likely be commercialized earlier.

Now is envisage the right word or does it imply something too utopian? Are words as consider better? I guess in French (which is not my mother-tongue) I would have used the word envisager, but I feel the English counterpart has not exactly the same meaning.


texts:
From collins dictionary:

  You use followed by to say what comes after something else in a
  list or ordered set of things.

In the following sentence, the potatoes is in the 1st place of popularity?

  "Potatoes are still the most popular food, followed by white bread".

If they are, then I understand that the idiom 'followed by' basically means 'before'. Right?

For example:

  The stage of learning followed by (=before) knowledge.


texts: Can the word "distort" belong to people?

texts:
One of the more unpleasant aspects of a state of war under modern
conditions is the appearance of a swarm of individuals, too clever by
half, in positions of authority, excited, conceited, prepared to lie,
distort and generally humbug people into states of mind supposed to be
conductive to a final military victory.
*bolds are mine

- The new world order by H.G. Wells
According to Cambridge dictionary the word distort means:

to change something so that it is false or wrong, or no longer means what it was intended to mean:

Where does the word "distort" belong to? To the people like, they are prepared to distort people? If so what can "distorting people" mean in this context?


texts:
Present Perfect.

  Tom has studied Chapter One and he is begin to study Chapter
  Two.

  Past Perfect.

  Tom had studied Chapter one before he began studying Chapter
  Two.

Are "Tom has studied Chapter One" and "Tom had studied Chapter One" are complete sentences?
Can we ignore "begin to study" in the sentences?


texts: What punctuation do you use for strictly quoting a quote within a quote?

texts:
What punctuation do you use for quoting a quote within a quote?

For example:

"He said, 'I like this'"

How would you quote the bold portion?

(1) "'I like this'"

(2) "I like this"


texts:
It was / is in Paris that she was brought up.

  It was / is in this house that he lived.


texts:
Tell please if both at and on are acceptable when talking about being on the surface of the shore. For example:

  I was standing on/at the shore when the boat reached the pier.


texts: What sound do you make when teasing two people?

texts:
In Filipino, when two people are teased together the teaser (usually a mob of friends) would scream: "Uieeee!" Pronounced: 'Uyyyy' with the 'y' prolonged for a few seconds, as if coaxing the two lovebirds together.

Sample Dialogue
Maria: Did you go on a date with Clara last night? :)
Juan: It wasn't a date; we were just having di—
Maria pokes Juan repeatedly while saying:
Maria: Uieeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :)

The only other language that I know of to have an exact equivalent is Bisaya, another Philippine language. It's said as "ayeee", a shrill sound from the syllable 'a' with a high note then 'yeeeeee' a few notes higher and finally the remaining 'eee' descending into silence.
"Ayeee" in English seems to be used very differently and I doubt that it sounds the same too. The closest equivalent I could find is aww, but it lacks the outward emotion of teasing. (Or am I wrong?)
Is there an equivalent English exclamation for teasing?


texts: Two absolute constructions with same meaning

texts:
The horsemen raced down the hill toward the settlers, their guns at the ready.

This is an absolute construction. It does not have any verb. If I rewrite the above sentence in the following way, still it will be treated as an absolute construction.

  The horsemen raced down the hill towards the settlers, their guns being at the ready.

I cannot differentiate between these two examples. Are the meanings of them same? Is there any difference between them? This problem remains same for the following sentences:

The candidate's speech over, a gaggle of reporters sprinted toward her aids.
The candidate's speech being over, a gaggle of reporters sprinted toward her aids.

Now I want help from the experts of this website.


texts: What is the meaning of "To get things done"?

texts:
I listened to this video in which the woman is saying in 0:53 minutes:

  "...because she is a progressive who get things done".


texts: Is the phrase "the long way of the oval" the object of the clause and should there be an "into" before it?

texts:
I encountered this sentence when reading "A Morbid Taste for Bones" by Ellis Peters:

  Cadfael turned towards the cry, thrusting through thorn-branches, and came out in a narrow oval of grass surrounded every way with thick bushes, through which a used track no wider than a man's shoulders clove, the long way of the oval.

I under stand that the clause "through which a used track no wider than a man's shoulders clove" refers to "thick bushes", but what is the role of "the long way of the oval"? Is it the indirect object of "a used track"? So "a used track cleaves through the bushes into the oval"? But it does not have a preposition before it.

Thank you for your help!

Edit:

This is what I imagine based on @TRomano's comments:

The black curves are the bushes, and the blue path is the track.


texts: What do we use when we mean "so on" in a formal essay?

texts:
For example:

  There are some alternatives for your bed frames, kitchen tables,...that aren't necessarily made of solid wood, such as artificial wood, wood plus plastic, iron, etc.


texts: In what cases can I use the expression "standing still"?

texts: I'm wondering which cases can I use the expression "standing still" and which I can't, for example, using "standing still" for abstract concepts like a project, not concrete objects. May you guys provide me some examples and some alternatives to such expression?


texts: How on earth did in the pipeline come to mean what it does? What's the correlation between pipeline and something that's in the process of production or being developed? Is the expression taken from the image of water passing through a pipeline or an underground tube before it can be made accessible at the point of exit?


texts: backshifting in the context of one clause

texts:
The other [feature] was Schmitt's characterization of all legal norms as resting, explicitly or implicitly, on a sovereign decision, which either applied rules generally to people's actions or announced an exception to them.

I would like to ask you why the past tense is used in the two bold verbs of the clause. Is it because of backshifting? The content of the passage has the character of the general statement so I would use the simple present tense.


texts:
I have talked with Tom and I found this project very interesting.

To add some context :
I talked with Tom about one hour ago via phone and he told me about the project.


texts:
What's the type of this IF clause:

  If she didn't want to get into an argument, Valerie would have followed the majority undoubtedly.

It seems it's type 3 but the if statement in the sentence not match with  the standard pattern (past perfect)


texts: "He became, as the Guinness Book of World Records called him" - is it okay to repeat the pronoun?

texts:
Is "him" required in the following sentence? Little confused.

  He became, as the Guinness Book of World Records called him, "the most
  perfectly developed man in the history of the world."


texts: Explanation or a clear definition or some synonym for reversing the effect of something

texts:
The ease with which a fish can reverse the effect of the sidedness of its eye asymmetry simply by turning around has caused biologists to study internal anatomy, especially the optic nerves, for the answer.

Would you please in a readily way throw a light on the bold part?

Any help would be appreciated

Source of the fish example

Excel 2010 for Dummies

Mammalian Subventricular Zones


texts:
What word can be used to describe a bug in a movie?

By "bug in a movie" I mean a scene where an inconsistency (in dressing, the plot, the logic of the story, etc.) is exposed to the audience. I'll give some examples.

Two people (A, B) are talking. The camera is on A, and A has a broken
(left) arm. The camera then switches to B and then back to A again.
But this time the broken arm becomes A's right arm.
The Starbucks cup that appeared in Game of Thrones.


texts: "A detailed description" vs "detailed description"

texts:
Detailed description of statistical methods for biological studies is provided in Section 10.

Should there be an article?

  A detailed description of statistical methods for biological studies is provided in Section 10.

I googled and found that "description" can be both count and non-count. In my case, either option seems acceptable. The first option seems to represent, I guess, a more loose set of sentences describing statistical methods.


texts: I want to talk about a practice in which you are obliged to cite trustworthy people or publication to discuss a topic, in contrast to merely talking about things that do not have original reason to be true--just guessing or common sense. I know already that speaking with reference is not an appropriate phrase for that but I just mentioned it in the title to be able to communicate the meaning I want. I guess a related appropriate phrase for me is speaking with credibility but this phrase does not explicitly mention the practice of citing references. I want something that does


texts:
Did you enjoy the snow?**

  Did you enjoyed the snow?**

What is the difference between these two sentences? For example, today it was snowing, so if I want to ask someone whether they enjoyed it, what should I say?

Thanks!!


texts:
The next English frigate we escaped with no more than a shot in our
  quarter.  Then we was chased two days and a night by a French
  privateer, firing between squalls, and the dirty little English
  ten-gun brig which made him sheer off had the impudence to press
  another five of our men. That's how we reached to the chops of the
  Channel. Twelve good men pressed out of thirty-five; an eighteen-pound
  shot-hole close beside our rudder ; our mainsail looking like
  spectacles where the Frenchman had hit us--and the Channel crawling
  with short-handed British cruisers. Put that in your pipe and smoke it
  next time you grumble at the price of tobacco! 'Well, then, to top it
  off, while we was trying to get at our leaks, a French lugger come
  swooping at us out o' the dusk.

This is from "Rewards and Fairies" "A Priest in Spite of Himself" by Kipling.
http://www.telelib.com/authors/K/KiplingRudyard/prose/RewardsFaries/priest.html

What is the meaning of "to get at our leaks" ?

I am glad if some one kindly teach me.


texts:
What's the difference between the two in meaning?

  The mayor has a new bridge built.
  The mayor has built a new bridge.


texts: What does 'talk a blue streak' mean in this movie?

texts:
I found this line from a movie script of The Cabin in the Woods (2012):

  This house is talking a blue streak...

This line didn't make it into the movie, so I'm not sure what this "talking a blue streak" means. It's the scene where the five main characters arrived at the cabin. Some of my guesses are "this house is creepy", "this house is haunted", or perhaps "staying in this house is a jinx".

Here is the relevant part from the script:

  The van pulls up and the kids come out, more slowly than they did at the gas station, taking it in. Dana's a little entranced, Holden curious, Curt pumped, Jules mildly excited, Marty wary.

    JULES
    Oh my god, it's beautiful!
    (to Curt, sotto voce)
    One spider and I'm sleeping in the Rambler. I mean it. Uno spider-o.

    MARTY
    (to himself)
    This house is talking a blue streak...

  As the boys start unloading the keg, Dana approaches the front door... slowly turns the knob...

What does this This house is talking a blue streak... mean? Is it an idiom? Or is it specific to this movie?

UPDATE: Previously, I tried to look up the phrase blue streak and didn't find anything. However, I just found out that the Free Dictionary defines talk a blue streak as "to talk very much and very rapidly".

Is there any deeper meaning than this in the movie? Or should I interpret it literally as such?


texts: What do you call these cord-like shapes at the end of the tool?

texts: I am thinking they have a name, but I can't even think of a proper word to describe them. I am not asking what the tool is the tool is a pimple squeezer, but I am asking what the things at both ends are. You can see them enlarged too on the picture above.


texts:
I want to write:

  X necessarily has to contain a lie.

Am I in the wrong?

Should I drop the "has to", since "necessarily" already bears that meaning? I.e. should it be like this instead:

  X necessarily contains a lie.

Or the contrary; perhaps the "has to" part is obligatory?
Finally, maybe it's just a matter of preference?

In my own language, these kind of semantic repetitions are shunned. So I kind of want to go for the #1. Then, I have a sense of English that tells me to use #2.

If it is #3, then I'm also open for recommendations and personal preferences. Please, do note that it is your personal preference in that case.


texts: I am looking for two single words, both similar!

texts:
When someone throws something or someone out of a window, we have a word for it: Defenestrate

The meaning of defenestrate given by Oxford Dictionary:

  formal or ,humorous The action of throwing someone out of a window:

  'death by defenestration has a venerable history'

I am looking for two words similar to it:

1) - To throw someone/something out of a moving car.
2) - To throw someone/something from a rooftop.

I could not find any.


texts:
I am writing a wedding menu. Some guests only speak English, but I'm not a native English speaker.

How would you correctly write this sentence?

  Wedding of Ann and Bob.

or

  Wedding from Ann and Bob.


texts:
Is it natural to write "find an employment" instead of "find a job"

Students who finish university having studied an area of science are far more likely to find employment.


texts: What's the type of the object of "I don't remember having seen him."?

texts:
I don't remember having seen him.

The object is having seen him. What kind of an object is this? Any term? I would like to read more about adjectives of this kind. Links are truly appreciated. Can you give a couple of more examples with different verbs?

P.S.

I know it's a gerund phrase. My problem is with having ..., which is like the combination of a present perfect and a gerund.


texts:
please look at the sentence:

  I go through the course prescribed for surgeon in army.

What does go through mean here and can you explain ' course prescribed for .....' for me?


texts: What's the idiomatic phrase for the following situation (cut off vs. hang up)?

texts:
We have a group conversation (of 3 friends) on phone, after some time one of us was 'cut off' / 'hanged up' of the conversation. Which of them is more intended for unexpected or non-wished such ending of conversation?

For example,  when he calls again to join our conversation, I can tell him:

  We didn't notice that you got cut off the call / hanged up.

He may response:

  Yes, I'm sorry that the call was cut off / hanged up.


texts: Difference between "noise cancellation" and "noise reduction"

texts: Am I right to think that the expression "noise cancellation" is used for sound noise and "noise reduction" for image noise?


texts: What does "get down" mean in football (soccer)?

texts:
I'm not clear about the verb "get down" in this sentence. What does it actually mean in football (soccer) context?

  What a superb goal that is! Pérez gets down the left and cuts the ball back for Shelvey, who feigns a shot and then sends the ball into the bottom right corner!


texts: What is the difference between the verbs "shore up" and "prop up"?

texts:
According to the Oxford dictionary the verb "shore up" means, support or hold up something with props or beams. However this acceptation can be expressed with "prop up". So I struggle to grasp the slightest of difference between these verbs.

I know that "shore up" may be used figuratively to say give support to anything that would otherwise fail or decline. So apparently shore up has a larger meaning. I want to know the context where either of these verbs is used.

example: shore up a building  vs  prop up a building  (what is the difference)


texts: Why are all "sort" in Harry Potter written in capital letters?

texts:
The Great Hall rang with applause as the Sorting Hat finished. "That's not the song it sang when it Sorted us," said Harry, clapping along with everyone else. (p.178)

  Harry looked away, staring very hard at the Sorting Hat, now Sorting Emma Dobbs. (p.179)

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

In Harry Potter, there's this Sorting Hat that determines which of the four school Houses each new student belongs most to.

I understand why the Sorting Hat is capitalized, since it's a proper noun which is a creation of the author (just like how Muggles or Quidditch is capitalized.)

But why does this verb, sort, which is used as the exact same meaning as we all know(it doesn't have any special meaning other than the dictionary definition), written in capital letters? I brought only two examples, but in Harry Potter, the Sorting Hat's sortings are all written in capital letters.

Why is that? What is this? I know this is not an important question but I'm just curious..


texts:
Please imagine you want to alarm someone about a dangerous dog; you can say:

  Keep an eye on that dog.

Or when you as an agent are taking a prisoner from a jail to prison. You want to go to the toilette for a minute and you outsource your duty to your co-worker while you're away. You would probably say something like:

  Keep an eye on the prisoner.

But is it possible for a mother to ask her kids father to take care of their kids while she is going to do something for a short period of the time (e.g. 10 minutes)? I mean:

  Keep an eye on the kids.


texts: Could have, Should have, Would have, Must have, Might have - Time Adverbs

texts:
When talking about past ability or possibility, we use could have or might have.

When talking about past obligation or suggestion, we use should have.

When talking about past strong guess, we use must have.

When talking about past intention, we use would have.

I know the topic above has been discussed thousands of times in this forum, but nobody has ever asked if they have any limitation when it comes to time adverbs. So, I decided to ask the below question. By the way, I guess that since they are used to describe and portray things in the past, their time adverbs are just like simple tense's.

Question:

Can they (would have, could have, might have, should have, must have) be used with past time adverbs: yesterday, last year, last week, by May 5, at 5 pm, by 10 am.....etc?

Example provided to make discussion easier:

    He could have played with his friends online at 5 yesterday. (which I am not sure about, so I take a guess)

    He should have studied smart and hard last year. Courses last year were important for his future career. (I don't know if he studied hard and smart last year. I just want to convey the idea "he was supposed to study hard and smart")

    Students must have gone to class instead of taking class online in the 90s.

    The patient must have taken the medication at 5 last night. That medication is important part of the treatment. (the patient had to take that medication at 5 last night.)

    In high school, with the internet, I would have got a better result on the admission test.


texts: Conjunction structure involving "between"

texts:
Consider:

  The interactions between X and Y, and between X and Z are shown.

How can I reduce it?

The interactions between X and Y, and Z are shown.
The interactions between X and Y, and between Z are shown.
The interactions between X and Y, and it and Z are shown.

Please note that X could be a long phrase and I may want to use a pronoun instead of it.


texts:
Indeed, it was not a newborn baby. It was
  a twitching mass of humanity in a canvas bag.
  The head peeping out was very disfigured!
  There was a forest of red hair, one eye, a
  mouth, and a few teeth. The eye was weeping,
  the mouth was crying, and the teeth seemed
  to want only to bite.
  A young priest had been listening to the
  women talking. He pushed by the women,
  looked at the child, and stretched out his
  hand. “I’ll adopt this child,” he said.
  He picked up the screaming bundle and
  carried it away. The young priest was none
  other than Claude Frollo. He named the child
  after the day—Quasimodo

I don't know it means: the child in a bundle who is screaming or the strange child in the bundle.


texts: What does the phrase "juggling panels in real time" mean here?

texts:
Here is a sentence from a puzzle game's description:

  In the game, time is far from linear, but for successfully completing
  some puzzles you need to juggle panels in real time.

I know the lexical meanings of the words "juggle" and "real time", but cannot make sense of the said phrase. How does the phrase connect to the concept of the non-linear time here?


texts: Allegory? - "Someone once told me they have one too many consonants on their welcome sign."

texts:
The following is from a comment hereunder (NOT the actual article). For brevity, denote [U1:] as user 1.

  [U1:] Sentient Human

  I'd drink too if I lived in Angus. LOL

  [U2:] Dolosus

  @Sentient Human: Someone once told me they have one too many consonants
  on their welcome sign.

  [U3:] Iknewthat

  @Dolosus Ouch!

  [U4:] Sgtronb

  @Dolosus Many times the "G" has been painted over on this sign, its
  just plain funny to see.

Please confirm if allegory's the right word? I can infer U1's condescension towards people who live in Angus, Ontario, which U1 alleges is an insipid town. However, please explain the allegories afterwards? I  recognise that U2 intended figurativeness (Is the correct term subtext)?  of his sentence, because U3's 'Ouch!' implies that U2 mordantly riposted to U1. Yet is U4's comment related to the foregoing; I do recognise that without a g, 'Angus' becomes 'Anus'?


texts: Compound nouns ending in past participle verb

texts: Why do some compound nouns end in past participle verb, such as: "I'm going to have a 'grammar written' test"?


texts:
I am trying to write one sentence like this

I will display Employee Code and Employee name by conjuncting hypen. (EMPCODE-EMPLOYEENAME)

I noticed that the word Conjuncting is wrong in MS-WORD where it is accepting conjunct as valid word.

Then what is the corresponding continuous word for Conjunct.

How I can re-frame my sentence with same meaning.

Appreciate your prompt response on this.


texts:
You see that these days people communicate face to face far less than they did in the past. When we are constantly tied to our phones checking work emails, news alerts, or simply scrolling through Instagram, it's imperative that we learn to balance this with offline time with our loved ones. We are paying more attention to the device than the person with whom we are conversing.
Fostering relationships online can hurt our relationships offline, making us less able to communicate. "Those that have limited experience in reading people do not have the same level of social intelligence previous generations posses.
Unfortunatley, there is no ........... between people these days like the past!
In the context above, would it be possible to use the word intimacy to fill in the blank?

Whereas the peecise meaning of the word "intimacy" has a connotation of sexual relationship while the word in my question as a nutral one has nothing to the with these sort of affairs.

I would really like to know if there is a better choice here rather than my offered one.


texts: Is there a viable and satisfactory alternative word for the verb "feature"?

texts:
Is there a viable and practical alternative word for the verb "feature"?

  Feature

  [intransitive, transitive]

  1 to include or show something as a special or important part of something, or to be included as an important part

  2 Show a play, film, etc.

When I used this word in several conferences over the last few months, according to the audience's reaction and comments, I noticed that they did not understand what specifically I meant.

I flatly rejected the verb show, because it does not carry the above meaning.

& This is the context:

  "Striated muscle tissue is a muscle tissue that features repeating functional units called sarcomeres, in contrast with smooth muscle tissue which does not."

Source: "Muscle Physiology - Introduction to Muscle". muscle.ucsd.edu. Retrieved 2015-11-24.


texts: 'in the summer house' of 'at the summer house'?

texts:
If you want to describe the fact that some family went out side the city to their summer house, would you use "at" or "in"

  "Where are they now?"

  "Well, it's a vacation now, so I suppose they are at/in the summer
  house."


texts: He would have stripped off two hundred yards of line

texts:
I have a problem with one sentence in a book, I am just reading - here it is:

  If he had been a fish, he would have stripped off two hundred yards of
  line and leapt out of the water in an aquatic dance of delight.

What doess the part "he would have stripped off two hundred yards of line" mean? Could it be said in some other words?


texts: Should I use the definite article or indefinite article in this sentence?

texts:
The ABC school is a graduate school in Texas. The school opened to an inaugural class of 30 students last year.

or

  The ABC school is a graduate school in Texas. The school opened to the inaugural class of 30 students last year.

I thought it should be "an inaugural class of 30 students," since this entity is mentioned for the first time in the context. But the sentence I came across here reads:

  The Dell Medical School is the graduate medical school of The University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas. The school opened to the inaugural class of 50 students in the summer of 2016 as the newest of 18 colleges and schools on the UT Austin campus.

Does the use of the definite article here strike you as odd/wrong?