texts: Is there a word for someone who performs instrumentation?

texts:
Specifically where instrumentation means "the use or application of instruments (as for observation, measurement, or control)". Is there a word to describe someone who performs instrumentation?

I tried looking up instrumentor, for which I did not find anything, and instrumentator, which according to Merriam-Webster means

  one that arranges a musical score for performance by a specific group
  of instruments


texts: Is it ok to say "would have had to have played" and "to have even had"?

texts:
Are the bold parts grammatically correct? It sounds to me like the tenses are a bit redundant.

  In the second round, Djokovic faced Bobby Reynolds, a journeyman American making his Centre Court début at the age of thirty. Reynolds told me later, “I would have had to have played an unbelievable match, and he would have had to have played C-level, for me to have even had a chance.”


texts: The necessity of using Past Perfect when writing about past events

texts: If, for example, I write that some territory belonged to some country until 1954, should I use Past Perfect ('had belonged')? Is it optional?


texts: What does "Scary-lookin' fing, inee" mean?

texts:
... Harry had never met a vampire, but he had seen pictures of them in his Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, and Black, with his waxy white skin, looked just like one.

  'Scary-lookin' fing, inee?' said Stan, who had been watching Harry read.

  'He murdered thirteen people?' said Harry, handing the page back to
  Stan, 'with one curse?'

I'm not sure what the sentence means. I searched on the web: fing could be 'thing', 'effing' and etc, but not quite sure what it is in this context. I can't find a reference for 'inee' anywhere.

-- From Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban


texts: When is "ing" used in for actions in the past?

texts:
In the sentence

  We went cycling.

Why is there an added "ing" in cycling?


texts: What are the differences between "to snap the handcuffs" and "to click the handcuffs"?

texts:
In the dictionary

snap: 2 MOVE INTO POSITION [intransitive, transitive always +
adverb/preposition] to move into a particular position suddenly,
making a short sharp noise, or to make something move like this
snap together/back etc
The pieces just snap together like this.
The policeman snapped the handcuffs around her wrist.
snap (something) open/shut
She snapped her briefcase shut.

click [intransitive, transitive] to make or cause something to make a
short sharp sound
(+ adv./prep.) The cameras clicked away.
The bolt clicked into place.

adj. The door clicked shut.

click something He clicked his fingers at the waiter.
Polly clicked her tongue in annoyance.
The corporal clicked his heels.
The police officer clicked a pair of handcuffs around his wrists.

So, these are from dictionaries, "the policeman snapped the handcuffs around her wrist" and "the police officer clicked a pair of handcuffs around his wrists".
Can "snap" and "click" be used interchangeably or what are the differences?


texts:
Can we use the word "adverse" in predicative?

  The conditions on the moon are adverse for people to live

In the sentence, is the use of "adverse" correct?


texts: Can Interjections interrupt between parts of a sentence?

texts:
For example,

I’m really surprised by, wow, your action.

Is this sentence grammatically correct?


texts:
In the following situation:

--Have you gone to see the doctor?
--No, but_______.

Should I say "I'm going to see" or "I'm going to"?
I feel like the former one makes more sense, because it at least has the actual verb "see," whereas the latter one is only left with a model verb "be going to," which by itself doesn't mean anything but a future tense.


texts:
Studying and living in a foreign country is/are challenging for the
  students.

Is or Are?


texts: "Everyone who's interested in" or "Everyone who has interest in"?

texts:
I'm preparing a text for a website and can't figure out which of these phrases I should use:

  "This is the meeting point for everyone who’s interested in (...)"

  "This is the meeting point for everyone who has interest in (...)"

Which is correct?


texts: Could you paraphrase " ... when given the opportunity, does not object", please?

texts:
The HIPAA Privacy Rule specifically permits certain persons identified by the patient, such as a spouse, family members, or friends, to receive information that is directly relevant to the patient's care or the patient's payment for health care. If the patient is present or is otherwise available before the disclosure and has the capacity to make health care decisions, the covered entity may discuss this information with the family and these other persons if the patient agrees or, when given the opportunity, does not object . For example, when a person comes to a pharmacy and requests to pick up a prescription on behalf of an individual he or she identifies by name, a pharmacist, based on professional judgment and experience with common practice, may allow the person to do so.

I also need to know if an inversion is used here.


texts: Can you resolve this problem in context with the use of 'will'?

texts:
When I have the gems,I will tell you.

  When I will have the gems,I will tell you.

The first one seems incorrect to a non-native speaker like me.But it is used by native speakers.How do the sentences differ?

An example:I will do when I have the rest.


texts:
I used this in my poem about war and peace:

  "Why must we have war?

  When we could live peacefully or,

  Find a door,

  That leads to not a country that is war-tore,

  But one that has peace,

  And one that’s peace could never cease.

  And with inhabitants whose peace could never decrease,

  And it would be a masterpiece.

  Peace and war have something common you see,

  Both can start from a tiny action as can be,"

Is this grammatically correct?


texts: Clubs, in which people are dancing to music with the purpose of dropping their weight

texts:
How do they refer in English to those clubs, in which people are dancing to music with the purpose of dropping some weight? Is the word "shaping" common in that sense? Could those clubs be called "shaping clubs" or are there some better terms for that?

(I don't mean fitness centers, in which people do physical exercises instead of dancing to music)


texts: What is the meaning of 's in "eat at Joe's"?

texts:
When I learned English at school 's was described as the mark of possession, a case of genitive.

But in the rhetorical Eat at Joe's, what does the 's mean exactly. Is it a shortcut for Joe's place or restaurant, or something different? Is this construction used in other contexts?


texts:
From Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary:

  ❍ integral : being an essential part of something

  ❍ essential : completely necessary; extremely important in a particular situation or for a particular activity

The definitions of them look very similar. Are there any differences between them?


texts:
You could at least have called her, let her know that you care. But maybe you just don't?

Is the highlighted part completely natural in continuation to the rest to mean but maybe you just don't care? or would you rephrase it?


texts: What is the meaning of this cliche: "purest form"?

texts:
Although most of us have the potential to lead others, 9s can demonstrate leadership in its purest form-leadership by example.

Here, I did not understand clearly, "purest form" ?

I don't understand leadership is "pure"? Leader can be great, "Pure" word, it does not match, maybe..


texts: Help with Participle constructions, such as "the discussed problems" vs. "the problems discussed"

texts:
I really need your help with this. I get extremely frustrated when I don’t know how to know the right use of these cases. Please extend your help by providing me any websites or tips to fully understand and explore this.

1- The discussed problems are not serious. Vs  The problems discussed are not serious.

2- The data received is helpful.  Vs The received data is helpful.

3 - The specified time works for me.   Vs The time specified  works for me.

What is the difference? How can you know which one to use?


texts: Why is "I can say" used in middle of the sentence in the below context?

texts:
Julie: Sarah told me. A blog.

  Eirc: Of what?

  Julie: What do you mean "of what"? A blog of Annabelle. Of every
  thought that passes through her brain. Her stupid, vapid, insipid I
  could write a blog. I have thoughts.

  Eric: And you're a writer, which is more than I can say for Annabelle.

I always think I can say should be used at the beginning
of sentences.

For example: I can say he is good at sports etc.


texts: Is Headache used as verb in "it does my headache"?

texts:
In Australia I hear this phrase all the time, like.

  You are doing my headache.
  It does my headache.
  You do my headache, mate.
  He does my headache.

My previous knowledge of the word tells me the sentences should be:

  You are giving me headache.
  It gives me headache.
  You give me headache, mate.
  He gives me headache.
  I have got headache.
  My head is aching.
  This job is a headache.

I don't know why, but when someone says something does his headache, it sounds awkward to me. Someone can give somebody headache, but how can you do headache. Headache to me is a state of mind, it is not an action like "he does my car cleaning" or "he does my job".


texts:
I was asked for a quote and this is what I said:
“An infographic costs $10 but since I’ll also be conducting the research, it’s going to add up to $20 per infographic.”
Does the phrase “add up to” add ambiguity to the meaning of the sentence?


texts: Can I use future tense and past tense in one sentence with "if"?

texts:
Let's imagine I wrote a report a day ago and now I'm informing my partners about this. Can I say:

  Elena will correct me if I missed something important.
  Elena will read my report in the future and correct me once I missed something in the past (a day ago).


texts:
Is this grammatically right?

  I can't resist feeling life changing.
  I can't resist being sad.
  I can't resist being proud.

Can I say it like that or is there another way?


texts: What do these different sentences mean? "If you hadn't (didn't) lost your memory, you would have remembered me."

texts:
And which of them are correct? A girl had an accident, and she lost her memory(in the past), and she still hasn't retrieved her memories. This is fiction.

  1- If you hadn't lost your memory, you would have remembered me.
  2- If you didn't lose your memory, You would have remembered me.

Any better way to say it guys?


texts: Is it the "title of the books" or the "name of the book"? which one should I use and why?


texts:
We have a story and one of the sentences is:

  I found a monkey

Then the word "monkey" repeats some times getting the article "the":

  The monkey was good...

  I always went there with the monkey...

  What did the monkey like...

But then we have such a sentence:

  In the end it turned to be ... poisonous monkey.

Is it necessary to put the "a" article because the monkey becomes some different type of the noun and there were no "a poisonous monkey" before to get "the poisonous monkey" after repeating or it has been still remaining the same noun, just with a different adjective and it needs "the"?


texts: “Jump out the car” Vs. “jump off the car”?

texts:
What is the difference between saying jump out and jump off.

  Today, in the morning , I saw a man jump off the car.
  Today, in the morning, I saw a man jump out the car.

And is there any difference between “out of the car” and “out the car”?


texts: "because a mistake can be very pricey with chargebacks that are issues clients may have"

texts:
You need to be a good developer yourself to have it communicate properly and not have any mistakes in there because a mistake can be very pricey with chargebacks that are issues clients may have. (source)

I'm not sure if I correctly understand it.
I believe this phrase means that issues are resulting in chargebacks?
Because customers have issues, they ask for chargebacks. Am I understand it correctly? (The person who use this phrase I think isn't a native speaker either)


texts: Question about question tag (nobody /everybody)

texts:
When you say "there is nobody in the garden" is the answer would be (are they? )
I just have read before that in ques. Tag we use (they) when the question include (everybody/nobody..etc


texts:
I hear people say something like this:

  How did you come to know that I bought apples?

Compare with:

  How did you know that I bought apples?

To me, they both seem to mean the same thing. Does the 'come to' change the meaning or is it redundant? That is, is 'coming to know' the same as 'knowing'?


texts:
Am I right that a rah-rah rally is principally a rally held to (uncritically and enthusiastically) celebrate someone or something or are there connotations I'm not aware of?

Is this spoken /rɑːrɑː ˈræli/? I could neither find an English definition nor a phonetic transcription.


texts:
Let's say somebody fell from a tree. Now consider the following sentence.

His face become full dirt, a tooth has broken, muscles bleed, arm bone broken and his dress has torn.
His face become full dirt. A tooth has broken. Muscles bleed. Arm bones broken and his dress has torn.

Which one is correct in situation like this?


texts: He arrived “breathless” at the top of the stairs

texts:
I came across this sentence when I looked up the word breathless in OALD:

  He arrived breathless at the top of the stairs.

Why don’t they use breathlessly? I’ve learnt that there are some verbs such as linking verbs that can be followed by adjectives, but arrive isn’t a linking verb. Why is it followed by breathless instead of breathlessly in that sentence?


texts:
I put the words of phrases below in parantheses to understand what modifes what .I also wanting to ask If there are more than one meaning ?

  {(The amount )(of consumption of total fruit ) }of {a human} in one year

What I learn is If there are different meaning for example if I use ''cell'' instead of ''fruit'' in sentence like

  {(The amount )(of consumption )}of {cell of a human} in one year

Structure will appear the same but Words that are modified by ''of'' will change .Please correct me if I am wrong.

>


texts:
I recently wrote something like this:

  "You have reached [name of company], the hand that will catch you before jumping off [some marketing metaphor]."

A native English speaker suggested the following edit:

  "You have reached [name of company], the hand to catch you before jumping off [some marketing metaphor]."

I think to in this case, more or less, means that will like in the original version of the text. Or maybe I'm wrong and it means something else? Or something similar?


texts:
Is there any kind of a rule about using either form? For example:

managing people vs people managing
negotiating a contract vs contract negotiating
writing documentation vs documentation writing


texts: What do you call the action of either shorting a stock or betting against the market going up? I think shorting means buying shorts, but you can also buy ETFs that go up when the market goes down. What do you call the action of buying those inverse-ETFs? Do you use the word short? Or is there another expression for it?


texts: Can this phrase "who is going to do what" be used in English? For example can I say "The teacher wanted me to write down who is going to do what in the next week's class" or "The teacher wanted me to write down what student is going to do what in the next week's class"?


texts: Grammar and sentence structure "The more... the more"

texts:
Could someone help me revise this sentence? Does this sentence make sense to you guys?

  "The more the perception of family support, the more Mandarin favorable the language use policy at home, and/or the more years of family support for formal CHL, the higher the students’ CHL proficiency tends to be."

PS: CHL here stands for Chinese Heritage Language


texts: Can definite and indefinite articles be used interchangeably?

texts:
I was going to say:

  Pronouns and/or be/have/do are occasionally omitted in spoken English at the beginning of the sentence.

But then I thought, I don't have any particular sentence in mind here. So it must be a. But then I looked into the rules:

  to generalize about a whole class or species, usually of plants or animals. A singular noun is used for this purpose. The first example means ‘The elephant species is hunted.’

  The elephant is still hunted for its tusks.

  The snowdrop is the first flower to arrive in the new year.

Well, it says, "usually of plants or animals," but I have a reason to think the usage occasionally extends beyond the outlined limits. That is, the is sometimes used to mean something general. A class of something, one of a class of something. Which overlaps with usage of a.

And even if we take the previous sentence, I could probably say "with the usage of a" to mean a general action, could I?


texts: ''You're tall as your father" is this sentence absurd?

texts:
You're as tall as your father.
  I don't have as much money as you have.

If I omit the first 'as' is the sentence absurd or grammatically incorrect?

  You're tall as your father.
  I don't have much money as you have.

I'm a non-native speaker. The first 'as' isn't needed in my language.
So I wonder if I omit the first 'as', is it possible or grammatically incorrect?

I know this question is somewhat silly, sorry about that, I'm studying English.


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

texts:
What does "trapped" mean in this context (from mini-ielts.com)?

  Diamond interprets them as power displays by rival chieftains who, trapped on a remote little island, lacked other ways of asserting their dominance.

Does it mean that rival chieftains were trapped on a remote little island, or that they trapped someone on a remote little island?

I am confused about the grammar here.

By the way what does ''rival chieftains'' mean??

Thank you so much??


texts: Is it okay to use the verb, "collapse," to mean, "cause something to collapse"?

texts:
In some dictionaries, it says we can say "collapse" to mean, "cause something to collapse" (You can see some examples on Oxford's American dictionary.) But the other dictionaries don't mention that. Do you think it is okay to use, "collapse," to mean that? For example, do you think the examples below are correct?

The engineers collapsed the old building using explosives.
A bear collapsed our shack last night.
Hearing the news of his father's death collapsed him.
The earthquake collapsed many buildings yesterday.


texts: Is it correct and natural to say "how much further are we to a place"?

texts:
Is it correct and natural to say how much further are we to a place meaning how many more miles do we have to cover to get to the place? For example:

We've been driving for three hours. How much further are we to the town?


texts:
I saw an example sentence of the usage of word "lack" and it triggered another question in my mind.

The sentence is that

  The teacher was lacking in communication skill

but what if I say

  The teacher was lacking communication skill

Because dictionaries say that word is used like "<someone> lacks <something>"

So my questions are:

Is my sentence grammatically correct?
Does my sentence have the same meaning?
When should I use the form "lack in"?


texts:
I wonder if I can use the following sentence.

  It is so pity that you cannot join us now.

I know the causal usage is " it's a pity" or "it is such a pity that...", but  is it also correct and casual  to use "so" before pity as if it is a "so-that" structure?


texts: Meaning of "roll down" in "Bill and I rolled down the runway not knowing whether this airplane would leave the runway in a controlled manner"

texts:
In a book I'm reading there is a phrase "roll down" as follows:

  When we checked the airplane again in the morning, it had been repaired - it turned out two wires had been crossed. My RIO, Bill Mnich, and I rolled down the runway that morning not knowing for sure whether this airplane would leave the runway in a controlled manner.

I don't understand the meaning of the phrase rolled down here.

Please explain to me. Thanks


texts:
"He was able to go back in time, but he couldn't return to his
original time."

"He was able to go back in time, but he couldn't go back.

Are these two correct? Is there a way to say "go back" and specify he wants to return to his original time, without using "originally" or any similar word? What's the most idiomatic way to say this?


texts: Differences between "mercy" & "grace" & "divine bounty"

texts:
Consider the past. How many, both high and low, have, at all times, yearningly awaited the advent of the Manifestations of God in the sanctified persons of His chosen Ones. How often have they expected His coming, how frequently have they prayed that the breeze of divine mercy might blow, and the promised Beauty step forth from behind the veil of concealment, and be made manifest to all the world. And whensoever the portals of grace did open, and the clouds of divine bounty did rain upon mankind, and the light of the Unseen did shine above the horizon of celestial might, they all denied Him, and turned away from His face—the face of God Himself. Refer ye, to verify this truth, to that which hath been recorded in every sacred Book.
The Kitáb-i-Íqán
Author: Bahá’u’lláh

My question is about the differences between mercy, grace, and divine bounty. Can you explain these concepts in simple English?


texts:
I want to talk about my algorithm and why I have used the data of the next stop but one (after next). So can I use In view of  the fact that in this form?

  In view of  the fact that many stops are located close to each other, the data of the after next stop was taken into consideration to determine which next stop was served by the bus.


texts: slowly running watch or slow running watch in a sentence

texts:
It was like a slowly running watch.

  It was like a slow running watch.

Which is correct, slowly or slow?
Thanks in advance.


texts: Does a comma make any difference in this sentence?

texts:
I have three daughters who became nurses.
  I have three daughters, who became nurses.

I got the answers from here before but some says that the comma makes some differences, others says that there is no difference. Please, tell me the difference in meaning when the comma is added.


texts: How do I make an "___ing" word modify the noun I mean it to modify?

texts:
I want to use "listening" such that it modifies "the vogue", not "the people."

Which sentence achieves that? Or neither?

Sentence I

  The vogue of people listening to music on tapes is not completely
  gone.

Sentence II

  The vogue of people's listening to music on tapes is not completely
  gone.

So "the vogue" is the act of listening music on tape.

I also don't know what "listening" would be grammatically called in each sentence: "gerund" or "participle"?.


texts:
If you give comments on this and say:

  "Oh man! She really grew THAT nail THAT long?!"

In uncommon situations, does it sound weird if you use ''THAT'' twice in a sentence?


texts:
The party was well under way when we arrived.
The party was fully under way when we arrived.

What is the difference between "well under way" and "fully under way"?


texts: Can "turn your collar up" be a natural alternative for "pop your collar"? And "fix" and "turn down."

texts:
Is it natural to say:

  Why don't you just turn your collar up?

Does it sound as natural as "Why don't you just "pop your collar"?

And what about "turn down" instead of "fix":
Like:

  Turn your collar down.(to mean:fix your collar)


texts: why do we use the word "get" in most of the passive causative sentences?

texts:
I am learning English and I have noticed that "get" is used in most of the passive causative sentences.
for example
1) I get shan to write a letter.(Active)
2) I get a letter written(passive)
in second sentence we used 'get'. why?
and why most of the passive causative sentence contains the word "get"
Thanks.


texts: Name of a messenger service inside a big governmental agency, ministry

texts:
What do we call the department inside a govt. ministry that undertakes the relay of documentation, official letters, for instance, from outsiders (requests, application by companies, individuals)?

It turns out that in Russian the word "Expedition" (Экспедиция) is sometimes used for this purpose. Weird. I first learned it today!

I'm translating a document bearing a stamp that says "Ministry of Healthcare of Russia. Expedition. 12 October 2012, 15:40". Which means, "your application (to conduct a clinical study) was received by the messaging service (??), here's a stamp on the copy of the document that is left to you, so that you could prove later that you indeed submitted the document on this date and time".

Multitran offers options like "dispatch office, mail room, dispatch service, mail and messenging department", etc. Which would be more suitable for a Healtchare Ministry?


texts: "To God Be The Glory" is a common phrase I see in many places, but when I type it on Word, it suggests it to be "To God Is The Glory". Is "be" in the phrase grammatically incorrect?


texts: Is there any difference in meaning between "come", "come over" and "come along" in the sense of arriving at a place?

texts:
Is there any difference in meaning between come, come over and come along in the sense of arriving at a place? For example:

  I didn't expect you to show up at my party. Thanks for coming.

  I didn't expect you to show up at my party. Thanks for coming over.

  I didn't expect you to show up at my party. Thanks for coming along.

According online dictionaries, they all mean the same, I mean, I can't see any difference. If so, then could you tell what's the point of adding along or over there?


texts:
In my school one student should say national pledge in the microphone, and the National pledge is like oath taking.

How should I refer this?
"He is saying national pledge" or "He is singing national pledge"..or something better and correct way to refer.


texts: Jumped off the balcony to a tree house/Jumped from the balcony to a tree house

texts:
The boy jumped off the balcony to a tree house.

The boy jumped from the balcony to a tree house.

His intention with the jump is to reach the tree house, which is on a height level with the balcony.
Are both the suggestions fine? Do you have a better one? Thank you.


texts: What does "to build upon a previous example" mean?

texts:
Ex. 1:

  To build upon a
  previous example, the novel question “are you feeling
  okay?” might evoke the same “yes” response due to the similarity of the questions. [Source]

Ex. 2:

  To  build  upon  a  previous  example,  remembering  where  you parked
  your  car  is  an  example  of  episodic  memory,  but  your  understanding  of  what  a car is  and  how  an  engine works are  examples  of semantic memory. [Source]

I know what to build upon means. Does to build upon a
previous example, mean to give a further example following the previous example?


texts:
Excerpt from a conversation:

A: I have two oak trees in my backyard.
B: Why why I have two oak trees in my backyard too!

What is the meaning of the double "why"? It doesn't look like it's being used to ask a question, because the sentence seems to be an exclamation.


texts: 'And have your actors learned lines?' : What does this mean pragmatically?

texts:
Source: pp 65-66, The Art of the Advocate (1993) by Richard Du Cann QC.

    No clear principle can be formulated. It is safe to say only
  the advocate must at all cost avoid the once indulged in by
  Treasury at the Old Bailey who finished his
  with these words:

    [1.] I have set the stage you Members of the Jury. The scenery is in place.
    Let me ring up the curtain and the play begin.

    Defending counsel, in an aside which rang the court, asked him:

    [2.] And have your actors learned their lines?

I can infer that 2 is intended to ridicule the hyperbole of 1 (in metaphorising the trial court as a drama in a theatre). But why is 2 apt and effective?
Whom does 'actors' allegorise?
What does 'lines' allegorise?


texts: Why sometimes adjectives are placed after noun?

texts:
Source

  Valtteri Bottas joins Lewis Hamilton in 'dream' Mercedes move

I think it sounds well as

  Valtteri Bottas joins Lewis Hamilton in Mercedes' 'dream' move

Source
Source

  Sheet Metal Cutting

In this also, I think it sounds well when we say

  Metal Sheet Cutting

Do these look perfectly sound to others?


texts: Is the phrase "are you come" in this sentence correct?

texts:
A man made big noise to rouse a Giant and the Giant rushed from his cave, crying:

  " You incorrigible villain, are you come here to disturb my rest?"

This is from English Fairy Tales.

I wonder if "are you come" is correct because I learned " Do you come" or " Are you coming" are correct. Could you teach me?


texts: Omitting prepositions with the relative pronoun "where"

texts:
I am having some doubts about the use of "transferred" without its preposition. Does "where" as a relative pronoun always do without prepositions? Shouldn't we say "transferred to"?

  This transcript above was issued at the candidate's request. It was
  presented to the Faculty of Arts, University of Athens where he
  transferred and completed his bachelor's degree.


texts: How to convey that the main point of an article is not something and is something else

texts:
I want to state that an article does not aim at discussing technical details as its main goal and its main contribution and novelty is not in technical details, instead it aims at introducing a concept and analyzing it. I came across this sentence but I'm not sure if pivotal is a good word for it and what better word can be used:

  It is important to note that this paper is not pivotal in terms of technical details, but it is novel in conceptualizing X and providing arguments for supporting it from an analytical point-of-view.


texts: "It {cost / costs} a lot to live there"?

texts:
In the simple present tense, which one is true based on this sentence? And, please explain.

  The food in Japan is expensive. It {cost / costs} a lot to live
  there.


texts:
Here is a quote from a movie:

  Get some answers. Quick.

Why did the speaker use quick, an adjective, instead of quickly, an adverb:

  Get some answers. Quickly.

I was told that adverbs depict verbs, so how is he supposed to get some answers? Quickly. Why is it wrong to use an adjective in this case?

No one would ever say:

  Come here. Slow.

Then why is the first sentence correct and the third one isn't?


texts:
His argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it purports to refute a view by showing that one possible reason for that view is insufficient.

I thought purport means "claim something that is wrong" but when I replace the word with "claim", I do not exactly get what the full sentence means. Can someone explain this sentence focusing on the word purport and the overall structure?


texts:
At times, I get confused. Say, movie tickets.

  At some multiplexes, the ticket __________ are very high (rates/prices)

Another example...

  No, we won't go to that restaurant. Their ___________ are very high (prices/rates)

Note: I have heard both. But which one you all prefer?

Any rule for selecting 'price' over 'rate'?

Though I'm clear about charges in this context, I'd appreciate if you include this as well in your answer.


texts: Find the right words to describe the composition of a discount

texts:
I need to describe discounts, splitting their components in 3 parameters and I would like to understand which are the best words I can use.

Examples:

New client discount, 10 euro
Personal discount, 15 %
Unconditional discount, 5 dollars

The components are so grouped

5, 15, 10 = can I call this "value"?
fixed (euro, dollars), percent = can I call this "type"?
new client, personal, unconditional = should I use "kind" for this?

Type, kind and sort of seems to me quite the same... and I don't know if they are good for my case.

Thanks a lot!


texts:
Could someone help me with this sentence:
- If you are a well-organised person, you (manage - will manage) your time.
Thank you all.


texts:
"Jeez. This is terrible. I made a terrible mistake."

  "What is it?"

  "The wrong recipe. Jeez."

  "But I drank it. You said if I drank I could become a Warrior. You
  swore to God, Duddy."

  "It's terrible," Duddy said, "but this means your breezer is a cinch
  to fall off and you'll never grow a bush. And Milty, if a guy doesn't
  grow a bush..."

  Milty ran off crying and that night he was violently ill.

  "What is it, pussy-lamb?"

  "I'm never going to grow a bush, Mummy."

  -The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler -

This is the link to the dialogue, and  I am guessing the 'Breezer' is a 'mixed drink' and a 'cinch' is a 'thing with certainty'.

Can I take this as "a cinch to make the hair fall off"?

I am terribly sorry that I had read the "beezer" to be "breezer" and uploaded this non sense. I hope you find at least some comfort that I'd been going through page after page to figure out what the "breezer" means before I uploaded this.


texts: What is most common name of pants used for exercise?

texts: Among 'athletic pants', 'sport pants', 'workout pants', which is the most common name used in AmE?


texts: Dear xxx in the beginning, Sincerely, in the end for a boss?

texts:
When I am sending an e-mail to my direct boss who are working closely for years and meet him at least once a week, is it odd to add "Dear xxx" in the beginning of e-mails, and "Sincerely," in the end? Of note, my boss is around at the age near my parents.
Typically, my boss replied Hi (my name), in the beginning, and Best, in the end. When I need to ask the boss a big favor, it might be better to use Dear and Sincerely. But except this, does Dear and Sincerely sound like an apple-polisher?


texts:
Is there an adverb in English that can be used to refer to the number of people who do an action?
For example we say

  Henry, Frank and Alex pulled the heavy box together.

Is there a structure like an adverb to put here as in

  They pulled the heavy box [...]

An adveb which probably means in a group of three or something like that.
We have this type of adverb in our native language so I was wondering if it does exist in English, too. I have never seen it though.
It is supposed to be a kind of contrastive analysis!


texts:
I've been reading and while pronouncing, again, the word "tomb" noticed that there's no adequate answer to why it should be pronounced the way it is. So I've looked up for why we don't pronounce "b" and why it doesn't read as "tom" and found a few more words that have similar problems.

Tomb - [tuːm] (Where is the double 'o'?)
Climb - [klʌɪm]
Comb - [kəʊm]


texts: Gift this to the people whom / who you truly care

texts:
Gift this to the people whom you truly care.

Gift this to the people who you truly care.

The usage of whom and who both goes with the sentence? How do they make the sentence different?


texts: Why is the word 'brick' singular in the phrase "a hunk of brown brick?"

texts:
The following is an excerpt from the New Yorker:

  The Newkirk Avenue building was nondescript, a hunk of brown brick. “Wow, it’s bleak,” Grant said, standing in the courtyard, which was covered in patchy grass. “The contrast between here and Point Dume of Malibu couldn’t be more extreme.” Grant, who has kept a diary for more than fifty years, has published two gossipy volumes littered with boldface names. “Who, and how, and where people come from so informs everything about them,” he said. “So now I’m in actual Streisand Land.”

-- From Richard E. Grant Hearts Barbra Streisand

Given that we usually say 'a pile of bricks,' my question is why is it 'a hunk of brick' instead of 'a hunk of bricks.'

Similarly, I am not sure if we should say:

A wall of bricks / a wall made of bricks
A wall of brick / a wall made of brick


texts: What makes language easily understandable for learners?

texts:
What types of construction, syntactic elements and vocabulary make language easy or difficult for learners of English to understand?

Are there significant differences between the difficulties encountered in spoken and written language for learners? (And therefore the kinds of guidelines we might want to give teachers, and helpers of English language learners)

This might relate to written or spoken instructional and presentational language (in classrooms or in textbooks), or for example posts on ELL, where we might consider a lot of the answers to be either instructional or presentational .

This question is really important for teachers and people who want their posts to be accessible. It's also important for teachers who want their language presentations and classroom language to be understood by learners.

I'm interested in advice supported by evidence, and not looking for opinions or (primarily for) anecdotal answers.


texts:
I have some question about the usage of the preposition "toward" here:

  The remarks from the senior officials were part of what has been a steady drumbeat of bellicose comments toward Iraq this week, including remarks by Mr. Bush that have cheered many conservatives and worried some European and Arab allies.

How is "comments toward" somebody different from "comments about" somebody?


texts: meaning of: Did you question all the answers

texts:
I don't speak English, I learnt it at school and I like to read some English books, and the lyrics of songs. So forgive my bad English.

Reading the lyrics of the song of Crosby, Stills & Nash - Wasted On The way, there are some phrases I don't understand, in particular the following:

  Did you question all the answers

It is an interrogative. I think it is an unusual form because someone can:

answer a question;
or ask a question.

My interpretation of the phrase is:
"Considering all the answers you have received to all the questions you asked till now, did you ever ask yourself why you had received those particular answers?"

Please, can you tell me what would be the correct interpretation? And does there exist an alternative phrase to express it? Many thanks! (:


texts: When you trust not right person and give them something that you shouldn't give

texts:
Please imagine you trust someone who you don't know them well and e.g. ask them to deliver a considerable amount of money to your friend somewhere. Prior to sending it, you made a call your to friend and had coordinated with him that someone will bring you the money by a couple of hours. Meanwhile, according to your phone conversation your friend has been supposed to make a call to you after taking delivery of the package containing that amount of money.

You send it by the guy and several hours passes and you doubt if there is something wrong here. You call your friend, and he says there had not been any delivery person at all. You call someone who knows the guy and tell him the story.

He wants to say you have chosen a bad person to do such a thing and you had not to trust him at all.

We have a very popular proverb here which says: "you have given the meat to the cat" meaning that the cat will never overlook a piece of meat and undoubtedly will eat it.

The only proverb I found is:

  You have set the goat to watch the cabbage.

But I doubt if it sounds natural in this sense in AmE. If it sounds weird to American's ears, then please let me know what you would say instead.


texts:
I often hear the phrase "(something) coming up in the next half hour" when I hear a radio. "(something)" means a specific piece of news there.

As far as I understand that phrase is used to introduce what we will hear in the next half an hour. But, according to this definition it's a bit strange, I mean how can we ever relate "unexpectedly appeared" to that context?


texts: "To that which", could someone clarify this grammatically? And so the meaning of the sentence?

texts:
Reading this article,the 4th paragraph says,

  But with Britain heading for a Dec. 12 election that could return a very different parliament to that which rejected Johnson's plans, the future remains uncertain.

I don't understand the grammar of the bold part and accordingly the meaning of the whole sentence (especially the bold italic "rejected" comes right after it).

Could someone help me?


texts: Present simple / present continuous in this context

texts:
Several countries have attempted to do this, ours being the last one.

This is not a participal clause as there are two different subjects.

What if I put is instead?

Thanks in advance.


texts: What does "to retreat into something yourself" mean?

texts:
In the sentence below seems that the word retreat has opposite meaning than its common one.

  But, although Richard Pendlebury tried for more enlightenment, the
  officer retreated into platitude himself.


texts: Do you need comma after phrases like "Under X ..." or "On the X side ..."?

texts:
Example sentence:

  Under an advertisement screen (,) stood a Gothic Lolita. On her left(,)
  knelt a sweet Lolita.

An ESL teacher told me to remove these commas. But at the same time, they seem grammatical to me. I could be wrong.


texts: "To live here demands…" vs. "Living here demands…"

texts:
To live here demands extraordinary survival strategies.

Is the above structure common? It's from Planet Earth BBC series. Does the above sentence convey the same meaning as:

  Living here demands extraordinary survival strategies.


texts: Mostly liked / most liked / liked mostly / liked most

texts:
A) Rivers, mountains and forests are the places mostly liked by people living in urban areas.

Is the above sentence correct ?

What about the constructions given below ?

  B) Rivers, mountains and forests are the places most liked by people living in urban areas.

  C) Rivers, mountains and forests are the places liked mostly by people living in urban areas.

  D) Rivers, mountains and forests are the places  liked most by people living in urban areas.

Which of these construction is correct ?

I would like to put forward my understanding of above sentences, I guess using most in the sentence implies among other places liked by people living in urban areas forests , rivers etc are most liked by them ( liked more as compared to other places) while using mostly implies rivers, mountains and forests are liked mainly by people living in areas. ( may or may not be liked by people living in other areas) But what about the placement of most/mostly ? Which is the correct construction ?


texts: When we talk about an event, should we use "It is" or "This is"?

texts:
When we talk about an event, which expression is more correct: "this is" or "it is"? Is there any difference in their meaning?

Please, don't ask me about Jane again. This is completely redundant.
Please, don't ask me about Jane again. It is completely redundant.


texts: Exam says "as to be impractical of study" is correct

texts:
Unlike a hurricane, which can be observed from within, a tornado is so small that such a study has not been practical.
(A) that such a study has not been practical
(B) that studying it that way has not been impractical
(C) for such studies as this to have been impractical
(D) as to not make such a study practical
(E) as to be impractical of study

The correct solving of the above task from the test is supposed to be E. I do not understand why the adjective "impractical" is used in the sentence. It would make me sense when using "practical". I suppose that this sentence asserts that tornado is too small to be examined with a practical effect. Is the subordinate clause of purpose?


texts: What can I say politely when something bad happens?

texts:
I am looking for a short phrase that I can say when something bad happens. For example, when my mouse breaks or my computer is hanging.

I know the expression damn it but I need something more polite.


texts: "What language is this?" Or "What is this language?"

texts:
What language is this?

Or

  What is this language?

Which sentence is grammatically right or are both of them right but just with different meanings?


texts:
Here in my region it is Thursday. At the time of writing, the time is 09:30 a.m. and the date is May 10, 2018. At 12:00 a.m. at night the date will change and it will be May 11, 2018.

My question is, will the day also change? Will it be Friday after 12:00 a.m. [here in my region] (when the date is May 11, 2018) or will Friday fall with the sunrise (here) that is around 05:30 a.m.?

In short, does the day change with date at 12:00 a.m. or it changes with the sunrise? If it changes with date now question is, at 12:00 a.m when we have May 11 here, will that be 'Friday night' or 'Thursday night'? If it turns 'Friday night' then question is, does a night come twice? Since on May 11 after sunset it will be Friday evening & night here in this region...


texts: Shall I say "protector Gods" or "protective Gods" when talking about those small figures that protect the house?


texts: What does 'smattered' mean in this sentence?

texts:
Forbidden Forest looked as though it had been enchanted, each tree smattered with silver, and Hagrid's cabin looked like an iced cake.

I looked up the word 'smatter':

  v.tr.

  To speak (a language) without fluency: smatters Russian.
  To study or approach superficially; dabble in.

  v.intr.

  To prattle: smattered on about her vacation.

None of them seem to fit for the context. What does it truly mean here?


texts: I recently saw text on that picture, over the reddit. It says "If I fits on the Board, I sits on the Board". Since that looks like official and formal signboard, I am curious as to why authors used "fits" and "sits" instead of "fit" and "sit". Are there any suggestions ? Thanks a lot.


texts:
With coir:

Without coir:

What's the proper way to qualify a coconut whose coir has been removed? E.g., is there some adjective for that?

As Benjamin Harman explains regarding the second picture:

That isn't a husked cocoanut, though. It's only partially husked. The coir:, the coarse fiber of the outer husk of a cocoanut, is just that, the outer husk. The inner husk still remains. Just the coir of that cocoanut's husk has been removed, so only the outer surface of the husk has been removed. The remainder of the husk remains, so that's not a husked cocoanut but at best a partially husked cocoanut, the part that is the coir being the only part of the husk that's been removed.


texts: Do I need to use "a" in "a few deep breaths"?

texts:
I wrote this line in a short story.

  I took few deep breaths.

But one person commented that it is wrong and it should be

  I took a few deep breaths.

Now I am confused. Which one is correct?
Both look correct to me. When to use the first one and the second one?
Thanks.


texts: Is it rightly used the semicolon at this paragraph

texts:
I appreciate if someone could check whether it is rightly used the semicolon and the word "thereby" at this paragraph, keeping in mind that this is formal english.

If the producer have to assume more production costs, he will transfer them to the final consumer; thereby making this kind of product less affordable.


texts: What is the difference between "leave" and "leave behind"?

texts:
Tell me please what is the difference between leave and leave behind in the following contexts.

  I have left my bag behind at the store.

  I have left my bag at the store.

  He left his family behind and went out of the country.

  He left his family and went out of the country.


texts: What's the meaning of "the sugar-sticks of the sweet-stuff women"?

texts:
Good gracious, what a quantity of gold there was! enough to buy all the sugar-sticks of the sweet-stuff women; all the tin soldiers, whips, and rocking-horses in the world, or even the whole town itself There was, indeed, an immense quantity.

Now I'm reading a fairy tale titled "The Tinder-Box", written by Hans Christian Andersen.

I don't understand that italic part.

What does that mean?


texts:
Why the odd phrase "wasn't [some distance](10 feet / 5 meters / 2 blocks) away" came to be used instead of simpler and straightforward options?
As I asked in the question, it is and must be (this I say based on human tendency observation) general human tendency to simplify the sentence/phrase before saying that and repeating that so it becomes popular, wide-spoken and widely accepted gradually.
But in speaking English, I've seen that many phrases like "wasn't 10 feet away" has been used and accepted instead of simpler, more straight and clarifying phrase "closer/nearer than 10 feet".
Assuming these phrases "wasn't 10 feet away" and "closer/nearer than 10 feet" are equally accurate and interchangeable, why many people intentionally choose hard, not-direct and less-cognitive phrases ? Do provide a detail clarification with the involved history.


texts: Changing the verb for indirect quote/reported speech expressing habitual actions

texts:
The below-mentioned question is asked in my exam, I think my answer is correct, please tell if I am right, I have to challenge the question in 2 days if its answer given is wrong.

correct answer is given by examiner.
candidate answer is the answer I ticked as correct.

In the following question, a sentence has been given in Direct/Indirect speech. Out of the four alternatives suggested, select the one which best expresses the same sentence in Indirect/Direct speech.

  They said, “We pray everyday.”
  Options:
  1) They said that they have been praying every day.
  2) They said that they pray every day.
  3) They said that they prayed every day.
  4) They said that we prayed every day.
  Correct Answer: They said that they prayed every day.
  Candidate Answer: They said that they pray every day.

as praying is a habitual action ,confirmed by everyday , so prayed is incorrect , i think.


texts:
I'm trying to translate a Japanese essay into English.

I am not a professional translator.
I just want to improve my English writing skill.
I am posting my translations into a web site Lang-8.
This is my profile in Lang-8.
http://lang-8.com/1483508

The original sentence doesn't matter here.
The translated sentence is as follows.

  Knowing what it is by which they somewhat trust you,
  if you are inconspicuously using it to preserve your "status", shame on you.

Is the phrase "Knowing what it is by which they somewhat trust you" grammatically correct?

If there is another way to say this, I would like to know that.


texts: Does ‘I want to ensure.’ as a response properly use ‘ensure’?

texts:
Example

Person A: The keys are not in the car. Do not bother looking there.

Person B: I just want to ensure.

It sounds slightly unnatural, but ‘ensure’ is replacing ‘make sure’, which is correct, so logically ensure should be correct too?


texts: Does "study confirmation" works for my purpose?

texts: I am originally from one country but study at university in a different country. Now, my native country asked me to prove that I study at this university and I want to ask my university to bring me document for that. Can I call this document "study confirmation letter" or "confirmation of studies" and simply ask them for that and they will understand?


texts: How to decide the countability of 'performance'

texts:
Performance

  [uncountable, countable] how well or badly you do something; how well
  or badly something works

  the country’s economic performance

  He criticized the recent poor performance of the company.

  Profits continue to grow, with strong performances in South America
  and the Far East.

  Her academic performance has been inconsistent.

Some nouns can be classified as both uncountable and countable. The above is an example taken from the Oxford dictionary.

Without a plural marker or an indefinite article, sometimes it's a bit difficult for me to decide which category a noun like performance belongs with. I'm not sure if the categories could bring nuances to the intended meaning.

Would a native speaker automatically classify them into different noun categories, or never pay attention to such dichotomy?


texts: What is the common name of the soap that is put on the lavatory seat? (picture is attached)

texts:
What  is the common name of the soap that is put on the lavatory seat?
For example if I'm in English speakers country and I'm going to the supermarket and ask the salesperson for this item, what should I call it?


texts: "No one let us know" more elegant alternative

texts:
I am writing an email and I want to say that some information was not mentioned to us but I want it sound a bit more official and I can't get my head around how to build such phrase/sentence correctly. I was thinking about something like:

We haven't been made aware of something...

Which does not sound right. Any suggestions/alternatives please?


texts:
What is the meaning of getting vain in the following sentence?

  The alcoholic needs to be free to choose without our getting vain if
  the message is used, or angry or discouraged if it is ignored.

This sentence is from one of AA pamphlets called "A.A. in TREATMENT SETTINGS."


texts: The meaning of sentence from "The Hobbit"

texts:
I'm trying to translate the sentence below from "The Hobbit" to Russian, but meaning is unclear for me:

  But lock nor bar may hinder the homecoming spoken of old.


texts: Is "Now I came back" grammatically correct?

texts: Not sure if 'Now' is correct with 'came', as 'came' is a past verb. What's the appropriate thing to use?


texts: On the top of the hill/ at the top of..... Here, are AT/ON interchangeable?

texts:
When we grow older, we'll buy ourselves a place to live in at the
  top of the hill.

  When we grow older, we'll buy ourselves a place to live in on the
  top of the hill.

In this context, are ON/AT interchangeable?


texts: Usage of present/past tense with "would"

texts:
I am not able to decide that out of below 2 sentences which one is grammatically correct. Please note that I want to know from international competitive exams perspective. All good/additional information you may provide with the answer would be highly and sincerely appreciated.

  If he would bet on horse races in spite of your warning, he deserved
  to lose his money.
  If he would bet on horse races in spite of your warning then he
  deserves to lose his money.


texts: the amount is less or lower by ___ US dollars

texts:
Which of the following below is idiomatic.The comparison between sums in dollars is clear from the other sentences in this context. I think, this is not important to post the other sentences here.

The amount is less by 1,000 US dollars;
The amount is lower by 1,000 US dollars


texts:
In a hotel, they write below lines to prompt customers to remove the plates and place that to dustbin after done with eating.

  After eating remove the plate

I am so curious about knowing any alternate sentences without leading to open up a dictionary to understand it.


texts: Is "myself" correct in "It will be a historic moment for myself because I turn eighteen"? (me vs. myself)

texts:
Is "myself" correct in the following sentence? Or should I use "me"?

  It will be a historic moment for myself because I turn eighteen.


texts: What does "thereby effectively allowed to stand" mean in this extract?

texts:
Please explain the meaning of the phrase "thereby effectively allowed to stand" as said in the below paragraph.

“If these election irregularities are not fully investigated prior to
Inauguration Day and thereby effectively allowed to stand, this nation
runs the very real risk of never being able to have a fair
presidential election again,” Navarro said in his report.


texts: Help me understand the meaning of these sentences

texts:
I know better. In recent years, South Korea’s parliamentarians have
  largely managed to give up literally fighting. Yet metaphorically,
  warfare remains entrenched.

Source.

I have no idea about the meaning of the sentences above.

What does it mean that South Korean politicians have given up literally fighting, but rather they are stuck in warfare metaphorically.

What's the difference between literal fight and metaphorical fight?

It doesn't make any sense to me.


texts: What does the line, "In the halls of justice, the only justice is in the halls" mean?

texts:
This is a famous Lenny Bruce quote but I am unable to understand it.
What does it mean?

  The only justice is in the halls, i.e. outside the courtroom.
  There is no justice inside the courtroom; it's in the "halls" outside the formal proceedings.
  Deals are made "in the halls" outside the courtroom.
  You get your best deal "in the halls" or "outside the courtroom". That's where you get justice; by negotiating, dealing, making your best deal.


texts: Which preposition goes better in the below statement?

texts:
1: He is really good at/in/with the English language.

Which preposition goes better in the above statement?

2: He is really good at/in/with shooting.

Which preposition is the best match in the second statement?


texts: Would you help me with terms of WHOM and WHO?

texts:
To whom/who should I address the latter?

Am I right?

In informal writing, you use who.

.....

Moreover, can I use who instead of whom?

Furthermore, which one is formal, for instance, about TOEFL test?

Whom did  you say  you had seen?

He can't remember whom he saw.


texts:
The American Heritage Dictionary defines "fastener" as follows:

  1. A device, such as a clip, pin, or clasp, that attaches something firmly to something else.

  2. A device, such as a seat belt, that secures a person or object.

I am not sure whether a screw is included in a fastener. Is there another word that covers a screw?


texts: Casual in "business casual": a noun or an adjective?

texts:
Example:

  Each manager needs to decide if "business casual" is right for his
  or her company.

Source: Summit 1A, page 40, 1st edition, Pearson Longman Publication


texts: the tense of the verb in a conditional clause that refers to the future

texts:
1-1) If this medicine will get rid of my headache, I'll take it right now.
1-2) If this medicine gets rid of my headache, I'll take it right now. (?????)
2-1) If he will see me at the station tomorrow, I'm doomed.
2-2) If he sees me at the station tomorrow, I'm doomed.
Current and ordinary grammar textbooks say as if it were obligatory to use the present tense in a conditional clause that refers to the future, but when it comes to sentences like above, I doubt it, because its event occurs  BEFORE the main clause.
BUT, about the second ones, these are situations where the speaker is making a deduction, and I think I've encounter sentences like '2-2)'. So I guess when a speaker is making a deduction, then it is also possible to use the present tense instead of the future tense even if its event occurs before the main clause. Am I right? I would appreciate many answers.
(please check out this link, too, and answer it, too, if you please.
about the style of the illustrations of the current grammar, and about the indirect speech)


texts: How to reduce the number of "I"s in my writing?

texts: Every time I write a passage, I find I inevitably use "I" again and again! I want to know how I can reduce the number of occurrences of this word in my writing? How can I avoid using many "I" pronouns and use just one instance for more than one sentence?


texts: Why Mother used "child abuse" word in this context?

texts:
Family having conversation at dining table. After seeing her elder sister getting served with coffee, so brother asks for him also.

  Young Son: I want coffee.

  Father: No way, dude. You don't give crack to somebody who's already
  on speed.

  Mother: Don't worry, we switched him to decaf.

  Elder Daughter: As long as you don't switch me.

  Mother: No, baby, that would be child abuse.


texts:
From what I understand, Cry is used when somebody's tears come of their eyes and the sound is loud.

I hate when Babies cry for no reason.(Baby=cry not weep, Right? )

And Weep is used when somebody cries but silently. For eg.

I saw her weeping while watching a sad movie.

But instead of "I saw her weeping" I hear "I saw her crying" when she was actualy weeping(crying silently).

Is my usage correct? If not correct me Please.

Thanks in advance


texts: Difference between nonconformity and inconformity?

texts:
I met following sentence while reading a passage:

  avoided some inconformities

However, I found that computer auto-check show a red line under inconformities which means it is wrong. However I check an online dictionary for inconformity. It is not a wrong-spelling word. If the word is spelled correctly, what wrong with this phrase. Why do auto-check system change it to nonconformity


texts: What's the preposition when you tell the time spot in the video?

texts:
What is the right preposition when you want to tell the spesific time spot in the video/movie/film?

The scene is in/on the video at/in the time 1:20:30.


texts:
I am wondering what "a big tradition" means in the following sentences:

‘Survival?’ Hannah turns to him.
‘This game we used to play at school,’ Femi explains.
Duncan’s wife Georgina chips in: ‘Oh God. Duncan’s told me stories
about it. Really awful stuff. He told me about boys being taken out of
their beds at night, left in the middle of nowhere—’
‘Yeah, that’s what happened,’ Femi says. ‘They’d kidnap a younger boy
from his bed and take him as far as they could away from the school,
deep into the grounds.’
‘And we’re talking big grounds,’ Angus says. ‘And the middle of
nowhere. Pitch-black. No light from anything.’
‘It sounds barbaric,’ Hannah says, her eyes wide.
‘It was a big tradition,’ Duncan says. ‘They’d been doing it for
hundreds of years, since the start of the school.’

Lucy Foley, The Guest List, Chapter 15

The speakers are at the rehearsal dinner the day before the wedding between Jules and Will. The ushers all went to the same public school as Will, and they are now remembering the game they used to play, which is called "Survival." (The narrator here is Johnno.)
In this part, I am wondering what "a big tradition" would mean here.
Would that mean "a long tradition"? Or, "a popular tradition"...?


texts:
If somebody call me,after hey hello,what should I say ,
1.what was the reason of your call?
OR
2. What is the reason of your call?


texts:
Me and you are very similar types of (a) person.

I am not sure if the article before the noun "person" is necessary or can be omitted.


texts: Can I make a sentence like ' He has discovered America in 1492.'?

texts:
Can I make a sentence like 'He has discovered America in 1492.'?

Then, what is the difference in meaning between 'He has discovered America in 1492.' and 'He discovered America in 1492.'?

When the action of 'discovered' has influenced us, can we use ' He has discovered America'?


texts: What is the difference between morphology and etymology?

texts:
I recently started reading Word Power Made Easy which takes efforts in discussing the etymology of a word. The difference between etymology(origins of a word) and morphology(also deals with origins and forms and affixes) seems somewhat vague to me.

Would you please give an example as to how to distinguish between these two words?

Thank you.


texts: the use of 'would' in the following sentence

texts:
Can we use 'would' rather than 'might' in the following sentence?

  Some students find it more difficult to sustain their motivation online than they might as part of a real learning group.


texts: Here, which one is proper ? - had dreamed / have dreamed

texts:
Here's the context.

  A couple of days ago, I was playing basketball by myself without any friends. I mean I played basketball with people that I’ve never met before.And  a couple of minutes after the game was over,  a girl approached me and asked me to play basketball with her. As it was something that I(’d/'ve) dreamed of experiencing for a long time, playing basket ball with a girl, so I said yes.

Here I think 'd works here because it is referring to a state before I met the girl. Am I right?


texts:
Read the following sentence

  She is not subtle about it.

What does subtle mean here? According to me, she isn't trying to hide something or behaving in a direct way so the reality is really known, is that what it means?


texts: What are these symbols and abbreviations "CP, IP, Ti, Ap" called?

texts:
I want to know what are these abbreviations existed in the picture referring to, and want their names to read about?

" cp, ip, ti, ap, ...etc"


texts:
I could not understand the part " in the face of this onslaught" in the following passage.

Mathematics developed as a response to the demands of the sciences,
which grew up in the late sixteenth century. The thinkers of the early
Scientific Revolution had provided their descendents with a broad
framework of new philosophies, hypotheses, and qualitative
observations, all of which pointed to a revolution in thought.
However, the old order was at first easily preserved in the face of
this onslaught, in part due to the lack of substance to back up the
theories of such thinkers as Nicolas Copernicus and Giordano Bruno.
Though these scientists sensed that their hypotheses were correct, and
strongly believe in them on their own, it was difficult to bring their
theories to the position of respect they deserved without the benefit
of clear and logical evidence.

http://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/scientificrevolution/section4.rhtml

In the face of means

1.When confronted with:
her resolution in the face of the enemy
1.1 Despite:
reform had been introduced in the face of considerable opposition More
example sentences

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/in-face-or-the-face-of?q=in+the+face

Onslaught means

1.Fierce or destructive attack:
a series of onslaughts on the citadel
More example sentences
1.1 An overwhelmingly large number of people or things:
in some parks the onslaught of cars and people far exceeds capacity

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/onslaught

Could you please explain whole sentence to me?


texts:
From an ELL post

In this sort of context which usually refers to a choice between previously defined alternatives. For instance

I have some time free at 9:30, at 11:00 and at 1:30. At which time will you call me?

Where "9:30", "11:00" and "1:30" are called previously defined alternatives.
There are four options/choices, "a, b, c, d", in the multiple-choice question shown below.

According to Cambridge Dictionary, "alternative" could be used as a noun and synonym for "choice".
Is it natural and clear to say the following?

There are four alternatives in question 1.


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

texts:
Tocqueville’s, Madison’s or J.S. Mill’s criticism of democracy as a
‘tyranny of the majority’ is therefore well founded. This has led to
corrective institutions, such as rule of law, basic rights for
individuals, federalism or particular autonomy rights for regions and
for minority groups. A further corrective element is political
power-sharing. Lijphart, already in the first versions of his theory,
proposed that consensus democracy is better suited than majoritarian
institutions for multiculturally segmented societies. The theoretical
reason is obvious: consensus democracy gives societal minorities a
chance to participate in political power and have a voice in the
policies of the government which cannot be overheard.
-Swiss Democracy by Wolf Linder

What does overheard mean in this context?
According to Cambridge Dictionary overhear means:

to hear what other people are saying without intending to and without their knowledge.


texts:
A few even have experience working with the United Nations.(https://ludwig.guru/s/experience+working+with)
  (https://www.forbes.com/1999/09/13/freeman_0913.html#338ea1d5720f)

  I have experience going to England.

It seems like "working with the United Nations" actually modifies "experience".

So, I think that it could be parsed as "Experience is working with the United Nations".

If my thinking is correct, could you please bring me some sentences like this?


texts: "for everywhere we look" vs "everywhere we look"

texts:
The following piece is from Crash Course US history. It is at 6 minute and 40 second.

  For everywhere we look, there is work to be done.

I can understand the sentence; what I cannot get is the use of the preposition for
in there. Wouldn't the sentence sound grammatically well on its own.


texts:
Years ago, before this site existed, I asked a question about the phrase "Dear Sir or Madam" on English Language & Usage SE. Yesterday, I got a new comment:

  "Dear Sir or Madam" and "Dear Sir/Madam" are binarist and therefore problematic. Not everyone is comfortable being called "Sir" or "Madam".

– sampablokuper

What is the non-gender-specific equivalent of "Dear Sir or Madam" for a letter salutation, if any? Or, should I ignore the whole issue as well as the advice given by the answers to my original question, and just use "To Whom it May Concern" instead?

For the purposes of this question, assume that the recipient's name, position and other information which could be used in the salutation are not known.


texts: Specific phone number to use during outages, which word?

texts:
I'm looking for an adjective to indicate a phone number is specifically for use when there is an outage, for example when there is no electrical power or no running water.

I've considered 'Fault telephone number' and 'Outage telephone number', but I'm not sure what is the right word to use.

For context, this telephone number isn't for working hour questions, but specifically to notify with urgency something is not working.


texts: How would you call someone who is a party pooper who doesn’t want to do anything

texts: For instance, someone goes to a hotel as a gateway and enjoy but they rather go to the store instead of eating a breakfast in the hotel because is too expensive and the other one gets dissapointed or someone is too excited to do something but he says mmm idk maybe we could do someone else less complicated


texts: What does "She is too intelligent not to understand it" mean?

texts:
"She is too intelligent not to understand it".

Is this sentence correct? What does it mean? I think this sentence means "she is so intelligent that she can understand it".


texts: "When is a virtual function not?" -- I don't understand the phrasing

texts:
This is from a For Dummies series book. I don't think I understand the phrasing of this title. When is a virtual function not... not what? I presume this must be some kind of a pun.

A friend of mine, who is a native speaker from America, could only say that this reminded him of the joke "when is a door not a door", but he was not at all sure whether that was what the author was going for.


texts: Instead of "all" or "all of," use "the entire" when you mean a total or the whole of a singular item

texts: Microsoft Word says that I SHOULD NOT use "all" or "all of" when I mean a total or the whole of a singular item and SHOULD use "the entire" instead. I typed "I am sick of all the lie" and Microsoft Word gave me a green squiggly line starting from "all" to "the." I'd like to know if this were? true, or my Microsoft Word is just not updated.


texts:
Imagine two guys are fighting and A has grabbed B by the collar.

  B: let it go
  A: Hey, I'll excuse you this time! Make sure this will not happen again! Next time, I'll treat you in another way.

I wonder if the bold statement above sounds correct English, If not then please let me know how should I say that?


texts: Is this sentence pattern correct? "That task is hard to complete."

texts:
Is this sentence pattern in the following two cases correct? Can you explain this structure more?

That task is hard to complete.
That event is impossible to imagine.

I thought it is only correct to say (It is + adjective + to do sth) because I was only taught this structure:

It is hard to complete that task.
It is impossible to imagine that event.

However, I know it's correct to say:

These foods are good to eat.(I know because this sentence is in a dictionary)

It is good to eat these foods.


texts:
What punctuation mark would be right in this article title? I incline to the colon, but I'm not sure.

  The Idеal Durаtion of a Kiss (?) Wоmen’s Opiniоn


texts:
What is the best construction of a sentence to talk of a lady who's covered herself fully with a sheet or any other stuff like a gown?

She is wearing a veil.
She is observing a veil.

My question is about, the verb: does it have to be 'wear' or 'observe'?

Secondly, does the word 'veil' cover the meaning of the situation mentioned i.e. body fully covered? Is a veil body-length stuff?

Or what about: She's veiled herself.


texts: "of" vs. "from" in introductions with company affiliations

texts:
A person who owns a business called BBB Cupcakes is making a tutorial video for a for-fee e-learning platform. The hour-long video is purely a cupcake making lesson; it's not directly an advertisement for BBB Cupcakes. The person wants to quickly introduce herself at the beginning of the video. If "Hi, I'm AAA, owner of BBB Cupcakes," can't be used, which of the following is correct?

"Hi, I'm AAA from BBB Cupcakes."
"Hi, I'm AAA of BBB Cupcakes."


texts: What is the difference between "is + xxx-ed" and "will be xxx-ed"?

texts:
I am confused about "is xxx-ed" usage,

Sample:

  the system design is translated into programming codes

or

  the system design will be translated into programming codes

Which one is correct?

Plus, any explanation on this "is + past participle" issue would really be helpful.


texts:
I was wondering that above sentence on title,
“Excuse me, Ms.” is rude or not. I’ve watched a video on youtube about English titles, but “Excuse me lady.” is very rude to get attention from women, and “Excuse me ma’am”
is good for southern part of the U.S. whereas it sometimes feels uncomfortable in other area. I know that Sir. can use for all men regardless of age. I need native English speaker’s
correct and clear answer. Additionally, my american professor who came from Nevada often says “Mr. Jaehyeon”
Is it a way to call me friendly? I am Korean, and my first name is Jaehyeon, Family name is Kim. I can write my name in Korean “Kim Jaehyeon”. I need correct answer of English native speaker. Thank you !


texts: Do we say "he is swimming in / on the river / sea"?

texts:
riv‧er /ˈrɪvə $ -ər/ ●●● S2 W2 noun [countable]     1 a natural and
  continuous flow of water in a long line across a country into the sea
  → stream

  the Mississippi River

  the River Thames

  on a river

  There were several boats on the river.

  along a river

  We went for a walk along the river.

  up/down (a) river

  a ship sailing up river

  They drifted slowly down river.

  across a river

  a bridge across the river

  GRAMMAR: Patterns with river

  in the river • You use in the river to
  talk about things that happen in the water:

  In summer we swim in the river.

  There was something floating in the river.

  on the river • You use on the river to talk about things that happen
  on the surface of a river or very close to the edge of a river:

  We went boating on the river.

  There’s a nice pub on the river.

  GRAMMAR: Patterns with sea

  in the sea

  • You use in the sea to talk about things that happen in the
  water:

  We paddled in the sea.

  Whales are mammals that live in the sea.

  on the sea

  • You use on the sea to talk about things that happen on the
  surface of the water:

  The boat floated on the calm sea.

  by the sea

  • You use by the sea to talk about things that are on the land near
  the sea: They live in a cottage by the sea.

The dictionary says "The boat floated on the calm sea." but also says "There was something floating in the river."

My question is that, regarding to our swimming technique, sometimes we swim completely under the surface of the sea/ river (not diving though). In this case, do we say "we are swimming in the sea / river".?

Other times, we try to float our body on the surface of the sea/ river. In this case, do we say "we are swimming on the sea / river".?


texts: Using “domination of” to show skillfulness

texts:
Can “domination of” be used to show skilfulness?

Examples:

Sarah has a great domination of mathematics.
He has a high domination of plaing piano.


texts: What lovely weather they are having! - possible?

texts: I know that it's OK to say: "What lovely weather we are having today!" But if we mention the place where we are not present at the moment, can we use 'they' instead of 'we'? Or are there some other possibilities to use this pattern?


texts: Does " to put something in mothballs" mean the same as "to mothball something"?

texts:
If we take a look at the idiom "in mothballs" the meaning is "stored and not in use, often for a long time" and the meaning of "to mothball" is "to decide not to use or develop something, for a period of time". My mother language is not English, but it seems that these expressions can have the same meaning or be very similar.

  Brian mothballed his new computer in order to buy a new one.
  Brian put his new computer in mothballs in order to buy a new one.

Would those sentences have the same meaning?


texts:
I was wondering which choice is the common way to say that in everyday English speech:

I've been breastfeeding for almost 11 months now and my posture (which used to be great) is awful. I am always hunched and feel like I'm.................! It's totally noticeable. My husband and I both notice it.

a. getting a hunchback.
b. developing a hunchback.
I think they both are used and mean exactly the same thing. The only thing that comes to mind is that "developing" version sounds much more formal (perhaps technical) term.


texts: Meaning of "swearing on a stack of timetables"?

texts:
I read a sentence in a chapter named "The Third Level" which was:

THE presidents of the New York Central
and the New York, New Haven and
Hartford railroads will swear on a stack
of timetables that there are only two.

Now I know the meaning of the well established idiom "to swear on a stack of bibles". But I want to ask if the author using "timetables" instead of "bibles" is an example of a slight variation.


texts: Using adjectives in the place of adverbs

texts:
I've heard some sentences which do not really make sense to me regarding the usage of adjectives.

ex)
" It started a bit rocky"
" I grew up bilingual"

Why isn't the fist sentence "It start a bit rockily or whatever the adverb forms of rocky and the second one " I grew up as a bilingual/ bilingually" ?

Other than these two, I've heard many other case where I think adjectives were used instead of adverbs.
Is it grammatically correct or is it something like a contracted form?


texts: All we seem to do is argue or is arguing

texts:
Another strange sentence I found in a grammar book: "All we seem to do is argue."
I thought it should be arguing.  I could not find the noun argue in any dictionary.  Could you explain this?


texts:
Why do we use the indefinite article a in the following phrase, rather than the definite article?

  If that method is called on a multi element Navigator then a SingleElementNavigatorOnlyMethodException is thrown.

I'm interested in the "a SingleElementNavigatorOnlyMethodException is thrown" part.


texts: What is the correct word order and punctuation when using "however" + "initially"?

texts:
However, initially it was just a way of spending my free time.

Is this sentence correct? Or maybe I should say:

  Initially, however, it was just a way of spending my free time?

or

  However, initially it was just a way of spending my free time.


texts:
What is difference between "travel" (transitive verb) and "travel to" (intransitive verb) when I use travel as a verb?

To mean I will go on a trip during my hollidays, what should I use?

  I will travel Austrailia.

  I will travel to Austrailia.

  I will travel Sydney.

  I will travel to Syney.


texts: What is the meaning of "I saw myself as unbreakable, as tender as stone"?

texts:
The words "unbreakable" and "tender" are opposite? Aren't they? But they were used together to discribe character of the writer? Or may be I misunderstood it. So,

  Could you please tell me what the meaning of "I saw myself as unbreakable, as tender as stone" is?

The text is here:

  he twisted my wrist further; my body was
  coiled tightly, my face scraping the floor. I’d done all I could do to relieve
  the pressure in my wrist. If he kept twisting, it would break.
  “Apologize,” he said.
  There was a long moment in which fire burned up my arm and into my
  brain. “I’m sorry,” I said.
  He dropped my wrist and I fell to the floor. I could hear his steps moving
  down the hall. I stood and quietly locked the bathroom door, then I stared
  into the mirror at the girl clutching her wrist. Her eyes were glassy and
  drops slid down her cheeks. I hated her for her weakness, for having a
  heart to break. That he could hurt her, that anyone could hurt her like that,
  was inexcusable.
  I’m only crying from the pain, I told myself. From the pain in my wrist.
  Not from anything else.
  This moment would define my memory of that night, and of the many
  nights like it, for a decade. In it I saw myself as unbreakable, as tender as
  stone. At first I merely believed this, until one day it became the truth.
  Then I was able to tell myself, without lying, that it didn’t affect me, that he
  didn’t affect me, because nothing affected me. I didn’t understand how
  morbidly right I was. How I had hollowed myself out. For all my obsessing
  over the consequences of that night, I had misunderstood the vital truth:
  that its not affecting me, that was its effect.

Educated by Tara Westover


texts: A term to describe how the media represents the people, things and events of our world

texts:
I try to find the precise English term used in social science (medial studies) which describes how the media represents the people, things and events of our world. Is "the medial picture" the appropriate term?

Just for example: In my article I would like to provide the media picture/view of immigrants presented in our commercial televisions.


texts:
I am wondering which sentence is the correct one here:
1- One cannot judge someone on the basis of hearsay and what others say.
2- One cannot judge someone based on hearsay and what others say.
I have reviewed the similar thread, but as you can see there, there are two absolutely different answers! One person has mentioned that they mean the same, and the other one has tried to distinguish them.
Please kindly let me know about it.
Thank you.


texts:
Suppose I want to assert that the car owned by Tom is blue. That's pretty simple; I could say:

  Tom's car is blue.

OK, but that is for a single owner. But suppose the car were owned by more than one person; by Tom, Dick, and Harry, say.

How would I use that same general form for multiple owners?

Would it be:

  Tom's, Dick's and Harry's car is blue.

or:

  Tom, Dick, and Harry's car is blue.

or what?

And then suppose I, not Harry, were the third owner.

What would then be the correct form for multiple owners, where one of them is the person making the statement?

Would it be:

  Tom's, Dick's, and my car is blue.

or:

  Tom, Dick, and my car is blue.

or perhaps even:

  Tom's, Dick, and my car is blue.

or what?

Also: what rule(s) of grammar govern this kind of thing?

thanks.


texts:
She is not beautiful.

There are two explanations:

It is a negative sentence. She/ is not / beautiful.
"not" is an adverb which modifies "is";

It is an affirmative sentence. She/ is /not beautiful.
"not" is an adverb which modifies "beautiful";

I want to know more about the negative scope in the sentence and how to judge its negative sentence.


texts: "the scars were thrown into relief by the candlelight" meaning

texts:
The Kneeling man almost fell over in his haste to obey. His face was pockmarked; the scars were thrown into relief by the candlelight. He remained a little stooped when standing, as though halfway through a bow, and he darted terrified looks up at Harry's face.

  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I don't quite understand what it means by "the scars were thrown into relief by the candlelight". Any thoughts?


texts:
I consulted https://english.stackexchange.com/a/7823/50720, but when's the present subjective (call this PS) used after 'until'? Only in the past? Am I right in guessing that do here is conjugated in the PS?

  1. Till death do us part. => Until death do + part us => Until death do (instead of does) part us.


texts: Is this a double copula? And is the grammer correct? Sentence structure: What is ..., is that ...

texts:
The sentence I'm struggling with is:
'What is elegant about this transpose operation, is that we can take transposes of entire blocks.'

I found something about a double copula at wiki double copula, but I'm not sure if it applies here.

Is my sentence correct?


texts:
Which of the following is correct?

  It has been changed already
  It already has been changed
  It has been already changed


texts:
Which one is correct?

  I need a friend who will give importance to me.
  I need a friend who will importance me.

I think the former is correct but the website “sentencechecker.com” says it's the other way around (it says that sentence 2 has no errors).

Can someone explain which one is correct?

The author misses a friend who used to understand her in every way possible and cared for her. But now she's far away. So the author is looking to befriend a person who would value her the way her best friend used to.


texts:
At the end of bohereen was a green gate; not green with paint, it had
  ever been painted, but from age; and it sagged from its hinges and
  rested the length of its lower bar on the floor of bohereen. This was a hunt that very seldom used gates, for they took too long to open.

This is from "The Story of Mona Sheehy" by Lord Dunsany.

I don't understand the meaning of the sentence. below.
I'd like to know how the gate sagged.
I am glad if somebody would kindly teach me.


texts:
I was wondering how should I imply naturally that "a woman is full of needs" in English?
Is it natural by itself or it sounds vague to you?
I would appreciate it if you let me know that it is natural in my made-up context:

  Son) Dad, if you don't mind, I wanna marry my girlfriend Tania!
  Dad) Whatever you say son, but I think still it's a bit early for you!
  Son) How come dad? Why do you think like that?
  Dad) Listen Billy; I know that you love her! But a woman is full of needs. First, you should be able to fulfill her needs and meet her demands. Here is the rub! I think you're not still ready to bear the burden of a family on your own!


texts: Another way to say the same thing as "They have opposing viewpoints."

texts:
Which sentence sounds correct to you:

They have opposing point of views.
They have opposing points of view.
They have opposing points of views.


texts: Infinitive and Gerund Difference in usage

texts:
1). She refused to pay the penalty.

2). She refused paying the penalty

What is the difference in meaning between these two sentences??


texts:
There is no "on the other hand" here. So what does it mean when used alone?

"On one hand, Mr. Draghi seemed to be stating the obvious. But among traders and investors, the statement crystallized expectations that the end of quantitative easing was near."

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/20/business/ecb-draghi-rates-quantitative-easing.html?ref=business


texts: Which tense is: "it is intolerable to think this storm leading up to some conference"

texts:
It is intolerable to think of this storm of universal distress leading
up to nothing but some "conference" of diplomatists out of touch with the world, with secret sessions, ambiguous "understandings".

- The new world order by H.G. Wells
What tense is in the "leading up to" part?
Is it future tense? Does it means: it is hard this think that the storm will lead to conference?
Or is it in some continuous tense, like: It is hard to think that the storm is leading us to conference?
And what does the word "with" belong to in "with secret sessions". The diplomats with secret sessions?
Or conferences with secret sessions? If so then does the "ambiguous understandings" belong to secret sessions too?


texts: I keep on hearing phrases such as doctors per capita and deaths per head of population which make no sense to me, as I understand both capita and head (which derives from the Latin caput) to be singular. Am I alone in my doubts?


texts: exact meaning of a phrase with sequence of tenses

texts:
He and his father were going to the Grand Canyon, then would spend a week rafting down the Colorado River, and finally go on to Disneyland.

This is a fragment from a book. The narrator speaks in the past tense about future. The trip mentioned in the fragment was planned in advance. So I understand why author used "were going". But it is followed by "would spend".

Does that mean the narrator is uncertain about whether the actions "a week rafting down the Colorado River" and "go on to Disneyland" will happen? And if not why did he use the present conditional?


texts: What do you call someone who's job is to guard or watch vehicles?

texts: What do you call someone whose job is to guard or watch government-owned vehicles? Or any vehicle.


texts:
I'm reading The Fermented Man by Derek Dillinger. The author talks about his reaction towards sugary sweets after one year of eating very simply. It turns out the average amount of sugar most Americans put in their coffee tastes awfully sweet to him. Then he says:

  I rediscovered the crash you feel from a sugar rush, an hour or two
  afterward, when you get nothing more substantial in your stomach.
  Coffee and a doughnut do not a good morning make, come eleven a.m. or
  so.

I’m very confused about the time references here, especially “come eleven a.m. or so”. What comes eleven a.m. or so? This part seems so fragmental and lacks its subject that I don’t know how to read it.

Is he saying something like… he had his breakfast (coffee and a doughnut) around nine a.m. and had sugar crash an hour or two afterward, which is around eleven a.m. ?


texts:
The definition states:

  The act of growing inward or into.

So "vegetable ingrowth" can mean vegetables or part of a vegetable that grew into a hole? What are the other meaning that "growing inward" can mean, can it also mean inward of a deliminated area?

  In the lime stone in the upper portion of the section there was
  originally an elaborate model of a Lead Mine, now obliterated with
  white wash; and at the present time the beds and bands of coal are
  disintegrated and destroyed by the ingrowth of vegetables.

  Source: How the ‘Seven Deadly Agents of Destruction’
  can help preserve the
  Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

I am not sure what's meant by model of a lead mine, but they probably mean a real lead mine and that the ingrowth of vegetables grew into the cave and disintegrated and destroyed the beds and bands of coal.


texts:
Passage:

  Suddenly he was standing on short springy turf, on a summer evening when the
  slanting rays of the sun gilded the ground. The landscape that he was looking at
  recurred so often in his dreams that he was never fully certain whether or not he had seen it in the real world. In his waking thoughts he called it the Golden Country

(George Orwell 1984)

Question:

  What does the phrase 'waking thoughts' mean?

Link to the book (page #21)


texts: A particular company "run by the same family"

texts:
When an author says that a particular company is "run by the same family", what does that mean?

How far can the meaning of the phrase "same family" cover? In other words, who can be considered a member of the "same family" in the context of running a particular business?

Do members have to bear the same last name? I don't think so. For example, in some cultures women change titles.

What about cousins from aunts who don't bear the same last name, are they considered a family (the same family)?

This question is important to me: If the business is run by a son-in-law, can we say the company is still run by the "same family"? This son-in-law may or may not own any shares in the company; he is only the president of the company.

I'm asking the questions above to show you the factors I have been thinking about when answering this question.

The second key question is: when we say that a business is run by the same family, is the meaning about ownership or both, ownership and holding the office (I mean being the president of the company)?

I think this question is still general English, but if not, you may want to move it to the appropriate SE group.

Edit:
I am asking because there is a (right, wrong or does not say) question about the history of Nintendo and is literally as follows:"Nintendo has always been run by the same family". Family run and family owned are well-known collocations. However, the question is not about collocations but rather about comprehension. To answer the question correctly, I need to know who is considered a member of the same family. The article is 175-200 words long.

Edit 2:
What's relevant here is these two names:

Nintendo was founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi in Kyoto in 1889.
The current Nintendo president is Satoru Iwata.

The answer:
I think I got it. If the business is run by the family, the least it could mean is that the members have the majority stake. Since they cannot all be presidents at the same time, then running the business means simply have the decision over the company by the majority stake.
However, the article does not mention anything about the stakes, so the answer is "does not say". This is my analysis.


texts:
To detect the boundaries of the segments, we may use [some] text and visual signals as we scan the page top-down or bottom-up.

By "we" I mean "we as human"

Do I need that "some"? Because I feel, using "some" I mean a number of them are used in detecting the segment boundaries. However, if I don't use it, I may imply a generic term for text and visual signals. Right? Which is more usual? I feel English tend to use generic nouns in such cases.


texts: less communal "annexes" of the apartment (Salinger's Zooey)

texts:
A quote from J.Salinger's Zooey:

  A  cordon  of  waist-high  bookcases  lined  three  walls,  their
  shelves  cram-jammed  and  literally  sagging  with  books—children's
  books,  textbooks,  secondhand  books,  Book  Club  books,  plus  an
  even  more  heterogeneous  overflow  from  less  communal "annexes" of
  the apartment. ("Dracula" now stood next to "Elementary Pali,"  "The
  Boy Allies at the Somme" stood next to "Bolts  of Melody," "The Scarab
  Murder  Case" and "The Idiot" were together, "Nancy Drew and the
  Hidden Staircase" lay on top  of "Fear and Trembling.")

What could he refer to as "less communal annexes of the apartment"?


texts:
She is a well-developed, tall, young woman.
She is a tall, young, well-developed woman.

In the sentences, which order of adjectives is correct? I'd like to know the rule for placing various adjectives.


texts: What does this headline mean? - "Fiji turns the page"

texts:
Fiji turns the page (source: The Hindu online newspaper)

Does this mean that Fiji is progressing?  Turning the page means moving forward, no? I am trying to do speed reading and want to guess the headlines. Is my understanding right here?

Can I say that it is all about Fiji progress?


texts:
What is synonym of education in this sentence?

  Education is the single most important factor in the development of a country.

(The sentence is part of an IEST where I have to argue about the meaning and importance of education and I want to use different expressions.)

The word I want is the methodologies and facilities used to deliver knowledge to people. Usually this knowledge delivery is mainly aimed to schoolchildren and university students. I start to think that there is no synonym or even short phrase to describe education.

Someone suggest schooling as a synonym, but it applies to education at school, and we need to include the whole system including universities and further education.


texts:
I'm watching an episode of CNN Student News about tornadoes and taking notes of new words and collocations. A meteorologist just said:

  "Some of the tornadoes can pack winds of 300 miles per hour"

Although it can be understood generally, I'm not sure what pack winds exactly means in dictionary. I found wind pack which is a compound noun and doesn't match the video. There is no snow. I can roughly say it means create but it's not supported in dictionaries.

Thanks


texts: Meanig of "her hair spiked and in shock"

texts:
A man was sitting with his back to her, just inside the row of plastic
potplants which fenced off the cafeteria. She had to narrow herself and slide
sideways to get past his inconveniently placed chair. Which of her senses
recognised him first? She was close enough to smell his unwashed hair, to
see the way his shirt collar stuck up stiffly round his ears, to hear the
cheerful slurp of his mouth at the cup. She was right behind him, poised on
her toes. Could it be? And if she spoke, would she be sorry
afterwards?
‘Excuse me,’ she said.
He turned his head. It was Dexter.
Oh, her awful modern clothes, her hair spiked and in shock. He saw the
fan of lines at the outer corner of her eye and his heart flipped like a fish.
He pushed back his chair and stood up in a clumsy rush.

Does it mean "she had spiky hair and was shocked"?
Source: The children's bach by Helen Garner


texts: love open gyms..does it potentially mean to open gym?

texts:
Again I am sorry I am asking things about NPR's products. However, after confirming the transcription, I am afraid to say if someone could help me about this.

Around 1:20～

  ah I love ths sport of gymnastics. I actually just came from, my coach, Kelly
   hill's gym in Maryland, now just with my two daughters,  and we love open gym...

Is she ( Dominique Dawes ) saying she loves "to open" gym? or she love, literally speaking, open, which is, may be a gym outside where players excersize
outside...

Which one could be? correct?

Thank you.


texts: Example 5-1 shows about as basic of a program as you can get - what do we need "about"?

texts:
An excerpt from a book on programming.

  Example 5-1 shows about as basic of a program as you can get.

To me, sounds like a weird word choice. Without it, the sentence makes more sense to me.