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1500 questions
94
votes
8 answers

Is -1 followed by a singular or plural noun?

Do we say "-1 thing" or "-1 things"? I am interested in both two things minus one thing(s) and minus/negative one thing(s)
moinudin
  • 951
94
votes
7 answers

Is there a gender neutral equivalent of “manspreading”?

Who knew that the term manspreading is considered deeply sexist? I didn't A nameless user proposed to delete the term from an answer of mine. His explanation was “remove misandry”. I had written [someone] who spreads their legs and invades your…
Mari-Lou A
  • 91,183
94
votes
16 answers

"Soccer mom": why soccer?

...why not football mom, baseball mom, or basketball mom? Soccer mom, as far as I can tell, is an American term made popular during the 1996 presidential elections, used to describe a key demographic - mothers who, by spending lots of time shuttling…
congusbongus
  • 3,619
94
votes
124 answers

What words are commonly mispronounced by literate people who read them before they heard them?

Quite a few words are mispronounced by under-educated people, or people learning English as a second language. Some words are often mispronounced by quite educated people who read, and began reading high-level literature before they heard the…
davebug
  • 261
94
votes
3 answers

"Any" followed by singular or plural countable nouns?

This question has troubled me for ages despite my several attempts of looking it up in dictionaries or usage books. Do we say, "Do you have any ideas" or "Do you have any idea"? I do see an example where "any" means "it doesn't matter…
Andy Cheng
  • 1,371
94
votes
7 answers

Is it acceptable to nest parentheses?

Is it acceptable to nest parentheses (for example, if I (meaning myself) write like this)?
Brad Cupit
  • 1,043
93
votes
29 answers

Is there an American English equivalent of the British idiom "carrying coals to Newcastle"?

I'm an American living in the Netherlands who is learning Dutch. There's an idiom in Dutch that describes performing a needless/futile activity, "water naar de zee dragen," which literally translates to "carrying water to the sea." My Dutch…
FAE
  • 902
93
votes
14 answers

Is there really no English equivalent to German's “Fachidiot”?

There was the following paragraph in the article that came under the title, “GOP and the rise of Anti-knowledge” written by Mike Lofgren in Consortiumnews.com (October 29, 2015): “English unfortunately doesn’t have a precise word for the German …
Yoichi Oishi
  • 70,211
93
votes
5 answers

Substitute X for Y

An awful lot of people seem to use the phrase "substitute X for Y" to mean "replace X with Y", while I've always used and understood it as "replace Y with X". This makes sense to me, given that a substitute is the replacement, not the thing which…
Cascabel
  • 1,173
93
votes
10 answers

Equivalent of "both" when referring to three or more items?

What would be the correct word to use when referring to three or more items, in the same manner as the word both? For example, using two words, with the word both: "There are several recommendations I have to further improve the sites — both to…
Wipqozn
  • 1,194
93
votes
5 answers

What does 'TL;DR' mean and how is it used?

I do my best, at my advanced age, to come to grips with the apparent acceptability of such widely used words/expressions/abbreviations as lol/LOL, IMHO, AFAIK, etc. However, TLDR/tl;dr defeats me. According to several dictionaries (e.g.,…
tunny
  • 4,808
92
votes
12 answers

Is "I'd've" proper use of the English language?

While reading a book, I came across the word I'd've, as in: I'd've argued against it. While it was obvious what it meant, it left me puzzled. Is I'd've a proper word?
Kobi
  • 1,613
92
votes
1 answer

Is there a name for this type of sentence structure: "She looks as though she's been poured into her clothes, and forgot to say 'when'"?

Comedians seem to use phrases that employ this type of sentence structure - is there a name for it? Examples of Groucho Marx's one liners seem to fit this pattern — and if memory serves, Emo Philips. One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas,…
user5531
91
votes
5 answers

Why is the word "pants" plural?

We wear a shirt, a jacket but a pair of pants. Why is pants plural?
glenstorey
  • 1,029
91
votes
5 answers

"Consist in" vs. "consist of"

I would like to clarify this once and for all: What is the correct use of "consist in" vs. "consist of"? "Meditation consists in/of attentive watchfulness." "The body consists in/of cells." More examples of correct and incorrect uses would be…
Shivadas
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