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1500 questions
79
votes
1 answer
Do you capitalize both parts of a hyphenated word in a title?
Do you capitalize both parts of a hyphenated word in a title?
"My Ex-Wife Hates Me"
or
"My Ex-wife Hates Me"
Bryan Downing
- 1,669
79
votes
24 answers
A fun, catchy way to say the opposite of a 'no-brainer'?
A no-brainer is "something that requires a minimum of thought" (Merriam-Webster). I could use some help with a catchy way of saying the opposite.
Sample sentence:
"I have to make a decision and it is definitely not a no-brainer, in fact, it's a…
thomj1332
- 4,356
79
votes
3 answers
Donald Trump's run-on sentences
In every Trump speech, almost every sentence is a run-on sentence. Here is a quote from one of his speeches last year
Look, having nuclear—my uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, Dr. John Trump at MIT; good genes, very good…
quirky purple
- 885
79
votes
6 answers
Why "the powers that be"?
In the phrase "the powers that be," as in the sentence:
It would never have occurred to the powers that be to run and supervise the National Lottery from anywhere but London.
(Oxford Dictionaries)
Why do we use "be", the infinitive form of the…
AAM111
- 1,441
78
votes
12 answers
What is the difference between "it's up to you" and "it's down to you"?
I see both "It's up to you" and "It's down to you" in conversations.
So what's the difference?
hamed
- 873
78
votes
5 answers
What is "ass door"?
I'm not English speaking, I understand the joke but say please what is "ass door"? Is it the same as butt door? Didn't find it in the dictionary.
Grgor
- 787
78
votes
14 answers
Word for fake religious people
Is there any word for calling people who pretend to be religious in the religious group they’re in? I mean, the people who lost their belief but can’t say they’re not religious anymore because people will turn against them?
I’ve met several people…
user211560
78
votes
9 answers
How is y’all’dn’t’ve pronounced
According to Wikipedia, y’all’dn’t’ve is a valid contraction.
I am having difficulty pronouncing the L-D-N-T-V consonant cluster, especially since there is no vowel at the end (silent E). Y’all’dn’t’ve any advice or audio samples would you?
Adám
- 926
78
votes
11 answers
Why is "distro", rather than "distri", short for "distribution" in Linux world?
Why is distro, rather than distri, short for distribution in Linux world?
xmllmx
- 2,698
77
votes
5 answers
How is SQL pronounced?
When I was learning SQL, I remember reading that it should be pronounced just like the word sequel; however, I worked with a bunch of techs who seemed to prefer S-Q-L. Is there a proper convention for this?
Jeff
- 1,148
77
votes
3 answers
What is the origin of "daemon" with regards to computing?
Daemon has an interesting usage in computing. From my local dictionary:
a background process that handles requests for services such as print spooling and file transfers, and is dormant when not required
Does anyone know where this came from? I…
MrHen
- 35,747
- 32
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- 264
77
votes
18 answers
A formal way to say "I don't want to sound too cocky..."
Allow me to clear the situation. I was talking with my professor about a piece of software that I had developed. While we were discussing, I wanted to say something like
I don't want to sound too cocky, but my code is way much more efficient
than…
Pouya
- 858
77
votes
17 answers
Is there a word for "air can pass through it"?
If light can pass through an object, or if you can see through it, it is transparent.
Is there a similar word for "air can pass through", or you can breathe through an object? This adjective would be used to describe a screen door, or certain types…
IQAndreas
- 3,600
77
votes
4 answers
Which is correct: "one or more is" or "one or more are"?
Should the phrase be "one or more is...", or "one or more are..."?
Daniel
- 1,019
76
votes
14 answers
Is it conceivable that President Obama might use the word "queue"?
President Obama in a press conference, in London today, has said that if Britain votes to leave the European Union and makes separate application to the United States for a trade deal, she will be at the "back of the queue", behind the EU.
Some…
WS2
- 64,657