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1500 questions
64
votes
1 answer
Is there an apostrophe in a master's degree?
The question asks it all really. When referring to a master's degree, do you use an apostrophe or not? That is, is it "a master's" or "a masters"?
dave
- 1,073
64
votes
4 answers
When is "L" doubled?
Some verbs can have double Ls in the gerund form; for example:
modeling; modelling
traveling; travelling
Which form should we use, or which form is used more in the literature?
Mehper C. Palavuzlar
- 35,654
64
votes
7 answers
Etymology of the use of "Drive" to refer to a digital storage medium
When did the word "drive" begin to be used to refer to a digital storage medium (e.g. disc drive, hard drive, USB drive), and why was this term selected?
Cross-link to related earlier question: "Hard disk" vs. "Hard drive" vs. "Hard disk drive"
Ranger
- 803
64
votes
15 answers
What non-religious expressions can I use instead of "Thank God"?
I'll give an example to help:
Someone suffered a car accident, but physically the person is OK. So I
say, "Thank God, they are fine."
Patrick
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64
votes
21 answers
What is the word for always YES (100%) or always NO (0%), never in-between
For example:
1) In statistics, this attribute will always either be 0% or 100%, never in-between.
2) The boundary is either safe or destroyed, because there is never a state where it is only 'slightly leaking'.
3) The rash either itches or does…
simon
- 753
64
votes
3 answers
Punctuation with units
I remember reading somewhere that if a unit is abbreviated as one character, there must not be a space between the number and the unit (e.g., 5m, 26K). If the unit is abbreviated as two or more Characters, there must be a space between the number…
Vaibhav Garg
- 4,052
64
votes
6 answers
How small does a land-mass have to be before you live "on" it, rather than "in" it?
I'm sure virtually everyone agrees that people live on the Isle of Wight, but in Ireland.
Apparently the usage depends somewhat on physical size, but that can't be the whole story. How exactly do we decide which form to use? And are there any really…
FumbleFingers
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64
votes
6 answers
What we've gelost — why doesn't English use the prefix "ge-"?
The Germanic languages that I'm familiar with all use a prefix similar to ge- on past participles:
German: Ich habe mir den Fuß gebrochen.
Dutch: Ik heb mijn voet gebroken.
But English doesn't do this at all:
English: I've broken my foot.
Where…
JSBձոգչ
- 54,843
64
votes
6 answers
Which is correct: "prefer X to Y" or "prefer X over Y"?
Many say that "prefer X to Y" has a more formal ring to it than "prefer X over Y". Are there any dialects where you wouldn't use "prefer X to Y" in colloquial speech at all? Conversely, are there any manuals of style that discourage using "prefer X…
RegDwigнt
- 97,231
64
votes
25 answers
Are there counterpart English expressions to Japanese proverb, "the nail that pops up is always hammered down?
I was once reminded by Robusto-san of a Japanese popular saying, ‘出る釘は打たれる - the nail that pops up is always hammered down,’ when I complained about sequential down-votes that I received.
I wondered at that time if this expression is unique to the…
Yoichi Oishi
- 70,211
63
votes
4 answers
What guides to style explain where footnoting superscripts go, inside or outside punctuation?
When using superscripts to indicate a footnote, do these fall inside or outside adjacent punctuation? If there is an answer, is that answer applicable worldwide, or just to specific regions or publishers?
Does it matter what the particular…
tchrist
- 134,759
63
votes
4 answers
"Worse comes to worst" or "worst comes to worst"
Which is correct: worse comes to worst or worst comes to worst? The former seems more logical but the latter is what appears in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
user2683
63
votes
2 answers
When to use override and overwrite
My intention is to use on the following sentence:
The administrator has the right to ____ the user time slot for the venue A inside the online system.
So, which word would be suitable: override or overwrite or are there more suitable words?
Jack
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63
votes
11 answers
63
votes
8 answers
Why does legal English continue to remain archaic?
Perhaps this is a question for Law.SE if one exists, but I am asking here as there are other nice questions on English history.
There is some historical development account presented in Wikipedia, but I find it grossly inadequate to answer the…
Bravo
- 16,067