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1500 questions
46
votes
2 answers
Is there a difference between Therefor and Therefore?
I'm a non-native English speaker, and my automatic spellchecker seems to accept both therefore and therefor. Is one orthography preferred ? Is that a British vs. American difference ? Or an old vs. more recent orthography ? Or something else ?
Frédéric Grosshans
- 1,213
46
votes
4 answers
"An other" vs "another"
I just edited this answer on unix.sx. The original sentence was
But it won't transform it to an other format.
I changed this to
But it won't transform it to another format.
The second form is standard, but is the first correct?
Faheem Mitha
- 767
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- 15
46
votes
6 answers
I and am
I sometimes find myself writing something like this:
XXX is a project I admire and am very interested in.
The "I and am " feels strange here. It somehow sounds more natural in the third person: "He admires and is very interested…
Eli Bendersky
- 1,111
46
votes
13 answers
Can a word be contracted twice (e.g. "I'ven't")?
I've seen a contraction of two words. I can't see why it wouldn't've been possible to have been contracted twice. Is it possible and how should it be punctuated?
Update: Ok, to sum up the answers so far
This appears in spoken British and…
MatthewMartin
- 2,504
46
votes
7 answers
Can I do anything else with aspersions other than cast them?
My wife is always accusing me of casting aspersions and I'd like to do something else with them. Please advise.
Dictionary-example-sentences all use it in tandem with casting:
Oxford Learners:
I don't think anyone is casting aspersions on…
ᴇʟᴇvᴀтᴇ
- 1,715
46
votes
13 answers
Difference between "try to do" and "try and do"
What is the difference between try to do and try and do?
To me (non-native speaker), asking someone try and do this seems a bit rude. It's like saying you can try all you want but this must be done: try and fail is not an option. However, asking…
serg
- 5,101
46
votes
14 answers
A word for a worldly wise person who pretends to be naïve?
What is a word for someone who is experienced and wise, but who deliberately acts naïve?
I don’t intend it for sarcastic use; I’m trying to describe someone succeeding in making people think that that person truly is naïve.
Is there a word for…
Sarawut Positwinyu
- 2,644
46
votes
8 answers
What is wrong in "Please don't pluck the flowers" and other phrases used in the Indian subcontinent?
In the Indian subcontinent, especially India, there are many English words or phrases which are not a part of dictionary or not used in other parts of the world.
The first one is "Please don't pluck the flowers". I might not be proper, but I don't…
Manish Sinha
- 562
46
votes
5 answers
Using "that" and "this" interchangeably
Learning and using English I'm always confused about what word to use for referring to things that have been described by me a few sentences earlier: "that" or "this".
Confusion comes from the fact that only the equivalent of "this" is always used…
rem
- 10,331
46
votes
3 answers
Difference between an acronym and abbreviation?
TLA is an acronym for "Three Letter Acronym". Is it also an abbreviation, since it abbreviates the original phrase?
Chris
- 12,388
46
votes
7 answers
46
votes
4 answers
Correct term for a person working two jobs secretly
I'm trying to establish what it would be called when a person works two or more jobs in secret. What is the word for what the person is doing?
EG: John's main employer found out that he is ______ for other companies on his off-time. He is now in…
Lois
- 461
46
votes
5 answers
Around how old is "a woman of a certain age"?
"A woman of a certain age" is a common saying.
It means more than "a woman of a given age", "a woman who could be any age" or "female, without respect to age". It's usage instead seems to suggest a much more specific period of life.
Around what age…
alan2here
- 768
46
votes
7 answers
Is using passive voice "bad form"?
Whenever I create a document in Microsoft Word, it complains about a lot of my sentences being in passive voice. But, when I read that sentence aloud, it sounds fine to me. I am not sure if it is just me and will a statement in passive voice sound…
rest_day
- 4,113
46
votes
9 answers
English equivalent of Polish saying "A yokel can leave a village, but village will never leave yokel"
Consider another nice Polish saying "Chłop ze wsi wyjdzie, ale wieś z chłopa nigdy" that literally means "A yokel can leave a village, but village will never leave yokel". Could you please help me find equivalent?
Explanation
This very ironic and…
Colonder
- 1,083