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1500 questions
35
votes
14 answers
Blanket term for things we often buy at grocery store that are not groceries, e.g., toilet paper, laundry detergent, window cleaner, saran wrap
I’m looking for a term to cover the kinds of things that we frequently buy at the grocery store but that are not actually groceries.
The term needs to include things like: toilet paper, kitchen napkins, band aids, detergents (laundry, dish),…
curious-proofreader
- 4,582
35
votes
8 answers
When talking to American clients, should I say "smoothie" or "milkshake"?
We have a client visit planned to our service center (in India) and I am in-charge of Food and Beverages for our client's entire itinerary. I am writing to my client's Travel coordinator(an American) seeking a clarification on beverages that are to…
BiscuitBoy
- 13,482
35
votes
6 answers
"Do's" and "don'ts" or "do's" and "don't's"?
I am making a list to my children telling them what are some of the things they should do and shouldn't. Under one side is "do", and the other is "don't".
Would I write "do's" and "don't's"?
Cause the two apostrophes look horrendous, and I'm not…
Thursagen
- 41,919
35
votes
4 answers
What rules make “Remember me, who am your friend” grammatical?
An acquaintance recalled this specific example from an English textbook, but it is jarring to my native ear. Is this an example of prescriptive grammarians gone wild?
Greg Bacon
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35
votes
9 answers
Why is “toast” uncountable?
This is ‘English’ toast
And this is some posh toast
Pain Quotidien offers rye, walnut and sourdough toast at £2.95 for two
slices, while Gail’s bakery chain, which opened its first café in 2005
and now has 15 branches and stocks Waitrose,…
Mari-Lou A
- 91,183
35
votes
8 answers
Can a statement be "hissed" without any sibilants?
Is using hissed as a replacement for said technically acceptable in dialogue without the presence of any sibilants?
"You fool!" she hissed.
I understand that hissed could be used to indicate a certain tone, but I wonder if there's any documented…
samuelesque
- 942
35
votes
3 answers
What does "P.U." (in reference to stinkiness) stand for?
"What does {holding nose} P.U. mean?" my son asked me tonight. I told him I didn't know, and he laughed and said "It means stinky, Mommy!" Very funny and well said, but it left me wondering.
A search of Wikipedia and Etymology Online came up…
Kit Z. Fox
- 27,819
35
votes
5 answers
When did "More tea vicar?" start to be used after farting? Where did it come from?
In England when someone farts they might say "More tea vicar?"
When did this start, and how did it come about? It feels unusual enough to have a definite creation - some comedian perhaps? Web searches for ["more tea vicar" origin] or ["more tea…
DanBeale
- 1,898
35
votes
10 answers
What does it mean to call someone a 'drink of water'?
What does it mean when you call someone a 'drink of water', like at the end of this clip from the Shawshank Redemption? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD07V7Lwacc
It's intended as an insult from the context, but what does it mean?
Ne Mo
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35
votes
14 answers
What is it called when something appears so obvious, no one expects it?
I honestly can not think of any examples that cannot be countered. Perhaps something like if a person brought a weapon out in the open to an airport - no one actually thinks it would be a weapon because that would be so ridiculous, no one would do…
35
votes
4 answers
I've said it once, I've said it twice, I've said it a thousand times
I had a student moaning because I insisted he say twice and not "two times". And he asked "But why?" to which I replied, "Because that's how you say it!"
However on reflection, his question was a valid one.
In Latin there doesn't appear to be any…
Mari-Lou A
- 91,183
35
votes
6 answers
Is it ever acceptable for a period to come after a quote at the end of a sentence?
Possible Duplicate:
Is it correct to use “punctuation outside of the quotations”, or “inside?”
I've heard that you should always place ending punctuation inside of quotes, no matter what.
Are there any cases where it is appropriate for a…
Daniel LeCheminant
- 2,251
35
votes
29 answers
Derogatory term for a corporate employee
I’m looking for a derogatory term for a person who works in a big, international business.
In Polish we have a few informal words for that, like korpoludek (“corpo little guy”) and korpoczłowiek (“corpo man”).
There are also offensive terms, like…
Chanandler Bong
- 505
35
votes
14 answers
Feminism being referred to as equality for all, as opposed to equality for women
In a recent debate with a colleague, a self-proclaimed feminist, she described feminists as seeking equality for all, and not simply just women. I thought that this was inherently wrong considering the root-word and the suffix dictate that the word…
dom176
- 514
35
votes
4 answers
How should URL be pronounced?
When pronouncing URL, I say (roughly) "you-are-ell." A colleague insists that (roughly) "earl" is more common. Is there a widely accepted pronunciation? Within the computer world or without?
Rusty Tuba
- 5,945