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1500 questions
32
votes
5 answers
What is the distinction between "among" and "amongst"?
It seems amongst is quite often used as a synonym for among but it is supposed to sound more distinguished. Is there any difference in the meaning?
Seamus
- 2,787
32
votes
5 answers
What is the difference between "begin" and "start"?
The children are eager to start the novel.
or
The children are eager to begin the novel.
aliya
- 1,541
32
votes
1 answer
Is there a term for a foreign word that looks like an English word but has a completely different meaning?
examples:
Gift (German) = poison
poisson (French) = fish
embarazada (Spanish) = pregnant
sauce (Spanish) = willow
triviale (Italian) = vulgar
parentes (Portuguese) = relatives
slim (Dutch) = smart
Centaurus
- 50,047
32
votes
11 answers
A word to make something bad sound good
Lets say we are talking about a book about teens that drink. In the book, the teens have fun and nothing bad ever happens. It's disguising it as a good thing, it's supporting it and it's making it sound good.
What word would you use to describe what…
Ashleah
- 323
32
votes
8 answers
What is the antonym of 'virtual machine'?
What is the antonym of 'virtual machine'?
A virtual machine (VM) is a piece of software pretending to be a piece of hardware. There can be virtual servers, virtual desktops...
I googled around a bit and did not find anything.
I am creating a list…
James Jenkins
- 863
32
votes
4 answers
What does “There she blows’” mean?
This question regards the sentence in the New Yorker’s (June 14) article “Lunch at Gitlitze” I quoted in my previous question, "“Battled-hardened,” Is this one of New Yorker's renowned idiosyncrasies?”
“When we walked into the restaurant, we…
Yoichi Oishi
- 70,211
32
votes
4 answers
Answering the question: Do you mind if...?
The following always puzzles me as a non-native speaker.
When somebody asks the question "Do you mind if...", there seem to be two possible responses.
"Sure" and "No, not at all", which both mean that the person doesn't mind.
"Actually, I do…
Peter Smit
- 786
32
votes
14 answers
Is there a verb for remaining silent?
Dutch has the verb zwijgen, which means remaining silent. Ik zwijg means I remain silent or I say nothing. It is also often used as an imperative, similar to shut up.
I have been discussing this with some native English speakers who have sound…
Andra
- 800
32
votes
6 answers
What does the idiom/phrase "but I digress" mean?
Okay, so I know when to "but I digress"; I use it when I'm talking about something and then stray off topic and talk about something else, so in order to get back to the topic, I say "but I digress".
But the dictionary says that digress, a verb,…
Alaa Ali
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32
votes
5 answers
During the "Cold War", did Americans/Westerners call it such?
I am old enough to remember the fall of the Soviet Union, but not old enough to have had any interest in world affairs in the times before.
Did Americans/Westerners refer to the "Cold War" by that name during the Cold War? Note: I am not asking…
Emily
- 781
- 10
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32
votes
4 answers
"None" as plural indefinite pronoun
In my grammar book (English Grammar, HarperCollins Publishers), I read that none is occasionally treated as plural, but it is usually regarded as singular. Can you give me an example of sentence where none is used as plural pronoun?
apaderno
- 59,185
32
votes
5 answers
"There Is"/"There are" depends on plurality of the first list element or not?
It seems I put a stick in the anthill at ELL.
Bounty assigned by outside party, two lengthy, reference-citing answers, one "-1" (awarded the bounty), one "-2", two others scored "0" and "-2" respectively, the answers suggesting one or the other is…
SF.
- 11,386
32
votes
3 answers
Why is there a distinction between "its" and "it's"?
While I know technically the English language has a distinction because when there's a conflict between the possessive form and a contraction, the contraction wins. That is:
Its is the possessive form of it—and this will presumably be followed by…
Billy ONeal
- 1,940
32
votes
8 answers
At Night or In the Night?
Why do we refer to morning, afternoon and evening as 'in the morning', 'in the afternoon', 'in the evening' but not 'in the night' instead we say 'at night.'
Jitendra
- 429
32
votes
4 answers
Can "sir" be used to address female officers?
The use of the term sir as a form of address for men, especially those of higher rank or status, is discussed in several prior questions including this one. They all indicate that the term is reserved to males, and that there are a number of related…
bib
- 72,782