This tag is for questions related to the English language as used in the United States of America.
6
votes
6answers
1k views
What do students call their teacher in class? [closed]
Well, years ago I was an English teacher in an English Teaching Institute. In the country I live, students call their teachers by saying "Mr. Teacher" or "Teacher" (literally translated) in schools. ...
0
votes
2answers
119 views
Use of a pronoun in a neither/nor construction [closed]
Neither Ms. Perez nor Ms. Yanaka believes that watching as much television as her son Sam does will lead to anything productive.
Is her correct? or should it be their?
3
votes
4answers
248 views
What's the correct way to write the general location of someone in the USA? [closed]
I'd like to write where someone is from, on a website with an international context. The objective is to balance style, brevity and correctness. I only need country-level resolution, so if someone is ...
2
votes
1answer
284 views
Mixing British English and American English [closed]
I'm a non-native English speaker and as such, I was taught one variety of English In school--in my case, American.
However, I've also been extensively in contact with British English, and now I ...
5
votes
3answers
145 views
Is the “Beltway Stop" a popular metaphor meaning a concurrence of events or things?
I'm interested in the phrase, “Beltway Stop in the Oscar Race” which is the title of an article appearing in December 21 New York Times.
It comments on the concurrence of movies focused on the ...
5
votes
2answers
554 views
“Would you mind not to do something?”
I have had this question for a long time and I couldn't find any answers for it. I have often heard this sentence from an American interlocutor and also in some movies:
"Would you mind not to do ...
6
votes
2answers
216 views
Meaning of “Y-o-u-u Tom!”
In the opening chapter of Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom's aunt Polly calls out to him in a rather peculiar fashion:
She went to the open door and stood in it, and looked out among the ...
8
votes
2answers
309 views
What is the word for multiple letters that behave like a single sound?
I'm trying to find a list of something like this:
ck
ph
kn
ch
sk
etc. Basically, they would be pronounceable and are often used to make up words. I think there is a term for this. Like 'ph' can be ...
1
vote
1answer
71 views
Is “august public official” considered an idiom, and has august always been used to refer to public officials? [closed]
Reading this article they referred to Justice Scalia as an "august public official." The phrase is also used in the book "Parade's End" by Ford Madox Ford on page 423. I can't seem to find the ...
0
votes
0answers
27 views
How to use a comma with double quotes? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Punctuation of direct speech, edge cases
I have learned that it prefers to place a comma inside double quotes in American English. For example, I like "Khao Man Gai," ...
-3
votes
1answer
82 views
Can I use the verb “rise” transitively, as in “rise its fame”? [closed]
I wanted to express this concept:
"In Brazil a new football star has born. Will you be able to rise its fame to superstar?"
Is this correct? Or is there an alternative and better way to say ...
13
votes
2answers
368 views
Is there an American term for a group of elitist schools, similar to the abbreviation “Oxbridge”?
I saw the word, ‘Oxbridge’, a portmanteau of Oxford and Cambridge, in a comment to a question asking for a better word for ‘invigilator’:
Whereas the situation is reversed in the UK, and one in a ...
3
votes
2answers
231 views
Is there a word for people who love everything?
The closest I could get was xenophile. Also, optimistic would be a close second and I say that because I don't think that optimistic is a better description than xenophile because xenophile actually ...
1
vote
1answer
144 views
A single word for “blind” and “slow on the uptake” [closed]
We have a word tiomny in Russian which has the meanings blind, dim, and dumb. Is there a word (possibly slang) in American English which is as close in meaning to both blind and slow on the uptake?
6
votes
2answers
619 views
Wedding invitations in British English
I'm an American calligrapher living in France, designing a suite of wedding invitations for a Spanish bride living in London! Complicated enough? I can't really go to the bride with questions ...
3
votes
1answer
129 views
meaning of - rite - at the companies names
There is bunch of companies that use rite at theirs names, like Rite Aid or Shop Rite, I was thinking about it like
Right => Rite
They looks like similar to pronounce, and you could think Right Aid ...
10
votes
10answers
919 views
What is it called when you “refill” a debit card?
How it is called (in the US) when you go to the bank or an ATM to add cash to your VISA/MasterCard debit card? That is, when you add cash to the bank account which is tied to that card.
Is it ...
1
vote
5answers
3k views
How to say “I'm sorry” to express sympathy for misfortune without inviting “It's not your fault” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Does apologizing entail recognizing being at fault?
Often, in conversation, something like this will happen:
A: I didn't sleep well last night; My dog ran away; or A ...
1
vote
2answers
281 views
Using “you got it” in the sense of “you are welcome”
Normally I would assume the meaning of you got it were something like:
You do understand it right.
You’ve achieved your goal.
Or even
I’ll do it for you very shortly.
But from time ...
0
votes
2answers
258 views
Comma use in “I am passionate about X, whether it be …”
I have trouble telling when I’m overusing commas. My question is if the comma between undertake and whether is needed:
I am passionate about the quality of work I undertake, whether it be school ...
12
votes
1answer
217 views
Is “tidbits” Bowdlerized or original?
Our American English local paper insisted on changing a title from titbits to tidbits for a column on minor local events and stories.
I, a British English speaker, have always pronounced and spelled ...
0
votes
0answers
7k views
“Thank you, everyone” or “Thank you, everybody”? [closed]
It is Thanksgiving. My wife wants to write new Skype status and to say 'thank you' to people who help and support, and just to everyone who will read it. So, what is correct, and/or more commonly ...
0
votes
0answers
87 views
is there any online tool to improve words and improve sentence or formate mails [closed]
I checked on google I found some kind of formatter tools like i have this sentence how to improve it---
Hello manager name,
Please find my comments in Green color.
I am unsure where the calendar ...
0
votes
1answer
1k views
Hi! How is doing?
Is it possible to greet someone asking "How is doing?" When I was in US, many times I heard a phrase "Hi! How is doing?" or maybe it was a misunderstanding and the phrase was "How are you doing?"
6
votes
1answer
385 views
Is the [ʊ] sound pronounced with lip rounding?
This [ʊ] sound is the vowel sound for words like hook, pull, and good. When I began to learn English a bit more seriously two decades ago, I used a book that taught me to pronounce it shorter and ...
2
votes
2answers
170 views
Pronunciation of Bank, Tank, etc.: Bay-nk, Ray-nk or Baen-k or Raen-k?
What is the standard US pronunciation for words such as the following:
Bank
Rank
At least in my dialect of US English (Inland Northern), the following seem like close transcriptions:
Bank: ...
2
votes
1answer
394 views
Thanks for sharing your great experience! [closed]
I want to thank a person for what he taught me. How can I say him this?
Thank you for sharing experience
Is this sentence correct? Does not it contains lexical errors?
0
votes
1answer
203 views
86 it ! using 86 as a verb [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What does the term “86’d” relate to?
I found that you can say "86 something" as a verb when we want to "cancel" something...
Is it used for everything??
For example, ...
4
votes
1answer
100 views
What does “bite” and “quarter-backing” mean in this context?
It's from the first few lines of the foreword to Karl Llewellyn's "The Bramble Bush":
These lectures grew out of an attempt in 1929 and 1930 to introduce
the students at Columbia Law School to ...
1
vote
1answer
93 views
I should think you'd have
-When you going back to kindergarten, Otis?" some one had asked.
-"Me? Day Bernice gets her hair bobbed."
-"Then your education's over," said Marjorie quickly. "That's only a bluff of ...
3
votes
3answers
172 views
He considers that X is Y. vs He thinks that X is Y
The following verb in sentence 1 strikes me as strange when it has the same meaning as in sentences 2 and 3 below.
He considers that blue cheese is delicious.
He thinks that blue cheese is ...
1
vote
2answers
388 views
Is there a difference between British English phrases and American phrases? [closed]
My goal is to learn British English because I'm going to study there. I've found a good book about English phrases. However, the book is originally from the US.
Is there a difference between ...
1
vote
4answers
361 views
Synonyms for “curate” in US English
What synonyms are there for "curate", as in (to quote here) to
select, organize, and present (suitable content, typically for online or computational use), using professional or expert knowledge
...
2
votes
1answer
136 views
What does custom mean when it comes to parties? [closed]
I've seen different sets of people from around the country mention a "custom party" on written Halloween invitations. Does it simply mean costume (and just intentionally mis-spelled)? Or some specific ...
0
votes
0answers
18 views
punctuation when addressing a person's name [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is it proper to omit periods after honorifics (Mr, Mrs, Dr)?
Should I use a full stop after Mr. or Mrs. as in Mr. Smith or Mrs. Smith or should I write Mr Smith and Mrs ...
6
votes
1answer
473 views
Do “hull” and “full” rhyme?— rules for “short U” sounds before L
I grew up speaking a variety of American English that merges the "short U" sounds before L. The "short U" sounds are the vowels in the words STRUT and FOOT. For me, before an L sound, all words have ...
4
votes
1answer
101 views
What a pluperfect a##hole
From The Silence of the Lambs (1988):
"Marilyn Sutter saw it upstairs. Chilton was blowing off about "The Search for Billy
Rubin." Then he went to dinner with a television reporter. That's ...
25
votes
7answers
2k views
How are 'marry', 'merry', and 'Mary' pronounced differently?
The way I pronounce these words is the same. Similarly for other words like these: I pronounce ferry and fairy the same, carrot and caret. Yet, dictionaries show different pronunciations for these ...
11
votes
2answers
843 views
How and when did American spelling supersede British spelling in the US?
Considering that Webster published his first dictionary in 1806, is there a recognised tipping point (year, decade, etc.) that marked the move from traditional British spelling to Webster's American? ...
6
votes
4answers
555 views
Different Meanings of 'Jumper' (Transatlantic embarassment)
I'm originally from Wales, now living in the USA, and as the cold weather is approaching I'm determined, this year, to start using the word sweater to describe the item of clothing I'm wearing, as ...
1
vote
1answer
53 views
Alternative names for a place of trade [closed]
I am wondering what alternative names or nicknames there are for a place of trade. I know of market but I am hoping for others.
4
votes
2answers
183 views
Is “Songify” a well-received word as an English neology?
I came across the word “songify” for the first time in the article of October 23 NY Times titled ‘Yes We Chant’ with the sub-head, “The Gregory Brothers songify the debate, with Gregorian chanting.”
...
1
vote
1answer
271 views
What is the origin of “odds and ends”?
There's already a question (and answer) for "bits and bobs", which I believe is a Britishism, but what is the origin of "odds and ends"? "Odds" I have some reckoning for (as in, "odd items", meaning ...
1
vote
1answer
170 views
What does “Blast” mean? [closed]
I'm having trouble understanding this word's meaning. On Google Translate, it means explosion or something like that.
But when I see that word in a sentence, there's no relation, at least for me at ...
4
votes
1answer
143 views
How widely-accepted is “What do you got?” to Americans?
Watching A Stranger Among Us, I noticed that Melanie Griffith twice asked
"What do you got?"
I recognise this as an American construction which sounds strange to me — Brits invariably say either ...
3
votes
1answer
346 views
“Meet up” vs. “meet” vs. “hook up”
What's the difference between meet up, meet and hook up as a synonym of meet up?
The Free Dictionary has the following definitions:
to meet up: to see and talk to someone familiar or someone ...
-3
votes
1answer
634 views
what is the difference between “hook up with” and “have sex with”? [closed]
I would like to know the subtle difference between hook up and have sex. I'm asking because hook up seems have a subtly different meaning than have sex: in the situations I've heard this word it seems ...
1
vote
1answer
86 views
Is the phrase “by way of notice” an acceptable use of the idiom/expression “by way of”? [closed]
Oftentimes when I write emails to notifying co-workers of any planned absences I will say something along the lines of:
By way of advanced notice, I will be out of the office on Tuesday, April ...
7
votes
4answers
934 views
What's the equivalent phrase in the UK for “I plead the fifth”?
In the United States, a person under examination on the witness stand may "plead the fifth" to avoid self-incrimination. In other words, a person asserts his or her Fifth Amendment right.
Citizens of ...
2
votes
2answers
99 views
US English — “primary grains being produced” vs. “major cereals being produced”
I am correcting a Spanish-to-English translation that states,
The primary grains being produced in the world are maize, wheat, rice, barley, sorghum and oats.
I would prefer to use cereals ...
