Questions concerning the devising or choosing of names for things.
4
votes
7answers
238 views
What is “plaice” in the US? Would love a good fish and chips
When we went to the market, at the fisherman's counter we asked for plaice with which we would make fish and chips. Now here in the States when we ask for plaice, they don't understand what we mean. ...
3
votes
2answers
125 views
Is there a name for someone that accepts a risk and then complains when it occurs?
Example:
Frank is going to buy a house
The real estate developer, Jim, warns him, there's a 30% chance your house will drop a lot in value in the next year.
Frank buys the house.
The value of his ...
0
votes
1answer
80 views
Opposite of “qualifier”
What is the appropriate term for a modifying clause that generalizes, rather than limits, the preceding statement? For example: "It is crucial to bring a canteen on the trip, even if the sky is ...
2
votes
2answers
660 views
When did “World War 2” start being called “World War 2”?
When did World War 2 start being called a "world war" and when did it start being called World War 2? Thurber's The Last Flower (copyright 1939) makes reference to World War 12 so I'm curious as to ...
3
votes
4answers
158 views
What should you call a preface for a small document?
I think the word preface refers to books. I have a small document that is in the form of a hierarchical outline. Before my document, I want to put a small paragraph with instructions how to consume ...
1
vote
1answer
78 views
Megafauna is to animals as what is to insects?
I'm aware of several species of "giant" insects, such as the Meganeura (giant dragonfly) and the Arthropleura (giant centipede) — but I was wondering if anyone knew of a loose term similar to ...
3
votes
6answers
2k views
Evoking more power than “Titan” [closed]
EVE Online is a multiplayer game that takes place across a fictional galaxy called New Eden. Players pilot spaceships and fight for territory in large collaborative corporations.
Here is a simplified ...
2
votes
1answer
384 views
When should I capitalise eucalyptus or other genuses?
I'm reasonably familiar with the capitalisation and italicisation rules that govern scientific names, but am a bit confused about capitalising, or not, the name of a genus, e.g. Eucalyptus when used ...
-2
votes
3answers
126 views
Tourism nomenclature help [closed]
I'm working in a software company working on an information system for travel agencies. Because we've grown big, we've decided to rename our internal project nomenclatore from Czech to English.
I ...
2
votes
2answers
144 views
A word to mention a set of products sold together with a bundle price?
Is there a word to refer to a set of products sold together, with a specific price?
For example:
Product A is sold 10 dollars
Product B is sold 10 dollars
Product A and B are sold together for 18 ...
1
vote
1answer
78 views
What does one call terms like “astroturfing”?
Astroturfing is a word used to describe a fake or counterfeit grassroots campaign. The clever term is derived from the notion that one kind of fake grass is astroturf.
Another more niche example is ...
1
vote
2answers
177 views
“Institution”, “body” or “organ”
I'm a non-native speaker active in a labor union that does not use English internally. The union has a representative assembly (made up of representatives of branches), whose existence is mandated by ...
19
votes
13answers
1k views
What do you call the time period between notification of an event and the event?
I'm in the situation where I have an event, and I want to notify some people 15 minutes before that event happens (but it could be 30 minutes, or 1 day, or any amount of time).
What do you call that ...
6
votes
9answers
3k views
What is another word for “boss” for a company with a flatter hierarchy?
In today's more modern companies (especially IT startups etc.) that have a flatter hierarchy, the word "boss" seems to be outdated and doesn't describe the job role of someone who takes care of a ...
7
votes
2answers
313 views
Why do they call it a “movement” in music? Is this a metaphor?
I can't understand this. In symphony you hear the word "movement" to refer to independent sections. But it seems that it's not really that relevant. Movement almost everywhere has something to do with ...
1
vote
3answers
783 views
Meaning and etymology of the “ite” and “ine/ene” endings of mineral names
I’ve noticed that a very large proportion of the names of mineral species and mineral groups end in -ite and (less commonly,) -ine or -ene.
Here are some examples off the top of my head:
-ite: ...
5
votes
3answers
605 views
What is the opposite of the perfect aspect?
Most tenses exist in a perfect and non-perfect form, e.g. present vs. present perfect and past continuous vs. past perfect continuous. What is the group of tenses that are not perfect called?
11
votes
3answers
447 views
“Semitic” and “anti-Semitic”
Why does Semitic refer to several groups of people, including Babylonians, Assyrians, Arabs and Jews, whereas anti-Semitic only refers to Jews?
5
votes
9answers
12k views
What do I call a person who is participating in a survey?
I am writing about a survey I wrote to evaluate the usability of a program. When describing the methodology of the survey, I refer to the person conducting the survey as the investigator. What should ...
3
votes
2answers
191 views
“maple tree” or “maple”?
Is it correct to say maple tree, or would maple be both correct and enough to mean a tree (not just its fruit)?
1
vote
2answers
123 views
Is single usage of “personality” in “Multiple Personality” jargon or correct English?
Should not the "personality" have been pluralized in "Multiple Personality Disorder"?
Is the single usage of "personality" with prepending "multiple" a professional jargon or it is the correct ...
2
votes
5answers
236 views
Is there one word that clearly describes the difference in kind for these four types?
I am stuck on a word choice problem. I have a large amount of response related data, which were previously stored such that each datum lay within one of the following realms:
law enforcement
...
3
votes
4answers
2k views
What word best describes a small store that sells only glasses (spectacles)?
What word would or combination of words would best describe a small store, in which only glasses (spectacles) are sold?
Here are some of my guesses, but I think they are all wrong:
Eye ware
Glass ...
3
votes
5answers
4k views
What is a word called that has more than one syllable?
You can say e.g.:
The word "on" is a monosyllable.
but it seems that the word "multisyllable" has been outdated since 1913.
What is the correct term for a word that has two or more syllables, ...
13
votes
6answers
551 views
Why did the word “Internet” change from a noncount to count noun?
I remember a time back in 1993 - 1994 for a couple months at our university the Internet was used as a noncount noun, so we would say:
Do you have Internet at your university?
In fact, the ...
