Nouns are words that refer to an entity, quality, state, action, or concept.
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1answer
603 views
When to nominalize?
When is it correct to use nominalizations? (Isn't nominalization a nominalization?) It seems the main problem is that they tend to mislead the reader. It is appealing to think that "being" and ...
2
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4answers
1k views
Why is god, a common noun, capitalized? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When should the word “God” be capitalized?
I thought god is a common noun, but many people capitalize it when it is not the first letter of a sentence or a ...
11
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3answers
4k views
Difference between “sorcerer” and “wizard”
What is the difference between sorcerer and wizard?
I know that the nomenclature is unclear. However, the common usage seems to indicate:
a wizard is born an ordinary mortal, learns magic and ...
16
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6answers
5k views
Difference between “invoice” and “bill”?
I am talking about something you should pay. "Invoice" here doesn't mean the proof of payment.
Sometimes I am told to pay my "bill", and sometimes they may refer to the similar paper (physical or ...
2
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3answers
785 views
How to use “in” or “on” with nouns?
I'm always confused by this and can't find it anywhere. Here's an example of what I mean: (literature here in context of academic literature, such as journals, proceedings, etc.)
In the literature ...
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2answers
227 views
What's the difference between 'collision' and 'conflict'?
What's the difference between 'collision' and 'conflict'? In SQL language, should I say 'PK collision' or 'PK conflict'?
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2answers
7k views
How do you show possession with the word “year” (“year's” vs.“years”)?
So, I develop for a company that does workplace-surveys. And one of our report-formats has just been translated into English. And with it a description on how to read the reports. This description ...
14
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7answers
1k views
What is a word for a person who has been initiated into secret knowledge (apprentice, ___, master)?
I'm looking for a noun that can fit well in a 3-level scale: apprentice, ____, master.
The scale describes the progress of a person from a layman/uninitiated (apprentice), through being accomplished ...
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2answers
421 views
To have behavior?
Is the following use of have and behavior correct?
All programs have the expected behavior.
14
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2answers
7k views
“Content” or “Contents”?
Content or contents — when do I use which form?
I realize that the one is the plural form of the other, but they seem to be used interchangeably.
1
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1answer
97 views
Stone in the middle?
When I read a Children's Illustrated Dictionary, I found an example sentence as this,
Apricot
An apricot is a soft round fruit. It has a big stone in the middle.
How to replace the stone with ...
4
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4answers
527 views
What to do if a sentence ends with “Yahoo!”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How to handle a name that includes an exclamation point (or other punctuation)?
Just like the title of this question.
I was reading an article about CAPTCHAs on ...
2
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2answers
4k views
What are the differences between “server”, “workstation”, and “desktop”?
From a book on Linux, I found the following text:
A typical Linux system will run six virtual consoles and one graphical console
Server systems often have only virtual consoles
...
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5answers
2k views
What's the difference between “mirror” and “looking glass”? [closed]
I have read that a looking glass is a surface with sufficient reflection to form an image of an object... doesn't that sound like a mirror?
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2answers
1k views
What is the difference between “safe” and “vault”?
What is the difference between safe and vault, where both the words refer to a place where to put things you want to keep safe?
As additional question, why does vault seem more frequently used in ...
6
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8answers
4k views
What do you call somebody who asks a question and somebody who answers a question?
What do you call somebody who asks a question and somebody who answers a question?
I have exhausted the thesaurus with no real luck... any ideas?
EDIT: It is in reference to this - or any other ...
14
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2answers
518 views
Why don't we use the indefinite article with 'software'?
Generally, one doesn't use the indefinite article with a noun because it's plural, but sometimes you get nouns where, for some reason, the indefinite article isn't used even though the noun is ...
7
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3answers
3k views
“Status” vs. “state”
Can anyone explain what the difference between status and state is when I talk about the condition or situation of an object?
Here's what I got from Longman English Dictionary.
status: a ...
9
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3answers
4k views
What would be a a linguistic term for those nouns ending with -ing?
What would be a a linguistic term for those nouns ending with -ing?
Examples: building, scaffolding, ending.
What are some other examples, and what do they all share in common semantically?
3
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4answers
251 views
What is the name of the item in this image?
Sorry, I don't how is this element called in english. In spanish it is said to be informally a "zapatilla", but in english?
or
9
votes
3answers
528 views
How to deal with irregular plural(s)?
What happens if you have a written phrase like
We were looking at the same poster(s).
but with a noun that has an irregular plural? E.g. with baby/babies, would this be the correct form?
We ...
7
votes
2answers
3k views
Is there a word that means “the wife of one's brother”?
In some of the non-Latin-based languages that I know there is a special word for your brother's wife. Is there such a word in English?
Usage would be something like:
She is my __ (My brother's ...
4
votes
2answers
55 views
Owner vs. operator of a machine
The owner of a machine may be a company, while the person operating a machine (push buttons, feed material, etc) may be an employee of said company.
But is the company also the operator of the ...
9
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8answers
785 views
How to name a 15-minute period?
In Dutch, we have the word "kwartier" to denote a 15-minute period. It is derived from the word "kwart", which means quarter. It is very common to use this word in both spoken and written language.
...
3
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3answers
809 views
What's the difference between latch and lock?
I know what a lock is. But what is a latch? It seems that it is similar to a lock. What's the difference?
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2answers
2k views
“Quote” vs “estimate” (business context)
I'm interested in the semantic implications of using the words quote and estimate in a business scenario.
Here's the situation: When someone wants to purchase a service that I provide, they can fill ...
10
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2answers
8k views
“Legend” or “key”?
What is the difference between a legend or a key? Is it still called a legend if it is located at the top, rather than the bottom of results?
8
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4answers
10k views
What is the plural of “scenario”?
What is the plural of "scenario"? I have always used "scenarios", but have recently come across "scenaria" and "scenarii". Should I be treating it as an Italian or Latin word?
14
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5answers
739 views
What is the origin of “earthling”?
What is the origin of the word earthling?
Are there other words with a similar meaning (marsling, venusling)?
11
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2answers
821 views
Meaning of “Caucasian”
When I search the definition of Caucasian in the NOAD, I find the following definition (it's the first of three definitions):
(often offensive) of or relating to one of the traditional ...
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2answers
2k views
What is the difference between “noun”, “proper noun”, and “name”?
Do noun and name carry a different meaning?
If there are any differences, are those differences specific to a context?
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2answers
566 views
What is the difference between “palazzo” and “palace”?
I have noticed that palazzo is used also in English, not only in Italian.
What is then the difference between palazzo (as used in English), and palace (which is an English word)?
2
votes
1answer
451 views
What is the origin of Americana?
I have checked on the NOAD, but I didn't find the origin of Americana; it's reported that it means things associated with the culture and history of America, especially the United States, but not the ...
3
votes
2answers
451 views
Is the word “Americana” capitalized?
...in the sentence "Here's a list of great Americana books."
It looks SO weird lowercase: "Here's a list of great americana books."
6
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2answers
385 views
Does the word “table” have anything to do with a table?
I am curious to know why a numerical chart can be called a table. What is the relation to the table at which people eat?
6
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3answers
3k views
What's the difference between “day” and “date”?
Day may refer to:
the day of the week (e.g., Monday, Tuesday);
the day of the month (e.g, 2nd day of February);
a unit of time (e.g., this task would take 2 days to complete).
A date on the other ...
4
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2answers
457 views
Capitalization of “Dictator”
I'm wondering whether the word dictator should be capitalized.
Is it just an adjective and not an (official) title?
6
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1answer
726 views
What is the difference between a “part” and a “segment”
What is the difference between the two and and should I say "a part of the text" or "a segment of the text"?
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3answers
1k views
Why are there different ways of indicating gender for animals?
Why are there different ways of indicating gender for animals?
For instance, by inflexion we get:
lion (male) & lioness (female)
where the female is distinguished from the male. Here the male is ...
4
votes
2answers
5k views
Is it “slough” or “slew”?
Which is the proper word to use to indicate a large amount of something - "slough" or "slew"? Eg:
StackExchange now has a slough of potential new sites in Area51.
English.stackexchange.com has a ...
11
votes
5answers
3k views
Difference between “computation” and “calculation”
If the words computation and calculation are not perfect synonyms what is the difference between them? Which one describes more accurately what is done by a person computing or calculating something ...
8
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4answers
1k views
Do Americans use the world 'turtle' as a generic word to mean 'tortoise'?
Obviously there are two different animals — a tortoise and a turtle. But I have been told by a colleague that in the US the word turtle is used to describe both.
I find this odd as for example the ...
2
votes
2answers
225 views
Is it “GPL License” or “GPL license”?
Every time I write GPL license the spelling checker of my Mac OS X keeps to underline license in green; if I write GPL License, the spelling checker doesn't underline License.
When I hover the mouse ...
9
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6answers
767 views
Adjectives with Latin etymology when noun has non-Latin etymology
As a non-native English speaker, I always wondered why, for example, you say moon, but then you say lunar (same goes for side and lateral, hand and manual and so forth): in some cases, the noun is not ...
1
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8answers
343 views
What is more appropriate, “data” or “information” when referring to facts about something. What's the difference really?
The Computer Studies teacher quipped, "There is a lot of data out there regarding HTML programming".
What does this really mean? Will it make any difference if the teacher had used "information" in ...
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7answers
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2answers
2k views
What is the difference between “subscription” and “membership”?
A friend of mine is trying to coin the correct English word for the people paying for his company's services.
My initial choice was "subscriptions", but I'm not so sure about "membership".
Do you ...
3
votes
2answers
581 views
What is the plural of “copy” when applied to the output of copywriters?
If a Copywriter produces several articles for printing, what are his works collectively known as?
I feel the answer is not copies as this would indicate it is several articles reproduced from an ...
0
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2answers
584 views
Position of adverb 'globally' in sentence and meaning of sentence
Please help me make sense of this sentence with regards to 'globally'.
In the global arena, xxxxxx has been
described as the solution to the
challenges facing the commodities market globally ...
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3answers
1k views
Missing words in English
For a while I ponder on some words that I have not been able to find.
I always wondered why, since English is so huge compared to my native Danish where we do have the following two words:
A word ...
