This tag is for questions concerning the written representation of the English language, especially spelling and word breaks (including hyphenation).
2
votes
2answers
94 views
How did the spelling “demesne” come about? [closed]
The word demesne seems to just be an alternative spelling of the rather more logically-spelt domain. I'm wondering how this strange spelling came about? Even taking into account its given etymology ...
1
vote
1answer
57 views
Sub-classification or subclassification?
We’re debating this at work.
Merriam-Webster says it’s “subclassification”.
Dictionary.Reference.com allows “sub-classification” and “subclassification”
Is there a ‘more correct’ word to use?
...
-1
votes
0answers
26 views
Where and why were capital letters first used in English headlines? [duplicate]
The words in headlines are capitalized. I'm interested in the history of this.
Where and why were capital letters first used in headlines? Where is this practice of capitalization of words in English ...
-1
votes
2answers
58 views
Do I capitalize or write out 'first' if I write: “Her birthday was May First.”?
I'm writing a story in which a character's birthday (May 1st) is significant. A characters notes in conversation that, "Her birthday is May first." Should I write out 'first' or refer to it as '1st'? ...
1
vote
1answer
61 views
“Spoon feed” vs. “spoonfeed” [closed]
Is there a whitespace in spoonfeed? I have to choose between writing Spoon Feed Code and Spoonfeed Code.
3
votes
1answer
57 views
Is afeast or possibly affeast, afeest etc. a word?
My English (vai Liverpool)-Canadian mother used this word to mean 'disgusted by' or 'repulsed by.' Example: "he is afeast of mixed foods." meaning you think mixed foods are disgusting or inedible.
I ...
0
votes
0answers
17 views
Writing double voiced vowels [duplicate]
I have a pretty straight forwards question I think.
Of the following three spellings, which one is generally accepted as correct (I've seen them all, well, something like it)
reemerge
re-emerge
...
2
votes
2answers
141 views
Is there a term to describe words whose pronunciation bears no relationship to their spelling?
The English language is peppered with wonderfully weird spelling/pronunciation combinations. For example
colonel, pronounced kur-nl, probably my favorite there isn't even an r in the word!
...
0
votes
0answers
34 views
Usage of fueling vs. fuelling [closed]
A UK colleague created a header using "fuelling". My first reaction was that it was misspelled, because in the US, "fueling" is the more common spelling. And even here in this box, the double-l ...
0
votes
1answer
59 views
How do I express the plural of a letter in writing?
My last name has two occurrences of the letter "s" in it, so in speech I tell people all the time that it's spelled "with two esses". However I don't know how to express such a thing in writing. I can ...
4
votes
1answer
69 views
What is the name for words which, when the order of letters is reversed, spell other words?
For example:
Lamina / Animal
Dog / God
Ogre / Ergo
Desserts / Stressed
Tuba / Abut
These are all anagrams, but they are a special type of anagram, where the order of letters is exactly reversed. ...
2
votes
1answer
81 views
University's vs Universities', correct spelling of the possessive [closed]
Something belongs to the University.
Is it the Universities' logo or the University's logo? I somehow don't think University's exists.
2
votes
0answers
33 views
What is the correct capitalization of code examples when beginning a sentence? [duplicate]
I am writing a technical book and a lot of it is structured as explanations of code examples.
For instance:
var links = data.map(function (d) {
return {source: nick_id(d.from),
...
0
votes
1answer
34 views
Usage and spelling of “wordlength” and “bitbreadth”
As far as I know, these are the meanings:
wordlength — for instance, 4 bytes when the bitbreadth is 32 and 8 bytes when the bitbreadth is 64.
bitbreadth — for example, 32 or 64 or 4 bits for a ...
2
votes
1answer
86 views
How to form a gerund from “practise”?
I (think) I know the difference between practise (verb) and practice (non-verb).
However, I am not sure which form I should use in cases like the following ones:
I love practising the guitar.
...
2
votes
3answers
93 views
Where does the phrase “fair do's/dues/doos/does” come from?
I was researching the phrase fair do's, attempting to determine which spelling was most appropriate, and where it had come from. Unfortunately most of the information I could find was very ...
0
votes
0answers
34 views
Belonging to a Company [closed]
Just checked out OED & Webster's online, I can't find the word "company's" - as in belonging to a corporation. Is there any reason for this?
5
votes
1answer
160 views
British spelling of programme and diagram
Does anyone know a reason why British English retains the -amme ending for programme but not for diagram? They both have French origins.
Programme
... Spelling programme, established in Britain, ...
4
votes
1answer
126 views
Why is the noun form of “permit” “permission”?
The noun form of permit is permission instead of permition. Why isn't it permition?
1
vote
1answer
97 views
Why is imperialism not spelled empirialism?
If the goal of imperialism is to create an empire, why is the word not spelled "empirialism"?
4
votes
2answers
191 views
How much mmmm should be in hmmmmmmm
This is my first question here.
I am not a fluent English speaker. I just know the basics.
My question is how many m's should be there in "hmm" as when I try typing it anywhere, it suggests "hmmm," ...
1
vote
2answers
64 views
Overview of comma and interpunctuation rules
Is there any good summary of comma and interpunctuation rules? I know that English spelling traditionally requires fewer commas than, for example, German, however I am often unsure whether to use a ...
2
votes
1answer
165 views
Why facebook “ like's ” instead of “ 'like's ”
I'm not native english, I'm sorry if this is obvious but I can't find an explanation.
Why are facebook "like"s usually referred to as "like's" (you can see many instances here)
To use a "word as a ...
0
votes
1answer
84 views
Does the word “raytracer” exist?
If not, is it well readable anyway?
"Ray tracer" seems to be used more frequently but this is not my question.
An example sentence could be:
A raytracer is a computer program that uses an ...
0
votes
0answers
117 views
Reform of English writing?
As is commonly known, English is quite notorious for having a writing system that is far removed from the actual way it is most commonly pronounced. I understand that there are important historical ...
0
votes
4answers
150 views
When are you 'You', and when 'you'?
When is it in spelling that the personal pronoun 'you' should be written with capital Y?
0
votes
0answers
47 views
Correct spelling of language names [closed]
In a sentence referring to various languages, should the names of the languages be capitalized?
3
votes
4answers
149 views
“Home page” or “homepage”? [closed]
Is there a convention for the spelling of the name of the main page of a website? Should it be home page, with a space between the two words; or homepage, all one word?
4
votes
1answer
178 views
“Exercise” but not “exercize”
Many words are spelled with -ise in British English and -ize in American English:
realise/realize
sanitise/sanitize
scrutinise/scrutinize
But exercise can only be spelled with -ise, never with ...
2
votes
2answers
109 views
Character vs Charm - Pronunciation
Is there a rule to understand how the group "Cha" has to be pronounced?
"Character" sounds with a hard first syllable, while "Charm" sound softer, but I don't find how to tell which sound to use ...
0
votes
1answer
61 views
“Boneular” vs. “bonular”
My knowledge in morphology and orthography is lacking. I would like to know how to spell the neologism boneular, from bone (or Backbone, a programming library used for creating Web applications) and ...
-2
votes
1answer
119 views
Height and weight written out
In formal writing I like to do this (in British style):
The infant weighed 10lb 5oz;
a 10lb 5oz infant
He was 6ft 3in tall;
a 6ft 3in man
My question is about the plural usage: do we ...
7
votes
3answers
606 views
meaning and usage of 'teh'
“I wouldn’ say no teh a bit o’ yer birthday cake, neither.”
“He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him.”
—Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Hagrid’s ...
0
votes
1answer
168 views
Is it “falsy” or “falsey”?
I have seen both versions of the word, falsy and falsey.
It can mean "something that is equivalent to false" in computer science, such as "The only two falsy values in the Ruby Language are false and ...
1
vote
1answer
155 views
How to guess the pronunciation of some inconsistencies in English?
I’m not a native English speaker, and I have a lot of problems when is comes to pronouncing words like archive, archon, zealot, heal, health.
Why is the ch sometime pronounced like a k?
Why is the ...
5
votes
0answers
225 views
How are Japanese words spelt in English? [closed]
When they are writing material in English, I sometimes see native speakers of Japanese misspell English words that were derived from Japanese.
For example, I've seen "tunami" written instead of ...
2
votes
2answers
79 views
Is it okay to use a colon within a bulleted list?
Question 1: Are colons allowed in a list?
Business writing skills: data entry, email, presentation and press release writing.
Question 2: Should there be only one and in a sentence?
-1
votes
1answer
114 views
“Bazaar” vs. “bazar”
Which of bazaar or bazar is better to use for the domain name of specialised marketplace?
Both are available according to the dictionaries.
Any advice which of these two is better to use in the URL?
...
-1
votes
1answer
453 views
Apostrophes and s's [duplicate]
I always forget the rule about if something is possessive put 's at the end, for example "the sailor's hat". I know some people say to remember because it has a different meaning if it's plural (e.g. ...
1
vote
3answers
150 views
What is the word for someone who has been recommended?
Does the word recommendee exist? If so, is it spelled as such?
What would be the opposite, or the person who is doing the recommending?
-1
votes
2answers
68 views
Correct use of comma?
Should there be a comma after 1975?
Peter Singer wrote Animal Liberation in 1975, igniting the modern animal movement.
1
vote
2answers
246 views
reestablish vs. re-establish
Which form of this word is more appropriate for general use?
I would expect someone to misread reestablish more often than re-establish, however it is more consistent in context with renew, ...
1
vote
0answers
66 views
False spellings as brands [closed]
When companies create a brand name, they often use a misspelled word or faux word. The classic example is swapping a 'K' in for a hard 'C', like in 'Konqueror', the browser.
Another example would ...
2
votes
1answer
70 views
What does “sayd” (etc.) mean in old book clipping? [closed]
Quotation from A history of the cries of London ancient (p24, 25).
Noisy parties of wits and Paul's men crossed to Bankside to see Romeo and Juliet, or Hamlet the Dane, or else 'The most excellent ...
0
votes
1answer
86 views
What is the proper way to spell “inspiraysh”?
I've noticed a trend among "younger people" to shorten words by simply cutting the ending off.
For example, instead of inspiration they might say something like inspiraysh.
What is the proper way ...
6
votes
2answers
358 views
Why is “k” added to “panic” when suffixes added (as in “panicky”)?
When adding any suffix to the word "panic," a "k" is added after the "c". Examples: panicked, panicking, panicky.
Why is this the case? Are there any other English words that do the same? I'm also ...
1
vote
1answer
125 views
What do “truxtop” and “thumb tax” mean? [closed]
What do truxtop and thumb tax mean?
I found them mentioned in this quotation from English Words History and Structure, 2nd edition (p. 113):
The replacement of the sequence [ks] by x is a ...
2
votes
1answer
150 views
Why is it “loggable” rather than “logable”?
I am using 'loggable' in the name of an interface written in a .NET programming language. It is among the many words that make sense in a programming context but aren't (yet) listed in English ...
1
vote
1answer
42 views
Is “facetious” unique? [duplicate]
Is "facetious" unique, as the only English word with all vowels appearing once, and in alphabetical order? Or, if you count Y as a vowel (as some do) does the same apply to "facetiously"?
0
votes
3answers
191 views
When we will use soft and hard sound in 'c'? [closed]
Sometimes we use the soft sound, and sometimes the hard – but why? Is there any rule?
