Tagged Questions

2
votes
2answers
89 views

Percent or per cent

How should I choose between writing "percent" and "per cent"? For example: He sold 42 percent of his stock in the company. or He sold 42 per cent of his stock in the company. Are there ...
3
votes
1answer
148 views

Is subcopy a word?

A copywriter just sent me over a copy deck that had the word subcopy to describe the text immediately after the page title. Up until now I had been referring to it as a description. example: > ...
1
vote
1answer
419 views

Sidenote, side-note, Side Note or Side note [closed]

So I've thought of a name for something, but cannot decide on how I should write it. In School, I vaguely remember someone saying "when you want to say something as one word, when it's really two ...
2
votes
1answer
486 views

Should I say “3 half days” or “3 half-days” or “3 half-day”?

Should I say "3 half days" or "3 half-days" or "3 half-day"? I mean I want to refer to, for example, the a.m. of Monday, the p.m. of Wednesday, and the a.m. of Friday, together.
-5
votes
2answers
157 views

Should “forty-year” in this context be hyphenated? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Pluralization rule for “five-year-old children”, “20 pound note”, “10 mile run” Mr. Willow’s more than forty-year experience in ...
0
votes
3answers
545 views

Use “underway” or “under way” as an adverb?

Is it proper to use underway as an adverb? Or should under way be used? Merriam-Webster defines underway as an adjective and under way as an adverb. The Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & ...
8
votes
4answers
347 views

“Dance macabre” or “macabre dance”

The role is the kind of high-wire dare certain types of actors and directors cannot resist. T. Scott Cunningham, who has created a number of lovable losers onstage in the last decade, lets the ...
2
votes
1answer
2k views

“An other” vs “another”

I just edited this answer on unix.sx. The original sentence was But it won't transform it to an other format. I changed this to But it won't transform it to another format. The second form ...
6
votes
2answers
944 views

“Sign in”, “signin” or “sign-in”

Which is correct: sign in, signin or sign-in when used as a noun and also as a verb?
13
votes
3answers
2k views

“Todo list” or “to-do list”

I always thought it was a todo list, and quite a few places online refer to it as todo, but various spell checkers are telling me it should be to-do. The only meaning I could find was ...
2
votes
2answers
132 views

Fox News comment on Romney--“self abjination?”

Watching the discussion led by Dana Perino after the GOP debate this evening, Perino asked if "humility" was a good thing. Another commentator remarked, "humility yes, self-abjination no." (The ...
4
votes
3answers
857 views

“Aeroplane” or “Airplane” - Which are people more familiar with? [closed]

I'm considering creating an application which has the word "Aeroplane" in the title. However, I have noticed in Google the following trend: Aeroplane: 16,700,000 results Airplane: 119,000,000 ...
1
vote
2answers
872 views

Fermentor vs Fermenter

I am curious to know the correct usage of these words as it seems to be misused often. See http://meta.homebrew.stackexchange.com/q/202/59 for a related question.
1
vote
2answers
187 views

Etymology vs. ethymology

Merriam-webster lists the word etymology but not ethymology. Is the latter spelling wrong, or is it used in some regional variation?
3
votes
5answers
1k views

Is it “flavor saver” or “flavor savor”?

I recently got into an oddly heated discussion about whether a specific style of facial hair around a man's mouth is called Flavor saver, as in "saving the flavor for later" or Flavor savor, ...
12
votes
6answers
5k views

Which is the correct spelling: “fairy” or “faerie”?

Fairy vs. faerie — which is the correct spelling?
1
vote
2answers
736 views

“vermilion” or “vermillion”?

Which one has primacy in English: "vermilion" or "vermillion" (as a color) ? Both have entries in various dictionaries. Is the difference concerned with AmE/BrE ?
16
votes
4answers
3k views

In a tournament, do I get a “by”, a “bye”, or a “buy”? [closed]

If there are an odd number of competitors at any stage of a single-elimination tournament, one player is excused from play and continues on as if he had defeated his (nonexistent) opponent. This is ...
3
votes
1answer
6k views

When should I use “guarantee” over “guaranty” and vice versa?

When would I use guarantee instead of guaranty? The dictionary definitions seem pretty much the same. Excepting maybe the noun form of the word. I have a real world example. A website I'm working ...
6
votes
3answers
940 views

Inquiry vs. enquiry

I received an email today with "a simple inquiry." I responded that her "enquiry" was quite reasonable before I realized that we were spelling the word differently. Dictionary.com has enquiry as an ...
3
votes
4answers
2k views

Differentiating between “written” and “writing”

For some reason it is written and writing. It's confusing to me. How can I remember to write them differently?
39
votes
6answers
7k views

Which is the correct spelling: “grey” or “gray”?

What is the difference? Or is there any? Which would be more British English?
50
votes
14answers
6k views

“Email” or “e-mail”?

Which way of writing the word: "Email" or "e-mail" is correct? Both variants seem to be in wide use. If both ones are okay, maybe there is a difference in contexts they have been used (one is more ...
3
votes
2answers
1k views

When should you use “then” and when “than”?

As far as I know, then is used in a conjunction and in time-related sentences; than in all other cases. I believe that these are correct: Because I'm older than she, I should be the first chosen; I ...