This tag is for questions concerning the written representation of the English language, especially spelling and word breaks (including hyphenation).
11
votes
1answer
373 views
Rules for removing last vowel when adding “-able”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When to drop the 'e' when ending in -able?
Both are correct for these words:
sizable, sizeable
sharable, shareable
takable, takeable
But these words are ...
11
votes
3answers
840 views
Does the abbreviation for Saint in a church name require a period?
In referring to a local church, does the name "St Giles" require a period after the "St"? I was told that to add a period confuses it with the abbreviation for street.
10
votes
2answers
241 views
“Open source” as a verb
I encountered a problem when I started to write a report including some notes on open source software.
The problem I have is if I can use open source as a verb like:
We open sourced some ...
3
votes
3answers
193 views
Spelling out non-cardinal small numbers
I understand that it's common to spell small numbers in words. However, all examples of this rule I could find use cardinals (i.e. expressing the size of a set of entities) like in:
We met two cats ...
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 ...
3
votes
2answers
510 views
What is the correct spelling of the Arabic name سعد in English?
I need help in how to spell the Arabic name (سعد). I previously asked the question Sa'ad : Correct spelling in English and French; however, it got closed.
I added a youtube video describing how ...
6
votes
1answer
633 views
Variations in the pronunciation of “ea”
Perhaps this is more of a Linguistics question, so I apologize if this is not posted in the right place.
Why is it that these words in English sound so different?
earth = /ɜrθ/ “urth”
hearth ...
3
votes
2answers
735 views
“Reset” or “re-set”?
As far as I know there are two different meanings of the word "reset":
to restore an object/value to a previous/initial state - that's the most widely use of the word;
to set the value/state a ...
9
votes
3answers
2k views
“grammar nazi” or “grammar Nazi”?
Should Nazi be capitalized in the phrase grammar nazi/Nazi?
While I can't think of any other examples right now, I would like to extend the question to ask if the words which are historically nouns ...
10
votes
2answers
196 views
Usage of “brook” to mean “burp”?
Has anyone ever come across ?brook (not too sure about spelling) used instead of burp?
I brooked/I burped.
Was that you brooking/burping?
It may be derived from Scottish Gaelic.
-1
votes
1answer
348 views
Should the English word for noodles be ''lamen'' or ''ramen''? [closed]
The Chinese word for noodles is ''lamen'', or la-mien, and the Japanese also call it ''lamen'', using their hiragana/katana syllaby. So the word is spoken with the L sound in both China and Japan ...
1
vote
1answer
256 views
Plotable versus Plottable
On rare occasions, whether it be a Tuesday or not, when I write about plots, as in graphs, I see spell checker complaints where both alternatives are rejected. Is it plotable or plottable?
3
votes
1answer
140 views
In “type of guy” constructions, do you use hyphens or not? For example [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
To hyphenate or not?
"Did you see this silly poll? It says that if I were a superhero, I would be Captain America."
"Really? I don't know; I see you as more of a ...
9
votes
2answers
815 views
Apostrophes in contractions: shan't, sha'n't or sha'nt?
I came across the word sha'n't when reading Winnie the Pooh the other day and it cast me into a Thoughtful Mood concerning the Appropriate Spelling of this word.
This word is a contraction of "shall ...
0
votes
2answers
146 views
Destroy or Destroys [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is a company always plural, or are small companies singular?
I came across a mocked up newspaper article earlier and there was a discussion about whether the following ...
1
vote
0answers
244 views
English Homonym Nouns [closed]
Recently I had a discussion with a friend about the "solidity" of the English language in respect to Chinese. (By "solidity" we meant the reduced possibility for interpretation errors and ...
0
votes
1answer
279 views
Making up words - considered bad grammar, or bad spelling, or what? [closed]
If someone makes up a word, is it considered bad grammar, or bad spelling, or something else?
The word and phrase I have in mind is "housecolding party", but this is a general question.
1
vote
0answers
67 views
Why doesn't English use umlauts more frequently? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the standard rule for using or not using hyphen and diaeresis on the words like reelect , reexamine, and cooperate?
I was reading this article in the New Yorker ...
4
votes
3answers
8k views
Is 'useable' preferred in certain regions, or just an alternate spelling of 'usable'?
I rarely use spell checkers, but today when I did use one, it suggested changing the word 'useable' to 'usable' (i.e. to drop the first 'e'). This seemed immediately intuitive and I thought I'd just ...
1
vote
0answers
293 views
Are there any words that are spelled the same but have separate etymologies? [closed]
There are many words that are spelled the same but have different meanings due to development of polysemy over time from an original etymology.
Are there any word pairs in English that have the same ...
1
vote
0answers
288 views
Why do so many people misspell lose as loose? [closed]
I see this mistake happen so many times, and I do not know why. At only four characters it is such a simple word, and even if you do make the mistake, why is the rule so hard to learn?
1
vote
2answers
152 views
What does an italic “a” immediately before a year stand for?
Some citations in the OED have an italic a before the year to indicate the year is uncertain, for example:
a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) iii. iv. sig. E.iijv, By gosse and for ...
6
votes
2answers
196 views
“Lessen, poisoned gulls, ditcher wander hair annulled furry tell a boarder Slipping Booty?”
This is the prelude to an article published in Sports Illustrated magazine on August 17, 1959:
Lessen, poisoned gulls, ditcher wander hair annulled furry tell a
boarder Slipping Booty? Hoecake? ...
0
votes
1answer
180 views
Can Apple spell correctly? [closed]
There's an ad appearing in the paper lately (in Aus) for Apple's iphone and its siri-thing.
The headline of the add says: "What's my day look like?"
To me that doesn't look like proper english. I ...
4
votes
6answers
2k views
Should “glamourous” be considered incorrect?
The Wiktionary entry for glamourous, for what it's worth, claims that it is "a common British spelling", but many native English speakers dismiss it as incorrect. Some, though, draw a distinction ...
6
votes
2answers
5k views
Is “imbedded” a valid spelling of the word “embedded”?
I have seen this used on our marketing materials:
The technology imbedded in this solution will help improve productivity.
I was going to flag it as a spelling error, however Googling provided ...
0
votes
3answers
775 views
When the plural ends in “-ies”, how do I know whether the singular ends in “-y” or “-ie”? [closed]
my question is how am I supposed to recognize a singular form of a noun which plural form ends with "ies"? As you can see "cookies" are a "cookie" when singular, but at the same time "flies" stand for ...
0
votes
0answers
24 views
Why isn't “training” spelled “trainning”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is there any rhyme or reason to when one should double the last consonant when adding -ed or -ing?
Focussed or focused? The double consonant
Why isn't "training" spelled ...
3
votes
1answer
993 views
Plural of 'quiz'
The plural of "quiz" is spelled with double "z" while the plural of "box" (and sometimes "bus") is spelled with single last consonant. Why is it so? Is this the general rule to double the last ...
6
votes
2answers
802 views
English line breaking rules
In Czech typography, some prepositions are not allowed to be at the end of the line, so line break is not allowed between that preposition and the following word.
Are there similar rules in English ...
4
votes
4answers
884 views
“Runtime”, “run time”, and “run-time”
The CLR under .NET is referred to as the "Common Language Runtime." It seems that the convention is "runtime" for a noun and "run-time" for the adjective. Is this correct or should it be "runtime" ...
3
votes
1answer
420 views
The pronunciation of “… no matter how minute” vs “5 minutes past the hour” [closed]
I was just checking dictionary.com and the pronunciation of "minute" doesn't seem to change in these two setences:
It is five minutes past the hour.
I'll take any change, no matter how minute.
...
0
votes
3answers
230 views
Guardrail vs Guard rail
I'm at odds with a colleague of mine over the correct spelling of the above title words.
My stance is that they could BOTH possibly be correct. My question specifically is....
Could one spelling be ...
1
vote
1answer
4k views
How to spell “woah” [closed]
How do I spell the word woah as used in surprise or excitement? Is it similar to wow but for the last w?
1
vote
2answers
457 views
Hiscore vs Highscore [closed]
Which of these are correct?
Hiscore
Hi-score
Highscore
High-score
I have seen all except the last being used.
18
votes
5answers
1k views
What is the standard rule for using or not using hyphen and diaeresis on the words like reelect , reexamine, and cooperate?
I found that diaeresis is used on the word, reelection in the following sentence of the article titled “Rational Irrationality” in the New Yorker magazine (April 27).
“This morning’s news that ...
3
votes
3answers
780 views
“Stand up comedy”, “standup comedy”, or “stand-up comedy”?
I've seen all three versions for describing a person on stage performing comedy: "stand up", "standup", and "stand-up".
My guess is that the term started as two words, but as the performance form ...
6
votes
2answers
742 views
“Lambast” or “lambaste”
I looked up both lambast and lambaste in several dictionaries, but came up with no conclusions about which one is AE and which BE (if this distinction can ever be made). Moreover, the different ...
5
votes
4answers
335 views
Usage of apostrophe in “baker’s dozen”
In the phrase “baker’s dozen”, why does the apostrophe indicate possession of a (single) baker? Shouldn't it indicate possession of all bakers in general? Shouldn’t it be “bakers’ dozen”?
2
votes
3answers
177 views
Satisfactory solution to the spelling of regular past participles of new verbs ending in a hard C
In my region, a medical evacuation by air ambulance is referred to as a "medevac" (also spelled medivac). Although this is a noun, in my observation it is more frequently used as a verb ("I'm going to ...
5
votes
1answer
129 views
What are the correct spelling and regional distribution of “X, schmX” to indicate dismissiveness (e.g., “evidence, schmevidence”)?
There is a curious construct in American English in which a word is stated and then repeated with the prefix "schm-" or "shm-" in order to indicate the speaker's dismissive attitude toward a concern ...
1
vote
1answer
147 views
Is this sentence well formed? [closed]
I want a well formed sentence in english GB and US (two sentences if necessary…) from this french sentence:
Cette page n'existe pas dans cette langue. Voici son contenu original :
Here is what ...
5
votes
4answers
6k views
Timepoint vs. time point
When speaking of a point in time, what would be the proper usage:
"Timepoint" vs. "Time point"?
This funny confusion comes from my life as a programmer: While one of our style checkers enforces ...
1
vote
2answers
3k views
“Indeed/in deed/indid/in did”
I am not a native speaker and get constantly confused which one to use when I would like to approve some statement or someone's sentence.
A really nice one indeed.
A really nice one in deed.
...
-2
votes
1answer
158 views
Cheesy convestibles [closed]
Having been schooled in all things British largely by the Pythons, I've been using this word in my speech for years (it comes from the Cheese Shop sketch), but had never actually written it till ...
2
votes
1answer
299 views
Why is it 'speaking'/'speech' instead of 'speeking'/'speech' or 'speaking'/'speach'?
Why is it speaking/speech instead of speeking/speech or speaking/speach?
0
votes
0answers
40 views
a or an Hermitian? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
When should I use “a” versus “an” in front of a word beginning with the letter h?
I would want to know if I have to write "an Hermitian matrix" ...
2
votes
4answers
127 views
What resources can you recommend for finding words based on knowing some of its letters? [closed]
Are there any websites that allow searching for a word based on only knowing, let us say, the second character, the third character and the total number of characters?
I thought about this while ...
4
votes
2answers
350 views
Is a “misspelled” word which subsequently creates another word still considered misspelled? [closed]
According to Dictionary.com:
mis·spell·ing [mis-spel-ing]
noun
the act of spelling incorrectly: Note his misspelling of that word.
an incorrectly spelled word: You have three ...
0
votes
0answers
70 views
In a formal document, may the hyphen be omitted from “e-mail”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“Email” or “e-mail”?
For a formal document such as a CV, would it be acceptable to use the term "email", or is only "e-mail" acceptable?
