Questions tagged [word-choice]
This tag is for questions about choosing the best word FROM A GIVEN SELECTION for a particular context or meaning. The selection to choose from must appear in the question. If you do not know the word already, use single-word-requests.
570
questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
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"Watch" vs. "Watch as"
He watched them run.
He watched as they ran.
What's the exact difference, in terms of the information/scene conveyed? He was watching the runners in both cases. Do they have different connotations? ...
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votes
1
answer
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at / on/ in (the) (Math) exam
I think it is common to say
I did well on the exam in AmE.
I did well in the exam in BrE.
Which prepositions are suitable for the following situations when we mention the exam we took? ...
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3
votes
2
answers
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What is correct to say: "I don't like it when ..." OR "I don't like when ..."?
Very simple question. Which is correct to say:
I don't like it when ...
I don't like when ...
Is there a difference?
For example:
I don't like it when people can't understand me.
...
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3
votes
4
answers
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'before' or 'in front of'?
Which sentence is the correct one?
He parked his BMW directly before the diner.
or
He parked his BMW directly in front of the diner.
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votes
0
answers
75
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Town vs City, why they can be used interchangeably in novel?
I know that this is a simple question, but it does made me wonder. This is what I found after reading quite a lot of novels and often happened:
Why does City of something was sometimes called town ...
- 61
2
votes
0
answers
84
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Word for an all seeing society/government type
I'm looking for a word to mean a society or government type where everything is visible or known to everyone, similar to omniscient. For example, if everyone (including government) can see everything ...
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0
answers
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Why is “remove to” no longer used?
By Googling, the difference between remove and move can be found as follows:
As verbs the difference between remove and move
is that remove is to move something from one place to another, especially ...
- 385
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votes
0
answers
60
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How should I differentiate between the two meanings of "squint"?
"Squint" can mean either:
partly close (one's eyes) in an attempt to see more clearly or as a reaction to strong light.
or
have eyes that look in different directions.
Is there a way to ...
- 1,440
2
votes
0
answers
105
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What do you call a fire panel with tools?
In Russia we have these "fire panels":
So, they have tools like a bucket and a spade, so you can dig up some sand with the spade in the summer and extinguish the fire with it. Or in winter you can ...
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2
votes
0
answers
437
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Best practice regarding the words until, till, til, 'till, 'til and to
I often see in English the word 'till used as until. Example
I'll wait 'till the end of time.
Now I have found out that this may be wrong. The correct writing is without the apostrophe 'till and ...
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0
answers
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When to use "-er" vs "-or" as a suffix in verbs - a comprehensive example (a developer's perspective)!
It's been many times when it comes to decide whether to use "-or" or "-er" as an agent noun suffix to a verb. My native (mother language) is Greek, and I'll try to provide you a way to think before ...
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0
answers
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at our side / on our side / from our side
I'm developing a web form wich communicates with an external service and they are validating the data that I send to them from the web form. But, I would like to manage the validation by my self.
I'm ...
- 121
2
votes
0
answers
421
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Using 'caveats' in context of problems
I am using the world caveats as follows:
However, there are three major caveats in using these data sets.
The meaning - there are 3 major drawbacks/flaws that a researcher might encounter if he or ...
- 153
2
votes
0
answers
92
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Semantic implications of "The President and we are disbanding the Forum"
In a widely publicized statement, a group of CEO's on President Trump's "Strategic and Policy Forum" wrote that because of contention surrounding recent statements by the president:
As such, the ...
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2
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0
answers
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Is it now considered offensive to say someone comes from good stock?
Showing my age perhaps but I recently referred to a young woman whose family I have known for several generations as being from good stock.
I considered it to be a compliment to her but the look on ...
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0
answers
265
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In the context of silicon wafer manufacturing, what is the relative frequency of the three major plurals of "die"?
A die is a unit of circuitry and substrate that occurs on a wafer and is cut out from its (often identical) neighbors.
I often hear this pluralized as: dies, dice, or die. I believe all may be ...
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0
answers
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In this sentence, should I say faces/figures/persons/personages or some other word?
During a retrospect of how the EU has accommodated to financial adversities since 2008, a commentator says that "in terms of _______, nothing has changed", implying that those in charge, at least when ...
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2
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0
answers
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Earn rewards for participating vs Earn rewards by participating
Is it correct to say:
You can earn rewards for participating in the company's wellness program.
I'm inclined to change it to
You can earn rewards by participating in the company's wellness ...
2
votes
0
answers
657
views
Language school & language institute
I'm a non-native English speaker in Iran. Here we have schools to which students go to learn about different subjects such as math, history and English. We have institutes (or at least we call them ...
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0
answers
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"Connected by" vs "Connected with" vs "Connected to"
I want to know the difference and when to use which construction.
For instance:
The island and the city are connected with a bridge
or
The island and the city are connected by a bridge
?
...
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0
answers
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to emanate from vs to stem from
Are the words to emanate from and to stem from synonym in the following sense? Do you think I can swap with each other without changing the meaning of the following sentences ?
1 (Of a feeling, ...
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0
answers
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Difference between "formatting" and "styling" when used with documents
For example one may say:
"This document is well formatted" or "This document is well styled" - What are the differences here, if any?
What about the task: "formatting" or "styling", are these usable ...
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2
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0
answers
441
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Is there more monosyllabic lexis in the English Language than polysyllabic lexis?
In terms of words in the actual dictionary are there more monosyllabic words or more polysyllabic words?
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votes
1
answer
881
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What is a good substitute for "HOPE"?
We hope you enjoyed your visit and we hope to see you again soon.
How do I ask this question without using "HOPE" twice? I would like to keep it short and simple, as this will be used for text ...
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2
votes
1
answer
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Is "avail to" ever acceptable?
My instructor put this in his course materials:
Although this is an online class where you can avail yourself to your textbook etc.
Is there any circumstance in which "avail to [object]" would be ...
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2
votes
1
answer
176
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collocation with BUS STOP
Is it possible to say "I have to take 5 stops by/on bus to get to my school"? meaning: my school is 5 stops away from my home, I get there by bus.
2
votes
1
answer
4k
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Endebted v. indebted: is there a difference in meaning?
I was recently told by a senior academic that I ought to replace the word indebted with endebted in an essay during which I suggest one text alludes to another.
I have searched the web (no help) and ...
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2
votes
1
answer
128
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Looking for a term, similar to "epigraph," meaning a quotation given in order to explain another text
For an English Lit. essay I am writing on TS Eliot and Joyce, I wish to use a Biblical quotation I find useful in illuminating certain themes common to their work (1 Corinthians 13 if anyone is ...
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votes
1
answer
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Gerund vs noun-- which to use in title
This issue of gerunds vs noun always puzzled me and in this particular case made me wonder. I actually am translating my thesis title into English and am not sure as to use gerund or noun. So which ...
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4
answers
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Thematic comparison of 'collaborative' vs 'collective' in literature or culture
I'm trying to brand a product with either the word 'collaborative' or 'collective', but I am having trouble imagining what the well known thematic usage is with either word. I've always seen them ...
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2
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Is there a clear preferred usage between *lifespan* and *life span*
I haven't been able to find any clear guidance on this. To me, life span looks wrong, but I have no evidence to support my intuition.
A tentative look (webster vs oxford) suggests that perhaps BrE ...
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votes
2
answers
2k
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Question about "between" vs. "among" - generic group or distinct members?
I have read Grammar Girl's excellent post on the difference between "between" and "among", but I've run into a scenario that has confused me. I used the sentence "Compare heights between these people....
user115195
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vote
0
answers
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"one/two/three-car households" vs "single/dual/triple-car households" (attributive forms)
Which way is more natural when it comes to numbers of things that people have or own? For example, the numbers of cars owned by households:
The rate of single/dual/triple-car households is increasing....
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1
vote
1
answer
85
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Prospective means future-looking, retrospective means past-looking. What means present-looking?
This is actually two questions. One: is there a word that means present-looking? And: if there isn't, what should the neologism be? Spective? Conspective?
Note that although this is a serious question,...
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vote
0
answers
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"Practical writing" or is there a name for this type of essay?
I find that the English exam for Chinese College Entrance Exam always likes to ask the examinee to write a specific type of essay, around 100-150 words, mostly in the form of letter, but sometime ...
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vote
0
answers
60
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Parenthetical "read out loud" for word substitution
I want the reader to see the word A, but read it as B. Or, to put it another way, I would like the reader to read A while thinking at its true meaning B.
I think I can accomplish this generally by:
If ...
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vote
0
answers
117
views
What is the opposite of "Member"?
The relation between a user and a group is:
The user is a member of the group.
What is the converse relation?
The group is a ___ of the user.
What word suits here? Does team or union work?
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vote
0
answers
34
views
Looking for a term to describe this juxtaposition
Our city is planning to re-purpose a Confederate Civil War Memorial by adding the names of Union soldiers & former the slaves who were freed in that era and fought for the Union. Would the joining ...
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0
answers
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Is there a term for the following type of conduct: someone only responds to one part of your message instead of the whole message?
For those who know german: Die Person geht nur auf einen Teil der Nachricht ein
Here's an example to further elaborate:
A (about something B said): She doesn't even sound rude. Maybe if it's said in a ...
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1
vote
0
answers
56
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A term for the property of being able to be accessed by many people?
How do I say that a given object has the property that it can be accessed by many people? I am trying to use that property in a sentence as follows:
Y is unreliable since it inherits the *property ...
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vote
0
answers
130
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Is "distance" an "amount" or a "quantity"?
Distance can be measured so it would make sense for it to be a quantity. But this is where I arrive at an issue.
I think it's better if you say
a small amount of distance
than
a small quantity of ...
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1
vote
1
answer
91
views
Word or term for the containment and shelving properties of an object? (might be science question)
Backstory
A roommate left their car key on the microwave. I typed her an email about leaving her key on the microwave. Google spell check suggested that "on the" should be "in the" ...
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0
answers
415
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Single word when you know destination but not path
Is there a single word which describes knowing the destination but not the path?
Knowing the objective but not the method?
Knowing the 'what' or 'where' but not the 'how'?
In a sense this would be the ...
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1
vote
0
answers
44
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psychokinetic, is this the right word
I'm pretty sure I've got this one all wrong. I'm trying to find a word combination that explains when somebody telepathically pokes around inside your head with ill intent.
“WHAT? Are you saying she ...
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0
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244
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What is a good adjective that describes the quality of "having a growth mindset"?
I'm struggling to find a single word that conveys what is shared in the following statements
Have a growth mindset
Be a lifelong learner
Be a student of the game
Is there a good single adjective ...
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vote
0
answers
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Proper preposition for "segregation"
Can the preposition 'between' be used to modify 'segregation'?
The context is a social-science research paper.
"...the most critical and crucial cause of the residential segregation between ...
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0
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Training of vs Training for
training for all users across..
training of all users across..
Are these interchangeable and grammatically correct?
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vote
0
answers
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Using "Sequence" in music context
As a part of my academic paper, I wish to use the "Sequence" word.
Here is the problem:
As you can see in the picture, the "Start Time" of each note is mentioned on the time axis. ...
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1
vote
0
answers
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What factors over time have affected the most common word used to mean "woman who flies a plane"?
I was looking at this thread:
Has the suffix "-trix" acquired a pejorative meaning in recent years?
And I became curious about the popularity of the words aviatrix, aviatrice, aviatress and ...
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0
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Is there any difference in meaning/usage/etc between the words 'explorative' and 'exploratory'?
The question:
I am curious about the relation between the words 'explorative' and 'exploratory'. Are those exact synonyms, or is there a difference in their meaning, their usage, their geographic ...
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