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18
votes
7 answers
What is it called when at university there are two subjects being held at the same time?
For example, I need to enroll in two different courses at university, but there is a schedule in which both are held.
Is it an 'overlapped schedule' or something similar?
Is there a proper expression for this purpose?
Felipe Varas
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2 answers
Meaning of “Bulldog drooled courses through his jowls”
I saw this sentence while I was watching the 17th episode (Season 8) of Modern Family.
Bulldog drooled courses through his jowls.
I was really confused about its meaning. To give you a bit of its context:
Phill and Clair are reading an email…
Jocelyn Liu
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18
votes
8 answers
"A tin of biscuits" vs "A biscuit tin"
Is there any slight difference in meaning between the two phrases "A tin of biscuits" and "A biscuit tin"?
I'm not sure but I think there's a tiny difference in their meaning. Like, a tin of biscuits is about to emphasize that it's a tin with…
Pith
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18
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5 answers
Meaning of 'pound' in "felt a fury that was not his own pound through his body"
Harry had given a cry of pain; his scar had burned again as something flashed across his mind like a bright light on water. He saw a large shadow and felt a fury that was not his own pound through his body, violent and brief as an electric…
dan
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18
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8 answers
Is there a rule that prohibits us from using 2 possessives in a row?
An English teacher made a comment on my usage of the phrase, "Our last week's meeting", saying that it should be, "last week's meeting", is there a rule for this?
pavel_orekhov
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18
votes
6 answers
why "American-born", not "America-born"?
I tried but failed to wrap my head around the grammar for the term
"American-born" (and all other similar expressions - "Canadian-born", "French-born", ...etc).
Is it a set phrase or is there some grammar rule why the term has to be American-born,…
B Chen
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18
votes
2 answers
The baby cries this morning
The baby cries all morning.
The baby has been crying all morning.
I think both of these are grammatical but carry different meanings. The first one shows a general habit while the second one shows something has happened in the near past. Am I…
Kshitij Singh
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18
votes
5 answers
Grammar behind "Whatever what is is is what I want."
Here is the poem:
Prayer, by Galway Kinnell
Whatever happens. Whatever
what is is is what
I want. Only that. But that.
I came across this poem as an interesting example of English grammar and how it is actually possible to have three "is" in a…
Jay A. Little
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18
votes
4 answers
Can "staff" ever be pluralized?
I am under the impression that the word staff is uncountable/singular when referring to a collection of employees in a company. This is corroborated by some online sources I have found: Macmillan and this article.
However, I just heard this in a…
Eddie Kal
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18
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5 answers
anyone vs someone. Which one?
Has someone seen my bag?
Has anyone seen my bag?
Which one is grammatically correct and Why?
Which one should I use at this place?
Can you give some more examples?
hellodear
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18
votes
4 answers
What is the root word of "Refactoring"?
"Code refactoring" is an expression widely used in programming communities and is used to describe the work of changing or rewriting the program code without changing the code results.
What is the root word of "Refactoring"? Does it come from the…
AlexSC
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18
votes
3 answers
Conditional in the past -- "If Vietnam *would* fall..."
President Eisenhower had a strategic vision, the Domino Theory.
If Vietnam would fall, other countries in Southeast Asia would fall too.
A lecturer (native speaker) said it on a lesson. Using would confuses me. For me it should be at least "If…
mosceo
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18
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2 answers
What does 'a hairline crack where the grip meets the graphite shaft on my 3-wood' mean in this English joke?
Guys,
I have suspected for some time now that my wife has been cheating on me. I think deep down I just did not want to know the truth, but last night she
went out again and I decided to finally check on her.
Around midnight, I hid in the…
user239460
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18
votes
1 answer
Help me understand the word "Doggo" in this image
I study English, I like it very much. Help to figure out. "Doggo" it is not clear in the context. Please explain how a native English speaker understand this phrase. Maybe we can replace the word "Doggo" in other words "Pause".
Vladimir Glinskikh
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18
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5 answers
"Who is you" – not "are"
Why do we say "who are you" when talking to a single person?
Related question: "Who is speaking with each other?" Is this correct?
Hector von
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