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1500 questions
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What would you call this weird metallic apparatus that allows you to lift people?
The metallic bar that forms like a sort of inclined v, what would you call it. What's the most specific term you can find for it, and what's the most general term (name not related to its function if it's possible) you can find for it? I would like…
tefisjb
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How to pronounce the slash sign
There is another common business type of partnership 51% / 49%.
Would it be correct to say “to” instead of the slash sign while speaking, like:
51% to 49%
If “to” is wrong, please correct me.
user90151
15
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"Starve to death" Vs. "Starve to the point of death"
About a year ago, I had an on-line friend, a native speaker, chatting with me. When I sent a message to him saying:
I'm starving to the point of death.
He rephrased that as:
I'm starving to death.
But now that I think about it, and googled…
dolco
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What does "don't have a baby" imply or mean in this sentence?
This is really, really confusing as the literal meaning of "don't have a baby" — being pregnant or give birth to a child — does not fit the context at all.
My guesses are:
Don't act like a baby, be brave and face it.
Do nothing else, so as not to…
user86301
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"Physician's writing" - "to scribble like a chicken with claw"
Is there any phrase for describing when someone writes extremally illegibly?
In Poland it's called "physician's script", or there's an idiom "pisać jak kura pazurem", which literally means "to scribble like a chicken with claw".
It's very popular…
Danubian Sailor
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Would it be "went to sleep at one yesterday" or ”...today"?
My brother was saying that is grammatically correct to say he went to sleep at one today because it was after 12 o' clock, but I say it should be he went to sleep at one o'clock yesterday. Which one of us is correct?
Starfire
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Flammable or Inflammable
I am reading The Elements of Style and get stuck at the word flammable. There is the statement about the word:
An oddity, chiefly useful in saving lives. The common word meaning "combustible" is inflammable. But some people are thrown off by the…
gaoxinge
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The meaning of "I’m very cheap"?
Woman: I didn't know you were coming back.
Man: I wasn't, but I had made an appointment at the hair salon before I left, and they don't do refunds for cancellations. I'm very cheap.
What does "I’m very cheap" mean in this conversation？
scarlett
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"Too expensive for me to afford it" why ungrammatical?
The medicine was too expensive for me to afford it.
My practice question marked that as wrong for I didn't put the It out at the last. It suggested me to use "...too expensive for me to afford". I couldn't grasp the idea why would that matter. I…
dolco
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A word or a phrase for "riding a bicycle on only one wheel"
What do we call it when someone rides a bicycle or a motorcycle and suddenly stands on only one wheel (usually on the back wheel) for a short period?
helen
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15
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1 answer
On the market or In the market?
I have read both but not sure which means what?
There are many such products available on the market.
There are many such products available in the market.
Note: I'm pretty clear about using on while describing the product availability on the…
Maulik V
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9 answers
"Do the needful" -- Why is it used instead of asking a question?
Update: (Originally this was a comment, but I thought it was worth sharing here at the top.)
In the original question, I asked if there was a polite, socially-acceptable way to ask an Indian co-worker not to use the phrase "do the needful", as I…
inanutshellus
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If "Olympics" is singular, why does it use "were"?
Source
But the Olympics were really only a staging post in a much more
fundamental reshaping of the Chinese capital.
On blog.esllibrary.com, I found "Olympics" is a singular:
Decision time:
We at ESL Library decided to go with “the Olympics” +…
Zhang
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Can "do somebody" mean "imitate somebody" in spoken English?
I heard this exchange from Friends (an American TV show):
... ...
A: They do you.
B: Do me?
... ...
(Unfortunately, I don't know the episode number.)
The context is that A is B's assistant and she is trying to give B (a boss) some feedback about…
dan
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15
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When does 'lack' need an article?
[a] She has been suffering from a lack of sleep lately. [b] Her
problem is lack of sleep. ([a],[b] both are from Webster’s Advanced Learner’s
dictionary)
[c] It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes
unhappy marriages.…
Listenever
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