Most Popular
1500 questions
14
votes
7 answers
Is this place called a barn?
This is a barn:
a large farm building for storing grain or keeping animals in.
In some other countries, we have an area surrounded by simple wooden fences. It may or may not have a simple roof like this:
Do we call the one in the picture 2 a…
Tom
- 17,895
- 49
- 192
- 346
14
votes
3 answers
Why is building called building even though it's already built?
My friend and I were having a casual conversation in the middle of the night. Eventually, we came up with the question - why is building still called building, even though it's already built?
There's more on the list - such as, painting, writing,…
Skye-AT
- 457
- 5
- 16
14
votes
3 answers
'We Americans like baseball' or 'Us Americans...'?
Which one is correct?
'We Americans like baseball,' or
'Us Americans like baseball'?
Why would you prefer one over the other? I'm thinking of a situation where people from different countries are talking about differences in their cultures.…
numberfive
- 255
- 2
- 8
14
votes
4 answers
Into his pillow vs. onto his pillow
Google Ngrams says into his pillow is more common than onto his pillow.
Example sentence:
He sank back into his pillow with a groggy groan.
My first thought was that you can only be on your pillow, not in your pillow. But now I'm not sure.
Why is…
alexchenco
- 7,075
- 22
- 77
- 134
14
votes
9 answers
Is there a formal word or expression for "snail mail"?
As the heading suggests, I'm wondering whether there is a formal word or phrase for "snail mail", that can be used in contexts where we want to make clear that we're not talking about emails. For instance:
All communication should be conducted in…
Helen
- 1,538
- 6
- 18
14
votes
5 answers
Why can’t we call a person who taught students a “previous teacher” in this situation?
I don’t know if it’s restricted to English.
If someone won a Grammy Award, even if he doesn’t win a Grammy Award, we can describe him as “He is a (previous) Grammy winner.”
But If someone taught students, but he doesn’t teach students, why don’t we…
Gate Pending
- 406
- 3
- 12
14
votes
11 answers
Why can’t I say “I hung a picture on the wall on the chair”?
Context: I tried to hang a picture on the wall, but it’s too high to hang it, so I climbed on the chair and hung it on the wall.
Why can’t I say “I hung a picture on the wall on the chair” in this situation?
Gate Pending
- 406
- 3
- 12
14
votes
6 answers
Can I safely use "not" instead of words with negative prefixes?
Sometimes it's difficult for me as a learner to remember the negative word as a new word with prefix. For example, the negative of pleasant is unpleasant.
Can I safely use not instead? I'm not intending to not learn new words, but I want to prevent…
user516076
- 4,892
- 2
- 23
- 52
14
votes
3 answers
Which is more appropriate? "I was married" OR "I have been married"?
Suppose, we're (I and my wife) asked by people how long our marriage is since we got married. Which tense should I use? Past tense or perfect tense or else?
We were married for 15 years.
We've been married for 15 years.
Since a marriage is a…
user516076
- 4,892
- 2
- 23
- 52
14
votes
1 answer
What does (R-TN) after a name mean?
An example:
US Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) wants to make sure the Federal Communications Commission never interferes with "states' rights" to protect private Internet service providers from having to compete against municipal broadband…
user8883
- 143
- 1
- 4
14
votes
4 answers
banned in vs banned from?
I see a lot of "banned from", but it seems to be rarely used in some context. I am trying to figure out why.
I see a lot of people say "Tiktok was banned in the U.S.", but not "Tiktok was banned from the U.S.", yet I see a lot of people say "banned…
Sayaman
- 2,339
- 8
- 28
14
votes
13 answers
Walk around nonchalantly in one word
Is there a word that means "walk around nonchalantly" in the same way to breeze means "to walk somewhere quickly and confidently"
I want to use the word in this sentence:
The crime is intense over here; you can't walk around non chalantly.
sidney
- 585
- 4
- 15
14
votes
1 answer
Meaning of "I just look out and go" in "Doctors will be, walk a couple of miles every day. And I just look out and go, can't be bothered."
From a speech by a depressed man who was told to exercise more:
And the doctors will be, just go out and do a couple of mile walk every day. And I just look out and go, can’t be bothered. Can’t be bothered. Because still in the back of my mind, I…
CowperKettle
- 36,282
- 16
- 126
- 224
14
votes
7 answers
English equivalent for the expression "only iron can cut iron"
In my native language we have the expression "only iron can cut iron" which means: a force is best confronted with a force of the same nature, or: it takes someone at the same level as someone else to defeat them.
For example:
It wasn't until…
Mohammad
- 1,425
- 11
- 25
14
votes
8 answers
English equivalent of the Russian idiom "притянуть за уши" + opposite of "to abbreviate"
I have encountered a couple of problems regarding the proper translation from the Russian language into English. Here are 2 cases:
There's an idiom that literally translates as "pull the ears" ("притянуть за уши"), which means that you are in a…
TiberiumUniverse
- 157
- 1
- 4