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1500 questions
334
votes
13 answers
Why 11 am + 1 hour == 12:00 pm?
One hour after 11:00 am is 12:00 pm. I find this very strange. Why isn't it 12:00 am?
More descriptively, I thought we can think of the am/pm part as a time unit representing a higher amount than the numerical unit. If so, it would represent 12…
Yuki Inoue
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215
votes
5 answers
How does the "Dalai Lama walks into a pizza shop..." joke work?
On YouTube, there's that famous joke the Dalai Lama didn't understand — and neither did I. It even made headlines in my part of the world, and on some of the sites I frequent, yet nobody ever bothered to explain it. I am at a loss. I suppose pretty…
ЯegDwight
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187
votes
6 answers
Canonical Post #2: What is the perfect, and how should I use it?
This is a Canonical Post, intended as a reference and resource for both Questioners and Answerers.
The English “perfect” is deeply puzzling for learners. Nearly one Question in every twenty here asks about perfect constructions, and every Answer…
StoneyB on hiatus
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174
votes
11 answers
How should I refer to a friend who is a girl but not a girlfriend?
When I'm talking about my friend, who is a girl, but not a girlfriend, what word or phrase should I use? If the gender was unimportant, it would not be a problem. But if I want to note that the friend is female, not male, how should I say that, to…
Danubian Sailor
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159
votes
8 answers
Why "grand theft auto", not "grand auto theft"?
There is a video game series called "Grand Theft Auto".
According to its Wikipedia page:
The name of the series references the term used in the US for motor
vehicle theft.
[...]
Motor vehicle theft or, grand theft auto, is the criminal act of
…
Aleksander Alekseev
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145
votes
4 answers
“GOD is real, unless declared integer.”
I'm unable to interpret a sentence though searched and read multiple explanations.
“GOD is real, unless declared integer.” a Fortran-based witticism
Real is real number,
What's the idioms it refers to ?
Wizard
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132
votes
14 answers
Is there any difference between “which” and “that”?
What is the difference between the words which and that?
For example:
I have a car which is blue.
I have a car that is blue.
Are there any rules specifying usage of which and that?
Tom
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124
votes
11 answers
What does the line "So long and thanks for all the fish!" mean?
I got a mail with the subject "So long and thanks for all the fish!" from my Manager. What does it mean?
Chaitanya Kumar
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119
votes
10 answers
Why do we say "I love cake" but "I love cars"?
Why do some nouns need to be in the plural for that structure to work, while some are ok in the singular? E.g.: I love pizza, I love beef, etc.
I always thought it was a matter of countable x uncountable, but "cakes", for example, is countable.
San Diago
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111
votes
8 answers
Is there any difference between being ill and sick?
I can say I'm ill or I'm sick. But what is the difference between the usage of these terms?
I've heard that one can use sick for longer-term and ill for shorter-term, but is that really correct? How are these terms different for native speakers?
Danubian Sailor
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103
votes
8 answers
How can native English speakers read an unknown word correctly?
I have learned English for many years, and from the first day I began to learn it I know the dictionary is necessary for the study. One of the important aspects is that English words, unlike German and Spanish, usually can not be read correctly…
monika
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103
votes
11 answers
Free as in "free speech", not as in "free beer"
Free software is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of free as in free speech, not as in free beer. — Richard Stallman
Translating free to my language (Ukrainian), generates a huge variety of different…
Be Brave Be Like Ukraine
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102
votes
7 answers
Why does the i in "naïve" have two dots?
I have observed that the word naïve is written with two dots on the i. Why is this? Is it correct to write the word with a single dot, as in naive?
Are there any other English words with such two dots?
Masked Man
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100
votes
11 answers
Should I say "She is in the park" or "She is at the park"?
I am really confused. Which preposition is correct?
She is in/at the park.
They are in/at the park.
I am in/at the park.
Should I use in or at in these sentences?
Ana
96
votes
12 answers
How do you say 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 in words?
One of the answers in a reading exercise in my class today was:
100,000,000,000,000,000,000
... which was the value of the highest denomination note ever issued. It was a 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 Pengo note, issued by Hungary in 1946. The…
Araucaria - Not here any more.
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