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1500 questions
30
votes
4 answers
Why is it "crouching tiger hidden dragon" but not "crouching tiger hiding dragon"?
Why is the movie named
"crouching tiger hidden dragon"?
This is mainly a question about present and past participle.
Why can't it be "crouching tiger hiding dragon"? Since the dragon must've been hiding voluntarily, instead of being hidden by…
HypnoticBuggyWraithVirileBevy
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30
votes
2 answers
Why can't I contract "it has" sometimes?
Why can we contract "it has" to "it's" in some sentences but not others?
For example:
Why is this correct
It's been moved (It has been moved)
this incorrect
It's four legs (It has four legs)
and this correct
It's got four legs (It has got four…
Tom Brown
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30
votes
3 answers
Why is it correct to say "me busy."?
I was playing Warcraft. I clicked on my peon.
He told me: "me busy. leave me alone."
Why is it OK to say it that way instead of just "I'm busy."?
Snack Exchange
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1 answer
What's the meaning of " you're being G.O. Sixteened."?
Some of the lines of the American drama Manifest that confused me:
It was said by a Policewoman boss to his subordinate
Look, you're being G.O. Sixteened. Do you understand? They catch you lying, you get fired. Automatically.
I googled "G.O.…
scarlett
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30
votes
9 answers
How to deal with unknown genders in English?
When I start a sentence with words like "someone" or "somebody", I don't know how to choose the right pronoun at the end of the sentence.
Examples:
If anybody asks you about the money, tell (Him - Her - It - Them) that it is in my bank…
Michael George
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30
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4 answers
What's the accepted way to use "criterion", "criteria", "criterions"?
In many publications, especially IT related, I find lots of expressions with criteria e.g.
What is your criteria ...
What are your criteria ...
What are your criterias ...
English dictionary says that criteria (or criterions) is a plural form of…
Tom
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30
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16 answers
What would you call someone who sneaks into and stays in places where they have to be signed up, e.g. classes/country clubs
At my school I used to be in athletics class even though I didn’t sign up or paid to be there, I just simply started acting as if I was part of the team. How would you call a person like that?
Ashley Lawrence
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3 answers
Plastic part on the tip of a shoelace
What is the common English name for that "plastic part on the tip of a shoelace" which helps to easily insert the lace into the shoelace holes? (I'm not sure that's the correct name).
Edit: There are also metal parts of the kind.
SovereignSun
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30
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1 answer
What is the meaning of Brown-Bagged it?
Some unknown guy punched Brendan. Brendan appeared before V.P Trueman.
V.P Trueman: So you didn't know this boy?
Brendan: No sir, never seen him.
V.P Trueman: And he just hit you?
Brendan:Like I said, he asked for my lunch money first. Good thing…
The Hawk
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30
votes
2 answers
In how many ways can something not be right?
There's this large source of confusion among learners and sometimes even native speakers. They tend to think if something doesn't sound right to their ears, it must be ungrammatical, while that's at times not the case.
Often we hear things like hey,…
M.A.R.
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30
votes
6 answers
What is the document called that parents have to sign so their underage children can take part in something?
When you're a kid and you want to go to some event or a school excursion you have to bring a document signed by your parents saying that they've given their permission. What is this document usually called?
Arthur Corenzan
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30
votes
5 answers
Assigned to a job I know nothing about it - is there an idiom for that idea?
I'd like to know an idiom that let me express the idea of being assigned to a job/task you have no clue at all. My first language is Spanish, and we have a cool idiom for this situation (rough translation: I was sent straight to war!), but I don't…
dmoya
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29
votes
10 answers
Is 'no more' used to mean 'dead' in English?
Do the English or the Americans use no more to mean 'dead'? For example, do they say "He is no more" to mean "He is dead"?
Ajmal
29
votes
4 answers
"You've earned the 'Nice Answer' badge" vs. "You've earned a 'Nice Answer' badge"
From the StackExchange notification system:
Can we use a instead of the here?
You've earned a "Nice Answer" badge (Answer score of 10 or more) for "In English literature" or "In the English literature"?
or would this use of "a" will be…
CowperKettle
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29
votes
6 answers
Difference between 'One to One' and 'One on One'
I have been confused about the difference between "one to one" and "one on one".
Which one is more appropriate of the following?
We will have one to one meeting?
We will have one on one meeting?
Just_another_developer
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