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1500 questions
54
votes
6 answers
Why is "Mary told the cake to be cut by John" ungrammatical?
Mary told the cake to be cut by John.
A textbook says that this example is ungrammatical, but it seems to make sense to me: where does the sentence have its fault?
Listenever
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54
votes
6 answers
When a girl mentions her girlfriend, does she mean it like lesbian girlfriend?
I have a classmate and sometimes she says something like "I told my girlfriend that she has to blah blah".
Does this wording imply a lesbian relationship, or is she referring to a her best friend (a girl) only?
Ashkan S
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53
votes
3 answers
Help to do something or help do something?
I wrote:
I will help you to acquire Russian.
A native English speaker corrected me saying that 'to' is unnecessary here. Is it correct to say
"I will help you acquire Russian"
Eugenia Vlasova
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52
votes
9 answers
What's the meaning of "break your legs"?
One of my friend told me to break my legs before entering the examination hall...I was confused with her words! How am I supposed to sit for the exam if i broke my legs? Or maybe is it kind of idioms/phrases?
Wendy lly
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52
votes
3 answers
What does "viewer discretion is advised" mean?
Viewer discretion is advised.
I've stumbled upon this phrase a few times (mainly at the beginning of video clips or movie trailers), but I'm still not quite sure what it really expresses. What is actually advised here? Oxford dictionary suggests…
falconepl
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52
votes
2 answers
Is "cops" (= police) a slang/derogatory term?
So, I was with a friend getting Starbucks. While talking to him I used the term "cops" . A customer waiting for their coffee said
"We don't say 'cops' honey, it's disrespectful." Looked at my university hoodie and said "Oh, look you go to [ ... ],…
AIQ
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52
votes
8 answers
In the sentence: "Drinking and driving IS dangerous", why does the verb "to be" need to be singular?
In the sentence: "Drinking and driving is dangerous". Drinking and driving are both subjects and the word dangerous is the object (I think) but why do I have to use the verb to be in singular?
claudio sepulveda
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52
votes
7 answers
Why are nice picture/gif/video about foo called "foo-porn"?
I was browsing Reddit and I discovered many subreddits named after foo-porn, to name just a few:
/r/EarthPorn
/r/FoodPorn
/r/Map_Porn
/r/ruralporn
/r/shockwaveporn
/r/SkyPorn
/r/unixporn
It seems that foo-porn means nice picture/gif/video of foo,…
nalzok
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52
votes
3 answers
What is the correct term "back-end", "back end" or "backend"?
I have a question.
What's the correct term?
Back-end, Back end or Backend
I'm a software back-end developer
I'm a software back end developer
I'm a software backend developer
Mateo Guzmán
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52
votes
2 answers
The college in 'Electoral College'
By college, I understand as a school or a university. How to make sense of the College in the term 'Electoral College'?
John
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51
votes
11 answers
Explain why "Who is she playing the piano?" is incorrect
A teacher asked me this question and I am having a hard time finding a simple way to explain it for her to share with her students. I`m looking for the easiest way to explain it to her because she teaches Junior High School English in Japan.
The…
Hojo
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50
votes
5 answers
Why is "Dick" a nickname for "Richard"?
It makes no sense to me. Dick sounds absolutely nothing like Richard. Other English nicknames confuse me as well. Bob for Robert, Bill for William, Jim for James, though they are still a bit closer to their original than the whole Dick-Richard of it…
Hefe
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50
votes
9 answers
Can I say "fingers" when referring to toes?
In my native language, there is no word for toes. You just use the same word for both toes and fingers. In this context, I would say a human has 20 fingers.
Recently I've heard someone saying a human has 10 fingers (without saying it out loud but…
aMJay
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49
votes
6 answers
'Ask away' - what does 'away' mean?
“Sir,” said Harry, reminding himself irresistibly of Voldemort, “I
wanted to ask you something.”
“Ask away, then, my dear boy, ask away. . . .”
In this sentence, I don't know what does 'away' mean?
I understand what 'away' means in these…
Dasik
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49
votes
10 answers
"Ice cold" vs. "___ hot" in a professional context?
Suppose I just had Iced Coffee with hot chocolate cake and I want to describe it to others.
I can use "I had an ice cold coffee" but then I'm stuck with the second part. None of the things I can think of really fits, e.g. "steam hot", "sun hot",…
Shadow Wizard Love Zelda
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