I am looking for a word that means "Tendency to avoid something". At first I thought that the word aversion fit the bill, but then I learned that its definition was "A strong dislike towards something." For example, most people have an aversion towards feces. I am looking for a word that means cl...

I'm a strong swimmer, and I enjoy recreational lap swimming in pools. I enjoy sitting by an outdoor pool on vacation, and swimming to cool off. But, I detest swimming in natural water (lakes, rivers, oceans, etc.). I will go out of my way to avoid it. I'm not afraid of doing so. I've never h...

The fact is the site would never work if you had to comment on a downvote. I create internal applications at my company that work sort-of-similar to SE and the ones that have less rules get used more. It would take too long. As most users might be OK with the time, it would keep them from loo...

I think this is a chicken and the egg argument. The notion that testimony springs forth from the testicles and/or their use as an agent of swearing truth appears spurious. And, in fact, conceptually the etymology seems to have gone in the opposite direction. The concept of testicles from the l...

In response to the initial question, not the etymology: The original post notes that the reason for the practice was incidental and unique to Abraham, and the underlying principle is more generic. Since one (a Jew) who swears must take with his hand an article related to a mitzvah (In fa...

Aversion is an acceptable word for this. Read definition number 3. Aversion is a strong dislike, but it carries a sense of repellence, too. Per Merriam-Webster: It is a tendency to extinguish a behavior or to avoid a thing or situation and especially a usually pleasurable one because it is...

In Hebrew there is a difference, although often overlooked in spoken Hebrew, between the word "to borrow" for something that is intended to be returned "as is" such as a tool or a vehicle, and the word "to borrow" for something that will not be returned, but an equivalent replacement such as mone...

I've always wondered this but never asked. Given this statement: Energy can be neither created nor destroyed. Should it be or or nor? This is on Wikipedia so they are probably correct in saying nor but why is this so? In my opinion it sounds like it should be or. The more I think of it the...

I HAVE GOT A CAR. MEANING YOU HAVE IT IN YOUR POSSESION CURRENTLY OR HAVE IT AROUND SOMWHERE. POINT IS YOU HAVE IT

Given these facts: The tool cannot be found in the kitchen. The tool cannot be found in the bathroom. Which is the correct sentence to represent the situation above? I can find the tool neither in the kitchen nor in the bathroom. I cannot find the tool neither in the kitchen nor in t...

Sure, your sentence is ok. I assume it means: This person looks nothing like you — nor like anyone, for that matter. Not all instances of nor need be paired with neither. Here are citations from the OED demonstrating this: A. 1586 Sidney Arcadia (1613) 41 - She concealed her sorrow...

Is there a typesetting guide for English on the web somewhere, whether UK or American or both? I’m thinking of something with rules for correct hyphenation, punctuation, dashes, commas, correct typesetting of abbreviations, numbers, time, and so on and so forth.

Beta Q&A site for professional graphic designers and non-designers trying to do their own graphic design (e.g. programmers creating icons/logos for their applications)

Currently in public beta.

Which is correct? "The book has no marks, tears, wrinkles or writing." "The book has no marks, tears, wrinkles nor writing." (I understand the use of neither/nor and either/or.) In this case, I thought the first sentence "no/or" was correct, but was told that "no/nor" was the cor...