I'm writing an essay on the misuse of grammar on the Internet and I'm looking for an example where using common abbreviations/misspellings can lead to misunderstandings. For example: No, I too know two. no i 2 no 2. In this case, different words are "condensed" into the same abbreviation...

It is offensive in Russia. Though, Russians mostly use the term "chukcha" (single from Chukchi, or Chukchi people). 95% of Google search results by чукча(chukcha) are anecdotes or parts of absurdopedia.net, very detailed but sarcastic narration. And the term itself is rather synonym of ane...

I'm trying to write this essay and I find myself writing too many "not only ... but also ..." structures. Can you guys help me come up with some alternatives? Basically, I want this kind of progressive effect: Doing this is not only fun, but also one of the most important activities of human...

What is the type of sentence exemplified below called? Is it appropriate to use it in a scientific paper and formal written English in general? 1. The more pronounced the variation, the more the waste. 2. The more you give the more you get. 3. The longer I live, the more I real...

I have come across a number of expressions (both...and..., if...then...) which are named as "correlative" in different grammars (namely Quirk et al.). The question: What makes an expression a correlative one? Do you know any definition in the Literature?

If you want to take advantage of some other Spring-fu, like some of its aspect-oriented features, then you’ll need to use this heavy-handed, direct object management technique.

Are there other literary examples where-in a character or subject eventually morphed into descriptive verb/genre?

Nabakov, Burroughs, Mundi come to mind...

Important change End users can not mark questions wiki anymore, so the only appropriate way to get action on a question you believe really should be wiki, is to flag it for moderator attention. A couple points.. Vote-to-wiki will not be implemented. When the answer to a problem is "let's ma...

Important Change - Status completed Users can not mark questions wiki anymore, across the network. I have an easy idea for a fix. Disable the option to mark questions community wiki by the question author. (allow them to become CW naturally if thats what GxD wants, or allow moderators to) ...

How can a post be deleted? You can delete your own posts Moderators can delete any post Users with a reputation >= 10K can vote to delete a question after it has been closed for 48 hours. At >= 20K, users can vote to delete as soon as it is closed. It takes 3 votes to delete... more if the ques...

I've seen it both ways: Lorem ipsum (dolor sit amet.) and Lorem ipsum (dolor sit amet). Which is the appropriate punctuation? I presume other punctuations (semicolon, comma, etc.) would follow the same rule?

Recently I was told by a potential interviewer for a job that we would be having a "high level conversation" soon. I assumed at the time that she just meant a conversation with a higher-up, e.g., her boss, but suddenly am not so sure. So I'm curious. Have you heard that term before, and what ...

I am a ardent believer in proper grammar and I like to portray that belief in my own writing, whether casual or professional. My biggest problem is that my fingers sometimes type differently than my mind commands. I always proofread any email before sending it, but more often than not I read what...

Why is “cannot” spelled as one word whereas other similar constructions such as “do not,” “will not,” “shall not,” “may not” and “must not” are spelled as two words (unless they are contracted as “don’t” and so on)? (I know that languages are not always logical, so I would not be too surprised i...

This is that rare case when I disagree with Microsoft in its decision Microsoft has decided to stick with "cannot" (dropping "can not") in its docs As I understood, the answer(s) to this question told about possibility of 2-word "can not" only. I'd like to add on cases of impossibility of usi...

One of the essential components of the FAQ will be the list of on-topic and off-topic subjects for questions. Following the model used by the webapps site, let’s use this question to vote on what topics should be on and off topic.

The word scientist comes from the Latin scientia, but when did its usage become more prevalent than the term natural philosopher?

Why do you say Bless you when people sneeze? Is there good reason or history? When someone sneeze, if I don't say Bless you, am I rude?

What is the appropriate response when somebody sneezes? It's common to say “bless you” or “god bless you”, but to an Atheist that's meaningless. Currently, all I can think of is the German "Gesundheit", which means "health", I think. But I don't like saying that!