English Language & Usage Weekly Newsletter - Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Top new questions this week: Does "ruptcy" have a meaning? Does "ruptcy" have a meaning? As in bank_ruptcy. I can google translate it to other languages and it makes sense but no online dictionary has it. Feels weird to have an ending for one specific word … *meaning   asked by Miskkie 24 votes answered by Matt Gutting 79 votes Shoplifting vs. a word for "someone who orders, eats and sneaks without paying the check" Shoplifting relates more to the physical possession of goods. Stealing food vs. eating food and not paying. A shoplifter may pretend to be a customer or buy some and steal many (or vice-versa). But … *word-substitution   asked by Mysti Sinha 22 votes answered by Jim 62 votes Is there a slang word or idiom for someone who borrows money from friends or relatives and never (or rarely) pays them back? My question doesn't refer to bank loans or credit card accounts. Nor does it refer to getting things out of other people's generosity. It is specifically about money; a slang word or idiom for a … *slang *idiom-requests   asked by user463240 20 votes answered by ermanen 25 votes An English idiom for "solve a problem that has been solved"? In Polish, and I believe in a number of other European languages, there is an idiomatic expression which translates to "to force a door which is already open". It is used to describe a situation when … *idioms *phrase-requests *idiom-requests   asked by Feanor 20 votes answered by FumbleFingers 81 votes Italian vs Italic Although English is not my mothertongue, I am pretty sure the adjective for the modern country Italy is Italian as in Italian restaurant or Italian cars. I have just used the italic font for emphasis … *etymology   asked by xiver77 17 votes answered by medica 22 votes Was "an unicorn" ever correct? According to Biblehub and Bible Gateway, King James's Numbers 23:22 says: God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. I don't have a hard copy to check. Is that … *grammaticality *articles   asked by Cees Timmerman 15 votes answered by Peter Shor 27 votes It's all downhill from here The phrase "it was all downhill from there" seems to have two, contradictory meanings. The first indicates that things have since gotten a lot worse. For example (from … *meaning *phrases *expressions *ambiguity   asked by spacetyper 13 votes answered by Josh61 10 votes Greatest hits from previous weeks: Punctuation for the phrase "including but not limited to" This is my first question on this stack exchange. I'm hoping this kind of question is welcome here, and excuse my ignorance, but my confusion evident below is exactly why I am a Software Engineer … *grammaticality *grammar *punctuation *comma *colon   asked by Cory Gross 6 votes answered by Barrie England 7 votes Difference between "supposedly" and "supposably" What is the difference between supposedly and supposably? Both are real words but seem to have confusingly similar definitions. Supposably: Capable of being supposed : conceivable … *meaning *differences *adverbs   asked by Lumpy 12 votes answered by orangemike 13 votes Can you answer these? Use of sit with have not I know that third form of sit is sat and "have" uses third form with it,but still I have seen articles documented with "have not sit" inplace of "have not sat",which of the two is correct.Am I missing … *tenses   asked by Mayank katare 1 vote Are there other acceptable juxtapositions of polysemes? An advert for BBC iPlayer read [I've dropped the comma]: Making the unmissable unmissable. The first 'unmissable' obviously has the sense 'too good to miss', and the second 'always accessible' - … *polysemes *reduplication   asked by Edwin Ashworth 1 vote 'How long of a ...' Please settle an argument for me! Is it correct to say 'How long of a sentence [can you make]' as opposed to 'How long a sentence can you make' Which is correct? Thanks! *phrases   asked by Hayley 1 vote

Subscribe to more Stack Exchange newsletters Unsubscribe from this newsletter or change your email preferences by visiting your subscriptions page on stackexchange.com. Questions? Comments? Let us know on our feedback site. If you no longer want to receive mail from Stack Exchange, unsubscribe from all stackexchange.com emails. Stack Exchange, Inc. 110 William St, 28th Floor, NY NY 10038 <3