Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

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porsche

Member Since

October 20, 2005

Total number of comments

670

Total number of votes received

3091

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Latest Comments

While this doesn't exactly answer your question, if you were looking for an analog to "malodorous", I'd suggest simply "bad-tasting". If you accept that "bad-tasting" should be hyphenated, then it would qualify as a single word. Somehow, I can't quite get myself to suggest "bad-taste" for a noun, though.

“Self-confessed”

  • January 31, 2011, 10:27pm

Also, "self-confessed" is usually reserved for overly-avid interests, slightly embarrassing affections, or minor harmless vices (think self-confessed choco-holic, not self-confessed serial killer) and isn't likely to have any kind of police background to its history.

“Self-confessed”

  • January 31, 2011, 10:16pm

Self-confessed means openly admitting to having a particular trait, etc. (and it's an adjective, not a noun). I don't think the "self" part is redundant. The "self' part is not referring to the person doing the confessing. It's referring to the person who elicits the confession. It describes a confession that one makes on one's own without being prodded or interrogated. It is competely self-motivated.

To illustrate:

Say, you have a gambling problem. Your wife confronts you after seeing a ten thousand dollar casino credit card charge. You admit that you can't control your gambling and beg for her forgiveness. That makes you a confessed gamble-aholic.

Now, let's say, instead, that you go to Las Vegas, waaaay to often, spend too much money there, but freely admit it to all your friends and relatives without being asked. You actually flaunt it. You gamble more than you can afford, know you have a problem, and happily let the world know about it. That makes you a self-confessed gamble-aholic.

Correct preposition following different?

  • January 31, 2011, 9:44pm

oops, that's ...proven...

Correct preposition following different?

  • January 31, 2011, 9:43pm

Really? Different to whom? Compared to the norm, some people are more different than others. And different by whose standards? Different in what ways? Some things become more different over time, and different except for certain similarities. I could do this all day, but perhaps I've already proved my point? There's nothing fundamental about "different" that requires one preposition over another. Different prepositions have different meanings. Simply choose the right one that conveys the desired meaning.

First annual vs. second annual

  • January 28, 2011, 6:36pm

Oops, "We calling them birthdays is just a shortened form." should be just "Calling them birthdays is just using a shortened form"

First annual vs. second annual

  • January 28, 2011, 6:34pm

John, it just so happens that everyone does have their first (and only!) birthday on the day they were born. What we celebrate each year afterwards are birthday anniversaries. We calling them birthdays is just a shortened form. And Tan, I'm with you.

Plural s-ending Possessives

  • January 13, 2011, 3:33am

Emmalissa, you are correct. "...the Shuman's..." would be singular possessive, as if there were only one Shuman living there, but one so famous that he or she would be not just any Shuman, but THE Shuman.

Why are some single objects plural?

  • January 8, 2011, 8:09pm

No "long bow" at all. A bicycle frame is properly made up of a main triangle and a paired rear triangle. It's called a "diamond frame". The slots that hold the rear wheel axle are called "rear fork ends" There are two. The rear triangles are not commonly referred to as a fork.

Writer or Author

  • January 8, 2011, 11:15am

I don't know if this is really the best analogy, but, at least in some cases, the difference between a writer and an author is like the difference between a painter and an artist. Someone who paints your house isn't usually called an artist. Similarly, someone who writes TV sitcom scripts, or TV ads, or catalog descriptions, or user manuals for consumer products, may be a writer, but isn't an author.