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

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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

Username

AnWulf

Member Since

June 19, 2011

Total number of comments

616

Total number of votes received

580

Bio

Native English speaker. Conversant in German, Russian, Spanish, and Anglo-Saxon.

Ferþu Hal!

I hav a pilot's license (SEL certificate); I'm a certified diver (NAUI); I'v skydived and was qualified as a paratrooper in the Army (Airborne!); I was a soldier (MI, Armor, Engineer).

I workt for a corporation, was a law enforcement officer, and a business owner.

Bachelor's in Finance; minor in Economics
Masters of Aeronautical Sciences

Strong backer of English spelling reform.

Browncoat

Now I'v written my first novel [ http://www.lulu.com/shop/lt-wolf/the-world-king-book-i-the-reckoning/ebook/product-22015788.html ] and I'm working on others.

http://lupussolus.typad.com
http://lupussolusluna.blogspot.com
http://anwulf.blogspot.com

Latest Comments

“Anglish”

  • December 12, 2011, 10:08am

@Ængelgolc ... Thanks, I wanted to be wis about it. Sometimes the marks are murky as to whether it is thought to be the root or if it is a cognate. None the less, it would be an eath thing for the "learned" folks of the time to onefoldly swap the 'h' in traht for the 'c' of tract and keep benoting the same lude but looking "smarter" by benoting the Latin one. And thus the trail of traht blends with tract. The MED has them both under one heading.

"Trail" is another one that may be wrong. Online etym says: from O.Fr. trailler "to tow," ultimately from V.L. *tragulare "to drag," from L. tragula "dragnet," probably related to trahere "to pull" (see tract (1)). Trawl: from Du. tragelen, from M.Du. traghelen "to drag," from traghel "dragnet," probably from L. tragula "dragnet."

The OED says: ORIGIN Middle English (as a verb): from Old French traillier ‘to tow,’ or Middle Low German treilen ‘haul (a boat),’ based on Latin tragula ‘dragnet,’ from trahere ‘to pull.’ Compare with trawl. ... Trawl: Middle Dutch traghelen ‘to drag’ (related to traghel ‘dragnet’), perhaps from Latin tragula ‘dragnet.’

It would seem that trail and trawl hav the same root problem as traht. The interesting thing is that traht is only benoted in the wit of comment/commentary ... nothing to do with pulling, dragging, or tracing.

@Holy Mackeral ... wlatsome is still in the wordbook.

Plural form of anonymous

  • December 12, 2011, 10:03am

Per the OED ... Latin from Greek anōnumos ‘nameless’ (from an- ‘without’ + onoma ‘name’) ... It is said |əˈnänəməs| ... anonumos would be a better spelling.

Aside from that, I vote with no plural ending 1 anonumos, 2 anonumos ... 1 nameless, two nameless.

Perpendicular

  • December 10, 2011, 9:19am

Here are three meanings given for a right angle:

M-W: the angle bounded by two lines perpendicular to each other : an angle of 90° or 1⁄2 π radians

Webster's 1913:
(a) The angle formed by one line meeting another perpendicularly, as the angles ABD, DBC.
(b) (Spherics) A spherical angle included between the axes of two great circles whose planes are perpendicular to each other.

OED: an angle of 90°, as in a corner of a square *** or at the intersection of two perpendicular straight lines ***. (stars put in by me)
-
For me, the OED is dead wrong on that last part. Two perpendicular lines would be parallel ... for them to intersect at 90º, one must be perpendicular to the other!

@Chris, if someone says that something is "perpendicular", I'm going to assume the person means more or less straight up, vertical. A perpendicular tree would be straight up from the ground ... as opposed to a horizontal tree which is flat on the ground.

The OED, as part of the meaning for perpendicular, says:
• at an angle of 90° to the ground; vertical: the perpendicular cliff.
• (of something with a slope) so steep as to be almost vertical: guest houses seem to cling by faith to the perpendicular hillside.

I find perpendicular in "perpendicular cliff" to be unneeded ...

“Anglish”

  • December 9, 2011, 7:49am

Ængelfolc ... etym frain for yu. I'm befuddled from the notations. Is OE traht from OHG or Latin? Is the OHG from Latin or from the PIE?

Looks like traht and tract were in ME ... with the credit for tract (if not from traht, then at least a cognate of traht) going to Latin. After all, the pronunciation of traht and tract would be the same to me or nearly the same ... enuff to be eathly blended.

>OE
traht m. text, passage: exposition, treatise, commentary [L. tractus]

trahtbôc f. (religious) treatise, commentary

±traht-ian, -nian to treat, comment on, expound, consider. [L. tractare; Ger. trachten]

trahtian - expound, explain (from OHG trahtðn (tractare, reputare)?)
trahtung - exposition, comment ( from OHG trahtunga?)
> ME
tract(e (n.(1)) Also (early) traht.

[OE traht, tract (from L); for 15th-cent. quots. also cp. AL tractus, perh. used for L tracttus.]

"He was enamoured with the semlynesse." [of an image in the water]. - Lydgate's Fall of Princes, 1475

... I think over 500 years of folks benoting "enamored with" is enuff to say it's ok.

“Anglish”

  • December 7, 2011, 11:24am

@Jayes ... Yes, we do "go to the polls" when we choose ... lawmakers.

Odds and ends:

Here is a word that I'v been looking at this morning:
whilend - temporary (ME whilende and whilewende). I kind like the ME whilewende better, it's eather to say.

I'v been looking for word that takes the sted of "very" as an intensifier. Ferly kind of works but what I'v seen is that was usually done with a prefix either for- ... forthirst: very thirsty; forwalked: exhausted after walking ... or, in OE, fela- ... felalêof: very dear, felasynnig: very guilty.

As it so happens, the ME "fele" is still in the wordbook! It seems to be said like "feel" rather than fe-le but I'm not sure. It is said like feel in kennings like "feelefold" (also in the wordbook) - manifold, multitude (think Ger. viel) ... said like feel-fold ... also spelled felefold ... OE felafeald.

Felest means the most, the majority.

But I like fela or fe-le for very ... maybe it is only forthan the two ludes (sounds).

I thought "forthen" would be good for "because" but it turns out that "forthen" is also still in the wordbook: even, exactly, quite, already, just as, at first, further, previously.

Well, I guess I can brook "forthen" for "exactly" ... However, both forthy (said as forthī) and forwhy are still in the wordbook for "because"!

“Anglish”

  • December 7, 2011, 9:17am

@Holy Macker ... not wis as to what yu're looking for. I'm guessing "aspect". Here are a few more plus the ones that yu found that I expanded out.

ansîen I. (on-; ê, î, ý) fn. - countenance, face; form, figure, presence:
view, aspect, sight, thing seen; surface. [ME ansene ... anseen]

mǣgwlite (â, ê) m. aspect, appearance, species, form.

sihð, +siht (ie, y) f. - faculty or act of sight; aspect: what is seen, vision, apparition.

syge I. m. - sight, aspect, view

---

andwlita (a, eo) m. face, forehead, countenance, form (anlēt, anlete, onlete in ME)
wlita m. countenance
wlîtan to gaze, look, observe.

blêo n. gs. blêos, ds. blêo, gp. blêo(na), dip. blêom, blêo(w)um - color, appearance, form

hîw (êo, îe, ý) n. - appearance, form, species, kind; apparition [hue,color]
hîwbeorht - radiant, beautiful.

scêawung (a) f. seeing, surveying, inspection, scrutiny, examination, contemplation; respect, regard: show, spectacle, appearance; toll on exposure of goods. [showing]

wlite m. - brightness: appearance, form, aspect, look, countenance: beauty, splendor, adornment
wliteandet n. - confession of splendor
wlitebeorht - beauteous.
wliteful - beautiful
wlitelêas - ugly
wlitelîce - handsomely,lovely, beautiful.
wlîtesêon f. - sight, spectacle
wlitetorht - brilliant, lovely.
wlitewamm m. - disfigurement of the face.
wliteweorð n. - legal value of a man's life, ransom
wlitig - radiant, beautiful, fair, comely; adv. -ige, -iglîce.
wlitigfæst - of enduring beauty
wlitigian - to beautify, adorn: become beautiful, form, fashion
wlitignes f. - beauty, splendor

Resume, resumé, or résumé?

  • December 6, 2011, 7:17am

^^^Oops, that first sentence should read ... as if it isn't spelled without the accent.

Resume, resumé, or résumé?

  • December 5, 2011, 8:33pm

A few folks have mentioned "cafe" as if it isn't spelled with the accent. From my OED: cafe |kaˈfā, kə-| ( also café ). It also lists resume as a variant of résumé.

M-W has all three: ré·su·mé or re·su·me also re·su·mé.

Take your pick. They're all right!

hanged vs. hung

  • December 5, 2011, 8:21pm

FWIW, the OED on my laptop says:

usage: In modern English, hang has two past tense and past participle forms: hanged and hung. Hung is the normal form in most general uses ( they hung out the wash; she hung around for a few minutes; he had hung the picture over the fireplace), but hanged is the form normally used in reference to execution by hanging ( she was hanged as a witch in April 1621).

M-W is a little looser: Hanged is most appropriate for official executions but hung is also used . Hung is more appropriate for less formal hangings

Questions

What can I do besides... October 8, 2011