Discussion Forum
This is a forum to discuss the gray areas of the English language for which you would not find answers easily in dictionaries or other reference books.
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At a dinner last night, my friend at the table put a scoop of whipped cream on his cup of coffee. I then asked, “That’s called Wiener Coffee, right?” Everyone laughed, but I wasn’t joking. As funny as “wiener” may sound, “Wien” is the proper name for “Vienna”, and “Wiener” the proper adjective for “Viennese”. In fact the word “wiener” to mean a type of sausage came from wienerwurst, “Viennese Sausage”.
Then someone else at the table said that the word “India” is never used among Indians. The same goes for “Japan” too. The proper name is “Nihon”. It seems that every non-English speaking country has an alternative name that has nothing to do with the original. Why is this? Why are English speakers compelled to ignore the original and invent their own? (Or, perhaps, this has nothing to do with English.)
The reason why I knew about “Wiener Coffee” is because in Japan, they honor the original names of most countries.
What does the “K” in “the Y2K problem” stand for?
I work for the Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System, or LASERS as it is commonly known.
My question concerns the correct usage of an apostrophe after LASERS, in instances such as:
LASERS website the LASERS website LASERS members the LASERS agencies LASERS agencies LASERS retiree billing, etc.
It seems as though it should be used in some cases, but not in others. We are very confused and would like to have your modern input on this unique situation.
Thank you very much.
Which one is correct? “As far back as I remember, the country was at war.” “As far back as I remember, the country was in war.” If both are correct, what’s the difference?
What is the word for the olive oil or garlic whose smell has been taken away? What’s the verb and what the noun? (And does anyone know how they do it?!)
Why is pawshop called pawshop?
What is the correct spelling of the thing that gets you a job and what is the name of the funny thing on top (grave or acute) of the the letter e?
Is “Endeavored” used correctly in the following: We endeavored on Fulton county warrant #123456 charging Jane Doe with Stalking.
Why are the music instruments in the definite form when they are “being played” in the sentences? “I play THE guitar”
What is the difference between says “I would” and “I used to” when talking about past habits. Someone suggested to me the difference is that “I used to” expresses an event that had regularly occured while “I would” expresses something that happened only occasionaly. However, this does not seem to be true in all cases. The particular sentence I was confused about is this:
When she was young, she would sing at the church. When she was young, she used to sing at the church.
In either case the frequency which she sang at the church is not specified. So what is the difference?
