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- pronunciation - Is forte pronounced fort or for-tay? - English . . .
Summary: The confusion may come from 'forte' as used in music for strong or loud, which is definitely pronounced 'for tay' = ˈfɔr teɪ In French, the same letters are pronounced 'fort' = fɔrt But those languages are not English, and English has its own rules, inspired by the originals but with no compunction to remain faithful, at least here with the French borrowing
- Where does the phrase hold down the fort come from?
I agree the original should be 'hold the fort' and 'hold down…' looks like an aberration Is it too much to speculate that 'hold down…' could have come from a land-lubbers variation on something like 'make all secure and batten down the hatches!" where the security is against the weather, not a human enemy?
- Differences between propensity, predilection and proclivity
0 They're essentially synonymous: Proclivity is 'leaning to', propensity is 'nearness to' and predilection is 'preference for' Worry about something more significant like the misuse of the words irony and disinterest or the mispronunciation of the the words route and forte
- Is it are or is when the noun is plural after a gerund?
Playing shooting games are is my forte Watching movies is are fun Reading books is or are good for you Do we use is or are for these sentences?
- Is forth and back more proper than back and forth?
"Back and forth" is the more correct idiom, because, well, that's the idiom There's nothing to stop you from saying "forth and back" — a little voice is repeating the subtitle to The Hobbit, which is There and Back Again, to me — but you won't be using the English idiom, you'll merely be speaking words
- word usage - How common is the French loanword métier? - English . . .
The last is yet again a French loanword but in my opinion it is far more common in speech and in writing than métier, although forte may be pronounced in three different ways, people understand it
- Is there a collective term to describe coffee and tea?
Any term to describe both of them — coffee and tea collectively? I wanted to call it beverages but that also includes drinks outside coffee and tea Also, I could call it hot drinks but that would
- Equivalent of former and latter for more than 2 items
Former and latter are valid only when there are two choices If I have a list of more than two items, is there an elegant way to say the first one or the last one?
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