33
votes
Accepted
What is the correct term "back-end", "back end" or "backend"?
I don't think you're going to be corrected or admonished for using any of these three. Google understands you perfectly no matter how you type it. Wikipedia features all three as well.
Personally, I'...
- 7,546
24
votes
What is the correct term "back-end", "back end" or "backend"?
You can
Spell it as back end when used as a noun, as for example "I am working on the back end of a project", and
Spell it as back-end when used as an adjective, as for example "The back-end ...
- 628
23
votes
"Rollbacked" or "rolled back" the edit? And what about "double-click"?
In your examples
rollback
is a compound word consisting of the verb to roll and the preposition back.
It is similar to
turnoff
which is composed of to turn and off.
The past tenses are
...
- 65.4k
17
votes
Accepted
"Rollbacked" or "rolled back" the edit? And what about "double-click"?
Tenses always apply to verbs, so to see where to apply it, you need to figure out which part of the compound (or hyphenated) word is the verb.
"Rollback" is a compound word, consisting of the verb "...
- 306
16
votes
why "American-born", not "America-born"?
There are 2 ways to express the country of birth.
born as a(n) [American, Canadian...]
rewritten as:
[American, Canadian...]-born
born in [America, Canada...]
It is similar with the pattern:...
- 8,914
13
votes
Two Grammatical questions over sentences extracted from The Economist
Your interpretation is correct. "It" refers to the capture of the drone under the described conditions.
I had completely missed the extra "a" hiding in plain sight. Yeah, that's a typo. It should ...
- 5,451
11
votes
Why it is called "homesick" instead of "parents sick"?
We don't use "homesick" for a child crying on the first day of school. When people are homesick, it actually is from missing their home. Usually the familiarity of it, the ability to be oneself there, ...
- 621
11
votes
"Backyard" vs "Front yard" - same but different
Collins considers "back yard" as two words permissible in British English.
Of course, in British English the standard term is usually "back garden" (always two words), but "...
- 22.4k
10
votes
Accepted
What are the differences between the nouns, "shoot" and "shot"?
shoot & shot are film/movie & professional photographic terms.
shoot describes the 'event' at which film stock is used to make the movie/photographs.
The shoot is a general term for the ...
- 11.8k
10
votes
Two word compounds ( type file or file type )
the rule for word order in this case is
{type}{thing}
so, to take your examples in order:
phone number
the thing that you have (say 01234 567890) is a number. What type of number is it? it's a ...
- 1,036
10
votes
Why do we say "a one-legged man", with a final -ed, but also say "a one-person job" without?
The past participle formed from a part of the body(eye, arm, leg, foot, etc) means "having said body part", as you say; a number in front indicates how many there are:
a three-legged stool
a ...
- 119k
10
votes
Accepted
On the expression "sun-down"
I think this is no different in English than in your own native language. You can make up almost anything you like, but you have to consider the following:
Has it been used before, and if so, does ...
- 87k
9
votes
Should I use "in between" or "inbetween" in the following sentence?
In between (2 words) is the correct punctuation for an adverbial phrase, which is how the phrase functions in your sentence. It's also the correct punctuation for a prepositional phrase (e.g., "I live ...
- 191
9
votes
How can I correctly form collocations such as 'cough trouble'?
The phrase you're looking for is noun adjunct or adjectival noun. In English, we can use a noun like an adjective to modify another noun. The second noun is the thing itself - in this case, trouble. ...
- 34.8k
9
votes
What is the correct term "back-end", "back end" or "backend"?
From the Microsoft Style Guide:
back end, back-end
Don't use if you can substitute a more specific term, such as server,
operating system, database, or network.
Two words as a noun. ...
- 191
9
votes
Accepted
Which two clauses should be compounded in this sentence?
Both interpretations of the sentence are correct, but convey subtly different meanings. The meaning could have been clarified if they had added commas and chosen "which" or "that" appropriately.
The ...
- 4,634
8
votes
Accepted
What does "red-rope" mean?
It is common at publicity events such as film premiers for the stars to walk along a red carpet to the event's entrance.
Lesser mortals, both press and public, are kept behind a barrier and off the ...
- 7,988
8
votes
why "American-born", not "America-born"?
"American-born" means that someone was an American citizen from birth. It doesn't necessarily mean they were physically "Born in the USA."
"America-born" does mean they were physically born in the ...
- 3,559
8
votes
On the expression "sun-down"
Meriam-Webster gives actual definitions for both of those words.
Sundown:
: SUNSET sense 2
Sunup:
: SUNRISE
In short, both of these are fine:
She took a factory job working from sundown ...
- 35.9k
7
votes
Accepted
Ligatures in 'shelfful'
Shelfful is different from scaffold because it is a compound word (shelf + full), so the two f's are truly separate. Removing the ligature between the f's re-emphasizes this construction. ...
- 8,124
7
votes
Accepted
What are constructions like "the getting-to-know-you stuff" called?
In the "getting-to-know-you stuff", the hyphenated part is a 'modifying phrase'. It basically fulfills the role of an adjective. Outwardly it reminds a 'compound adjective', but does not have the ...
- 36.2k
7
votes
Which two clauses should be compounded in this sentence?
Both alternants are plausible, though it’s not about 'compounding' two clauses, but about a coordination of two verb phrases.
[1] He asked a lot of questions which [were none of his business] and
...
- 13.2k
7
votes
Left handside, left hand side, left hand-side?
It's "left-hand side", the side nearest the left hand.
"Left hand" forms a compound adjective and so should be hyphenated.
- 5,292
7
votes
On the expression "sun-down"
First, the sentence is an idiomatic way to say that she was working a long night shift. Her work hours weren't really tied to the sun's rising and setting. Depending on a city's latitude, the ...
J.R.♦
- 108k
6
votes
A sentence may contain two nouns back-to-back. How are these nouns written?
The general rule for noun phrases like this is to separate them by spaces.
However, many* specific pairs of words have exceptions and are either written hyphenated, or are even merged into a new word ...
- 9,409
6
votes
Accepted
Should I use "in between" or "inbetween" in the following sentence?
Between on its own is a preposition while in-between functions more like an adverb.
We usually use between before the object it refers to:
Between life and death is a long, hard life.
In-between ...
- 7,546
6
votes
Reordering complex sentences
It is hard that I can't see you [2]
This matter that I can't see you is hard for me [4]
that I can't see you is hard [3]
that I can't see you is hard for me [1]
I've ranked according ...
- 119k
6
votes
Accepted
correct use of hyphens to connect two words
Two words are joined by a hyphen when the collocation occurs in a non-standard context. For instance, we speak of the front end (space, no hyphen) of a car when this acts a noun phrase:
The front ...
- 173k
6
votes
Why it is called "homesick" instead of "parents sick"?
The historical reason is given here:
homesickness (n.) 1756, translating German Heimweh, from Heim "home"
(see home (n.)) + Weh "woe, pain;" the compound is from Swiss dialect,
expressing a ...
- 11.6k
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