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  1. Origin of the phrase, "There's more than one way to skin a cat."

    Jun 30, 2011 · There are many versions of this proverb, which suggests there are always several ways to do something. The earliest printed citation of this proverbial saying that I can find is in a short story by the American humorist Seba Smith - The Money Diggers, 1840: "There are more ways than one to skin a cat," so are there more ways than one of digging for money. Charles Kingsley used one old British ...

  2. "Particulate" vs. "particle" [closed] - English Language & Usage …

    What’s the difference between particulate and particle? Should it be diesel particulates or diesel particles, and why? Could you provide three or more examples where it should use particulate rat...

  3. Origin of the phrase "Now we're cooking with

    The original is "Now You're Cooking With Gas", supposedly part of an ad campaign from the era when gas stoves first started replacing wood stoves for cooking in the home. The Wikitionary entry cooking with gas offers some insight, but I couldn't locate a specific ad campaign, or any other corroborating materials. This article suggests that this would have been early in the 1900s.

  4. Are names of chemicals not proper nouns? - English Language

    Apr 22, 2024 · Product names which are derived after an inventor's name will often remain capitalized, though not always (e.g. the petroleum distillate used to power trucks and locomotives is called "diesel" rather than "Diesel" even though it's named after the inventor of the four-stroke compression-ignition engine for which that fuel was formulated).

  5. Same adjective for two nouns - English Language & Usage Stack …

    May 17, 2015 · The government placed restrictions on both diesel fuel and diesel engines. Here I dont want to repeat the diesel. I cannot write: The government placed restrictions on both diesel fuel and engines.

  6. Difference between 'accident' and 'coincidence' [closed]

    Mar 1, 2017 · In many dictionaries there doesn't seem to be a difference between those two words (if they express that something unexpected happens), but my English teacher told me that coincidence is rather used than accident. However, Vin Diesel used it and that's why I was still uncertain, mostly about when to use accident and when coincidence.

  7. formality - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

    Feb 9, 2018 · An alternative wording of the sentence could be We are dealing with a case of a negative externality of consumption, which results in oversupply and greater consumption of diesel than is socially optimal. The other sentence is grammatical as it is, but I would agree with Jesper's suggestion to change "revolution in how" to "revolution in the way".

  8. What is the origin of "sucker" and "it sucks"?

    etymonline has for suck: O.E. sucan, from PIE root sug-/suk- of imitative origin. Meaning “do fellatio” is first recorded 1928. Slang sense of “be contemptible” first attested 1971 (the underlying notion is of fellatio). and sucker: “young mammal before it is weaned”, late 14c., agent noun from suck. Slang meaning “person who is easily deceived” is first attested 1836, in ...

  9. meaning - "Flammable" versus "Combustible" - English Language …

    Gas is flammable, diesel vapour combustible. In England I was always taught that the difference between flammable and inflammable was that inflammable required a flame to permit burning.

  10. word choice - What types of sounds do cars make? - English …

    Mar 27, 2012 · Modern cars aren't supposed to make much noise at all. There's the comfort of travellers and the general public near the highway to consider, not to mention the fact that fuel economy implies aerodynamic body shape. At most, what we're looking for …

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