Calling a bread roll a “biscuit” really takes the biscuit. The word comes from French, meaning “twice cooked” (bis – cuit). Are bread rolls twice cooked? Of course modern biscuits aren’t twice cooked either but they were originally. As far as I know no Briton calls a bread roll a pudding, though weRead more
You probably have strange grammar. Pretty much every language has a different grammar style than English, as far as I know. Don’t know Malaysian, so I can’t answer that specific part. But based on your question, you have better grammar than most on the internet. So that could be it, that you’re “tooRead more
There is a certain poetic sense in which “I see” works. “I see him last night in my dreams” although not technically correct. However, generally speaking “I saw” is the right usage for past events. Much prose writing in English novels is in the present tense although they are about past events. TheRead more
Yet another update?? Could be a refined version of the Feb 7 update that shook us up. Traffic went up and down and settled to near normal after about 10 days. But last seven days have not shown any change – if anything, traffic and page views have increased a little!
No, definitely not, as others have written. It’s an extremely terrible policy to do so. I once worked for a company, that had the stated policy that security will escort you out of the building immediately upon you giving notice. So what happened? I gave notice by emptying my office one night. TheyRead more
While we do say this literally sometimes in English, we have a more common idiom that many people would probably think of first, if they weren’t translating. You have to crawl before you can walk. At least in American English, this idiom is very popular.
Your boss probably knows that this is new tech for you, and that your results take longer and are less robust. As you say in your comment, the real experts are just too busy – you’re all he’s got. Thus, don’t assume that you are performing below expectations, because you’re not expected to have mastRead more
And if I chose to stay, I’d talk with my manager about why the hours of 8:00-4:30 were important enough to make them part of the job posting, and how I was going to move the new employee back to those hours. (This all assumes that coverage of those hours wasn’t arbitrary and that adherence really waRead more
Some good answers here, let me add: I would definitely NOT apply and then try to avoid having your friend see you when you show up for the interview, like trying to schedule an interview when he’s out of town. Surely if you get the job, he’s going to find out sooner or later, and at that point it wiRead more
To expand a bit on my comment on @KateGregory’s answer, the problem you face with using your own computer is “who owns what?”. How is a line drawn between things that you do on that computer for the company vs. for yourself? If you work on other projects off the clock, can the company make any claimRead more
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Why are the British confused about us calling bread rolls “biscuits” when they call bread rolls “puddings”?
Grace White
Calling a bread roll a “biscuit” really takes the biscuit. The word comes from French, meaning “twice cooked” (bis – cuit). Are bread rolls twice cooked? Of course modern biscuits aren’t twice cooked either but they were originally. As far as I know no Briton calls a bread roll a pudding, though weRead more
How do native speakers tell I’m foreign based on my English alone?
Grace White
You probably have strange grammar. Pretty much every language has a different grammar style than English, as far as I know. Don’t know Malaysian, so I can’t answer that specific part. But based on your question, you have better grammar than most on the internet. So that could be it, that you’re “tooRead more
Is this statement, “i see him last night” can be understood as “I saw him last night”?
Grace White
There is a certain poetic sense in which “I see” works. “I see him last night in my dreams” although not technically correct. However, generally speaking “I saw” is the right usage for past events. Much prose writing in English novels is in the present tense although they are about past events. TheRead more
Google Analytics reads like a seismic chart lately
Grace White
Yet another update?? Could be a refined version of the Feb 7 update that shook us up. Traffic went up and down and settled to near normal after about 10 days. But last seven days have not shown any change – if anything, traffic and page views have increased a little!
Does Google force employees who have offers from Facebook to leave immediately?
Grace White
No, definitely not, as others have written. It’s an extremely terrible policy to do so. I once worked for a company, that had the stated policy that security will escort you out of the building immediately upon you giving notice. So what happened? I gave notice by emptying my office one night. TheyRead more
Is there an English equivalent to the French expression: “il faut d’abord apprendre à marcher avant de courir”?
Grace White
While we do say this literally sometimes in English, we have a more common idiom that many people would probably think of first, if they weren’t translating. You have to crawl before you can walk. At least in American English, this idiom is very popular.
I keep getting tasks that are above my skill level. How can I address this without coming accross as grossly incompetent?
Grace White
Your boss probably knows that this is new tech for you, and that your results take longer and are less robust. As you say in your comment, the real experts are just too busy – you’re all he’s got. Thus, don’t assume that you are performing below expectations, because you’re not expected to have mastRead more
Dealing with an employee that went over my head
Grace White
And if I chose to stay, I’d talk with my manager about why the hours of 8:00-4:30 were important enough to make them part of the job posting, and how I was going to move the new employee back to those hours. (This all assumes that coverage of those hours wasn’t arbitrary and that adherence really waRead more
How to approach applying for a job at a company owned by a friend?
Grace White
Some good answers here, let me add: I would definitely NOT apply and then try to avoid having your friend see you when you show up for the interview, like trying to schedule an interview when he’s out of town. Surely if you get the job, he’s going to find out sooner or later, and at that point it wiRead more
How do I tell my new employer that I can’t use the computer they gave me?
Grace White
To expand a bit on my comment on @KateGregory’s answer, the problem you face with using your own computer is “who owns what?”. How is a line drawn between things that you do on that computer for the company vs. for yourself? If you work on other projects off the clock, can the company make any claimRead more