Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Top 10 Words Confused in English [M]

Top 10 Words Confused in English [M] Top 10 Words Confused in English [M] Top 10 Words Confused in English [M] By Maeve Maddox My cumulative list of â€Å"words commonly confused† continues with ten that begin with the letter M. The confusion relates to spelling or meaning. 1. manner / manor Manner is a way of doing or behaving. Ex. â€Å"The waiter has a pleasant and helpful manner.† A manor is a house on an estate. Ex. â€Å"Cardinal Thomas Wolsey acquired the 14th Century manor at Hampton Court in 1514.† Until King Henry VIII took it away from him, Wolsey was â€Å"lord of the manor.† Ebook authors and celebrity-watchers seem to be especially prone to write the erroneous â€Å"lord of the manner.† 2. mantle / mantel A mantle is a cloak. The prophet Elijah designated Elisha as his successor by throwing his mantle over him. A mantel is the ornamental shelf above a fireplace on which people display trophies and knick-knacks. 3. marshal / Marshall In modern English, a marshal is an officer of the U.S. Justice Department or a parade leader. In Old English, a marshal was a servant whose job was to tend the horses. The occupation of marshal is reflected in the surname Marshall, but the double-l spelling is only for the proper name. Marshal also functions as a verb meaning â€Å"to arrange or set things in methodical order.† For example, â€Å"I’m glad that I wrote my book, because it made me marshal my thoughts.† 4. martial / marital The error here is one of transposed letters. Martial is pronounced like marshal and means warlike. Marital is pronounced with three syllables, MARE-ih-tul, and means â€Å"relating to marriage.† The error, when it occurs, is always good for a laugh. Ex. â€Å"New York law also has what is known as constructive abandonment which means one spouse refuses to have martial relations for one or more years.†- Divorce lawyer’s site. 5. meter / metre Both words are nouns. A meter is a measuring device, like a gas meter. Metre is a metric unit or a type of rhythm in verse. 6. metal / mettle / meddle Metal is a hard, shiny, malleable material used in the manufacture of tools or artifacts.  Mettle  derives from the same source as  metal  and was once used in the same way, but now is used only figuratively to mean the quality of a creature’s disposition. A saucepan is made of metal. To really test  their mettle, put presidential  candidates  in crisis. Note: A mettlesome person or animal is full of spirit. Meddlesome individuals make themselves unpopular by interfering in affairs that do not concern them; they meddle. 7. militate / mitigate Militate is â€Å"to wage war.† Its current use is usually figurative, with the sense of â€Å"to weigh against.† Ex. â€Å"All the facts militate against this policy.† Mitigate is â€Å"to make something less severe.† Ex. â€Å"Homeowners can mitigate the loss of butterfly habitat by breaking up expanses of grass with forage plants.† 8. morbid / moribund Morbid means â€Å"in a diseased state.† Moribund means â€Å"in a dying state.† Both words derive from the Latin word for death and are used literally and figuratively. 9. mordant / trenchant Both words are applied to language and humor. Mordant comes from a French verb meaning â€Å"to bite† and means â€Å"bitingly sarcastic.† Trenchant comes from a French verb meaning â€Å"to cut.† A â€Å"mordant remark† hurts, whereas a â€Å"trenchant remark† enlightens. 10. mucous / mucus Mucus is a noun: â€Å"a viscous substance secreted by the mucous cells and glands of animals.† Mucous is an adjective: â€Å"of the nature of, resembling, or consisting of mucus.† A mucous gland excretes mucus. Related posts: Top 10 Confused Words in English [A-B] Top Ten Confused Words [C-D] Top 10 Confused Words in English [E-F] Top 10 Confused Words in English [G-H] Top 10 Confused Words in English [I-L] Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:70 Idioms with HeartOn Behalf Of vs. In Behalf OfWoof or Weft?

Saturday, November 23, 2019

The eNotes Blog Education for All How Coursera is Quietly Changing the Face ofAcademia

Education for All How Coursera is Quietly Changing the Face ofAcademia How would you like to listen to lectures and participate in assignments and discussions led by professors from Stanford, Princeton, the University of Michigan, and the University of Pennsylvania, without the crushing costs of top university fees? A new start-up named Coursera is offering just that. Completely free to anyone who signs up, Coursera boasts hundreds of courses in over three dozen categories of study, everything from computer science to literature. The impetus for the start-up company was formed when Professor Andrew Ng of Stanford University offered his machine-learning class to the entire world for free and over 100,000 people signed up. What sets Coursera offerings apart from other lectures that have been made available to the general public is the fact that you can actually participate and gauge your success just like students who are indeed enrolled in these top tier institutions. Coursera participants are assigned homework and are given assessments, Ng explains. Discussions are monitored by teaching assistants, other students and the professors. Quizzes are scored online. Thousands have succeeded in passing   the classes offered. While you do not accrue credit for these classes, you do have the satisfaction of studying with the best of the best. Coursera was formed after Ngs first online machinery class. He then teemed up with fellow Stanford professor Daphne Koller to bring the now-hundreds of courses to the general public. So far, two venture capitalists have invested $15 million dollars in the company. So what will you choose? Modern and Contemporary American Poetry from the University of Pennsylvania with Professor Al Filreis? How about A History of the World Since 1300 from Princeton with Professor Jeremy Aldeman? Or maybe Game Theory from Stanford with Professor Matthew O. Jackson and Professor Yoav Shoham strikes your fancy? See the entire list of course offerings here. You can listen to the NPR report about Coursera here.   See you in class!

Thursday, November 21, 2019

2013 consuming fashion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

2013 consuming fashion - Essay Example The period around the late 70s and the early 80 witnessed a number of technological innovations key among which were in the sector of communication including the advent of the use of the internet. The technological developments therefore influenced the lifestyles of these people affecting their childhood thus their adulthood later in old age (Espinoza, 2012). The generation Y population is synonymously referred to as the millennium generation owing to the timing of the inception of the term around the millennium. Culture plays a big role in the formulation of a person’s lifestyle and that of the society. Culture refers to a society’s way of life, this includes the manner in which the people in the society dress, eat and worship. A society on the other hand refers to a group of people habiting a single geographical region. The use of the internet and other advanced commination gadgets succeeded in making the world a global village. This implies that every part of the wor ld became readily accessible by overcoming the geographical barriers. By redefining the society, the internet and the associated communication development influenced people’s understanding of cultures thus resulting in most people adopting new trends while abandon unfavorable behavior. Culture is never static and the more people interact with one another the more they adopt new likes and preferences thus changing their entire cultural understanding (Espinoza & Mick, 2010). Demographics & psychographics of the generation Y Based on their overreliance on technology and with the formation of a global village, the generation Y has no geographical barriers and exist all through the world. They are disintegrated into smaller groups with each group having its specific preferences. The members of this generation have no defining factor but are all unique from one another yet they share the media content. Their solitary lifestyles thus influences their consumption of the media content making the develop unique personalities and shopping patterns. Furthermore, the have abundant media content which provides them with a variety to choose from. The main defining characteristic of the generation Y population arises from the interactive nature of the new communication developments. This population is dynamic and very specific with their preferences a feature that influences their purchasing patterns. The internet brings the whole world together thereby expanding the market, this makes the population have an array of choices to make. It thus becomes difficult to have a presumption on the preference of this population especially in relation to their purchasing pattern. Kotler et al, (2010) asserts that this population is commonly referred to as toy children. This implies that in their childhood, members of this generation played a lot with toys a feature that influenced their development. The population consists of highly enlightened population owing to the fact that th eir parents most of who belonged to the generation X had a bit of enlightenment and therefore sought academic enlightenment for their children (Iacobucci, 2012). The less physically active childhood and the enlightened adulthood contribute to the lifestyle and therefore the purchasing pattern of the generation. peer pressure contributes the personalities that people acquire later in life, this generation experiences little f peer pressure owing to the independent lifestyles of their parents and the subsequent freedom deposited to them by education and exposure. Members of this generation therefore made selection of their friendships depending on their likes and preferences natured from their childhood. Twenge, (2006) explains that members of this g

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

The Novel John Cheever Bullet Park and John Cheever, The Essay

The Novel John Cheever Bullet Park and John Cheever, The Five-Forty-Eight - Essay Example g the absurdity of the surroundings’ and pointlessness of their behaviors and actions, his stories hold out the hope of redemption in love and sense of revenge and unforgiving attitude Such as in the story â€Å"Five-forty-Five† and his novel† The bullet park†. John Cheever was a complex person himself and during the course of his life he was saddled by the habit of alcoholism and infidelities but he presented himself so earnestly as a Man in Brooks’ brother suit, his life was as contradictory as his characters and so his writing is not neat and raises so many questions and answer’s very less.(The guardian,2009).  Cheever rightly described himself near the end of his life, in a heartbreaking sentence: "I am one of those old men; I am like a voyager who cannot remember the streams he has travelled." (Gottlieb,2002). In the novel â€Å" The Bullet Park†, author portrays an array of well kept houses and more than well mannered people of the town the Bullet Park but Cheever’s characters always has a double meaning to them and an unobserving reader might fail to see the crouching beast dangerously hidden behind those well kept houses. The story unfolds as a fateful intersection of two men the innocent Eliot Nailles and his nemesis, Paul Hammer, whose object is to murder his neighbors son, takes place. The novel has an aura of retribution from the beginning. For example the chosen names for the characters are Hammer and Nailles, which show the exact opposite of each other and every quality of hammer is lacked in a nail. It is the first impression of reckless and conflicting situation between the two characters and the author tried to expose their rivalry for each other by his blunt, quite witty and creative writing.(Shannon,1998) Cheever’s view of rivalry and revenge is also seen in the description of his characters as the two main characters’ were exactly opposite of each other, in short the characters are also in the state of conflict, not just in their

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Ethnic Groups and Discrimination Essay Example for Free

Ethnic Groups and Discrimination Essay As a Caucasian American, I did not miss wondering how I became the person who I am or how I even got here. Of course, there is history to tell us the whole tale of battles and cries. But only a few can truly admit that tracing their past became their passion. Today, history is retold and reshaped, depending on the many historic discoveries. One of the many concerns evolved in these escapades is finding the root of discrimination when man is still man despite his many colors. With that, I read along articles and observed many things to find where my white skin came from, and why this seemingly superior color gets to be discriminated against as well. History declares white people to be colonizers from Europe. In search for their spices, land, and money, they came to rest on American soil that was truly promising. There were red-skinned natives at that time when the foreigners began building their forts. They imposed their culture and nature to the simple lives of the natives. From their point of view, they were superior and the Indians were savages. On the other hand, from the perspective of the natives, these foreigners should not act as if they own the world. Simply saying, they also had thoughts against the migrants. They were simply bending to the changes, as long as they were fair. It seems that the white people were not forced to be segregated from the natives, but they were still treated differently, as they were. There was also racism. Little did the natives know how the white people think, and simply based this on their actions. One could say that the entire dilemma rooted from little misunderstanding that went out of hand. A lot of people then were closed minded against everything else that was not like their own. As a white individual in this multinational environment, I could say and believe that people of my color likewise experience a combination of all three forms of discrimination despite all arguments. Caucasian people have also experienced Affirmative Action, Reverse Discrimination and Double Jeopardy. Affirmative Action is, according to Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2005), a set of positive procedures in assisting minorities in fields of education, employment, and business. One might wonder how we, as Caucasians, can be inflicted upon by this positive reinforcement. The answer is rather simple. Since the minorities, which includes women and other ethnic groups, are given priority in the different fields, there are white people who are not given the just treatment that is due them. For example, in schools, minorities and ethnic groups are given priorities as given to them by law. However, categorizes as such does not mean they are more qualified. They are just given more attention. This may inevitably end by having qualified white individuals denied of education. Such is also the case in the workplace. Since minorities will be given priority by law, despite their qualifications they will have more chances of employment. With that, one could say that there is imminent Reverse Discrimination. An online dictionary defined the case as the exclusion of an individual who belongs to a majority class in compensation for the idea of traditional discrimination. Although early history might paint the white man to be violent and inhumane, it does not mean that the time today declares to have tables turned. White people today should not be punished for what their ancestors have done and failed to understand. In this age of knowledge, technology, and globalization people are expected to be more understanding. Unfortunately, there are people who took advantage of these changing times into their accounts and tried to rise above the other people, including the whites. It is sad that there are still individuals who fail to realize that it is better to rise with other people. There is also the form of Double Jeopardy. According to Lectric Law Library, this simply states being tried more than once for the same offense. In line to discrimination, this offense means being a white individual in the community. Being a white individual does not only call being approached differently, but likewise have the same treatment again and again. It is not a person’s fault on having that color of skin. However, they are still seen color first before the inner being. White Man is construed with different stereotypes. There are also other cases in line to Double Jeopardy. Jennifer Berdhal and Celia Moore (2006) mentioned that Double Jeopardy also exists in the work place. On behalf of the women in the workplace, they are being tried for being women, and for being women of minority groups. Simultaneously, white men are being discriminated against because they are white men. Likewise, they are being discriminated against because they are white men in the work place. They are assumed to have a common personality and perspective across their people. This hinders other people from realizing that in every race, there will also be a bad apple. In conclusion, Caucasian people might be considered as a majority ethnic group in the United States, but in their very own country, they are also being discriminated against. Seemingly superior, there are also cases wherein they are victims of Affirmative Action, Reverse Discrimination and Double Jeopardy. Despite these times of positive change and reinforcement of globalization, it is often still a sad reality that there are more things that change too slowly. Although literature, politics, and other events in the lives of human race, the battle cry to have all men equal and strong is still a whisper. It is not heard, much less practiced, regardless of what a lot of people have long been campaigning. There will always be a striking difference across different races. But the question relies on where the similarities would overpower their differences and finally live harmoniously. References Fullinwider, R. (2005 March 4). Affirmative action.Retrieved January 15, 2009 from http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/affirmative-action/. (2008). Reverse discrimination. Retrieved January 15, 2009 from http://www. yourdictionary. com/reverse-discrimination. (n. d. ). Double jeopardy. Retrieved January 15, 2009 from http://www. lectlaw. com/def/d075. htm. Berdahl, J. Moore, C. (2006). Workplace harassment: Double jeopardy for minority women. Retrieved January 15, 2009 from http://www. rotman. utoronto. ca/facBios/file/Berdahl%20%20Moore%202006. pdf.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Cultural Myths :: essays research papers

We are considered fortunate to live in the world that we do today. Material things seem to be bountiful, science and technology simply keeps on advancing, and we are all busy and hard at work in school or making money to achieve certain things in life by whatever means. In particular, science and technology has introduced so many significant inventions and conveniences to society that we cannot help but feel that we need to have these things. The products and services out there being advertised and sold are glamorized to appear faultless so that our attention is drawn to the benefits. Unfortunately, there are drawbacks and the fact that these inventions and conveniences are supposed to be quick and helpful could be a mere myth. This might lead one to ask if all the things we think we need to help us are really conveniences or merely burdensome. An example of something that is very useful and convenient, but at the same time could be very problematic would be the computer. Uses for computers have reached new heights. Aside from using them for word processing, computers serve as a source of entertainment with games and the Internet, are a means of communication, and we are able to shop in our underwear now if that’s what is preferred. The Internet alone can have you sitting in the same place for hours at a time because of all its possibilities. However, along with all of its advantages come a computer’s weaknesses. Putting a spotlight on the Internet, what poses a concern to me would be the safety of it all. Nowadays, we can not be certain that what we perceive to be private information still remains to be so. When we make purchases over the Internet, so much information is available to the person sitting on the other end, which can in turn wind up in the hands of many others without our knowledge. It takes so much more time to make sure your information is secure with passwords and usernames. Wouldn’t it simply be easier to go out and buy what you need instead of worrying about what kind of personal information could be leaking out everywhere? It would save a lot of worry and one’s sanity. However, one might agree that it saves them time to do their grocery shopping at home while they can still watch the kids or fill their prescriptions without leaving the house with swollen lips because of an allergic reaction.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Assignment Tears

Tears streamed down my face as God had provided solid confirmation that believing in Jesus was the most Jewish thing that I could ever do. † †Lev Leigh, Messianic Jewish convert (p . 65) The Story of Peter Not Just assuming how Peter Felt Drawing on The Real Mary p. 66 The struggle to accept a different messiah than was expected Lauren Winner p. 68 Conversion from an Orthodox Jew to a â€Å"JM]† dew to Messianic Jew) â€Å"One of the things that happens [when you convert] is, you feel family-less, even if your own family doesn't cast you out†¦.And so, should you convert again, you lose all sorts of things: ot Just your library and your vocabulary and your prayers, but also your family, all the people who made you their own and who made you yours. It's a good reason to only convert once, if you can help it. Because it is more than Just your religion that you lose. † (p. 70) The special kind of conversion when a Jew becomes a Christian â€Å"Jewish Ident ity' What is a Messianic Jew? â€Å"Namely, many Jews do not give up, or refuse to give up, their fundamental identity as a part of Judaism.They remain observant. These many and steadily-increasing in umber Jewish converts who retain their Jewishness are usually called â€Å"Messianic Jews† and are a part of what is called â€Å"Messianic Judaism. † (p. 71) Where do they fit into the overall church spectrum? The branches of the church: 1 . Eastern Orthodoxy (The oldest form of Christianity) 2. Western Roman Catholicism 3. Protestantism 4. Anabaptism According to McKnight they are either Anabaptist or Protestant â€Å"†¦ nyone familiar with the movement knows immediately that Messianic Judaism stands as a distinct and in many ways â€Å"primitive† form of the Christian faith, which is not to imply that Messianic Jews all practice the same faith.