Help with English: "Maybe, perhaps, possibly, probably"

[Saint]

"Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

I had heard the similar conversation in English movies many times,
I think it is Okay to speak in this way?

[Saint]

Peruvian authorities are still trying to unravel the mystery of why hundreds of dolphins ended up dead on beaches in the country over the past 2 1/2 months.

the mystery of why = is it wrong if I omit the word "why" here?

Hundreds of dolphins have at times turned up dead on beaches in various parts of the world, though the number of dolphins counted in northern Peru was particularly high. Quijandria said the country hasn't seen such a large die-off of dolphins in recent years.

at times = at intervals; occasionally: to be specific, how many months or years do we consider it is "at times"?

die-off = a sudden, natural perishing of large numbers of a species, population, or community. Is it normally linked to unknown causes?

[Saint]

Isabel Mercedes Celis Missing: Police Scour Tucson For Missing 6-year-old Girl

scour =
1. a : to rub hard especially with a rough material for cleansing
b : to remove by rubbing hard and washing
2
archaic : to clear (a region) of enemies or outlaws
3
: to clean by purging : purge
4
: to remove dirt and debris from (as a pipe or ditch)
5
: to free from foreign matter or impurities by or as if by washing <scour wool>
6
: to clear, dig, or remove by or as if by a powerful current of water

None of these definitions mean to search for something.

[Saint]

Hawke said investigators were looking into all potential scenarios, including the possibility that Isabel got up and wandered out of the home she shares with her parents and two brothers or that she was kidnapped.

Investigators also were examining every door and window of the house for signs of a break-in, Hawke said.

Both parents live in the home, so police had no indication a child custody dispute was involved but weren't completely ruling it out.

"Because of the possibility existing that this child could have been abducted, we're treating it as if it's that significant," Hawke said Saturday afternoon. "We don't want to be caught behind the ball by not exploring that possibility."

kidnap, abduct, do both mean the same? No difference at all?

caught behind the ball = ?

[Fraggle Rocker]

"Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" I had heard a similar conversation [not "the"] in English movies many times. I think it is okay [OK is capitalized, but okay is not] to speak in this way?

To speak in what way? I don't understand. People sometimes say this as a joke, implying that they haven't seen the other person in so long that he now looks different and is difficult to recognize. For example, Mr. Smith promised that he'd be home for dinner but instead he shows up at 1:00am. When Mrs. Smith opens the door she says, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

[Fraggle Rocker]

the mystery of why = is it wrong if I omit the word "why" here?

Yes, because there will be a hole in your grammar. Although I have to point out that this sentence construction is sloppy: "the mystery of why" is bloody awful grammar, only suitable for casual speech! We speak that way, but it's not correct to write that way. It would be better to rebuild the sentence from the beginning:

. . . to unravel the mystery of hundreds of dead dolphins appearing on the beaches . . .
. . . to find the mysterious reason why hundreds of dead dolphins ended up . . .

at times = at intervals; occasionally: to be specific, how many months or years do we consider it is "at times"?

That's the point: these are not regular intervals. "At times" means "sometimes," and that's all it means. It might happen six times in one year, then not at all for four years, and then once in the next year.

die-off = a sudden, natural perishing of large numbers of a species, population, or community. Is it normally linked to unknown causes?

I would say "usually," but not "always." There was a tremendous die-off of many species 65.5MYA, particularly dinosaur species; in fact this was probably what allowed mammals to flourish and become the dominant clade of vertebrates on this planet. The reason is not unknown: a giant asteroid hit the earth. So much debris was hurled into the sky that it drastically reduced the amount of sunlight hitting the surface, so there was less food.

[Fraggle Rocker]

scour = 1. a : to rub hard especially with a rough material for cleansing -- b : to remove by rubbing hard and washing-- 3 : to clean by purging : purge -- 4 : to remove dirt and debris from (as a pipe or ditch) -- 5 : to free from foreign matter or impurities by or as if by washing <scour wool> -- 6 : to clear, dig, or remove by or as if by a powerful current of water -- None of these definitions mean to search for something.

Not directly. But they mean to completely cover an entire area, giving it close attention. If you are paying enough attention to remove all the dirt and incidental matter, then you'll find anything (or anybody) that's being hidden. Also, in the process of removing the dirt and incidental matter (such as fugitive criminals who are hiding), you'll make it easier to see the victims when you get close to them.

kidnap, abduct, do both mean the same? No difference at all?

A kidnapper usually intends to demand ransom and give the child (or adult, or even a pet) back, to profit financially from his crime. An abductor may have other motives. For example, abducting a couple of influential Congressman can make it difficult for a law to be passed that might be disadvantageous to the abductor's organization. Abducting a movie star may make it impossible to complete filming a movie that a religious group finds offensive. More prosaically, abducting a football team's coach will surely make them lose their next game, or even cause it to be canceled.

caught behind the ball = ?

That's an abbreviation of "behind the eight-ball." That's a term from pool. In the particular game of eight-ball pool, one player has to sink all the striped balls and the other has to sink all the solid-colored balls. Only after you've sunk all your balls are you allowed to shoot at the 8 ball (which, being black, counts as neither striped nor solid). If you accidentally sink the eight ball before you sink your other balls, you automatically lose the game. So if you're trying to make a combination shot (bouncing one ball off of another or off of the siderails), you have to be careful that you don't accidentally sink the eight ball. In some cases you can't get a clear shot without coming perilously close to the eight ball. So that puts you "behind the eight ball." If you don't take the shot you give your opponent an advantage, but if you take it, you might lose the game by knocking the eight ball into a pocket by accident.

Having to make a tough decision with no good choices: You're "behind the eight ball."

[Saint]

You have no balls!
Does it mean you are a person showing cowardice?
Is it derogatory?

Can anyone shed any light on the phrase "No Balls"? When used in a sentence such as " you won't do that because you have not got any balls".
What is the true meaning of the phrase, what is its origin?
My understanding is that is means "a lack of courage", though some of my colleagues claim the remark can be construed as sexist. I disagree. Can anyone help?

In Malaysia, if you are a man and people say you have no balls (testes), it means you are a coward.

[Cai]

"Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

I had heard the similar conversation in English movies many times,
I think it is Okay to speak in this way?

To be!!!!Hope to do better!

[Fraggle Rocker]

You have no balls! Does it mean you are a person showing cowardice?

Maybe cowardice, but maybe just fear. The two are not identical. It's also said of people who simply perform rational risk analysis in order to achieve the highest-value outcomes most of the time.

Is it derogatory?

Yes, but unless it's said with obvious anger or hatred, in informal company it's not usually intepreted as fighting words.

In Malaysia, if you are a man and people say you have no balls (testes), it means you are a coward.

I suspect that even there it might be used by a person who takes imprudent risks, to demean another who has a more sensible approach to life.

Men in their late teens and early twenties have higher hormone production than women and us older guys, and in addition their psychological maturation is not complete so they typically don't have a good grasp on vitally important concepts like anger management and deferred gratification. So they are more likely to take unreasonable risks and perform deeds that comprise suboptimization (making things slightly better for themselves by making them much worse for other people). This is why they're the ones who are chosen to fight wars.

These are the guys who are most likely to tell the rest of us that we have no balls. And we'll see them (and their oversized testicles) in their graves.

[Saint]

Is "wanking" a bad word to say?

[Fraggle Rocker]

Is "wanking" a bad word to say?

We don't use that word in the USA. You'll have to ask someone from another anglophone country.

It's been around a long time, but I would guess that it's still considered impolite, if not outrageously bad. I wouldn't recommend using it at a business meeting, or in church, or when you go to meet your girlfriend's parents.

[Saint]

How about "shagging"?

[Saint]

HTC One S review: Onederful

http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_one_s-review-746.php

Onederful?

Is it a right word?

[Fraggle Rocker]

How about "shagging"?

Any slang words about sexual activity or excretory functions should be treated with care. Never use them among strangers, at formal affairs, in business meetings, or in any other situation where you want to be sure to make a good impression. And don't ever use them where ladies are present.

If you spend a lot of time with a certain group of people and you find that they use these words, then it might be okay for you to use them, especially if you've been accepted socially as a member of the group. This may be true even if it includes ladies. However, a wise and gallant thing to do is to pay close attention to the way the ladies speak. If they don't use these words, but merely tolerate them when the men use them, you could end up being their favorite man in the whole group if you show them the respect of avoiding these words yourself.

"Shag" is a slang word for having sexual intercourse with someone. So of course this rule applies to it.

Although fifty years ago it was a slang word for delivering architectural blueprints to a building site by motorcycle. There were no computers and no internet so everything was on paper. Motorcycles cut through traffic more quickly than cars, so a motorcyclist could deliver the documents faster than if he used a car. I knew one shagger who put 100,000 miles/160,000km on his motorcycle every year. Naturally it was a BMW.

Onederful? Is it a right word?

No. It's just a clever play on words. The company name is One S (or something like that, excuse me because I can't navigate to that website on my office workstation) so it's humorous to re-spell "wonderful" as "onederful."

There is a category of language we sometimes call "commercial speech." Of course the purpose of any speech is to communicate, but the specific purpose of commercial speech is to communicate with us in such a way that we will want to buy the company's products. Using clever language entertains us. People who have been entertained are in a happy mood, and when people are in a happy mood they spend more money.

I suppose that this quote is from a product review rather than from an advertisement published by the company. But the reviewer also has a product to sell: his writing. By making it more humorous he encourages his readers to come back and read tomorrow's review, to get more laughs.

[Saint]

Unique may be the most over-used and misused word in the English language. Something that is unique is just that -- the only one. Unique cannot be used with a modifier. An object or person may be quite extraordinary or exquisitely rare. But to hear or read something or someone described as "very unique" sets my teeth on edge more than any fingernails on a blackboard.

sets my teeth on edge more than any fingernails on a blackboard = means what?

Shakespeare used the expression in Henry IV, Part I, 1596:

HOTSPUR: Marry,
And I am glad of it with all my heart:
I had rather be a kitten and cry mew
Than one of these same metre ballad-mongers;
I had rather hear a brazen canstick turn'd,
Or a dry wheel grate on the axle-tree;
And that would set my teeth nothing on edge,
Nothing so much as mincing poetry:
'Tis like the forced gait of a shuffling nag.

[Fraggle Rocker]

sets my teeth on edge more than any fingernails on a blackboard = means what?

You may be too young to have ever been in an old-fashioned schoolroom with an actual slate blackboard. Felt erasers were used to wipe off the writing and at the end of the day they had to be taken outside and banged together to unseat all the chalk powder, making the person who was doing it sneeze. The new whiteboards can be written on with felt markers and the writing can be wiped off easily and quickly with cloth.

On the old blackboards, sometimes when a person was writing fast he'd accidentally put his fingernail too close to the surface. Then it would come in contact with the slate, and as he moved his hand it would drag on the slate against great friction. This made a terrible screeching noise, so loud that the astronauts in space could hear it.

"Nails on a blackboard" is a metaphor for any loud screeching noise that makes you scream for mercy.

[Sarkus]

^ I'm cringeing just at the thought of nails on a blackboard... the sound just pierces straight through one's core.

Saint, to "set one's teeth on edge" means that something disturbs you physically such that you wince, the same way that acid or cold may cause someone with sensitive teeth to wince. Or something very sour.
And this is the same thing that the sound does to many people, of someone dragging their nails down a blackboard... a squeaky, scrapey sound... such as this (although this isn't actually too bad).

[Xotica]

^ I'm cringeing just at the thought of nails on a blackboard... the sound just pierces straight through one's core.

That horrible sound is nothing less than... audio fleshette's

[Saint]

Fed stands pat but says will act if needed

stands pat = ?

pat can be an adjective word:
1. Trite or glib; superficially complete or satisfactory:
e.g. "A pat answer is not going to satisfy an inquisitive audience."

Policymakers nodded to "some signs of improvement" in the housing sector and, while repeating that they expect moderate economic growth in coming quarters, said the recovery should then "pick up gradually."

nodded to = when say "nod to", does it mean complete agreement? The article "to" has been used properly?