Help with English

Saint said:
diaspora = Greek word?
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Yes. In modern times, "diaspora" is generally used exclusively for the Jewish people being removed from their ancestral homes in Palestine and being forced to find new homes in other locations in Europe and Russia.

Nonetheless, there have been other diasporas throughout history, for example, the Armenian people. Many African tribes were pushed around, and of course the early history of the United States is full of shameful stories of Native American ("Indian") tribes being forced to leave their ancestral homes and start over in a different place.
haven and heaven got same root of word?
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No. Both are German, but they have different meanings. A haven is a harbor. Heaven (which is customarily written and spoken without "the" or "a") is (in Christian, Jewish and Muslim theology) the wonderful, peaceful place where religious people believe they will awake after death and live there forever. (This may also be true in the other two new related, monotheistic religions: Baha'i and Rastafarianism.)
Saint said:
switcheroo=?
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This is a slang word, based on the word "switch," meaning to reverse the location, importance, etc., of two things, which may or may not have anything in common.
Saint said:
cohort means what?
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"Cohort" is a word meaning "a group of people." Originally, it was a Latin word used by the Romans, meaning one of a group of ten divisions of warriors.
Saint said:
cooperation = collaboration? Same meaning?
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They are not 100% identical, but in most cases they can be used interchangeably. No one will be confused if you pick the wrong one.
 
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Fraggle Rocker said:
I don't think so. Both cooperation and collaboration can be either passive or active.
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The Shorter OED gives collaborate as a synonym of cooperate. The root is Late Latin com + laborare = to work together, which sounds active rather than passive. They both do.
 
geordief said:
Collaboration has more intent and a goal implied? Cooperation more passive?(can mean "to go along with" )
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Cars driving down the freeway are cooperating, even though they have different goals. Collaboration implies a common goal - e.g. writing a book.
 
Saint said:
in university, cohort means Students?
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If you have a group of friends or colleagues who are generally loyal, friendly, helpful, etc., those people comprise a cohort. This could be in an academic environment, but also in a job setting, or in a military situation.

The word "cohort" is also used to mean one person who is loyal, friendly, etc. However, this use of the word is a bit academic, so you might not hear a lot of people using it in informal speech.

Nonetheless, I hasten to advise you that the word "cohort" is not widely used in American English. If you use it, it's quite possible that a lot of people won't understand what you're trying to say.
 
Fraggle Rocker said:
If you have a group of friends or colleagues who are generally loyal, friendly, helpful, etc., those people comprise a cohort. This could be in an academic environment, but also in a job setting, or in a military situation.
The word "cohort" is also used to mean one person who is loyal, friendly, etc. However, this use of the word is a bit academic, so you might not hear a lot of people using it in informal speech.

Nonetheless, I hasten to advise you that the word "cohort" is not widely used in American English. If you use it, it's quite possible that a lot of people won't understand what you're trying to say.
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Like a close partner?I think the derivation may be(Latin) "go out together"
 
Saint said:
quiz, quizzes.
Why double "z" in plural?
Can't it be quizes ?
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A general rule in English, for which there are plenty of exceptions, is the following:

If a word is more than one syllable, a vowel is short if the consonant after it is doubled.
If you have a one-syllable word, the vowel is usually short. e.g. hat
If you make a longer word from it, that vowel length is only retained if you double the consonant. So somebody who makes hats is a "hatter". Not "hater", who is somebody who hates.

Hence quiz and quizzes. The word "quizes" would have a long "i" sound.

Equally: mat, matter. fat, fatter. bat batter. bet better. rot rotter. but butter

This is quite consistent, except with the consonant "v", where you get words like "never" (short e) and "evil" (long e)
 
There was a general feeling of oil bulls throwing in the towel this week evidenced by outflows of more than $280m in the USO, a deepening put-skew in options markets (more on that later,) 10-month lows for oil producer equities (despite global equities touching record highs) and massive downward revisions of price forecasts from banks. Goldman Sachs, SocGen and Barclays were among the firms offering negative outlook revisions but nobody changed their tune more sharply than JP Morgan who cut their 2018 WTI forecast from $53/bbl to $42/bbl.
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throwing in the towel =?
put-skew = ?
 
Saint said:
throwing in the towel =?
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This simply means giving up / surrendering / conceding.
It comes from boxing when the team/corner of one of the boxers can effectively concede the fight (e.g. if they think their boxer is taking too much punishment) by literally throwing a towel into the ring.
The fight is then stopped.
put-skew = ?
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A "put skew" is a technical term from the financial world of options.
I suggest the web is the best place to learn about it if you really want to.
E.g. http://www.volcube.com/resources/options-articles/what-is-option-put-skew/
 
Saint said:
tie = bind. Continuous form is tying ?
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To "tie" is not exactly the same as to "bind." You can only tie something if it is capable of being tied, such as a shoe lace, a necktie, a leash around the neck of a farm animal, etc.

To bind means to join two objects together in such a way as they cannot easily be separated. The obvious example would be to use glue.
Saint said:
unbridled = unchecked ?
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A bridle is something that can be used to keep an object from moving, changing shape, coming apart, etc. The most familiar use of the word describes the bridle on a horse. So "unbridled" refers to something that is not controlled in this way.
Saint said:
stay in limbo, kept in limbo = in suspended situation?
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The word "limbo" comes from the Catholic religion. It refers to an imaginary place on the border between Heaven and Hell, where young children who die before they've been baptized will spend eternity, without ever being able to visit their families. In modern times, the word has come to mean simply almost any place where things (or people) are left, ignored and/or forgotten.
Saint said:
quiz, quizzes. Why double "z" in plural? Can't it be quizes ?
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If it were spelled "quizes," it would be pronounced with a long I instead of a short I. It would rhyme with "rises."
Saint said:
throwing in the towel =?
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This simply means to give up, for example in a game which is obviously going to be lost, or in a project which cannot possibly be completed correctly. The "towel" is a rag that athletes carry, in order to wipe the perspiration from their skin.
put-skew = ?
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I've never seen this one before, but Baldeee seems to understand it.
 
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The report was especially bad news because both crude oil and gasoline inventories increased by 3.3 million barrels each at a time when stocks typically decline heading into the driving season. The increase ended several consecutive weeks of drawdowns and poured cold water on any hopes of swift rebound in prices – WTI and Brent dropped roughly 5 percent.

drawdown = ?
 
Saint said:
drawdown = ?
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To draw down something means to take away a considerable amount of it. This can result in a smaller supply, which might be a problem in the future.

A "drawdown," written as a single word, is just a combination of the two words: the act of drawing down.
 
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