The English Language

[soheil_hooshdaran]

I can't say either is a phrase I've used. What's the full sentence?

The first one is an example from a dictionary, and the 2nd one is my innvention.

[Mike Truran]

You can't "whitewash an alibi". The phrase makes no sense.

[Simon Brown]

You can't "whitewash an alibi". The phrase makes no sense.

Well, you can literally.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

What's the difference between "introduction" and "preface"?

[MartinCarpenter]

Perhaps some technical one - preface's coming (even) earlier or something. Fairly interchangeable though.

[Michael Farthing]

Preface

I have purposely kept this post as short as possible to offer clarity.

Introduction

In this post the author, Michael Farthing, explores the difference between Preface and Introduction with an emphasis on the differing functions of these two constructs. This contrasts with many of his other works which range from midnight fumigations to flippant one line comments with the occasional branching into attempts at serious discussion.

Chapter 1


I think there is a difference between a preface and an introduction.

A preface is usually written by author or publisher and talks about why things have been done in the book the way they have and how things have been changed between editions.

Introductions are usually (though not always) written by other people and talk about the book itself, what its ideas are, and maybe about other books the author has written.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

Thanks
What does "based in" mean in:

... she characterizes the ontological approach, in contrast, as based in ethical reflection.

[Mike Truran]

Almost the same as "based on".

[soheil_hooshdaran]

I want the nuance(s)

[soheil_hooshdaran]

What's a "structural advantage" in the center ?

[Roger de Coverly]

What's a "structural advantage" in the center ?

Structural in that context usually refers to pawn structure. So the central pawns are better placed, not being doubled, isolated or backward etc.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

What does retreive mean in:
they believe that in the rush to retrieve organs the process of dying will be curtailed or even misdiagnosed.

[MartinCarpenter]

That requires a lot of interpretation from outside knowledge to hope to understand it

It is presumably referring to the need to extract organs from people shortly after they die in order to be able to transplate them to other people later on, and some dangers of this causing very unfortunate consequences.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

What does "buck at" mean in:
For many Japanese, the specter of Westernized individualism, utilitarianism, and super-rationalism triggers emotional responses that push them towards a rhetoric of difference, even as they buck at its inherently nationalistic underpinnings.

[Barry Sandercock]

Slang for disagreeing and feeling angry towards something.