Brisco_4

I had about $100,000 invested in five mutual funds last year. I sold all $100,000 of it throughout the year. They were all worth less when I sold them than they were when I bought them. In other words, I lost money. I just needed the cash.

So, do I have to pay taxes on that $100,000 as if it were income? I know I have to pay taxes on the dividends paid out, but what about that $100,000 I got from selling them? Again, I lost money on all five.

By my count, I've gotten 541 best answers in the Words & Wordplay category. The person currently in the No. 10 spot in the category has 536 best answers. Why am I not in the tenth spot? Does it take them a while to update that stuff? I passed her few days ago.

List as many words as possible. Thanks!

List as many things as possible. Thanks!

List as many things as you can. Thanks!

List as many things as you can. Thanks!

I'm new to all this, and I'm just wondering what "2-up" and "3-up" mean. Thanks.

I shall give 10 points to the first person who correctly uses a semicolon.

I work in an office. A pretty laid-back office. I sometimes hear people use the term "gal" to refer to a woman or "gals" to refer to women. Isn't this the same as "chick" or "broad"? When I hear "gal," I think of a young, flighty 1950s secretary or housewife. I don't think of a modern professional female businesswoman.

Make no mistake—I have no problem with any of those words. It takes a lot to offend me personally. But why is it considered disrespectful and sexist (in the workplace) to use the terms "chick" and "broad," but it's okay to say "gal"? Just trying to understand the difference.

And by the way, when I do hear "gal," the speaker is almost always over the age of 50.

I work in an office. A pretty laid-back office. I sometimes hear people use the term "gal" to refer to a woman or "gals" to refer to women. Isn't this the same as "chick" or "broad"? When I hear "gal," I think of a young, flighty 1950s secretary or housewife. I don't think of a modern professional female businesswoman.

Make no mistake—I have no problem with any of those words. It takes a lot to offend me personally. But why is it considered disrespectful and sexist (in the workplace) to use the terms "chick" and "broad," but it's okay to say "gal"? Just trying to understand the difference.

And by the way, when I do hear "gal," the speaker is almost always over the age of 50.

Everyday, there are several posts on here asking is this a word or is that a word. Is "stupider" a word? Is "fantabulous" a word? People chime in and declare either yes or no. Often, they use a dictionary. They say if it's in a dictionary, it's a word and if it's not in a dictionary, it's not a word. Who agrees with that?

According to the beloved dictionary, a "word" is "a speech sound, or series of them, serving to communicate meaning and consisting of at least one base morpheme with or without prefixes or suffixes; unit of language between the morpheme and the sentence."

I'd say that's a pretty liberal definition. It doesn't mention anything about a "must be in the dictionary" requirement. The way I interpret it is, if one person makes a sound, and another person understands what that sounds means, then that sound is a word.

Who regularly uses the word utilize? Who does not? Either way, why?

I'm a proofreader, and it's my job to send out biweekly grammar tips to all of the employees at my company. We've got about 125 employees, most of whom are native English speakers. If I use the terms "subject" and "object," will most people know what I'm talking about, or should I explain it? I'm trying to make the tips as concise as possible, so I don't want to explain something that doesn't need explaining.