TASK DEFINITION: Generate the answer for a given question. The question requires common knowledge of English. Make sure that the answer is in detail, long, consistent with the context, and requires general knowledge of English. To be less repetitive, please vary your language for each question. Give a proper explanation to answer, and if necessary, provide the definition of various terms. And conclude your answer if it's long. If you have used other resources (e.g., Merriam Webster's.) to answer the question, include citations in your answer. You don't need to paraphrase the context of your resources, but make sure that your answer is consistent and complete.
PROBLEM: When someone says I stand corrected. What does that mean?.

SOLUTION: It means 'I admit that I was wrong'. See e.g. Cambridge Dictionaries: used to admit that something you have said or done was wrong I stand corrected - the date of foundation was 1411, and not 1412 as I had written. Or Wiktionary: Said to acknowledge someone who corrects something that one says or writes that was not correct. The Battle of Hastings was fought in 1056. No it wasn't! Look in the textbook! Oh, sorry. I stand corrected - it was fought in 1066. Note that the Cambridge Dictionary marks this idiom as 'formal', and Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary as 'somewhat formal'.

PROBLEM: Possible Duplicate: Is using the possessive 's correct in 'the car's antenna'? If someone owns something I would say: Mom's car. But if the owner is not a person, does it actually own it according to English rules or common usage? Which phrase is right? The house windows. The house's windows. The windows of the house. (Or something like that.) (Feel free to modify this question so it would be clear for other people.).

SOLUTION: The second and third phrases are correct: The house's windows The windows of the house There is no requirement in the English language that possessors be people, and it's extremely common for inanimate objects to be used with the possessive 's. There is very little difference between the version that uses 's and the version that uses of. Related: Is using the possessive ''s' correct in 'the car's antenna'?

PROBLEM: Sometimes I go through articles and find the expression utilize, I've always been wondering if there are special cases in which it should be used instead of used. Also because google ngram clearly shows that used is used (sorry for that ;D) much more. Thanks for your help and happy new year!.

SOLUTION:
Some dictionaries gloss utilize as using something for a purpose that it is not normally employed for. But prescriptive grammarians are pretty clear on such use. Fowler in Modern English Usage (p670) says: If differentiation were possible between utilize and use it would be that utilize has the special meaning of make good use of, especially of something that was not intended for the purpose but will serve. But this distinction has disappeared beyond recall; utilize is now ordinarily treated as a LONG VARIANT of use. A form is enclosed herewith for favour of your utilization is an example of the pretentious diction that prefers the long word. Partidge in Usage and Abusage (p343) is typically blunt: utilize is, 99 times out of 100, much inferior to use; the other one time it is merely inferior. And here is the more contemporary Grammar Girl's similar take on the issue: [link] Nevertheless, this Usage Note from TheFreeDictionary indicates when utilize might indeed be the better choice: A number of critics have remarked that utilize is an unnecessary substitute for use. It is true that many occurrences of utilize could be replaced by use with no loss to anything but pretentiousness, for example, in sentences such as They utilized questionable methods in their analysis or We hope that many commuters will continue to utilize mass transit after the bridge has reopened. But utilize can mean 'to find a profitable or practical use for.' Thus the sentence The teachers were unable to use the new computers might mean only that the teachers were unable to operate the computers, whereas The teachers were unable to utilize the new computers suggests that the teachers could not find ways to employ the computers in instruction.

