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.

Q: Overheard on an elevator today, I didn't realize it was him. Corrected by the know-it-all, He. 'I didn't realize it was he.' The know-it-all then went on a rant about how everybody is a dolt for not knowing that. I swear I have never heard this before in my life. Is the know-it-all correct? If so, why is 'I didn't realize it was he,' grammatically correct? What rule makes 'him' incorrect here?.

A: The 'rule' is that the verb to be, in any of its forms, is a copula that takes a predicate rather than an object, hence 'It is I' and other phrases beloved of English teachers in junior schools. There are various theories about the reasons for this, but the truth is that it has become a shibboleth to distinguish those who had 'a proper education' from the hoi polloi who just learned English as they went along. [Another such is to point out that hoi is the definite article in Greek, so 'the hoi polloi' is a tautology; please don't comment to that effect unless you wish to be mocked.] Nobody pretends that this rule is used in everyday speech; Barham's 'Jackdaw of Rheims' has a distinguished audience of prelates and clerics observe a jackdaw His eye so dim, So wasted each limb, That, heedless of grammar, they all cried, 'THAT'S HIM!-- showing that, though you are supposed to know that the 'correct' phrase is 'that is he', you are not expected to use it in moments of stress.
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Q: Consider the following two sentences: Statement 1: The parameters were calculated a priori, and the other variables were calculated iteratively. Statement 2: The parameters were calculated a priori, and the other variables were calculated iteratively. This may seem trivial, but the only difference between the two sentences is the way in which the , has been formatted. In the first statement the , is in italics. In the second, the , is not in italics. Does it depend on the writer whether or not to italicize the punctuation marks adjoining the affected words? Or is there a definite rule governing this? The same question can be extended to other types of formatting, e.g. bold.

A: Here's one style manual's answer to that question: Italics do not include punctuation marks (end marks or parentheses, for instance) next to the words being italicized unless those punctuation marks are meant to be considered as part of what is being italicized: 'Have you read Stephen King's Pet Semetary?' (The question mark is not italicized here.) Also, do not italicize the apostrophe-s which creates the possessive of a title: 'What is the Courant's position on this issue?' This is really a style-manual problem, not an English usage or grammar problem. Each publication has its house style. Newspapers have their own style manuals, academic fields have theirs, and technical fields have theirs. There is no definite rule.
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Q: This is similar to a palindrome but, instead of a word/sentence that reads the same forwards and backward, is there a word for words/sentences that read the same right side up and upside-down? See picture below where the word 'yeah' is written in cursive:.

A:
That is called an ambigram. It is a typographical design that can be read in more than one direction. ambigram noun A typographical design consisting of text modified in such a way that it can be read in multiple orientations, as in mirror image, inverted, or when rotated. (ODO) Famously (?) used in Dan Brown's Angels and Demons.
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