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.
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Question: Possible Duplicate: Do you use 'a' or 'an' before acronyms? I got the following sentence from the book I'm reading: You can take a database-first approach by first creating a SQL Server database schema. From what I learned, I think it should be 'an SQL Server database schema', not 'a SQL Server database schema'. So which one is correct?.

Answer: This depends, I would think, on your pronunciation of SQL. It can be pronounced as 'sequel', or spelled out as 'S-Q-L'. That perhaps doesn't help in written English. A thoroughly scientific survey of Google throws up many more hits for 'an SQL' than 'a SQL'. This is also the form used on that Wikipedia article and elsewhere, such as this Microsoft SQL Server documentation entitled 'Executing an SQL Query'.


Question: I'm describing what an opiate addict looks like before recovery. Instead of saying 'he looked like a vampire,' I'd like to say something like 'he looked [vampiric].' I actually just found out vampiric was a word, but I want something that sounds better (more colloquial/natural, I suppose) and covers a variety of traits (pale, emaciated, sickly, etc). Why I don't just use 'vampiric': As @chepner commented: I think the idea is to find a word that isn't so 'circular', and doesn't refer explicitly to vampires or require knowledge of vampires in context. If someone were to ask 'What does a vampire look like?', then 'It looks vampiric/vampirish' wouldn't be terribly helpful. I don't want to explicitly refer to drug addicts as vampires. I just want to capture those traits in the best way.

Answer: I'd suggest cadaverous. It incorporates many facets of what I believe you're trying to convey: a corpse-like appearance, including pallid and underweight. From Merriam-Webster.com: 1a : of or relating to a corpse b : suggestive of corpses or tombs 2a : PALLID, LIVID b : GAUNT, EMACIATED grossly underweight


Question: For example In Sim Lim Square cheat cases, a person paid $1k for iPhone insurance. He 'agreed' to buy it because the price was not clearly written. In some restaurants, prices are not written clearly and people can then be charged exorbitant prices. Insurance costs can vary by up to 100 times because the cost is simply not written clearly. Many politicians use deceptive language. Also, they tend to tell only the benefits without telling the negatives. Say you are a scientist. You have 10 studies supporting your theory and 90 studies showing you are wrong. You only quote the 10 studies to people that can't expect. All of these are deceptions that would make people choose really really 'bad deals'. Is there a word to describe such deceptions? Lying? Sophism? Fraud? Scam? Pull a fast one? What?.

Answer:
Mislead/misleading One can be misled into thinking something, even if no lies are involved. Doesn't necessarily rule out lying though. The restaurant misled its customers by hiding information about extra charges


