🇺🇸🇨🇦 **American/Canadian English speakers, let's talk about the Maldives!**

🇺🇸🇨🇦 **American/Canadian English speakers, let's talk about the word *oftentimes*!** How often do you actually use it in everyday conversation? Would you naturally say: - *Oftentimes, people underestimate how difficult the task is.* - *Quite often, people underestimate how difficult the task is.* - *Generally, people underestimate how difficult the task is.* - *Frequently, people underestimate how difficult the task is.* Do these sound equally natural to you, or do some feel more formal, old-fashioned, or awkward? Which would you personally use, and in what context? I'm curious about your actual usage rather than which expressions you simply recognize!

🇺🇸🇨🇦 American/Canadian English speakers: what do you call these?

NA English natives only 🇺🇸🇨🇦 What would you call a person who stands outside a store, shouting to attract customers and often handing out flyers? A) a barker B) a hawker C) a pitchman/pitchwoman D) something else (please comment) What sounds most natural to you?

Is it OK to say ''The regime propagandized the idea that the country was under constant threat''? Does is sound natural or is it better to say ''promoted the idea''?

American/Canadian English speakers: do you use 'queue' for a physical line? *Please answer based on your own everyday usage, not what you think is “correct”. And please vote only if you’re a native speaker of American or Canadian English. **(I’m not asking about digital/technical uses such as a print queue or a queue in programming.)

I've been thinking about the word 'anticipate' and I'm curious whether other speakers feel the same subtle nuance I do. I know that *anticipate* is basically neutral: you can anticipate something positive, negative, or simply predictable. But to my ear, even in a positive context, anticipate seems to create a little emotional distance from whatever is being anticipated: - I'm really looking forward to the trip. - I'm anticipating a wonderful trip. The second sentence is positive, but somehow sounds more detached, formal, or even slightly “watchful” to me - as if you're mentally preparing for something rather than emotionally looking forward to it. The same feeling seems even stronger in phrases like: - We anticipate further changes. - We anticipate strong growth. - We anticipate some difficulties. So here's my question for native speakers: 1. Do you also perceive this slight emotional detachment in 'anticipate', or is this purely my non-native intuition? If you do feel it, how would you describe the nuance? 2. And would ''anticipate'' sound natural to you in a very personal, emotionally enthusiastic context, or would you normally choose 'look forward to' / 'expect' instead?

Quick English usage poll for native speakers 👇