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Person A does not keep up with celebrities or popular entertainment. A knows that they exist, so I don't think sheltered is the right word. Also, would it be a different word if A tried to forced herself to learn it? | If you were to frame it more in a more affirmative sense of what the individual does embrace, rather than what he or she does not, you could use "elitist" or "aesthete" or perhaps even "philocalist" (OED " A lover of beautiful things.") - all of which convey a sense of fine discrimination. Perhaps that person might be ... | A word for someone who does not keep up with popular culture | english |
If a said to b "do this or that", would b be disobeying a if it did both? In others words, in English is "or" the same as xor, the exclusive or? | OR it is not exclusive. To get the exclusive OR, you say: " either ... or " But check out (Exclusive "or" in English): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_or for more insight | "or" versus "xor" in English | english |
Can I use "my day" to refer to a period of more than 24 hours? Let's say I worked non-stop for 30 hours, could I refer to this period as "my day"? From a dictionary, the only two usages I was able to find were: period of 24 hours the part of a day given to work | You could call it your day but you might want to consider calling it your work day . The standard astronomical day is based on the rotation of the earth on its access and takes about 24 hours (at least on earth). By convention, most cultures count the start of a day immediately after midnight. However there are other c... | Can I refer to a period of more than 24 hours as "my day"? | english |
I was under the impression that "Japanese tourist" had a meaning more than just a tourist who happens to be from Japan. For example, TV Tropes has an entry on Japanese Tourist , and French fashion boss offends Chinese over elitist Paris hotel describes the reaction when "Chinese tourist" (which I assume is the same as ... | Some of these kinds of nationality/noun things ARE intended as pejoratives. Most seem not to be, however. I think that "Japanese tourist" is a slight slam. I believe it has to do with going places dressed fairly wildly for the venue, carrying two or three cameras and taking shots of everything. Like I did last week at ... | Does "Japanese tourist" have any meaning other than a tourist from Japan? | english |
When I typed the search into Google most of the responses were websites selling clothing and the ratio of womens versus women's was about 1:1. Searching for mens versus men's and the version with apostrophes appears almost 90% of the time. For boys versus boy's or girls versus girl's it is a 3:2 ratio in favor of no ap... | Women's room is "correct" as it follows the typical orthography rules. There is the possessive 's after the word "women." Women's room is correct because you want to use the possessive (men's, women's). "Womens" is "incorrect" by any standard. It should never appear. | Which is correct "women's clothing" or "womens clothing"? | english |
There is the following advice for ‘defusing an argument with one word’ in a website: In an argument in which the fight systems are fully armed you need to provide an abrupt interruption. Have a look at the effect one word can make and choose your own: “God dammit why do you do that?” " Sugar plum why do you do that?" T... | It's a tradition in English (and many languages) to use fruits and condiments to describe an especially endearing (or repulsive) person or situation. For example the 1965 Motown hit song "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch": http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/temptations/sugarpiehoneybunch.html. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwh2QloO... | Does ‘sugarplum’ have the meaning of ‘honey’ or ‘sweetie’? | english |
Consider this comment: My doctor is awesome. He was running late with a previous patient so he sent a new doctor to run my follow up appointment. Does "running late" here means he is going to be late, or he is going to take more time than usual? What does it precisely mean? Also, what does running an appointment mean w... | "Running late" is an idiomatic phrase that means, essentially, "late" or "being late," with the caveat that "being late" is more a translation than a phrase that people use. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as: "s. to run late : to be behind schedule. Similarly to run early, on time, etc." For your example, you... | Be "running late" and "run my appointment" | english |
Is there a word for a person (any male or female) who is attracted to a male? Is there a word for a person (any male or female) who is attracted to a female? | An androphilic individual is attracted to males. A gynephilic individual is attracted to females. | Are there words for people who are attracted to a specific gender? | english |
See the following sentence: Be careful what you eat. In this case, "what" is having which syntactic function? I checked the possibilities in the wiktionary: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/what My best guess is that it is a "relative pronoun", but I'm not 100% convinced of that. I feel it could be something other than a ... | In Be careful what you eat , the word what is a pronoun. Specifically, it is a relative pronoun. There is a very similar example on the wiktionary page you linked to: 4 (relative) That which; those that; the thing that. he knows what he wants; what is tossed upward falls back down | Syntactic function of "what" in specific case | english |
English is my mother tongue and we often follow the British pronunciations. However, something caught my attention recently. In my Oxford dictionary, I noticed that so many words that begin with 'wh' have a leading 'h' as part of the phonetics. Here are some of them: what when wheeze wheel wheat whatever whip and the l... | Some do! Some don't. I said these words to myself just now to see what I do, and wouldn't you know it, I do put a teensy tiny "h" in front of these. Kind of like "hWat?" It's barely discernable, even to me. Amazing to learn after all these years that I pronounce some words in a way I would never have imagined. Wow! Or ... | Attention Americans: Do you use the SILENT H in the beginning? | english |
"The Portal provides fine-grained control over the window rendering" what's the meaning of 'fine-grained' here? | It means very precise control. For example, a volume control on a hifi with 3 volume settings could be described as 'coarse', whereas one with 20 settings would be 'fine'. | The meaning of 'fine-grained', 'fine-tuned' , 'fine-grining' | english |
Or for example on the bottom of a pool as light is focused by waves on the surface of the water. It seems awkward to just call it a shadow since it implies being darker than the surroundings. | They are called caustics , the randomly fluctuating patterns of bright lines at the bottom of the pool. They are caused by reflection and refraction of sunlight at the perturbed pool surface illuminated by the sun. The rippling caustics seen below are so called because they are caused by concentration of sunlight (with... | Is there a word for a bright spot in the shadow of a lens or lens-like object? | english |
What do you call someone intentionally gives a completely true answer that answers a question but does not provide the information the asker is looking for? For example, person a moves to a new school in Nevada, where people ask him where he is from. a answers that she is from Junction City, but fails to mention that i... | In the case of your example, the guy seems to be elusive , in the sense that he essentially is trying to avoid the answer. But I get that has not much to do with a "bare minimum answer". Maybe, elusively concise . Or even reticent . | What do you call some who gives the a bare minimum answer, which is often misleading | english |
Words like "totally", "completely", "all", "entirely, "no" etc. These group of words point to the extremes. Do we have a term for these group of words? | The term for these words is " absolute adverbs ". This page from education.com contains the following explanation: Absolute adverbs—words like all, every, completely, and entirely—already refer to everything possible, and therefore cannot be intensified any further. | Another term for "Extreme words"? | english |
In India, rituals will take place after 16 days of anyone's death. Can anyone please inform a single word for that rituals happening in India?. | For practices and traditions specific to your culture, you need to take the word in your native language and Latinize it. The English alphabet is a Latin alphabet set. Latinizing is the act of transliterating the pronunciation of a non-Latin script into Latin character set. For example, the Japanese word harakiri, the ... | Single word request for rituals in India | english |
I recently learnt the the past form of "choose" is a rarely used word in English. (So is "chosen" used in present perfect.) So instead of saying: "I finally chose the dress for the party" "I didn't choose appetizer from the menu because my wife chose it for me." "I haven't chosen the dish yet" "You didn't choose the ri... | Pick is often used instead of chose, so you'd more usually say 'you didn't pick the right job'. The party dress sentence is interesting - saying "I finally chose..." suggests that there was a choice of a particular number of dresses, maybe ones you own already, so you've decided between them. If, though, you went to a ... | "Chose" or another word? | english |
From OALD : miser: a person who loves money and hates spending it misery: . [U] great suffering of the mind or body Synonym: DISTRESS Fame brought her nothing but misery . . [U] very poor living conditions Synonym: POVERTY The vast majority of the country live in utter misery. . [C] something that causes great sufferin... | Yes there is. The best explanation can be found in the online etymology dictionary. miser (n.) 1540s, "miserable person, wretch," from Latin miser (adj.) "unhappy, wretched, pitiable, in distress," of unknown origin. Original sense now obsolete ; main modern meaning of "money-hoarding person" recorded 1560s, from presu... | Is there a connection between *miser* and *misery*? | english |
My time for the marathon next year will certainly be worse than it is tomorrow. (The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language) Is is being present tense saying is is the same tense of future as will (simultaneity); or is is anterior to will ? | You have had a lot of excellent explanation here, more than enough to understand how these words are doing their work. I merely want to add a direct, explicit answer to your specific question, which, as far as I can tell, has not yet appeared in this discussion. You are wondering if there is a temporal connection betwe... | future tense of a present tense | english |
A friend wrote: "I just feel that now is a good time to reiterate that pluralization does not require an apostrophe." In reply I wrote: Sometimes it does. "Mind your Ps and Qs" doesn't need them; however "Mind your p's and q's" does. He replies: "Your p's and q's what?" I'm 99.9% sure that I don't need to write "need t... | You're fine. First of all, the semicolon does not end the sentence so the first need is still there. As explained in this wikipedia page (which is quoting The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, Chapter 19, §7) While terminal marks (i.e., full stops, exclamation marks, and question marks) mark the end of a sente... | Does a helping verb have to be followed by the main verb to form a complete sentence? | english |
I have seen several people use the word backslash , it sounds like something similar to disaster, bad result, etc. But I am not quite sure what it means and when I should use it. Examples: But if big layoffs result at home, corporations and the US government will face a backslash. Celeb Boutique saw a major backslash a... | It's not slang, and the word you want is almost certainly backlash : a strong negative reaction by a large number of people, especially to a social or political development: a public backlash against racism By contrast, Oxford Dictionaries define a backslash as a backward-sloping diagonal line (\), used in some compute... | What is the meaning of "backslash" | english |
There are two meanings of "Don't forget my son" A directive addressed to your own son. A directive addressed to someone else about your son. You want to use meaning #2. You can emphasize meaning #1 using a comma but there is no way to emphasize #2. How is the ambiguity resolved? Would any native speaker who don't see a... | The comma isn't optional for emphasis, it's the correct way of conveying meaning #1. If you don't see a comma, you should immediately conclude that #2 is meant. | How to clarify the meaning of "don't forget my son"? | english |
I have been looking for a single word for "hospital woman worker". She will not do any medical related work. She will be doing cleaning, newborn care, and she will also support all the work of hospital employees. Can anyone tell me the single word for "hospital woman worker"? | Candy striper - A hospital volunteer is sometimes nicknamed a candy striper. This name is derived from the red-and-white striped jumpers that female volunteers traditionally wore in the United States, which resembled stick candy. I know its not a "single word" but when I read your question Candy Striper came immediatel... | Single word for "hospital woman worker" | english |
I'm taking a classics class, and we're currently reading Lombardo's translation of the Iliad. It strikes me incredibly odd how possessive and plural nouns are formed: The met by the ancient oak tree. / Lord Apollo, Zeus' son, spoke first (7.15-16) The professor of the class says, for the purposes of our paper, to alway... | There is no agreement about this. I try to approximate the punctuation as closely as possible to the pronunciation and so would write «Achilles’s». In the context of Greek literature there is unlikely to be any need to speak of things belonging to more than one Achilles. | Apostrophe usage in the Iliad (Lombardo) | english |
I was recently in a bar in Prague, Czech Republic. When I was going to leave I said to a waiter: Excuse me, I would like to pay. He laughed a bit and explained that I should have said: I want to pay. because when I say I would like to pay. it means that I want to pay for him (i.e. pay his bill). Was he right indeed? I ... | He was not right. If you had said, “I'll pay!”, it would be expected that you were talking to someone that you'd just shared a meal (or similar) with, and that you were offering to pay for them. Variants of this include, “I'll get this one” and “This one’s on me”. If you say to a waiter, “I'd like to pay, please”, howe... | "I want to pay" vs "I would like to pay" | english |
Is this a proverb? What does it mean and what is the origin? | It's a quote by Will Rogers, and almost anything he said (in one sentence or less) could be described as a proverb. The meaning is sort of obvious: if you slap a man who is chewing tobacco, you are likely to end up wearing it! It would be similar to "catching a tiger by its tail". The idea being that you should not und... | "Never slap a man who's chewing tobacco" | english |
Word "Fella" will indicate the gender "Male". Can anyone say the word like "fella" for the gender "female"?. | Fellow, the original word, has three main meanings: A male person in general - I saw a fellow waiting by the car. One of a pair - I found one shoe but could not find its fellow. A member of a group of people who have shared interests or activities, especially formal membership - She was a Fellow of the Royal Institute ... | Need another relative word for "Female" | english |
...particularly with respect to the use of technology, taste in music, movies etc. I have seen my share of people like this who like to go "alternative" just to set themselves apart and I would like to know if there's a word for them? I wouldn't mind a casual/Internet-born word either. Just need a term I can label them... | Maverick is the obvious choice, but since you want a derogatory connotation, how about wannabe-maverick, faux-maverick, pseudo-maverick, quasi-maverick, mom-can-i-be-a-maverick, maverick-in-vogue, fashionable maverick, trendy maverick, hipster maverick? Oxymorons are always good for that — they can onnote stupidity, an... | What's the word for someone who always likes being different? | english |
She wanted pure cow milk. In this sentence, is cow qualifying milk ? If so, should there be a comma after pure to write two adjectives one after the other? Or is cow also a noun here? If so, is this a case of two nouns being used consecutively? | When it describes a bovine quadruped, cow is always a noun, but nouns can be used to modify other nouns, and here the noun cow modifies the noun milk . Cow milk has to be seen as a lexical whole, which in turn is modified by the adjective pure . There is thus no more need for a comma after pure than there would be if c... | Consecutive Nouns | english |
In the software industry, we call a step to building a software "architecture". I always take "architecture" as "structure". So for me, software architecture = software structure . Is that right? | architecture 2 the complex or carefully designed structure of something: the chemical architecture of the human brain the conceptual structure and logical organization of a computer or computer-based system. structure 1 the arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of something complex Notice the refer... | Difference between "architecture" and "structure" in the context of software | english |
I was amused with the introductory part of the New York Times’ article（September 13) by Dick Cavett called “As comics say, ‘These kids today! I tell ya!’” that begins: “Many and many a year ago , in the kingdom of ABC, Woody Allen was one of my very first guests. And we consented to take questions from an eager audienc... | What RyeBread said. "It was many and many a year ago, in a kingdom by the sea" is the opening of a great poem by Edgar Allen Poe. Anabel Lee Presumably Dick Cavett assumes that anyone over a certain age educated in the US (i.e. those who were viewers of his TV show) read the poem in school, and will understand the refe... | Why “Many and many A year ago”, not “Many, many years ago? Are they same? | english |
Is there an English word to describe the act of moving one's lips as though speaking but without making a sound? One would do this with the expectation that the person he is attempting to communicate with will read his lips. As an example, if I walk into my boss's office while he is on the phone and he tells me to "wai... | Mouth . For example, you could write, "She mouthed an 'I love you' to him from across the room". | What is the word for moving your lips without making a sound? | english |
Doylum was a word commonly used in Leeds, Yorkshire, North of England, where I grew up in the 1960s/70s. It basically means idiot - "What a doylum!" At the time I thought this was strictly a Leeds word, but a quick search online finds it is still used and appears to be very popular with fans of Newcastle United and Har... | Yaron Matras , in his 2010 Romani in Britain: The Afterlife of a Language has this entry... fool n. doylem ER dinilo ; Yiddish goylem (ER = European Romani) From Wikipedia: in Modern Hebrew, golem is used to mean "dumb" or "helpless". Similarly, it is often used today as a metaphor for a brainless lunk... The Yiddish o... | Etymology of 'doylum' | english |
I am looking for a word that describes: A) When you are spinning, someone else feels dizzy B) feeling full watching someone else eat C) feeling happy watching someone else be happy. My first thought was sympathy , but that only applies to feelings of "pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune" (Google). | Do you mean a vicarious feeling? vicarious felt or enjoyed through imagined participation in the experience of others: a vicarious thrill. | What do you call feeling what someone else feels? | english |
Many wasps have a characteristic way of flying back and forth while approaching the opening to their nest (see for example the intro paragraph in this Wikipedia article on yellow jackets). Is there a term for this characteristic flight behaviour? In entomology, in folklore? I have searched, but found nothing. | They are commonly referred as " Orientation flights " You can read more about this here | Term for distinctive wasp flight pattern | english |
Can any technical term be used metaphorically? For instance, can I use the word assimilable which means capable of being absorbed and incorporated into body tissue (because it's broken down into a form that can be absorbed) in a sentence like "Calculus is not readily assimilable by students without appreciable Mathemat... | I'm a biologist myself but to me (and to this dictionary ) the primary meaning of assimilate in English is exactly the one you are looking for: tr to learn (information, a procedure, etc) and understand it thoroughly tr to absorb (food) and incorporate it into the body tissues Personally, I would rephrase your example ... | Can I use less-common technical terms metaphorically? | english |
When we make coffee or tea, there are particles that remain at the bottom of the jar. Is it right to call them 'rudiments' or is there another term for this? | Residuum re·sid·u·um [ri-zij-oo-uhm] Show IPA noun, plural re·sid·u·a [-zij-oo-uh] Show IPA . 1. the residue, remainder, or rest of something. 2. Also, residue. Chemistry . a quantity or body of matter remaining after evaporation, combustion, distillation, etc. 3. any residual product. In Deutsch it is called kaffeesat... | Remaining particles after making coffee or tea | english |
Where can I find a dictionary that contains words along with their commonly accepted "neighbors"? I had one, but it's not for English language. The structure of this dictionary is the following. Take a noun in this dictionary. Along with its brief definition, the dictionary shows what adjectives, verbs, and other parts... | OXFORD COLLOCATIONS DICTIONARY FOR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH In Indian English one can see such mistakes as 'I did a mistake when I wrote the letter'. It is because they do not know that did does not collocate with mistake and that the word which collocates with mistake is made . Always say make a mistake , not do a mistake ... | A dictionary that systematizes commonly accepted combinations of words | english |
Buckle is used mostly for the thing that's on belts. Where did the word come from? | It’s from Latin buccula , the diminutive of bucca meaning cheek. That’s because a buccula was once the cheek-strap of a helmet. | Where did the word "buckle" come from? | english |
I often hear people saying that "I am" is the shortest sentence in the English language. I know that there are also discussions about sentences using the imperative mood such as "Go." that would be shorter, but my question is this: Why would we (the people saying "I am" is a full sentence) not accept "I'm" as a complet... | In English, any clause has one mandatory stress slot: there must be at least one element that has stress (optionally more than one). That slot lies in the predicate of the clause, which must always be stressed. The subject (which stands outside the predicate) can receive stress, but does not necessarily have to, and ev... | Shortest correct sentence in English- use of contractions | english |
I am reading a play and I have problem with some word combinations, especially with this one: "rib place". This was from Longhorn's, the rib place. Over on 22nd. | Sounds like a restaurant that serves ribs, i.e. a steakhouse kind of place. This is backed up by the name, 'Longhorn's', since a longhorn is a breed of cattle. | What does "the rib place" mean? | english |
The chinese character 膩 (nì) is often used to describe when you are sick of something because it's too excessive in some way. Google translate converts it to "greasy" which is true in the sense that yes, if you eat too much greasy food you get sick of it, but it's not just restricted to oily stuff. If you have a giant ... | you mean sated or surfeited ? sated surfeit or cloyed satiate | English word equivalent of 膩 (sick of something due to overindulgence) | english |
Which would be the correct way to form the following sentence: "I just had piss shivers so hard that I almost dislocated my jaw." OR "I just had piss shivers so hard that it (they) almost dislocated my jaw." Also, would it be correct to write it this way: "I just had piss shivers so hard that my jaw almost got dislocat... | Either is correct in this case. According to MW, we can define "dislocate" as: to move (a bone) out of its normal location or position in a joint Since the piss shivers are causing you to jerk your jaw out of place, both you and the shivers can be considered the actor here, and you can say that either one almost disloc... | What is correct: 'I did' or 'it did'? (In the given context) | english |
What is a verb to describe fluid rushing out from an opening in small amount ? "Gush out" sounds like in huge amount. "Seeps through" on the other hand lacks the force that brought the fluid out, like with in "gush". | Consider the verbs jet , spray , and stream . For example, “A fine stream of water jetted from the pinhole” implies small amounts of liquid spraying out under high pressure. | A verb for fluid rushing out in small amount | english |
What's the difference between "in order that" and "in order to"? For example, is there any difference in nuance between the two sentences below? We are all servants of the laws in order to be free. We are all servants of the laws in order that we be free. | Both formulations are valid. But IMO the former <code> in order to </code> makes the desired outcome the direct result of the action, while the latter <code> in order that </code> suggests the outcome is more a second order effect in which the mechanism of cause/effect is implied but not specified. | "in order that" vs "in order to" | english |
I am Asian and in Asian mythology like epics like Mahabharatha , when some person is going to do something bad then a voice from nowhere comes from background, after a thunder or something, to stop him or to warn him. A specific case would be (Some one who knows Mahabharatha could relate to it): When Bhisma uses a Powe... | Wikipedia lists akashvani as an English word. Akashvani / Akashwani , आकाशवाणी (ākāśavāni), means "celestial announcement from sky" or "sky-voice": a word of Sanskrit origin,1 Often in Hindu mythological stories, folk-tales and fables like Panchatantra & Hitopadesh, whenever, Gods wanted to say something an Akashva... | Word for "invisible god-like voice" | english |
Someone who is not a native English speaker wrote this in an email to me. I didn't get it clearly in the beginning, so I just asked for the meaning and he replied back he meant "he answered immediately". Later I searched a little bit on the online dictionaries, and I got the feeling that "he answered zip" is more close... | It's just a playful Americanism (now dated) meaning absolutely nothing - probably coined because it alliterates with zero and zilch. It tends to connote a complete absence of something expected. | Meaning of "he answered zip" | english |
a - There will be an employment fair held tomorrow. b - An employment fair will be held tomorrow. *IF (a) is correct, kindly explain the structure of the sentence. Thank you. | Sentence a. is correct, but held is redundant. We don't normally say: There will be a presentation given tomorrow. There will be a rehearsal performed on Friday. There will be match played next weekend. The first sentence follows the usual Given-New pattern of placing new information towards the end of the sentence. Th... | Which sentence is correct and why? (1) | english |
I am confused as to when commas are supposed to be used before the conjunction and . stackexchange-url ("This question") answers it but I am still a bit confused. For instance the following two sentences: I am going to buy apples, oranges, and bananas at the store. I am going to buy apples, oranges and bananas at the s... | Such use of a comma is often called a "serial comma" or an "Oxford comma" . It is typically a matter of style, at least where there is no ambiguity. For example, with or without the comma, your example statement I am going to buy apples, oranges[,] and bananas at the store. is not ambiguous. Omission/inclusion of the c... | Using a comma before "and" in a list | english |
In mathematics, when you're discussing the concepts behind different number bases, it's often necessary to refer to a digit's place. For example, in the following "base 10" number (the number system most people normally use) <code> 217 </code> you'd say There's a <code> 2 </code> in the hundreds place, a <code> 1 </cod... | Although perhaps not as authoritative as Tom Lehrer (See terdon's comment under OP ), here are some examples from text books: " Place value - [...] a particular position in a place-value notation, for example, units , tens , hundreds [...] " 1) And, though referring to the right side of the decimal place: " Decimal - [... | Use of an Apostrophe in Maths Place Values | english |
According to The Guardian : For years, men have enjoyed ‘sorbet sex’ as a way of cleansing their palates between long-term relationships, but now women are joining the feast. I’m interested to know whether sorbet sex is a well recognized phrase in the U.S. and in the U.K., and, if not, I would like to know what express... | I had a look through the Google Books results that @Kris posted in the comments and every single instance of the phrase (in some cases, the result seemed to be in error) was accompanied by an explanatory sentence or a full blown definition. In many cases ( here , for example) it was considered so obscure that a Gl... | Is 'sorbet sex' a well recognized expression? | english |
Wiktionary lists "fou" [1] as meaning "Crazy", which most likely comes from the French word "fou" [2] meaning "crazy". The French word is said to come from the Old French "fol" [3] that means "mad, insane, foolish, silly". "Fol" is said to come from the Latin "follis" [4] which, based on wiktionary data, means "bellows... | Of the Onelook results (excluding Wiktionary (and Worknik which just references Wiktionary)), all define it as "drunk"/"full" (like the OED). As you only stumbled upon the word in Wiktionary and haven't seen it used for "crazy" in English, and as Wiktionary is editable by anyone, it may be a mistake, but it may also be... | Origin of the word "fou" | english |
The question says it all. I see a lot of examples on this site of a word that is accepted for a question, but I would never hear that word in my life. I may see it if I read something, but my friends, coworkers, and family would never use it. Note: Bonus if the word would not describe itself! | I'd go for... recherche - exotic or obscure. ...or... recondite - difficult to understand; known only by experts. ...either of which words could reasonably be used to describe the other. Here are a few hundred written instances of recondite vocabulary to show it is used thus. For a more common/informal alternative (i.e... | What is the word that describes a word that is used in literature/writing, but not normally in common dialogue? | english |
A student of mine has asked me if there is any difference, both in meaning and usage, between point of view and viewpoint. Now, according to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, there is indeed no difference in their meaning. Point of view a particular way of thinking about or judging a situation someone's o... | In your example, a child's point of view can only be understood in one way, while a child's viewpoint could be construed as meaning "from a vantage point closer to the floor than that of an adult", so I would prefer the former. | Viewpoint vs. Point of view | english |
Famously: "Try not. Do or do not. There is no try." -- Yoda Thing is, this is from a movie. A writer wrote it and a voice actor spoke it. Is there a correct form of attribution for a case like this? If so, what? | The author Robert Asprin famously sprinkles his books with quotations , many of which are fictitious. They're attributed in the form you show in your question: "In times of crisis, it is of utmost importance not to lose one's head." --M. Antoinette "A little help at the right time is better than a lot of help at the wr... | Attribution: Quoting a Fictional Character | english |
What does " Hammer it home" mean? I want to know if it refers to a sport event or not. | In my experience, it means "make the point abundantly, unforgettably clear." For example, "sending Johnny to his room should hammer home the idea that he should not pull his sister's hair." According to the reference, yes, it is an idiom ( http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/idiom and http://idioms.thefreedictionary... | Is " Hammer it home" an idiom? | english |
Is there a secular alternative to the phrase "preaching to the choir"? | The only one that I am aware of is pushing at an open door , which has been around since the 1920s and was more popular than preaching to the choir until the 1980s. | Secular alternative to "preaching to the choir"? | english |
I asked my bank to close my account on 12th of May. Also I expect the account to be closed [?] 12th of May . What preposition should be there? I think about by or due. Also if I want to ask someone a question: What date was your account closed [missing preposition?] | If you mean that you expect the account to be closed no later than 12 May, then the preposition you need is by . The preposition to use in the question would normally be on : ‘On what date was your account closed?’, but you could also say simply ‘When was your account closed?’ | A correct preposition - account closed due/by/at 12th of May | english |
I'm attempting to get a title for a list of interactions made on posts by users. "Interactions by/per post". Are by and per interchangeable? Is one more formal than the other? I feel that by might be easily misunderstood as interactions made by the posts itself instead of interactions with the posts by users. Is that a... | "Interactions per post": the average number of interactions that happen on a post. "Interactions by post": A list of interactions sorted by post. (Ignoring the possibility that post could be mistaken for mail ) | 'Per' vs 'by' - as in 'interactions by/per post' | english |
I know that "fair enough" is similar to (but not the same as) OK, used to politely concede or partially agree with a point or to indicate that you understand where they're coming from. But then we have the following: "I'm terribly sorry, yada yada yada so the system is currently down and and we have to enter everything... | Macmillan defines two flavors of the phrase fair enough : 1 used for saying that you understand and accept what someone says: 'She said she didn't want to work for anyone else.' 'OK, fair enough.' 2 used for saying that something seems reasonable but you do not agree with it completely If you want to waste your time, f... | Using "fair enough" without disagreement | english |
Is there a derivative of the word introspection that does not relate to "spect"-ing oneself but external phenomena yet still contains the spection part? Like for example extraspection (which, I guess, is not a word). For example: It took a lot of extraspection to arrive to the scientific findings. | I am not really sure what you are trying to say here. Is that the actual phrase where you want to use the word? Anyway, one word that means pretty much what you seem to want and that does derive from the same root is inspection : tr.v. in·spect·ed, in·spect·ing, in·spects 1. To examine carefully and critically, especia... | Derivative/relative of "introspection" but for external phenomena | english |
If there is a complex word that consists of two simpler words, what would you call each component, or individually meaningful building block, that the big word consists of, relative to the big word? E.g., the word makeshift consists of the words make and shift . What would you call each of those two words relative to m... | They are referred as " Morphemes ". They are the smallest grammatical unit, like molecules of grammar elements. You can read more about it here | Individually meaningful building block of a complex word | english |
I came across Rudyard Kipling's poem If , quoted below: If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,... | How to understand "losing theirs and blaming it on you" in the first stanza? In particular, what do the pronouns "theirs" and "it" respectively stand for? To "keep your head" means to remain calm, which is sometimes hard to do when the people around you ("about you") are in "panic mode." To remain calm in spite of thei... | Understand Rudyard Kipling's poem If | english |
I remember knowing there was a name for this type of sentence construction, but I can't recall it and google is failing me. The basic concept is that you use a word in two different meanings in the same sentence. A (poor) example is: "He ran a marathon and his own company", playing on the idea of running as a physical ... | Zeugma Is the word you're looking for: a figure of speech in which a word applies to two others in different senses (e.g. John and his driving licence expired last week). Also know as syllepsis. | What is this wordplay I'm thinking of involving homonyms? | english |
We use the so-called zero conditional when the result of the condition is always true. What about following situation. Let's say that we have a poorly written application. :) and I complain that it simply does not work. It is always true for this version of application. Zero conditional sounds good to me. Is it wrong t... | The zero, or present, conditional, using the present tense in both clauses, means, in the words of ‘An A-Z of English Grammar’ by Leech and others, that ‘the condition can be true at any time’. In the case of the example, whenever I press a button, assuming I do, it crashes. In practice, it suggests that the speaker ha... | zero conditional and first conditional | english |
Can I use the phrase "last leg" to refer to the last phase of some event? To be specific, if I want to say that I met someone towards the end of their journey (of months), can I say, I met him during the last legs of his trip? Also, which proposition is appropriate: "in" the last legs or "during" the last legs? | You can say in or during but it is last leg not last legs. | Usage of "last leg" | english |
I would like it to be explained, if it has a single meaning, it's confusing me, I see it could mean "please don't waste whatever you don't want", or just the opposite, i.e. "There is nothing without a waste". EDIT The source of confusion are phrases like "no pain no gain" which are inversely arranged, I mean, the negat... | Want in this proverb = need or lack. So, the meaning is that if you don't waste X, you can avoid lacking or needing X. It is advising against waste because you might want it in the future. It was allegedly first recorded in 1772 but had an earlier willful waste makes woeful want version recorded in 1576. | What does "waste not, want not" mean? | english |
Never mind the laconic title. It's incontrovertibly a word. What I'd like to know is whether the little bugger has ever been recorded by lexicographers. I've ruffled a dozen dictionaries to no avail, and in COCA there is only one entry - and it's a scanning error._. I am not interested in the flippant usages of this il... | The term some-like (in hyphenated form) appears as an entry in Robert Peacock, A Glossary of the Dialect of the Hundred of Lonsdale, North and South of the Sands in the County of Lancaster (1869): Some-like, adj. , some, a few; as, " Some-like seemed ready to tek what tha offered, but not many. O[ld]Fris[ian] sumi-like... | Is 'somelike' a word? | english |
The New York Time’s (September 12) article in Theatre section titled “Letting Lips Do What Hands Do” with a sub-head, “ A voice instructor for the leads in ‘Romeo and Juliet” bigins with the following line: “Sometimes love arrives like a thunderbolt. Sometimes it arrives with a bonk on the head with a balloon .” http:/... | Bonk on the head with a balloon is not referring to the novel but is literally So soft as being bonked on the head with a balloon The instructor is literally using a balloon to make the actors envision how soft the banter should be and how two adolescents might approach each other for the first kiss As for the title of... | What does “Love arrives with a bonk on the head with a balloon” mean? | english |
I've seen a few folks in various situations complain about the phrase "vast majority". The only online reference I can find for such dissent is (unfortunately?) the urban dictionary . I grant that the phrase is not particularly eloquent. But it is idiomatic and I use it myself quite frequently in technical documents to... | I think "vast majority" is perfectly acceptable. Go for it. I suppose I am being quite idiosyncratic, but when I use an adjective in front of "majority", I use these rankings, especially when thinking about elections: Vast majority - means almost all or something like 90% or more, but less than unanimous. Overwhelming ... | Is "vast majority" something to avoid? | english |
I am looking for adjective (if exists) for paying for hotel stay prior to arrival or if possible word that would describe paying upon checking-out ? If there is no such word, then is there any neat expression for this type? | Prepaid would probably fit your needs. Verb prepay (third-person singular simple present prepays, present participle prepaying, simple past prepaid, past participle prepayed) --To pay in advance, or beforehand; as, to prepay postage. | Balance paid prior to arrival to hotel | english |
I always hesitate using 'Hi' in formal mails. Is it OK to use it like "Hi Sir,..."? Same with 'Dear Junior,...'. Any help would be appreciated. | You could start your first mail or two with "Hello [name]" and then switch to "Hi [name]" in future mails once you have established some rapport with the person. If you're in an environment where informal exchanges are encouraged, then you could start with "Hi [name]" in your communications. "Dear Sir" or "Dear Madam" ... | Usage of 'Hi' and 'Dear' in Formal Communication | english |
What do you call someone who always talks a situation in their favor? For example, Tom tells Mary that she has a piece of meat stuck in between her teeth. Mary replies "Oh I purposely left it there". How do you describe Mary's character? Thanks. | The phenomenon you speak of has a distinct studied name which I remember from a psych class from long ago - ad hoc hypothesizing . If I remember correctly it is when you compensate for abnormalities or issues by creating false rationalization(s) about a topic - in basic terms, changing your reaction based on outcome. I... | What do you call someone who always talks a situation in their favor? | english |
According to dictionaries, "inchoative" and "inchoate" are both adjectives and both denote "initial". I couldn't find slightest difference between them. So I was wondering can they be used interchangeably or are they different in some ways? | It would be grammatically acceptable to use the adjective "inchoative" instead of "inchoate" in a given context. This usage, however, probably wouldn't sound very natural, as the adjective "inchoative" has always been chiefly used in reference to grammar. In the same way, "inchoate" can be used instead of "inchoative" ... | What are the possible differences between "inchoative" and "inchoate"? | english |
I want to say something like. This department is getting [Insert Adjective to describe old and unchanging]. I thought of decrepit but not sure if this will really communicate my point | Stagnant - not advancing or developing or Stale - not interesting or new both have the connotations of old and unchanged. | What is a good word to describe unchanging? | english |
Each of these CDFIs are finding solutions for communities that lack access to traditional financial products and services, and the NEXT Awards will accelerate their success. OR Each of these CDFIs is finding solutions for communities that lack access to traditional financial products and services, and the NEXT Awards w... | The problem seems to be in the linking ", and". Possibly replace it with a period? Given: "Each of these fish are tasty." - improper. "Each of these fish is tasty." - proper. Then: "Each of these fish are tasty, and they look good too." - improper. "Each of these fish is tasty, and it looks good too." - improper. "Each... | Which sentence is correct and why? | english |
In what way do I represent the task which I did yesterday night? I want to know the usage differences between "Past" and "Past perfect" tenses Can anyone give me idea to clarify this? Last night, unexpectedly, I met my college mate in a shopping mall. Then, I reached my hostel and had dinner. After that, I read a novel... | The past tense is used to describe an action or an event which took place at a specific time in the past, and which has been completed at the time of speaking. You would therefore use it to refer to last night’s task. The past perfect would not normally be used in this context, but the present perfect might be used if ... | Past - past perfect | english |
I found the phrase, “he’s always playing chess when others are playing checkers,” in today’s (September 11) article of New York Times, written by Charles Blow under the headline of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.” It reads; “The Syrian debate is too serious to be subjected to the rules of Washington’s game, even as i... | Yes. I have heard it many times and often in sports. It means that the player that is "playing chess" is on their game and that they are outwitting their opponents. There is definitely some heavy yet subtle connotations in this phrase. The person playing chess is considered smarter than his opponents. It is both a way ... | Is “play chess when others are playing checkers,” a well-known / well-used phrase? | english |
I used to think those are random events but someone over at stackexchange-url ("physics.stackexchange.com") insists that randomness means something else so I am at a loss here. Can someone help me out? What do you call an event that happens without a cause? | I would say a spontaneous event. | What do you call an event that happens without a cause? | english |
Similar to this question: stackexchange-url ("One's brilliant vocabulary and a tendency to show it off") and stackexchange-url ("What's the word for "overly proud of your education"?") But the word I'm looking for is not limited to vocabulary. These people often drop words and also random fact tidbits... | A "Clavin" is dated but still funny. Cliff Clavin was one of the main characters on one of the most popular sitcoms of all time in the US - Cheers. He is the EXACT person that you describe in the most extreme way. Terms I would use to describe Clavin would be: Windbag Bigmouth Blowhard Clavin Quote #1: Well ya see, Nor... | What is a negative word to describe people that love showing off their knowledge? | english |
I know not if I will ~ What does it mean? What is I know not if I ~? | " I know not ~ " is an alternative form of " I don't know ~ ". Thus, "I know not if I will embrace those tomorrows" is simply "I don't know if I will embrace those tomorrows". Another sentence with a similar structure (but with much simpler subject matter): I don't know if I will eat the cake nor if I will enjoy the ca... | I know not if I ~ | english |
Is there a verb which means the same as "to dumb down" or "to make milder", in relation to an account of something I had witnessed? More specifically, a verb which describes telling your account of something you witnessed in a milder form so as to not scare the other person and "play down" the event. | If the intent of the eyewitness is to make the event sound less horrifying to the listener, soft-pedal , minimize , or sugar-coat might work. | Is there a verb for making a statement/sentence milder or "dumbing it down"? | english |
Working on the laptop all day, I want a word for when my cursor (pointer) just keeps going on its own even though my hand is nowhere close to the laptop mouse controls. Profanity is fine! Note that I have only witnessed this phenomenon when using the native mousepad or mouse control button on a laptop. If I plugged in ... | Your cursor is malfunctioning. That's the term I ususally use to describe hardware or software not working correctly. You could also say it is going haywire, which is a little bit more slang and has a stronger connotation of wild movement that is unexpected. I would recommend this personally for erratic movements that ... | What is it called when your laptop cursor goes wild? | english |
If a new person joins our firm, should we use the word "joinee" or "joiner"? As I can see there is no word "joinee" in dictionary. And joiner says: a person who constructs the wooden components of a building, such as stairs, doors, and door and window frames. informal a person who readily joins groups or campaigns: a c... | In US usage, joiner would not be used to describe a new employee. Both of the definitions you cite are common useage, but the latter is reserved for those who are prone to join many activities, not just someone who recently joined one activity or a company. Joinee is not used in the US. Terms like new employee , new re... | Should we use joinee or joiner? | english |
In military contexts you often see sentences like this one: "General Montgomery decided to..." I am now writing an evaluation about a sale my company had had, and I want to credit several people while quickly mentioning their role in the operation. So, is this... "We sent an email to Store Manager Kenneth Johansson in ... | As bib said, it is very unusual to refer to someone by their title directly. You can do it, and it is quite common in political and military organizations, but rarely ever done in private business enterprises. To get around this, try the following construct: "We sent an email to our store manager, Kenneth Johansson, in... | Can I put the job position in front of the name? | english |
If I want to say I just quickly check a paragraph of text and didn't find typo, but the checking is quick and not careful or thorough. What is a good verb for that? | I would suggest Cursorily. It means Performed with haste and scant attention to detail | What's a word for "quickly and not very carefully or thoroughly checking"? | english |
Currently listening to the audio book "Digital Fortress", I came across the word "cadaver" in reference to a dead human body for the first time. Somehow it struck me as a degrading way of referring to it. So I started wondering what governs the choice of the three words body , cadaver and corpse (and potentially stiff ... | Corpse and cadaver are both medical/legal terms for a dead body. I would not call them degrading per se, but perhaps dehumanizing, and that is not necessarily for ill intent: we use clinical and legal terminology to be precise as well as to avoid emotional or cultural connotations of alternative terms that can be a dis... | Cadaver/corpse/body for a dead human body | english |
I have a student whose name is 'Uriel' and I'm just wondering how I should pronounce it! | I guess the link can be helpful. http://www.forvo.com/word/uriel/ | how to pronounce 'Uriel'? | english |
You throw no low blows and rise above the rest. What does it mean? | A dictionary helps: low blow noun Boxing an unlawful blow that lands below an opponent’s waist: the referee hadn’t seen the low blow and declined to call a timeout a comment or tactic regarded as unfair or unkind: his mockery of Elizabeth’s work seemed like a low blow rise above verb succeed in not being limited or con... | You throw no low blows and rise above the rest | english |
Acting like a div yesterday:- a stupid or foolish person I started to wonder how this term of abuse came about. Urban Dictionary has a quaint tale:- Actually originates from prison slang in the UK. A job often given to the lowest inmates was to put cardboard dividers into boxes. Someone given this job was a 'divider' o... | OED has it "of uncertain origin", although "individual-needs" is a possibility. divvy B. n. 2 A foolish or half-witted person. 1987 Guardian 2 Mar. 12/7, I first started using the term ‘divvy’ some 20 years ago... When I was growing up in Liverpool in the 1960's it was commonly assumed to be derived from the word ‘indi... | Etymology of "div" | english |
I heard it on House of Cards , the American TV series. The Congressman says it during a political discussion: I hate this small-ball crap! What is its meaning and etymology? | It's not small ball-crap but small-ball crap . A bit more context from the subtitles: 74 00:02:31,153 --> 00:02:32,904 I don't want to interrupt you, sir, 75 00:02:32,905 --> 00:02:34,196 but this is not just about Orrin. 76 00:02:34,197 --> 00:02:35,991 It's about the parents. 77 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:39,619 Now, you... | What does "Small-ball crap" mean? | english |
I was taught that the word postpone was spelled as I just spelled it, but recently I have seen a rise in the spelling postphone (or post phone ). At first, I thought it was just a spelling error, but I have begun to see it more and more in official contexts. Historically, the first spelling is definitely more accurate ... | Oh, please, that hurts . This is simply a case of the rise in a misspelling accompanying more people having access to publication, as you say. "Postphone" is what happens after you drop your cellphone into the toilet, or if someone drives a car into the pole holding up your phone line. Or you run out of money and your ... | 'Postpone' or 'postphone'? | english |
What is a good word to describe someone who is confident, will correct you if you are mistaken about something and they are correct. They display a degree of self-assurance that could be construed as arrogance or a touch narcissistic, but they are not mean nor do they try to humiliate others if making a correction; it'... | I haven't been able to find a single word that positively describes someone willing to correct others in conversation, but meticulous is a good adjective for someone who cares about details and correctness. You could combine it with a noun describing what the person is particularly knowledgeable about, e.g. a meticulou... | A positive way to describe a know it all | english |
We have a suite of software products. Should our tagline be: Tools to bring content to life or: Tools that bring content to life | Both are sentence fragments that can be used in whichever way you prefer. When creating a slogan for a product, full sentences are not required. However, they do have different meanings. "Tools to bring content to life" implies that the tools are being provided, but the creator is providing the ability. Whereas "Tools ... | 'To' vs 'that'? | english |
During a discussion today, the song Stuck in the Middle came on. One of the members of my team asked, "is this on Reservoir Dogs ?" Another said, "this is off Reservoir Dogs ". To which the team manager stated, "no, what you meant to say was, this song features within Reservoir Dogs ". I stated that syntactically, all ... | I do use on or off (or stackexchange-url ("off of") ) for songs, but when I do so it is usually in reference to an album. While it may seem counter-intuitive that both on and off can mean the same thing, it is simply a shift of reference. A song was traditionally stored on an album or single, which was generally equiva... | "The song is on Reservoir Dogs" vs. "is off Reservoir Dogs" vs. "features within Reservoir Dogs" | english |
I am German, and we have have a completely different comma system . Due to various reference on this great site here, I bought The Penguin Guide to Punctuation and worked through the comma section. What can I say, I'm shocked about my lack of knowledge, although the comma rules in English are far more easier than in Ge... | I don't believe you can insert a gapping comma there for two reasons. Because it puts and wiring into parenthesis. That is, your second example can be read as Memory can be implemented by delays by various walls to guide the one extra bit per site needed to represent the walls. I don't think that's right. Because the f... | Joining comma and/or gapping comma | english |
The tip I used to teach was the verb, hire , should be used for things which are transportable hence, you hire a car, sports equipment, a boat, a bike etc. Rent , on the other hand, is primarily used for property, e.g.; to rent a holiday residence ; "office space for rent" ; and "We're living in rented accommodation". ... | In the US the word rent is for objects (cars, tv's, house, tool) and the word hire is for people/service . I cannot think of an example when this is not the case (I am sure a few odd examples exist though). Upon getting comment from @user814064 I would add: Rent can be used for a person/service if it is designated for ... | What's the difference between "rent" and "hire" in British and American English? | english |
Does 'The two movies permeate pop culture' make sense or should it be 'have permeated pop culture'? | I suspect what you are actually trying to say is that the two movies have had a wide-reaching impact on pop culture as a whole, but in both cases this does not quite carry through. As you can see from Noah's answer, the phrase actually implies that pop culture is the operative thing being spread about/having been sprea... | Using the word permeate | english |
Apologies if this is too subjective of a question. I'm currently studying Beowulf. I've seen it referred to as one of the, if not the first, most influential works of Anglo-Saxon literature. Some ventured so far as to refer to it as one of the most influential works in the history of the English language. What qualitie... | It certainly has literary qualities, but its importance in terms of language is that it is the earliest substantial surviving poem written in English. | Why is Beowulf considered one of the most important works in the history of the English language? | english |
You must not lament in conversation with your savior over the trifles of an average boy. what does it mean? | To lament means; mourn aloud, wail, express sorrow, grieve for; bewail, bemoan, regret Trifle in this context means; matter or object of small value or of little importance In the sentence You must not lament in conversation with your savior over the trifles of an average boy. your pen-pal's admonishment might be inter... | What does this phrase mean? | english |
I recently was explaining a couple of Marathi phrases to my friend, and I realized that the language doesn't have the word "to have". We have multiple different ways of expressing posession, but I found a particular one rather interesting: When I want to say "I have a pen", I instead say "My pen is" (literally translat... | SHORT ANSWER: No. LONG ANSWER: A grammatical Object is a noun (phrase) which “receives the action” of a verb: either a Direct Object (which undergoes the action) or an Indirect Object (which receives the Direct Object or benefits from the action). The verb BE , however, does not take objects of either sort.... | Is it acceptable to use "to be" to describe possession? | english |
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