Tagged Questions
-3
votes
1answer
87 views
History of the words “conservative” and “liberal”
I’m curious in the history of political parties of the USA. Initially in 1861 Abraham Lincoln was the first President to represent the Republican party which has always been stated as conservative ...
-4
votes
1answer
84 views
Does the word “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” exist? [closed]
I have heard about the word countless times. However, when I looked up the dictionary, I could not find it. So I would like to ask if the word even exists at all. If so, what does the word actually ...
2
votes
1answer
71 views
Etymology of “modal dialogs” in computerese
When programming you may deal with so-called modal dialogs — these are windows where you are supposed to provide information before you are allowed to proceed any further. A modal dialog blocks or ...
0
votes
2answers
86 views
Modern etymology of “embedded”
Oxford Dictionaries Online defines embedded in the meaning I'm interested in as:
Definition of embed
verb (embeds, embedding, embedded)
[with object]
(often as adjective embedded) ...
4
votes
3answers
153 views
Using “reachable” instead of “available”
Is it possible to use reachable as a replacement for available? I noticed that some dictionaries don't have the former term in their database. Is there any origin for this word?
6
votes
1answer
131 views
Where does “wicked” get its /ɪd/ from?
There are three ways I know to pronounce the -ed at the end of an adjective:
/t/ as in cracked.
/d/ as in lined.
/ɪd/ as in naked
I realise naked is a special case because, as etymonline states, ...
4
votes
1answer
166 views
Why does “lactic” have an “-ic”, while “unique” have an “-ique”?
Lactic:
"pertaining to milk," 1790 (in lactic acid; so called because it was obtained from sour milk), from Fr. lactique, from L. lactis, gen. of lac "milk" (see lactation) + Fr. -ique.
Unique:
...
4
votes
1answer
77 views
Where does “acutilobate” originate from?
I see the claim that acutilobate is a “dictionary-only” word, for example seen in the 1913 Webster’s dictionary. How would a word get into a dictionary that only appears in dictionaries and is not ...
2
votes
0answers
160 views
The Historical Development of Nouns and Adjectives [closed]
Historically speaking, were nouns derived from adjectives or were adjectives derived from nouns? That is to say, as verbal communication developed which came first: the noun, or the adjective?
3
votes
4answers
855 views
Does the adjective “swell” have anything to do with the noun/verb “swell”?
Dictionary.com:
swell
1. to grow in bulk, as by the absorption of moisture or the processes of growth.
The other verb meanings and the noun meanings all tend toward the same underlying concept ...
7
votes
2answers
5k views
Why do we say “by all means” when we mean “by any means”?
The common expression by all means seems to advocate the use of all means possible in order to accomplish a certain object, when in fact it expresses the use of any means to do it. I realize that all ...
3
votes
2answers
274 views
Original use of kosher in the English lanuage
Recently I saw a post on the meta.rpg.se site that asked When is editing your answer not kosher?, and it got me thinking. Why is the word Kosher used, instead of, for example, Halal, Permissible, or ...
8
votes
3answers
360 views
What is the etymology of the adjective “bumper”?
Looking at Etymonline and Dictionary.com only reveals that it was slang from 1759. Why did bumper come to mean unusually abundant, and why is it always paired up with the word crop?
20
votes
7answers
1k views
Why “Greater Toronto” rather than “Great Toronto”
Many big cities have their names preceded by Greater. Why not just Great? Does Greater indicate that the city is ambitious to expand itself?
Why is Greater not used for country names such as Great ...
6
votes
1answer
181 views
Is there a name for adjectives that are based around someone's name?
Some examples would include:
Shakespearean
Christian
Mesmerized
Pavlovian
Newtonian
Boolean
Darwinian
5
votes
1answer
154 views
Are the rhetorical meanings of “elliptic”, “hyperbolic”, and “circular” connected to their mathematical meanings?
The words "elliptic", "parabolic" (or "like a parable"), "hyperbolic", and "circular" all have meaning in rhetoric. Are these meanings etymologically connected to the conic sections?
5
votes
2answers
731 views
Why does ‘you’re on’ mean ‘I agree’?
One dictionary says ‘you’re on’ is used tell someone that you accept a bet or an invitation to compete against them. Then why does it use ‘you’ instead of ‘I’? What’s the ‘on’? In terms of the ...
5
votes
2answers
887 views
What is the reasoning behind the “urban” slang word “tight” coming to mean “cool/great/slick”?
How and why did the word tight come to be appropriated in this sense, for example as in, "That car is tight, cuh!" ? I mean, one easily extrapolates from the "normal" definition to understand why ...
13
votes
3answers
911 views
Etymology of the color name “orange”
Etymonline shows
orange
c.1300, from O.Fr. orenge (12c.), from M.L. pomum de orenge, from It. arancia, originally narancia (Venetian naranza), alteration of Arabic naranj, from Pers. narang, ...
11
votes
2answers
864 views
Preventative vs. preventive
In this answer about the non-word disabilitated, the word preventative is compared (unfavourably, if my reading of the implication is correct) to preventive.
However, I have always used preventative, ...
2
votes
1answer
1k views
How did “everloving” become a completely generic intensifier?
Most of the uses of the word everloving I can think of involve either vulgar or violent contexts, so you must excuse the following example:
He'd finally crossed my last nerve, so yesterday, me and ...
4
votes
1answer
619 views
What is the meaning and etymology of the adjective “jammy”, of Yorkshire English?
What is the etymology of the adjective jammy? As in,
Thou art a jammy bugger!
I confess I've never seen the word before. When I looked it up, I found confusing etymologies: one source says it ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
Origins of the word “terrible”
What are the origins of the word "terrible". Do the words "terror" or "terrific" come from the same roots?
I am curious since I believe the word "terrible" can be used to mean "great" in French.
2
votes
1answer
280 views
How did the word “sheer” come to have such different meanings?
There are sheer cliffs and sheer fabrics. Why does the same word mean "vertical" in one case and "transparent" in the other? Did they develop from different roots? And what about sheer obstinancy and ...
6
votes
1answer
1k views
How did “-ish” suffix come to denote the approximate meaning of the word it is attached to?
I know it's currently more of a slang to attach and use it as normalish (see what I did here?) suffix, but still — was there any evolution for this? Also — maybe it had some special meaning?
11
votes
1answer
3k views
Why “unequal” but “inequality”?
The opposite of "equal" is "unequal", yet there is no word "unequality". Why do we use "inequality" instead?
9
votes
6answers
771 views
Adjectives with Latin etymology when noun has non-Latin etymology
As a non-native English speaker, I always wondered why, for example, you say moon, but then you say lunar (same goes for side and lateral, hand and manual and so forth): in some cases, the noun is not ...
8
votes
3answers
529 views
“Hard” vs. “hardly”
I have always found the pronounced distinction in meaning between "studying hard" and "hardly studying" a bit amusing.
What is the origin of the word hardly?
How is it etymologically connected to ...
4
votes
3answers
1k views
Do adjectives ending in “-ed” derive from words that were once used as verbs?
Talented derives from talent, which is not a verb in Modern English.
Has talent ever been used as verb? Are there any words ending in -ed that derive from words once used as verb that is not used ...
5
votes
2answers
420 views
Why is New York City also called “the Big Apple”?
I have heard many times people say the Big Apple to mean New York City.
What is the origin of this nickname?
17
votes
3answers
1k views
Why are not “infamous” and “inflammable” the opposite of “famous” and “flammable”?
Why are not infamous and inflammable the opposite of famous and flammable, like incomplete, inactivity, inappropriate and so on?
