Questions regarding the associated or underlying meaning of a word, in addition to its primary definition
0
votes
3answers
524 views
Connotation of “proud”
Does the word proud have a bad connotation? I want to use 'proud+something' as a company and website name but I'm not sure what connotation it can have.
2
votes
1answer
1k views
Does “peculiar” imply “unusual”/“hard to expect”?
When something is called peculiar or having a peculiarity what does that mean? Does it just mean it has some specific features or does it mean that those specific features are unusual, not normally ...
0
votes
5answers
2k views
Do people perceive a difference between “phantasy” and “fantasy”?
When I started to learn English, I was used to write phantasy instead of fantasy, and I was always corrected.
I recently noticed that phantasy is an English word too.
Do people give to those words a ...
1
vote
3answers
292 views
Do “willingness” and “effort” imply different things?
In a post on Meta Stack Overflow, I used the word "willingness" in the following context:
[X] is showing a willingness to learn.
I justified this because [X] had posted a question asking to have ...
2
votes
2answers
2k views
“Quote” vs “estimate” (business context)
I'm interested in the semantic implications of using the words quote and estimate in a business scenario.
Here's the situation: When someone wants to purchase a service that I provide, they can fill ...
4
votes
4answers
362 views
Does “having” something imply the possession of it?
I'm seriously pained when I hear the word "have" being used in the present continuous to imply possession.
Take for example, the following quotation from Wordsmith.org.
Read the Etymology of the ...
2
votes
3answers
1k views
Does the word “develop” mean “upgrade”?
In my native language, the English word "develop" is translated to: the process to make something/somebody large/strong/big, and etc. for example: economic development.
1
vote
2answers
199 views
How could Ronald Reagan be compared with God in Sarah Palin's list of American authentic, and why?
Further to my question about the usage of ‘Blood libels’ I posted yesterday, I found the following lead-copy of an article referring to Sara Palin’s rhetoric in today’s Washington Post. It seems the ...
1
vote
2answers
724 views
Difference in meaning and prononciation of urbane and urban
I encounter these two words pretty often, both orally and in writing. What is the difference between two, and how to pronounce, say in USA?
2
votes
3answers
257 views
Does the word “evolution” connote “upgrade”?
Does 'evolution' means 'upgrade' ? 'downgrade' or just 'gradient'?
3
votes
2answers
257 views
Can you *donate* to a non-charitable cause?
I just had someone insist that a donation can only be to a charitable cause or organization; otherwise, the word contribution should be used. When I objected to "contribution" on the grounds that it ...
7
votes
5answers
2k views
Cultural connotation of American English - some examples?
I am from India and we speak English there as well, albeit not as culturally refined as I see in the US. In India, and perhaps in the UK, English is spoken in a straight and 'as it is' manner. For ...
3
votes
3answers
333 views
“Memorial” as a non-sad word?
Can one use the word "memorial" (noun or adjective) without the negative/sad connotation of commemoration of the dead?
7
votes
3answers
211 views
What could the word “thumbtick” mean?
I am trying to give a piece of software a name but for non-native English speakers it's sometimes hard to avoid awkward associations with names because you don't live with the language. Sometimes word ...
10
votes
4answers
2k views
Connotations of trite, passé, and cliché
What are the differences between trite, cliché, and passé? They seem to all have a similar denotation, but what are the subtleties of their connotations?
The only difference I really see is that ...
11
votes
7answers
1k views
Is the term “hack” more positive or more negative?
What emotional association does the word hack have nowadays in the first place: negative or positive?
Is it more for doing something illegally or without permission?
Or for doing something in a ...
8
votes
5answers
755 views
Is there a connotational difference between “Reality” and “Actuality”?
The motto for the TruTV channel has always bugged me: Not reality, actuality.
At least from online dictionaries I have looked up these words on, they seem equivalent. The definitions even reference ...
4
votes
3answers
16k views
Does the phrase “fine with me” have a negative connotation?
I have always thought that you could answer "it's ok with me" or "it's fine with me" when you agree with something that somebody proposed, like a meeting time.
But apparently the phrase can have a ...
7
votes
2answers
1k views
“Also” and “as well” for conversational context
"Also" and "as well" seem to be quite similar in meaning, but I'd like to know shades in its meaning and usage, especially for everyday conversational language. What one will sound more natural and ...
