Questions tagged [meaning-in-context]

This tag is for questions about the meaning of a longer passage of English. A SPECIFIC CONCERN must be emphasized.

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How to understand the text 'You don't mean it, do you? No, I do'

In the movie "The Devil Wears Prada", there is a dialog: Nate: ...And then we can stop pretending like we have anything in common anymore. Andy: You don't mean it, do you? Nate: No, I do ...
Tina's user avatar
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What's the meaning of "as + adj + as st goes"?

I saw this from an email in my company. The structure seems so strange to me: As fundamental and important as (something) goes, we’re thrilled to announce... Having carried out a preliminary ...
sanba06c's user avatar
-3 votes
1 answer
25 views

Interpreting sentences containing data [closed]

Is the construction correct? The daily actual irradiation was lower than the day-to-day target 48% of the time in the entire month. How do you interpret this sentence?
elektrogenetik's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
79 views

How do you call wooden extension above water found alongside rivers/ piers [closed]

Where's the difference between 'dock', 'pier' and only one wooden structure? or is this referred to as 'pier'
magicphoenix 's user avatar
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1 answer
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"what an oyster is to a butter mushroom", meaning?

I don't know what an oyster is to a butter mushroom looking at your stall. Does it mean that I can't tell the difference between an oyster and a butter mushroom?
Kevin Cheng's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
67 views

What is the meaning of navigator in the song by The Pogues [closed]

The full text of the song can be found at: http://www.pogues.com/Releases/Lyrics/LPs/RumSodomy/Navigator.html
Klopas Froch's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
56 views

‘Downton Abbey’ [closed]

The passage below is from The Book at War by Andrew Pettegree. The result was not the bitter-sweet semi-autographical war trilogy that cemented his literary reputation, Sword of Honour, published ...
morti's user avatar
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Is there a word for when the name of something describes or defines how it is made?

I am wondering if there is a word for this as described in the title. My example: I am writing about a SWANA ingredient/food product by the name of "Freekeh", which is based on the Arabic ...
freekehfreak's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
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Drinking vs drinkable

Knowing that drinkable refers to safe to drink, why do we often say drinking water in stead of drinkable water? I find potable water (i.e.water fit/ safe to drink) synonymous with drinking water. So, ...
Selfie geoupie's user avatar
0 votes
5 answers
1k views

Does "overwhelming" equate to "majority"? [closed]

I had a disagreement with somebody, and I am struggling to see how I could be wrong. Essentially, I referred to a representation of a certain group of people on a website as overwhelming; my exact ...
user avatar
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2 answers
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When none exists in ways that are entirely relatable

I can't get the meaning of this sentence, from the book Same as Ever by Morgan Houseland. You'd find people seeking the secret to a happy life and trying to find certainty when none exists in ways ...
Nick Dolmatov's user avatar
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2 answers
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What’s the meaning of “flex” in “no flex” and “I might pull up flexing…like aerobics”?

I watched a diet video on YouTube, ketogenic diet to be precise, and in the end the YouTuber just said as a conclusion: “No flex”. At 9:55 https://youtu.be/9PQW8QVxS-U?si=3X-ijbhEYoDO-XbP So I ...
Adriano's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
2k views

What does 'shyme' mean?

Reading Dracula, I found this sentence: It’s a shyme that people are allowed to top their walls with broken bottles In no dictionary was I able to find a definition; ChatGPT says that it is a ...
Pierre-olivier Gendraud's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
109 views

The meaning of "not one without an axe"

In the TV series Growing Pains, season 1, episode 6, there's the following conversation: Mom: Mike, don't forget that your father and I are going out... with the Koosmans tonight and you have to baby-...
Andrew Li's user avatar
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1 answer
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Compare & Contrast to get deeper understanding of similarities and differences between Punchy vs Pithy

Reference : https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pithy Pithy adjective 1 : consisting of or abounding in pith 2 : having substance and point : tersely cogent Reference : https://www.merriam-...
crazyTech's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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What is Patrick O'Brian trying to convey in this passage from Post Captain? ('Get over, you —,')

I was reading Patrick O'Brian's novel Post Captain and came across this passage: 'Get over, you —,' said the girl, in her pure clear young voice. Jack had never heard a girl say — before, and he ...
Pallie's user avatar
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2 answers
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Proper usage of the word “conducive” in some constructions

The most common and non-problematic use of this word is followed by “to” and a specific result, in a sentence like this: This environment is not conducive to good sleep. However, some other uses I’...
alouette's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
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What does "the jeering claque of the State police" mean?

I found this phrase in John Le Carré's novel Smiley's People. The whole sentence is: The chattering customers in the café became the jeering claque of the State police; the slamming of the bagatelle ...
Silent Sojourner's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
41 views

Adjective for "being added an ellipsis"

This is a related question to Adjective for "containing an ellipsis" with a distinction for the act of becoming, instead of the state of being. The provided answer suggests elliptic: ...
Konrad Viltersten's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
329 views

What does “turn down an empty plate” mean?

I was reading Raymond Chandler’s The Lady in the Lake (1943) and came across this quote that puzzled me: Tell Webber I was asking for him. Next time he buys a hamburger, tell him to turn down an ...
Frank Conry's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
2k views

Meaning of "teen" in Aeschylus's play "The Persians"

I came across the phrase "how shall I bear my teen?" in Aeschylus' play "The Persians". I also saw "the children of teen" in "Seven against Thebes". What ...
Ellen's user avatar
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1 answer
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Meaning of "Bellairs had the address, and I was the more deceived or Carthew would have news of him."

(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XIX, published 1892) Passage 294 The conjunction of these planets seeming ominous, I drew near; but it seemed Bellairs had done ...
philphil's user avatar
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Meaning of. . . "it was hardly possible but what he should suspect"

(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XIX, published 1892) Passage 290 “Well, it's the other thing that has done that,” I replied. “It's all bygone now, all dead and ...
philphil's user avatar
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2 answers
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What does 'haply' mean in Keats's 'Ode to a Nightingale'?

The following line occurs in Keats's poem 'Ode to a Nightingale': And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne It seems to me that 'haply' means either, as Merriam-Webster says, 'by chance', or, ...
EulerSpoiler's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
89 views

I know it was a liberty—I made it out you were no business man, only a stone-broke painter; that half the time you didn't know anything anyway

(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XVIII, published 1892) Passage 287 “Jim,” I said, “you must speak right out. I've got all that I can carry.” “Well,” he said—“I ...
philphil's user avatar
  • 255
-1 votes
2 answers
170 views

What does 'pards' mean in Keats's 'Ode to a Nightingale'?

John Keats's 'Ode to a Nightingale' contains the line "Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,". Away! away! for I will fly to thee, Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards, But on the ...
EulerSpoiler's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
1k views

What is the meaning of "burke a school" in Anticipations?

In Anticipations (1901), chapter 9, in the middle of a long passage, H. G. Wells wrote (referring to a personification of Jewish people): ... He is a remnant and legacy of mediævalism, a ...
Polichinelle's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
52 views

Can 'to wilt' be something positive? [closed]

I came across (a pretty sad) poem by Meggie Royer. She writes: I stood by as strangers stroked her muzzle and she wilted beneath their touch like she did once for mine. For context: she writes about ...
SoBiT's user avatar
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-3 votes
1 answer
269 views

What is "Antipodean English"? [closed]

I was watching this video where the English gentleman asks the Scottish MP to speak in "Antipodean English". From what I know, 'Antipodes' refers to the southern hemisphere and I am unable ...
Shriram's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
147 views

'. . . there's always a fathom or two of slack hanging out of the other end'

(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XIV, published 1892) Passage 227 “All very well,” said I. “That's your Hoyt, and a fine, tall copy. But what I want to know is, ...
philphil's user avatar
  • 255
3 votes
1 answer
121 views

Meaning of "be just a little too smart by ninety-nine and three-quarters"

(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XIV, published 1892) Passage 224 “Guess so,” he said. “You needn't fool with it. There's nothing else but a lead-pencil and a ...
philphil's user avatar
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0 votes
0 answers
98 views

Problems with understanding a requirement in a technical document

I'm following the advice of a user who answered a question on StackOverflow. Page 15 section 4.A.4 of NIST call for proposal (the 2016 one) says: For the purpose of estimating security strengths, it ...
radix's user avatar
  • 109
2 votes
1 answer
846 views

Meaning of . . . "fill up on a clean break"

(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XIII, published 1892) Passage 210 Thence we turned our attention to the table, which stood spread, as if for a meal, with stout ...
philphil's user avatar
  • 255
0 votes
1 answer
61 views

"my stomach told me" VS "my guts told me"

I'm an English learner and I came across this sentence: My stomach told me that this was unprecedented. Does this expression mean that I had a feeling or my instincts told me that something that had ...
Ali.twoforkstower's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
26 views

Meaning of the structure [be + to + verb] in this context

I’m trying to understand the meaning of “whom they are to admire” in this long sentence: From these causes it results that the advocates of drastic reform divide themselves into opposing schools, ...
apadana's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
65 views

At this time tomorrow, I am playing cricket [closed]

I know that: At this time tomorrow, I will be playing cricket. is used since the so-called future continuous is used to talk about a continuous activity at a specific time in the future. Even ...
Jvlnarasimharao's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
69 views

Use of 'plain old' in: "The loudest, most obnoxious and aggressive voices telling us the world is about to end plain old don’t act like it."

Could it be that we are hearing the hysterical pleas of “environmental activists” to change our ways or face doom and noticing that not only are they not changing their ways, but that their ways are ...
lolita123's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
78 views

What do you call a person who talks bad about someone but still shows interest in that person?

For example: Sally Mae says she doesn’t like John because he’s ugly, but will go and act nice with him because others are watching. What word would you use to describe Sally Mae?
leilei's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
136 views

Meaning of . . . “you just meet me on the ballast, and we'll make it a barquentine.”

(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XI, published 1892) Passage 177 “I don't see it,” returned the captain drily. “One captain's enough for any ship that ever I ...
philphil's user avatar
  • 255
0 votes
1 answer
107 views

Meaning of . . . , "I'm laying a little dark"

(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XI; published 1892) Passage 176 “Well,” returned Nares, with the same unamiable reserve, “for a reason, which I guess you know, ...
philphil's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
73 views

Meaning of "bring them away" in Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure" (Act2, scene1)?

In act II, scene 1, of Measure for Measure, Elbow says: Elbow. Come, bring them away: if these be good people in a Common-weale, that doe nothing but vse their abuses in common houses, I know no law :...
John Smith's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
220 views

Meaning of "low, cherry voices" in Stephen King's 'The Jaunt'

In Stephen King's The Jaunt, I found this sentence: Five Jaunt attendants circulate, speaking in low, cherry voices and offering glasses of milk. It's either a typo (was supposed to be 'cheery') or ...
obym's user avatar
  • 29
-1 votes
3 answers
392 views

What's the difference between "period" and "time" ? Is it more correct to say it rained at the right time, or the rain happened during the right pd.? [closed]

What's the difference between "period" and "time"? Is it more correct to say "it rained at the right time" or "the rain happened during the right period"? ...
Coo's user avatar
  • 99
0 votes
2 answers
78 views

What does it mean to be “cashiered?”

I was reading up on the Dirlewanger Brigade (a scummy bunch of Nazis even by Nazi standards) and came across this line: “…cut-throats, renegades, sadistic morons, and cashiered rejects from other ...
Giacomo1968's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
77 views

Meaning of "Bore many gentlemen" in Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure"? [closed]

In act I, scene 5, of Measure for Measure, Lucio says: Lucio. This is the point. The Duke is very strangely gone from hence; Bore many gentlemen (my selfe being one) In hand, and hope of action: but ...
John Smith's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
90 views

What is difference between revered and venerated words? [closed]

English is a foreign language for me, so I have to use a Google Translate or similar services. They give same translation to my first language, and I feel some nuances are being lost. Examples: ...
Kote Isaev's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
19 views

Meaning of 'north' in "returns on invested capital north of 20 percent" [closed]

I'm reading The Little Book That Builds Wealth, and quote The result was fat profit margins for Gentex for many years, and the company is still posting returns on invested capital north of 20 percent ...
daisy's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
41 views

'No one she recognized'. A slightly strange sentence [duplicate]

Good afternoon! Can you please tell me the meaning of the phrase: "No one she recognized" The context is as follows: a woman is watching from afar a stranger who is swimming in her pool. ...
Dmitry Acemonte's user avatar
-2 votes
1 answer
54 views

Does "freed doctors to perform abortions for any reason in the first trimester" mean that the law "allowed abortion up to the second trimester"? [closed]

For the past few years, I have had a long and arduous argument with my English teacher about an exam question she gave us, and I am curious what you all think about it. For context, I attend an ...
daeltro's user avatar
2 votes
4 answers
473 views

Meaning of "to appeal to some law"

This Wikipedia's page says that: David Hume's problem of induction demonstrates that one must appeal to the principle of the uniformity of nature if they seek to justify their implicit assumption ...
Tran Khanh's user avatar

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