This tag is for questions about the meaning of a longer passage of English.
6
votes
4answers
17k views
What does “10-4 ” mean?
I could have asked this question personally to my respected colleague who gave me a valuable answer to the question, “Is the ‘tame the infinite becoming an idiom or a popular phrase,” which I posted ...
6
votes
6answers
426 views
Meaning of “No, yes …”
I'm not sure if this is something only Americans say, but it has confused me for a long time. If someone is asked a question why do some people respond with something like, "No, yes it was"? What does ...
6
votes
1answer
2k views
Origin of the term 'bastard sword'
In many computer games (usually role playing games), there is an item called a bastard sword. Why is this name used, and does it bear any relation to the usual meaning of the term bastard?
6
votes
6answers
3k views
“When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?”
What do delve and span mean in this quotation from John Ball's sermon addressing the rebels of the Peasant's Revolt?
When Adam delved and Eve span,
Who was then the gentleman?
It doesn't seem ...
6
votes
6answers
594 views
What does “I’m like, c’mon guys. I’m the president of the United States.” imply?
The Washington Post (April 14) reported President Obama's off-the-cuff remark during a meeting with donors in Chicago held on April 13th under the title: "Obama riffs with donors: Where are the cool ...
5
votes
5answers
585 views
“One of those is flags”
Jeff Atwood ♦ has just posted something that I'm confused about
Stack Overflow, due to its size, has some unique problems. One of those is flags
I'd say that those and flags are both in ...
4
votes
1answer
292 views
How does “off” fit in this sentence?
I was just studying the various meanings of 'off' on http://english.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/off and I stuck up at just the second example sentence:
She dashed off to her room.
The ...
4
votes
3answers
10k views
What is the meaning of “I got you”?
What does
I got you
mean?
Does it mean
Ok, I understood what you said
or
Hey, I know that you did that?
If they are both correct, when should we use which?
4
votes
3answers
386 views
What does “wicking” mean in “aircraft quality wicking”?
I read the following from an aircraft magazine where it describes a product:
XXX Product is Aircraft Quality Wicking!!
The product is a polishing product that one can use to polish something ...
3
votes
3answers
232 views
What does “vampiric” mean in this context? [closed]
In Sam Harris's blog he writes
Most of us have been around this block often enough to know that many
“former atheists”—like Francis Collins—spent so long on the brink of
faith, and yearned for ...
3
votes
4answers
211 views
How should the word “brutal” be used in marketing?
I noticed that some companies use the word brutal for marketing their products.
Examples:
brutal performance – a data storage software markets itself with this, they mean that their software is ...
3
votes
1answer
408 views
Is “and then some” an offensive expression?
I started an internal email discussion with the title "Editorial: link issues, some spelling issues and then some".
However, upon rereading my own mail, it occurred to me that this might express ...
3
votes
2answers
2k views
What exactly is meant by “This is not to say it's not a bad system”?
Someone on a forum wrote
This is not to say it's not a bad system.
With some context,
This is not a component system. This is not to say it's not a bad system, but in this case you should be ...
3
votes
3answers
544 views
What does the “leave” mean in “parental leave” and “unpaid leave”?
Reading an article on The Washington Post I found this:
"The study pointed out that the United
States is the only OECD country that
does not have a national paid
parental leave policy. Some ...
3
votes
3answers
1k views
What does “to bleed something” mean?
In Bloomberg magazine, I saw this sentence:
Rust Belt states that have bled manufacturing jobs.
Does it mean they have lost the jobs or gained more jobs?
2
votes
3answers
3k views
“To this effect”
What does "to this effect" in the following sentence mean? (This sentence is in a reply of an application).
However, if you are not successful, we will inform you to this effect.
Does this mean, ...
2
votes
0answers
86 views
Is “do something by date X” inclusive? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Does “notified by [date]” include the end date?
For example, if John says:
Return it to me by March 24th.
Does it mean that I need to return it to ...
2
votes
2answers
366 views
Is ‘beetle-black eyes’ expressing their owner’s character?
Hagrid's real intention, however, was to talk to Harry away from the rest of the class. He waited until everyone else had set off with their skrewts, then turned to Harry and said, very seriously, ...
2
votes
2answers
762 views
“However, this book is anything but” meaning
What's the structure and meaning of this sentence in the following text:
A friend lent this to me before I headed over to Italy and France this summer. I was a bit skeptical at first as he's ...
2
votes
5answers
513 views
Meaning of “brave my fire”
As in these Rome - To Die Among Strangers lyrics:
the whores of rome and the kings of
france
have tried to brave my fire
now the snakes curl up, the curtains
part
will you try ...
1
vote
5answers
206 views
What meaning “Chip on their shoulder” takes here?
The context is below.
Bansal is the famous coaching center to clear Engineering Entrance test. Bansal students had a chip on their shoulder, even though they weren't technically even in a college
...
1
vote
0answers
105 views
Examples on the usage of “dialectical” and “tautology” [closed]
I've been coming across both words a lot and understand them in passing; but I was wondering if I may be given some sentence examples which explicitly illustrate their meanings?
I feel that I lack ...
1
vote
1answer
264 views
Meaning of “as … as any … someone had ever done”
Recently I have been reading "The Lost Symbol" and there is a sentence I find hard to understand.
The wooden stair descending to the Capitol's subbasement were as steep and shallow as any stairs ...
1
vote
5answers
137 views
Precedence: and > or?
The question Precedence of “and” and “or” asks if there is any notion of precedence ordering in the English and it would seem not, based on the answers.
Regardless of that, if you saw the following ...
1
vote
2answers
283 views
Does a comparative always need to compare with something?
As I understand it, comparatives compare with something. So something that is colder is more cold than another thing. However, can't a word like colder be used as an adjective without being compared ...
1
vote
3answers
560 views
What does “lemon on” mean in this context? [closed]
What does the phrase lemon on mean in this context? Is it an idiom? What is its correct usage?
Excerpt from where I read this phrase:
... Hold on, for this deal, one that does not exist anywhere ...
1
vote
2answers
2k views
Meaning of “f*ck” in the following conversation
This conversation is from "Youth in Revolt" movie.
A boy named Nick met his colleague, a girl, in a music shop while purchasing a DVD and after a little talk, her boyfriend hugged her from behind ...
1
vote
4answers
248 views
What does this mean: “Avoid oral calcium, dairy products, shark cartilage & exercise during the medication.”
I found this behind a medicine. At first thought, the sentence looks like it suggests avoiding exercise during the medication. However, I remember reading somewhere that in US English, when there is a ...
1
vote
2answers
97 views
Schedule on Tuesday
Take the following sentence.
We want to schedule your appointment on Tuesday.
Does this mean they want the process of scheduling to take place on Tuesday, or do they want my appointment to be on ...
1
vote
4answers
2k views
What did “your mom did a number on you” mean in Seinfeld?
I remember one episode on Seinfeld, a girl said "did your mother do a number on you" when they were talking about breaking up or not.
This is the sentence reported from the transcript:
LISI: ...
1
vote
3answers
1k views
What/who are “toy soldiers”?
There is a song called Toy Soldiers by Martika of which a part of the lyrics goes:
Step by step
Heart to heart
Left, right, left
We all fall down
Like toy soldiers
Bit by bit
Torn ...
0
votes
2answers
100 views
Meaning of “that” in “holomorphic function in the sector S that is continuous”
I have encountered a confusing sentence in a math textbook:
Suppose F is a holomorphic function in the sector S that is continuous
on the closure of S.
What does that mean in the above ...
0
votes
3answers
224 views
What does “long enough to” mean?
"Around 10pm, I finally stopped drinking long enough to remember I had a car in a garage somewhere."
I can't understand the above sentence clearly, especially the meaning of long enough to in ...
0
votes
0answers
303 views
What's the meaning of “down to a T”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Origin of “Fits [x] to a T”?
What's the meaning of down to a T?
So what about you, what do you do for a living?
Me, I'm a stay at home dad and do a ...
0
votes
0answers
79 views
What does “grandfathered in” mean? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“I'm only grandfathering you in because of Serena.”
Over here, Jeff says something using the expression "grandfathered in." What does that mean and how ...
0
votes
1answer
145 views
Please provide me correct interpretation of this sentence [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How does negation affect the use and understanding of “or” and “and”
A's girlfriend doesn't like movies or Roses.
What would be the correct ...
0
votes
2answers
322 views
What does my coworker mean that our company doesn't support “Comp”?
I was talking to a coworker that said that our company doesn't support "Comp".
We were talking about taking overtime to complete a project this weekend.
I searched for comp in relation to jobs and ...
0
votes
4answers
1k views
Differences between “world-view” and “ideology”
These terms have slightly different nuances in meaning and connotation. Would you use world-view in an academic discussion? What is the correct context?
For example, would you say creationism is an ...
0
votes
2answers
411 views
What's the 'alternative forms of sexuality'?
The Beat Generation is a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired. Central elements of ...
-1
votes
1answer
286 views
Does the word “welfare” have an abbreviation?
I was listening to a lecture about Mercantilism where I heard a word that sounded like Welf.
I tried to find if this word exists but I didn't find. In the lecture I heard this:
The amassing of ...
-2
votes
1answer
680 views
Meaning of “hyperbole” in “were prone to hyperbole” [closed]
hyperbole: n. A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for
emphasis or effect, as in I could sleep for a year or This book weighs
a ton.
Let us read the following sentence:
Well, ...
-2
votes
3answers
743 views
Meaning of “as” in following sentence [closed]
I am not sure of the meaning of this sentence:
The significance of culture and identity in development has to do not so much with the cultural factor in the process of development as with ...
