Terminology is a system of terms belonging or peculiar to a science, art, or specialized subject, nomenclature.
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2answers
160 views
The relation between “temporal” and “time”
The word "temporal" is the XXX form of the word "time". What is XXX?
I can't find the answer anywhere, I don't even know where to look.
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2answers
109 views
When discussing non sequiturs, is a non sequitur made by a participant considered as a non sequitur? [closed]
Let's take this conversation:
Alice: What is a non sequitur?
Bob: A non sequitur is something said that, because of its apparent lack of meaning relative to what preceded it, seems absurd to ...
0
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1answer
316 views
Term for words that sound alike but have different meanings and spellings [closed]
What is the term for words that sound alike but have different spellings and meanings? For example, there and their.
1
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2answers
132 views
Term for the identification of the person speaking in a dialogue
Consider the following piece of dialogue:
Peter: Hello, Mary! How do you do?
Mary: Hi, Peter! Fine, and you?
What is the term for the part in bold, the specification of who is to speak a ...
3
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3answers
385 views
What is the difference between a “prefix” and a “combining form”?
According to ODO, mini- is classified as a combining form. How exactly is this different from a prefix (or an affix, in general)? Can combining forms also be prefixes?
3
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5answers
141 views
Is there a word for something that gets “acted upon”?
For instance, say I have two individuals and one is active, the other passive. I know I can call the active person the "actor"—he "acts upon" the passive person. But what do I call the "acted upon"? ...
5
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1answer
196 views
Intonation and the changing of meaning
Two questions with the same words can have somewhat different meanings. For example, I could ask
Do you want to go to the zoo or the museum?
with my intonation/pitch rising after zoo, or
Do ...
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4answers
265 views
What's the word for something that's too direct and plain rather than poetic?
When someone writes poetry that's almost like plain English sentences, what may we call that?
Consider this, for example. This is an example of that plain, stated as it is, poetry (completely made ...
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1answer
88 views
Difference between “acquittal” and “false accusation” [closed]
I encountered a phrase with a word "acquittal" in a context of criminal law.
In Wikipedia, its meaning is described as following:
In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies that ...
1
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1answer
45 views
deep roll of blue at the tops
I want some help with my question about the meaning of “deep roll of blue at the tops”:
"The men were dressed in blue, of the same shade as their hats, and wore well-polished boots with a deep ...
2
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4answers
314 views
Semantic or pragmatic ambiguity?
When one says "Do you want a cup of coffee?" he can mean:
either an informative question — "Do you feel a desire to a cup of coffee?",
or a polite offer — "I can make you a cup of coffee if you ...
2
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1answer
172 views
Is there a name for misusing a word (e.g., saying “Provincially, yes”)? [closed]
I read a mail in which someone replied to the question "Will he be attending the party?" by saying "Provincially, yes".
Provincial means "of or concerning the regions outside the capital city of a ...
5
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1answer
177 views
Why is 'allopathy' not an accepted synonym for 'mainstream medicine'?
According to Wikipedia,
Allopathic medicine and allopathy (from the Greek prefix ἄλλος, állos, "other", "different" + the suffix πάϑος, páthos, "suffering") are terms coined in the early 19th ...
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3answers
71 views
Synonyms for 'extra' (noun)
Recently I came across the word 'extra' in following meaning: "a person engaged temporarily to fill out a crowd scene in a film or play".
I have a strong feeling that there should be some ...
0
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4answers
94 views
The centrality that does not need to be named
Suppose we are looking at Internet domain names. Every country has its own two-letter abbreviation (.fr, .uk, .ca, .za, etc.) — except for the US, as far as I know. They have .com, .org, .edu, ...
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2answers
73 views
Word request: section of a book dealing with odd miscellaneous topics
I vaguely remember that there's a term for a section of a book which deals in odd miscellaneous topics -- not exactly the same as "appendix". Any suggestions?
The words I can think of are all dancing ...
1
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4answers
270 views
The insured vs. the assured
Consider the following statement (written in the context of marine cargo insurance):
The insurers plead negligence on the part of the assured.
The writer is British.
Is the use of assured ...
7
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1answer
290 views
Different types of whistling
Are there terms or succinct phrases that describe the different ways of whistling listed below?
The standard put-your-lips-together-and-blow
Tongue against bottom teeth
Sticking two fingers (thumb ...
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1answer
89 views
What does “non-afirmated” artist mean? [closed]
I often hear this term "afirmated artists" or sometimes "non-afirmated artists", but I couldn't find meaning in the dictionary. What exactly could it be?
See, for example, the International Festival ...
3
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5answers
151 views
What is the term for groups of numerals within a large number?
I am writing software in which I would like to be able to return the groups of numerals within a large number. For example, given a number 123,456,789, my software would return 123 then 456 then 789.
...
3
votes
3answers
160 views
Archaic vs Historical in dictionaries
At Oxford Dictionaries Online the word alderman is marked as "chiefly historical", whereas ere is marked as "literary or archaic".
I've looked around on the ODO site, but I can't find a guide to ...
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2answers
227 views
Antecedents of indefinite pronouns
Consider the sentence, "Most of the apples are fresh." Is it incorrect to say that apples is the antecedent of the indefinite pronoun most?
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4answers
334 views
What do you call the person who performs an action?
What do you call the person who does the verb? For instance, in the sentence
John killed Frank
what is the grammatical term for John?
I don't know if "agent" is the right word?
7
votes
3answers
268 views
Term for a word that is unintentionally made up of two or more other words?
For example, therapist may be split into the + rapist, neither of which (arguably) has anything to do with the original words.
Another example would be conflagration: con + flag + ration. Or ...
7
votes
3answers
156 views
“He rolled his toilet things into his housewife”
From C.S. Forester's Hornblower and the Hotspur:
[The naval captain] rolled his toilet things into his housewife and tied the tapes.
ODO does provide a second definition for housewife which ...
8
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4answers
266 views
Is “pregnant couple” proper terminology?
According to Collins English Dictionary, and of course as everyone knows, a doula is
a woman who is trained to provide support to women and their families during pregnancy, childbirth, and the ...
7
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2answers
295 views
Longer than a word — smaller than a sentence
What would you call a linguistic construct that is just big enough to convey a meaning within a context, longer than a word but not having the length and proper form of a complete sentence? Like, for ...
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2answers
302 views
Correct order and terminology for meals in the day [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Lunch vs. dinner vs. supper — times and meanings?
I know there are copious amounts of debates on this matter but is there actually one definitive answer for the order of ...
0
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2answers
85 views
Term for a firm used as a public front to hide an illegal operation
What do you call a firm used as a public front to hide an illegal operation?
This would be a term for, for e.g.,
A law firm used to hide a money laundering operation;
A DVD corner shop where ...
5
votes
1answer
459 views
What is the term for a person with same first and last name?
What is it called when a person has the exact same first and last name (and same spelling), whether named by parents or as a result of marriage? For example, Thomas Thomas.
9
votes
3answers
255 views
What's the literary term for an instruction to the reader at the beginning or end of a book?
Books and other texts can have a motto at the beginning (or at the end), or a dedication. But they sometimes include a command, directive or instruction to the reader as prologue or epilogue. It could ...
3
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1answer
156 views
What do you call a past participle+noun construction clause such as “No offense meant” “Your point taken,” “With that said,” and “Given that”?
In reference to my question about the usage of “No offense meant/taken,” I noticed that there are a lot of shortened forms like “No offense meant/taken,” “Your point taken,” “That said,” and “Given ...
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1answer
94 views
Symphonic vs. symphony
Is there any clear line between a symphony and symphonic?
For long, I thought that a symphony was simply a "song" played by a symphonic orchestra. Then I realized that more often than not, the ...
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1answer
59 views
Wondering if there is a word for “Incompletely defined”? [closed]
No big deal if there does not exist such a word, but I was wondering.
2
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2answers
151 views
“Regress” vs. “retrogress”
What do each of them mean exactly? Is either (or both) the opposite of "progress"?
Could someone please explain the difference?
To add some context:
When I look up the definitions I see the ...
0
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0answers
48 views
Can a word be both official in its contextual subject and unofficial in the English language? [closed]
I'm studying history A Level and I've come across the following words:
"Dechristianisation", referring to the abdication of Christianity in the Terror of the French Revolution, and "Dekulakisation", ...
3
votes
4answers
158 views
What should you call a preface for a small document?
I think the word preface refers to books. I have a small document that is in the form of a hierarchical outline. Before my document, I want to put a small paragraph with instructions how to consume ...
21
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7answers
987 views
What do you call a computer window when it is not maximized or minimized?
What do you call a computer window when it is not maximized or minimized? I have been using unmaximized, but I feel there is a more precise way.
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3answers
196 views
What is the term for words that have a hyphen between them? [closed]
For example: "indisputably-accurate"; "the quickly-ran event"; "the truck-driving man"; "the under-slept woman"; "the power-possessing orb".
What is the term for the words that surround the hyphen?
3
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2answers
796 views
What is “narrative nonfiction”, exactly? Isn't every nonfiction narrative?
I came across the term “narrative nonfiction” in the New York Times article titled “What should children read?” (November 22). It seems to be a journalist’s and book editors’ favorite jargon from the ...
3
votes
2answers
248 views
What is the grammatical function of “never”?
What is the grammatical function of "never" in the following sentence?
You will have to do something you've never done.
Is it an adverb? My father disagrees with this.
In "I have studied" vs. ...
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5answers
100 views
“Photo playback” — can photos be played?
The phrase "photo playback" has about 35k Google hits, especially in production descriptions, but is it correct English?
It seems that “playback” can be used with video and audio, because we can play ...
0
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2answers
48 views
Is there a hypernym for persons and companies as entities?
I have to describe owners of certain properties and those can be persons or companies. I was thinking of naming them entities, but that seems too broad.
2
votes
2answers
185 views
What is the term for those cylindrical metal or plastic protrusions?
What is the term for those cylindrical metal or plastic protrusions that are inserted into mounting holes to mount a thing onto another thing? At first I thought of tab, but to me that makes it sound ...
0
votes
1answer
89 views
How do you call the part of a crystal that was cut of from a larger crystal?
The semiconductor industry calls the cuts of a crystal die or dice. Is this term outside of semiconducting industries correct too?
For example, a crystal has been cut into small plates. What are the ...
2
votes
3answers
101 views
Word for delimiters which are placed after each item? [closed]
The word "separator" can be used to describe delimiters which are placed between items. For instance, in this sequence:
"abbbabbbabbbabbba"
The 'b's separate the 'a's.
I'm looking for a word ...
3
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3answers
147 views
Architectural term for inward-facing corners [closed]
A T has eight corners. Six of these point outwards and two (the armpit) corners face inwards. In reference to a building, what is the term to describe the inward corners?
The closest I've come up ...
3
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2answers
248 views
Human body with “skin peeled off” or “without skin” [closed]
My art teacher used a word when describing a sculpture of a human without his skin (exposing muscle beneath). What was that word?
3
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5answers
515 views
Are camp followers prostitutes?
My own understanding of the term camp followers was that it was synonymous with prostitutes who followed armies around plying their trade. However, according to Wikipedia:
Camp-follower is a term ...
1
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0answers
64 views
Terminology for the sub-structures of laws & legislations [closed]
I am working on a paper for Russian history class that deals with emancipation reform of 1861. Basically reform was accomplished through legislature, made of 17 acts, and each act was made of ...
