Tagged Questions
9
votes
3answers
123 views
Make/take a photograph?
In English we say "take a photograph" whereas in some other languages one would say "make a photograph".
The French say "take" even though they "make" far more often than we do in English, and ...
1
vote
1answer
56 views
How did “replace” come to mean “put something in the place of”?
Replace has several meanings, but a common one is "to put something in the place of," as in, "After drinking your cola, I replaced it with a beer."
The way in which replace, which seems to most ...
2
votes
2answers
146 views
Can we determine a proper verb form of “exegesis” for Biblical scholars to use?
This is related to a conversation here in EL&U SE.
Apparently the noun exegete is being used as verb in religious circles.
For Biblical Scholars, the word exegesis carries with it a connotation ...
1
vote
1answer
79 views
Differences in the Semantics of Three Tri-Part Phrasal Verbs
What are the subtle semantic differences in the following three tri-part phrasal verbs:
(1) be up against
(2) come up against
(3) run up against
2
votes
2answers
125 views
When did the term 'get lost' first come to use?
Have tacked this term to be an American idiom. Does anyone know when it came to popular use or was first used there?
10
votes
3answers
202 views
What is the origin of the word “conk”?
Is it obsolete to use this word? Where does it come from? I couldn't find the origin of this term.
Can I use the phrase "The machine conked out" or should I replace conked out with something else?
3
votes
1answer
91 views
“Tabled”, US vs UK [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the meaning of the expression “We can table this”?
Here's an example snippet for some context.
Ann had an idea. We tabled her idea.
In the UK this means ...
3
votes
1answer
90 views
Etymology of “favourite” as a verb
The verb favourite or favorite (past tense favourited or favorited) is fairly new and isn't in many dictionaries. Two of the few are Oxford Dictionaries Online, who define it as:
favourite
verb
...
-3
votes
1answer
84 views
Origin of “happen” [closed]
What is the origin of the word happen? If it comes from the word hap, what is the early usage of that word?
4
votes
1answer
89 views
Is it possible to use “Go Galt” beyond political or business context?
I came across the expression “Go Galt” in Paul Krugman’s article titled “The Twinkie manifesto” appearing in November 20 New York Times. The phrase appears in the second paragraph of the following ...
11
votes
2answers
351 views
How (and when) was it that the verb 'go' began to mean 'say' in common usage?
i.e. "So then she goes, 'Hey!' and I go, 'What?' because I was on my way out..."
I was musing about this the other day, so I decided to try to find out. Unfortunately, my skills lie in different ...
5
votes
1answer
1k views
“Awoken” vs. “awaked”
I understand that the verb awake has two different past participle forms, awoken and awaked. Checking Google Ngram I saw that the former has become more popular than the latter in the last century. I ...
7
votes
2answers
288 views
OED Appeals: Origin of “bimble”
The OED has made a public appeal for help in tracing the history of some English words, including:
bimble
verb earlier than 1983
The word bimble, meaning ‘to move at a leisurely pace’, ...
1
vote
0answers
36 views
Why is “proceed” spelt “-ceed” and not “-cede” like “precede”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Origins of the “‑cede/‑seed/‑ceed” suffix
The pronunciation of proceed is exactly like that of precede with the only difference being the o instead of the e.
What rules ...
3
votes
2answers
164 views
How did “kill” get its positive connotations?
For example:
She made a killing on the stock market.
The comedian killed the audience — they were slain with laughter.
Did this meaning develop slowly over time or did some person or ...
5
votes
2answers
175 views
Is “quaver” a blend word of “quake” and “waver”?
Dictionary.com has this etymology for quaver:
1400–50; late Middle English quaveren (v.), blend of quake and waver
But Wiktionary disagrees:
From Middle English quaveren, frequentative ...
15
votes
6answers
508 views
Where does the phrase “run code” or “run software” come from? Why “run”?
Historically speaking, it makes sense to me someone would say run "the computer". Early computers (not a human computer) were mechanical machines with moving parts that could achieve a velocity deemed ...
1
vote
0answers
45 views
How the English verb conjugation does not have different suffixes? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What happened to the “-est” and “-eth” verb suffixes in English? How were they once used?
How do you conjugate Early Modern English verbs (other than ...
3
votes
2answers
145 views
Why are checks cancelled when approved?
A friend of mine just asked if I had paid him back for some money he lent me. I told him the check was cancelled on the 9th. Concerned, he asked, "why'd you cancel the check?"
I replied, "I didn't ...
5
votes
1answer
404 views
Why is the verb form of “record” pronounced [ri-kawrd] but the noun form is pronounced [rek-erd]?
Is there a different origin of pronunciation style for record as a verb and as a noun?
Fun fact: in OS X, if you type say "this record" and say "record this" — the text to speech system picks up the ...
1
vote
3answers
588 views
“Lifting a ban” — why does “lifting” mean “removing”?
In all other cases "moving something up" means creating or increasing something, like in "rising concern" or "erecting obstacles". At the same time "lifting a ban" means effectively removing the ban. ...
1
vote
0answers
113 views
The structure: all be it rare [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why is “albeit” pronounced the way it is?
Why have the subjunctive and indicative converged in Modern English?
When should I use the subjunctive mood?
...
2
votes
3answers
560 views
Origin of “twitter”
A non-native English speaker said on television that the word twitter originated from an English verb to twite, which means to twitter. Is this true?
Does the verb twite exist at all?
3
votes
0answers
114 views
What does “a-” before a verb mean? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
The times they are a-changin'
The times are a-changing? Why a-?
While listening to some Bob Dylan I've noticed how he sometimes uses the construction a-verb (e.g. ...
6
votes
2answers
284 views
Why are “indemnify” and “condemn” spelled differently?
Comparing the words indemnify and condemn:
Both contain demn as a root
Both are transitive verbs
Why is one spelled differently from the other – why not indemn, or condemnify?
3
votes
3answers
3k views
“Cover off” meaning “cover”
I've noticed that some business people (generally management types) have started to use the expression "cover off" to mean "cover".
E.g.
Can you cover off agenda item 3 for me?
or
Not ...
7
votes
6answers
998 views
New verb: “to verbal”
I seem to be noticing this one entering the popular lexicon lately, but cannot find a good definition.
Examples:
No, you're just verballing...
Leakegate: Leake verballed Richard Dawkins
...
8
votes
2answers
198 views
Does “ducking” have anything to do with a canard?
Wiktionary has a passage explaining (no citation) an origin to the use of the word canard as a means of diverting aggression from vulnerability:
Specifically, the term Canard refers to a tactic ...
11
votes
3answers
7k views
What's the difference between “Collaborate” and “Cooperate”?
Both of these words seem to mean much the same thing: working together to achieve some goal. I can instinctively feel a difference between them, but I can't easily put it into words.
Can you help me? ...
6
votes
1answer
150 views
Are there other verbs like “be” and “go”?
The verbs be and go have the nice peculiarity that their various forms (be/was and go/went) come from originally distinct verbs. Are there other such verbs?
5
votes
2answers
649 views
Etymology of “end up” and “wind up”
What is the etymology of the phrase "end up", and of the meaning of "wind up" that means essentially the same thing?
To clarify, I mean the specific meaning of "wind up" that means the same as "end ...
4
votes
1answer
153 views
When I shelve only one thing, am I not putting it on one shelf?
As there are plenty of nouns used as verbs, why is it that I do not shelf, but rather shelve, an idea? Since the -lves is just the special case plural of -lf, it seems curious that the -lve is used to ...
6
votes
1answer
1k views
Origins of the “‑cede/‑seed/‑ceed” suffix
Somewhere in the back of my mind I seem to remember cedere meant “to go or yield” in Latin. Presumably this gives us the words concede and accede. (?)
But what about the words supersede and proceed? ...
1
vote
1answer
226 views
Why do some “ing” verbs change tense to “ung” while others go to “inged?” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Origin of different past tenses for verbs with the same endings?
Spring has sprung, the bell we had to ring was rung, the sting was stung but when I had to ping a ...
1
vote
1answer
268 views
What are the roots on the verb 'to miss' come from?
I've been wondering what the origins of the verb 'to miss', as in a to have a longing for, come from. Is it anywhere similar to the origins of the verb 'to miss' as in to not hit?
4
votes
1answer
892 views
Why does “tanking” at something mean failing at it?
Why does tanking at something mean failing at it?
As an example:
Mate, I tanked that maths exam.
11
votes
2answers
741 views
{wend, went, went} changed into {go, went, gone}
I have heard that the verb go used to be wend in olden days. I am curious if there is any historical or other explanation why the past form of wend, i.e. went, is still in use while the simple present ...
7
votes
2answers
922 views
Origin of different past tenses for verbs with the same endings?
Why do we have a situation where the past of "to blow" is "blew", but of "to glow" is "glowed"? And don't say "flew" if you mean "it flowed". The poem Lovers, by Phoebe Cary has many examples of ...
23
votes
2answers
893 views
Why are clothes hung and men hanged?
I've heard it said that clothes can be 'hung' but men are 'hanged'. Is this correct, and, if so, why?
9
votes
1answer
1k views
Why “mind” means “pay attention to”
Why the word "mind" can be used as a verb, synonym of "pay attention to"? It has the same etymology of the "mind" (centre of thought, feelings, brain) noun? When it is better to use "mind" in place of ...
