30
votes
3answers
2k views
What's the meaning of the word “brand” in the expression “brand new”?
What meanings might be conveyed by something being called brand new, as opposed to it simply being called new? What's behind the word brand here?
30
votes
3answers
2k views
Alternatives to “and/or”?
As a programmer, I have no problem with seeing or using "and/or" in technical documentation. For example,
I can upvote an answer that satisfies me and/or mark it as accepted.
That's perfectly ...
30
votes
7answers
3k views
30
votes
2answers
5k views
What does the phrase “Begging the question” mean?
What does the phrase "begging the question" really mean? And does it even matter if I use it correctly? Almost everyone just uses it as a synonym for "posing the question" these days.
29
votes
10answers
3k views
What is the word to describe “the gaining of full control over an ability or power you already have”?
For example, a Jedi is born with powers, but must learn how to control them in order to use them. What's the one best word for this?
I have _ _ _ my power.
The word is in the back of my head ...
29
votes
17answers
12k views
What is the opposite of procrastination in one word?
I thought of precrastination at first but that appears to be the act of planning to procrastinate.
29
votes
9answers
6k views
“Trainer” is to “trainee” as “mentor” is to what?
What do you call someone who is being mentored? Is it mentoree or mentee? Does the term student or pupil imply a context outside the business environment?
29
votes
8answers
9k views
“Toilet”, “lavatory” or “loo” for polite society
My friend is trying so hard to fit into polite society, and is raising her child to say loo rather than toilet. I know it should be lavatory (and I would not say lav) but we are in the 21st century ...
29
votes
8answers
3k views
Offensiveness of “black” in reference to race or skin colour
Is black offensive when used to refer to race or skin colour? If so, should we then not use white as well?
29
votes
6answers
1k views
Who is “That Guy”?
I found the term “that guy”, used as “He embarked on a career as a 'that guy',” in the following sentence of the article of the New Yorker (Feb. 7, 2011) titled “the Most Interesting Man in the ...
29
votes
5answers
2k views
What do you call the interconnecting bits of a puzzle piece in English?
This is hard to describe, but I'm curious about what the proper word is for these thingies in English.
So I searched for a picture on Google and circled what I'm referring to with red:
29
votes
1answer
48k views
What does a single letter “J” mean in emailing?
Today is Halloween. After a successful party, many conversations have been going on in my company's email box.
The end of one email said "Till next time J". I had no idea what "J" meant in this ...
29
votes
9answers
2k views
“1 in 10 are” or “1 in 10 is”?
Take the examples:
"One in ten children are dyslexic."
"One in ten children is dyslexic."
"One in ten children has dyslexia."
"One in ten children have dyslexia."
The "one" is singular so 2 and 3 ...
29
votes
5answers
1k views
Does the quirky spelling in English actually make it easier to read?
I just finished reading the question asked by Bobnix, in which RegDwight referred to another question with an interesting answer by Kosmonaut. Kosmonaut refers to the great number of pictograms (Kanji ...
29
votes
2answers
1k views
What is the difference between “everyday” and “every day”?
I constantly see "everyday" being used in cases where the writer really means "every day". For example, here's a sentence from Google's eBooks documentation: "New titles are being added to Google ...
29
votes
1answer
6k views
Why use the word “copy” in “do you copy that”?
I notice do you copy that is used in movies to ask for confirmation in telephone/interphone conversation.
I only know copy means make things duplicated, so why use it in do you copy that, is there a ...
29
votes
5answers
972 views
What are the historical processes of preposition coining in English?
RegDwight's excellent answer showing the historical usage of despite got me thinking about the processes by which new prepositions are coined. Prepositions are generally considered a closed class, and ...
28
votes
15answers
3k views
“True” is to “false” as “truth” is to… what?
If I were to reverse the sentence, "I care about the truth" I would want to say:
I care about the false.
Is that correct? It seems awkward at best:
He speaks the truth! / He speaks the ...
28
votes
8answers
3k views
“Warm” is to “warmth” as “cool” is to what?
Is there a word for "coolness" that corresponds to warmth?
28
votes
5answers
2k views
Winter - wintry; summer - summery; spring - ?; autumn -?
wintry:
characteristic of winter, esp. in feeling or looking very cold and bleak: "a wintry landscape".
summery: belonging to or characteristic of or occurring in summer; "summery weather";
...
28
votes
6answers
2k views
Does apologizing entail recognizing being at fault?
Consider this example:
I'm sorry if you got the impression that I meant to insult you. That was not my intention.
Would it be correct to say that the above person apologized?
All the ...
28
votes
6answers
1k views
Is there a word for two persons dodging each other on the street?
While walking on a path, sometimes two person try to dodge each other. Like one guy steps left, and at the same time, other guy steps left and then switches direction and so does the other guy. Is ...
28
votes
12answers
4k views
Is there a difference between “cheers” and “thanks” in colloquial British English?
In colloquial British English today you hear "Cheers" (to mean "thank you") more often than "Thanks."
Is the choice of one or the other determined by regional, class, or education differences, or is ...
28
votes
4answers
9k views
“Best Before” says “11 MA 23”; is it May or March?
I bought a bottle of juice today, and the "Best Before" date it's "11 MA 23". I always see "MA" as for March, but the store staff said that was May.
What is your opinion?
28
votes
6answers
11k views
Use of “I”, “we” and the passive voice in a scientific thesis [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Style Question: Use of “we” vs. “I” vs. passive voice in a dissertation
When the first person voice is used in scientific writing it is mostly ...
28
votes
6answers
5k views
Where does the phrase “dry run” come from?
I've heard the phrase "dry run" being used with the meaning of rehearsal, experiment or test exercise in various contexts. For example:
They did a dry run of the demonstration before showing it to ...
27
votes
16answers
3k views
What's a word for avoiding a question with a generic (fake) answer?
Examples...
Q: Why is the sky blue?
A: Because God made it that way.
(A kid to their parent)
Q: Why do I have to clean my room?
A: Because I said so.
What is it called when someone ...
27
votes
6answers
2k views
A word that says a person is both female and your friend
It's often confusing for me to talk about my friends, especially my female friends. This is because in Dutch there are words for both male ("vriend") and female ("vriendin") friends. In English ...
27
votes
14answers
2k views
Phrase for observing a rule in a malicious way
I know this phrase, but for some reason it is blocked in my mind. What is the term for observing a rule, but doing so in a way that subverts it? I'm almost certain that malicious is one of the words ...
27
votes
12answers
6k views
What is a word for a question that has no answer because it is seemingly invalid?
A friend of mine posted a riddle on Facebook involving adding money and then subtracting money. It ended with a question asking where $1 went, but the trick was that there was no discrepancy, so the ...
27
votes
7answers
3k views
What does “information porn” mean?
On several occasions while browsing Meta Stack Overflow, I have encountered the phrase information porn, typically used by Jeff Atwood. What does it mean?
27
votes
12answers
2k views
Is there a word to describe a highly desirable cursed treasure?
Is there a single word to describe an object or idea that is so desirable that everyone wants to attain it but once they have it they are immediately cursed?
The idea is often used in literature—some ...
27
votes
8answers
4k views
If someone is electrocuted, do they have to die or can they just be injured?
Is it correct to say I electrocuted my friend if he was only injured by electricity?
27
votes
6answers
4k views
How can I write out 1.5?
I would like to write out (1.5) in words and also (5.0).
How would I do that?
27
votes
2answers
4k views
What does President Obama’s phrase “We don’t need to spike the football” mean?
President Obama made the following statement regarding his decision not to show dead body of Osama bin Laden to the public:
"I think that Americans and people around the world are glad that he is ...
27
votes
5answers
1k views
Is it possible for a new irregular verb to appear in English language?
Consider these verbs in past tense:
faxed, emailed, googled
they are all regular verbs made out of new nouns.
Are there any new irregular verbs that I'm not aware of?
27
votes
5answers
25k views
What is the difference between “till” and “until”?
What is the difference between till and until?
When to use till or until? Please explain with examples.
27
votes
4answers
1k views
What does the “s” in “thanks” mean?
I'm teaching English in a non-English-speaking country where plural "s" and third-person "s" get confused a lot with no "s" at all. The dialogue in the textbook was explaining how you should respond ...
27
votes
2answers
3k views
Is there any relation between the suffix “-ship” and actual ships?
I am curious if there is actual relation between all nouns ending in -ship, such as relationship, citizenship, sportsmanship, etc. with the vessel for transporting people or goods over the sea?
27
votes
1answer
7k views
Which is correct: “rack my brain” or “wrack my brain”?
Which is the correct usage: "rack my brain" or "wrack my brain"? Google turned up pages with conflicting recommendations.
One argument is that to "rack a brain" comes from the torture device known ...
27
votes
6answers
2k views
27
votes
2answers
2k views
When should end punctuation go inside quotes?
I have been/am being taught that end punctuation should always go inside quotes. For example, you are supposed to write:
Marvin thought it was "awful."
The problem is I do not see how does this ...
27
votes
10answers
4k views
What does “it” refer to in “it's raining”?
I wanted to leave the question title as is so as not to take away from my amusement :).
Anyway,
It's raining.
What is raining? Is it the sky? The clouds? The weather? The rain? What is "it"? ...
27
votes
6answers
1k views
Are there any words in English that have a plural with a separate derivation?
There are some irregular plurals in English (child/children, goose/geese), but all of the ones I know of share the same root word.
In some languages, there are some irregular pairs where the singular ...
27
votes
3answers
832 views
Terms for collections of animals
As I watched the murder of crows sitting on the line above my house this evening, I got wondering where all of the collective nouns for animals (pod of whales, gaggle of geese, pride of lions) came ...
26
votes
15answers
8k views
Collective word for food and drink
Is there a word that best describes food and drink taken at the same time? I've thought of refreshments and consumables but neither seem right to me.
26
votes
7answers
1k views
Single word for people who are like “a frog in the well”
Is there a single word describing someone who is like a frog in a well? The frog believes the well is the entire world. How can I describe people who think that their own small environment is the ...
26
votes
6answers
13k views
What is the correct way to use “neither” and “nor” in a sentence together?
Given these facts:
The tool cannot be found in the kitchen.
The tool cannot be found in the bathroom.
Which is the correct sentence to represent the situation above?
I can find the tool ...
26
votes
4answers
5k views
Replacement for “God forbid”
I wanted to use the phrase "God forbid" the other day, but really wanted to avoid the religious connotations that may come along with it. I was stumped while thinking of a replacement or variation.
I ...
26
votes
12answers
3k views
“Nothing to tell” versus “nothing to say”
There's nothing to tell.
There's nothing to say.
Can anyone explain the difference between those two statements and give some examples on how they should be used? I think I do have a basic ...
