Tom Au

4,797 reputation

1727

bio	website
	location	New York, New York
	age	55
visits	member for	1 year, 11 months
	seen	5 hours ago
stats	profile views	228

	4,797 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	1 year, 11 months
1727 badges		location	New York, New York		seen	5 hours ago

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Oct 5	comment	“Have at it” : what's the object of the transitive verb “have” here? A better expression is "have a GO at it" (British). "Have at it" is a clumsy abbreviation.
Oct 2	comment	Word for “taking advantage of a second chance or opportunity” Welcome to the site. An upvote to get you started.
Sep 26	comment	Word for feeling of being used by someone @drɱ65δ: Thanks. IYHO is worth a great deal to me (emphasis on Y).
Sep 22	comment	What do you call a person who is easily replaced? @FumbleFingers:Please tell that to my boss.
Sep 21	comment	What do you call a person who is easily replaced? @FumbleFingers: I upvoted your use of the word.
Sep 18	comment	What does Rick Perry’s “God uses broken people to reach a broken world" mean? @Yoichi: The term is "Gentleman's C," and it means a low passing grade for a "gentleman" who has other things to do. The capital G refers to an adjective that describes the grade.
Sep 16	comment	generic term for “A-hed”? (quirky article at the bottom of the front page of the Wall Street Journal) @Eldross: Pot pourri can refer to a collection of THINGS as well as flowers. (At least it did on an American TV show called Jeopardy.
Sep 8	comment	What is “o-matic”? Nice bit of history. Upvoted.
Sep 7	comment	How to use “pickpocket” as verb I believe this question is misunderstood. It is NOT "What does pickpocket mean," (a general reference question). It is "How do you use it?" (Answer, by splitting the verb "pick" and the noun "pocket" around the object, e.g. a tourist: "Pick a tourist's pocket.")
Sep 7	comment	“Salty” in place of expensive? I believe these are "figures of speech," as opposed to "accepted" English usage.
Sep 3	comment	Looking for idiom/expression to describe an instance where one makes something seem better than it really is Welcome aboard the site. An upvote to get you started.
Sep 1	comment	Figuring the SVO of the sentence “I'm Tom.” @myqlarson: I was talking about predicate nouns. You're talking about predicate adjectives. But you did give me an opportunity to clarify my stance.
Aug 30	comment	What does “turn off” mean here? Welcome to the site. An upvote to get you started.
Aug 23	comment	British and American slang words for immigrants? A reference has been added. I omitted some others that even wiki conceded were less trustworthy.
Aug 22	comment	Is it true that the 100 most common English words are all Germanic in origin? @alian pannetier: There are two of A LOT of things in English. e.g. stool (German), chair (French); hen (German), poultry (French) etc.
Aug 22	comment	Etymology of “unhinged” @Wesley: If a door is "hinged," it's likely to stay in place. If it is "unhinged," it is likely to come apart (from the doorway). The "etymology" of this to people would be the metaphor.
Aug 7	comment	What is the meaning and etymology of “ruthless?” @unreason: That's a good link. But it probably took the answer below to produce the "light bulb" moment in my head.
Aug 7	comment	What is the meaning and etymology of “ruthless?” @Mark T: I was doing what I call a "permutation analysis (searching possible permutations; the reference to Ruth was another example).Rücksichtlos is quite plausible in this regard. "No look back" could be construed as remorseless, if not cruel. But rue and "rueless" is the better root word.
Aug 5	comment	Does this situation have a name? "G" was a reference to the woman's MARRIED name, so I don't think it was done on purpose. More of an accident, or curiosity.
Aug 5	comment	What is the meaning and etymology of “ruthless?” So the correct root word could be "rue," and "ruthless, would mean "rueless." Makes perfect sense.