2

Here is the place I saw this usage:

(Paraphrase) Mr. A's refrain that Law L be invoked against dishonest and incompetent legislators presents an interesting case.

My dictionary tells me

(irrelevant) refrain ~ noun
1. the part of a song where a soloist is joined by a group of singers

refrain ~ verb
1. resist doing something
2. choose not to consume

My understanding tells me that Mr. A obviously wants to invoke Law L against these legislators, but the dictionary tells me that he is resisting it (himself?)

What am I missing here?

Improve this question
7
  • The noun definition isn't irrelevant since the usage of refrain you quote is a noun. See @Gnawme's answer. The quote is saying that Mr. (actually Ms.) A presents an interesting case by keeping on insisting that Law L be invoked against the no-good legislators.
    – Daniel
    Commented Sep 28, 2011 at 19:07
  • 2
    Your first (part of a song...) definition is not irrelevant. The parts of a song involving a "chorus" are usually the parts regularly repeated, as apparently are Mr A's opinions on subjecting legislators to the rule of law.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Sep 28, 2011 at 19:09
  • Thanks both of you, now its more clear to me. I never thought the meaning "something which gets repeated in a song " will be relevant in customary usage. @dr65 : its not Ms. but Mr. only, his name is Anna (not like Anna Kournikova, but with Indian nasal NN accent) and he is a male, patriotic retired soldier who recently brought the Indian Government to make a resolution to pass a Law to setup a body against corruption.
    – wadkar
    Commented Sep 28, 2011 at 19:27
  • Sorry! I am not very well-versed in Indian names, obviously. I had thought it was your mistake, and now I see it was mine. That's embarrassing...
    – Daniel
    Commented Sep 28, 2011 at 19:34
  • @drɱ65δ : no no!! its not your mistake (and neither it belongs to anyone, if you at all consider it as a mistake) . Its just a communication gap, which can be expanded into the multitude of differences between the cultural and geo-sociological diversities of human life
    – wadkar
    Commented Sep 28, 2011 at 19:38

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
5

It's being used in this sense (from MW Unabridged):

refrain, noun: a phrase or verse which recurs regularly

Apparently, it's something that this person calls for again and again.

Improve this answer
3
  • thanks, I guess I need to update my dict/thesaurus. Is this(usage) common practice? (off topic Q, please ignore : Maybe its not in my Wordnet based thesaurus Arhta because the wordnet version used is bit old?
    – wadkar
    Commented Sep 28, 2011 at 19:15
  • 2
    I see it used this way several times at least.
    – Daniel
    Commented Sep 28, 2011 at 19:30
  • Perhaps your Wordnet database is not very large? I subscribe to Merriam-Webster Unabridged (unabridged.merriam-webster.com) and so have access to a larger database. Dictionary.com also has this definition, but you have to wade through the ads...
    – Gnawme
    Commented Sep 28, 2011 at 20:42
0

A refrain is a statement that is often repeated.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .