Questions tagged [colloquialisms]
A colloquialism is a word or phrase used in everyday conversation, but generally avoided in formal speech and writing.
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What does “turn down an empty plate” mean?
I was reading Raymond Chandler’s The Lady in the Lake (1943) and came across this quote that puzzled me:
Tell Webber I was asking for him. Next time he buys a hamburger, tell him to turn down an ...
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How to characterize Machiavelli's phrase, "The ends justify the means"? [closed]
This question has been raised and thoroughly discussed: "How to characterize the phrase, 'The ends justify the means.'" I wish to add a thought. As I was writing a book for publication, I ...
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Are 'biggity' and 'briggity' kin?
(Motivated by the question How common is "biggety" in Southern and Midland US?)
The DARE entry for briggity has the following (edited):
briggity: (also brickaty, brickety, brigaty, ...
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Does "watered up" mean you have a craving for something?
Tonight at dinner my friend from Tulsa, OK read from the menu that the university cafeteria was serving egg noodles at one of the stations. To his disappointment, they were actually serving rice.
&...
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Can I use the word "mill" as a synonym for "destroy"?
"Mill" is usually used to describe the process of making flour (grinding), to describe a wind or water mill, or a factory.
Since the process of milling or grinding consists of making small ...
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When and why did we start "guessing" so much?
Nowadays it's hard to eavesdrop on an informal conversation (at least in the US) without hearing the phrase 'i guess'.
Wiktionary has two relevant definitions for guess:
(chiefly US) to suppose (...
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'it took me a long time' vs 'I took a long time' to do x
I remember my high school teacher explicitly saying that
it took me a long time to do x
was the correct form and
I took a long time to do x
was not. In recent years, I seem to remember hearing the ...
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In the Ozarks, why was a pregnant woman "with squirrel"?
Many blog posts online claim that in the Ozarks, being 'with squirrel' was once slang for 'being pregnant.' That is, if Sally is 'with squirrel', then Sally is pregnant.
They mostly cite Vance ...
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What is the meaning (and origin) of the word 'peck' in the expression 'bomb peck' (BrE)?
Someone used the words 'bomb peck' in conversation to me yesterday and I queried what they meant. I have found the expression being used colloquially online but with no explanation of what 'peck' ...
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Among younger speakers, is 'bro' now gender-neutral?
I often hear 'bro' being used in a gender-neutral manner among younger speakers (mainly teenagers), and I'm wondering about the specifics of this trend. (Or at least it seems like a trend to me.)
Here ...
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What is a casual and tangible term for generalizing?
What is a casual and tangible term for generalizing?
For example,
Don't [generalise] your experience thinking that others have the same.
So far I have found "assume" which is good, but I ...
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What is the meaning of "to have" in old cartoons?
In old cartoons, particularly "Little Red Riding Rabbit" of Looney Tunes, characters say "to have" with a meaning that seems different to the modern sense. For example, in the said ...
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When you're using "here" in a sentence to specify a person, where do the commas go, if any?
When you use "here" to refer to a specific person, where do the commas go? Are commas around "here" correct? Because it doesn't look quite right to me...
For example,
Catherine, ...
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Is "unalive" both a verb and a noun?
An emerging colloquialism that is trending at the moment is "unalive", used, for example, in the sentence:
The police officer who was sued has a tendency to unalive someone he stops for a ...
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Native speakers using "house" instead of "flat", "apartment", "condo"
I sometimes hear native speakers of English use the word "house" instead of "flat" (BrE) and "apartment"/"condo" (AmE).
This YouTube video with a time stamp is ...
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What is the term for using a famous person's name to describe another person? [duplicate]
Names of exceptional people are sometimes used colloquially to describe other people. The most prominent example is referring to someone ironically as "Einstein" or "an Einstein," ...
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What is a politer way to criticize someone's throwing than 'throws like a girl'? [closed]
Is a terrible thing to say. It’s not even accurate, but the picture it evokes is as specific as the verbiage is succinct. What’s a less douchey way to describe an unpracticed overhand throw? Offhand? ...
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When did calling someone "Einstein" ironically become common?
In “The Children” (1937) by Howard Fast, a mentally-handicapped youngster is ironically referred to as “Thomas Edison” as Edison probably was, in the USA, the best-known "smart guy".
Today, ...
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What does "throw-out" mean when describing somebody's style of walking?
In chapter VII of John Buchan's 1924 novel The Three Hostages, the following sentence occurs:
He told me all kinds of things about her - how she was crazy about dogs, and didn't fear anything in the ...
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Biden is both "proud dad & pop"? [closed]
I searched for Biden's twitter page and in his bio it states this: "46th President of the United States, husband to @FLOTUS, proud dad & pop."
Why would he say dad & pop? Isn't it ...
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Is the use of "boot" in "it'll boot you none to try" weird or strange?
I seem to have a phrase in my head for a long time that i can't remember where I picked it up.
It will boot you none to attempt this/try.
The implication being that there will be no advantage or ...
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Less formal term for "dimensions" for something that can be measured in units
In scientific/engineering writing and calculations we use terms that are considered "dimensions" and for each "dimension" we have to have "units" when we describe them.
...
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Informal Australian use of "as" at the end of a sentence
In Australia I have heard expressions such as “It's fully stressful as.” and “All are really skux(?) as.”
What is the meaning or force of this use of “as” at the end of a sentence?
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Usage of "suss out" in Australian English
What's the meaning of "suss out" in Australian English? (Sydney, specifically) How does it compare with "figure out"?
I've heard the verb used slightly differently than normal in a ...
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What does it mean to "grab someone in the gut?"
Could anyone please help me know what is the meaning of "grabs people in the gut" in the following quote from Jim Collins’ Built to Last:
A BHAG is a huge and daunting goal—like a big ...
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Closest equivalent to the Chinese jocular use of 职业病 (occupational disease): job creates habits that manifest inappropriately outside work
The Chinese expression 职业病 (zhi ye bing, occupational disease), when used seriously, just means occupational disease, e.g. lung problems caused by working in a chemical factory.
But there is also a ...
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Meaning of "press the TV viewers' personal buttons"
In his book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Carl Sagan wrote the following item in a list of ideas about how to put more science on television:
Regular exposés of pernicious ...
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Use of the word "terrestrial" as "something easier to understand" [closed]
I know that the word terrestrial originally meant something relating to the earth. But I think I've heard it being used before meaning something close to home or easier to understand in the context of ...
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Is it correct to say “things are looking up for my travel plans” [closed]
Is it correct to say “things are looking up for my travel plans” to indicate that I am ready to start planning my travel after so many problems.
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Does anyone know the expression "Aye Gannies" (or perhaps the spelling is "I gonees")
Growing up in the Missouri Ozarks we had a neighbor named Hicks who used this expression. One of Mr. Hick's frequent and unique expressions was, “I Gannies” (the “a” was short). The only other times ...
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What verbs can stand alone in "We _____ your time is valuable"?
While on hold today by phone, a recording regularly told me, "We appreciate your time is valuable". Is this correct English?
I know that there are special verbs, like "know" or &...
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What is the earliest example of "tops/at tops" for "at the most," and is it now more common outside of AmE?
The OED's entry and earliest citation for tops are:
plural tops n. (also at tops) at the most, at the latest. Usually finally. colloquial (originally and chiefly U.S.).
1956 ‘B. Holiday’ & W. ...
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What is a simple way to express Class vs Instance?
In object-oriented programming, the concepts of "class" vs "instance" exist. The "class" defines the properties of the object (its behavior and attributes), while the &...
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By the look/looks of things
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/by+the+look+of+things
Example from idioms dictionary:
"The detective said that, by the looks of things, she is probably hiding out somewhere."
https://...
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"Data is" or "Data are"? Which for which context? [duplicate]
"The data are highly useful in uncovering..."
"Data is key to medical research."
Both are phrases which are used. Are both correct? It seems to me that the second, which in my ...
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Word or phrase which means purposely playing below your skill level?
I am looking for an idiom or expression which can be used to describe the action of someone deliberately playing below their skill level.
For example, a pool or billiards expert missing a few shots on ...
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"Something's wrong" vs "Something wrong" [closed]
I need this to provide a warning message in my software. "Something's wrong" seems more appropriate to my ear, but I have seen people using "Something wrong".
Are they both correct?...
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What is the meaning of the phrase to "wake up dead"
There are two examples I can think of, both music related. The first is "Is anybody going to San Antone" by Charley Pride: Sleepin' under a table in a roadside park, a man could wake up ...
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Name for "filler" words that potentially convey lack of self confidence [duplicate]
There are plenty of internet search hits for "filler" words, and how not to use them. I'm not asking about these.
I would like to know if there is a name for language that people use which ...
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What is the origin of the phrase "eating on"?
My husband's family uses the phrase "eating on" as in "we have been eating on these leftovers for several days." This isn't a phrase my family uses, and honestly, I find it evokes ...
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"Being beaten to it by a week"? [closed]
I was watching this: video 0:26, and got lost about what he was saying. Roughly, what I heard was: "Another criterion is that it should be something that few other people are doing, because there ...
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Meaning of this piece of dialogue in The Call of the Wild?
Here is an excerpt from Chapter 1 of The Call of the Wild by Jack London:
Yet his time came, in the end, in the form of a little weazened man
who spat broken English and many strange and uncouth ...
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What does "Do you know how to party?" mean? [closed]
I was actually wanting to know how to say this in Spanish when I realized that I didn't have a clear definition of it in my own language — English. My knowledge of this phrase comes from colloquial, ...
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What is the usage and etymology of phrases such as "Grumpy McGrumpface"
There is a bunch of phrases such as
Grumpy McGrumpface
Fatty McFatface
F***y McF***face
Sh***y McSh**face
all with some thousand google hits, Trumpy McTrumpface, or software such as Bloaty ...
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Is "standard" an archaic synonym for an athletic team or club?
This was passed along to me (native US speaker) by a non-native speaker.
A school in the UK asks for the following details...
Games
Teams and Standards
Extra-curricular Activities
...in their ...
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What’s the origin/etymology of “mm-bye”?
As said to end conversations (especially on the phone): mmm-bye.
When and how did this form/usage start?
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"is there such a thing as" - is this a colloquialism?
I've been asked to edit a scholarly paper intended for publication, written by a non-native English speaker. Somehow I'm just not sure whether "such a thing as" is colloquial or not. I ...
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Naturalness of expressions like "Me and Adam have discovered ....." in conversational English [duplicate]
I heard an American radio personality, university graduate, was saying below.
"Me and Adam have discovered a lot of weird things since we
came to Japan."
My question here is not about ...
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Verbs and pronouns in action phrases e.g. me: *smiles* [closed]
An action is usually a verb phrase surrounded in asterisks to show that someone is doing something. When an action is written, why is it using the third person verb conjugation even though the subject ...
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Does any of the following sound metaphorically correct?
"This data has been sitting on my hard drive for years."
OR
"This data has been sitting in my hard drive for years."
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