Questions tagged [expressions]
This tag is for questions about expressions. Expressions are words or phrases used to convey an idea, or else a particular term used conventionally to express something. Consider phrase-requests and expression-requests if you are looking for an expression, phrase-meaning if you are unsure about the usage of a given phrase.
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Which is correct: "could care less" or "couldn't care less"?
What's the deal with the phrase "could care less"?
Whilst growing up, I've always known people (parents etc) to use the phrase "couldn't care less", but I've also come across people who use the ...
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Idiom: People caring about minor stuff while something terrible is happening
Imagine a situation in which the whole place is on fire, a bomb is about to explode, everyone is running for their lives and someone is checking his looks on the mirror... pretty inappropriate for the ...
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12
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Proverb or expression for a situation with two choices, both leading to a different kind of trouble
I'm searching for a proverb or expression that describes a situation which has two choices or two ways out (that is, somewhat of a forced choice) where both lead to some kind of trouble (but not the ...
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13
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When should "no problem" replace "you're welcome" as a response to "thank you"?
I have observed a growing trend in which people substitute "no problem" for "you're welcome" as a response to "thank you". In particular, it seems to be an increasingly common response from servers ...
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4
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How do you call..? vs. What do you call...?
It seems an open-and-shut case, the correct version for asking the word of something in English is
What do you call…?
And yet the sheer number of second-language speakers of English who ask daily, ...
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Are there popular English sayings to express “Big fuss, tiny result”?
The recent EL&U question asked by Mikhail about the alternative expressions of ‘To shoot out of cannon into sparrows’ reminded me of Japanese saying - 大山鳴動鼠一匹- literally meaning people find (get) “...
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Is the "will" in "can and will" necessary?
Anyone who's ever seen much American film or television has heard some variation of the following sentences countless times:
You have the right to remain silent. If you choose to give up that ...
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6
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"Josephine, Schmosephine"
I recently watched A Series Of Unfortunate Events, and I was puzzled by the expression "Josephine, Schmosephine". The narrator explains that when you don't care about something or someone, you repeat ...
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Are there any expressions that describe going from a bad to a worse situation?
Are there idioms or expressions in English that describe going from one bad situation to one that's even worse?
I heard "between a rock and hard place" but this describes a dilemma not really a ...
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In special cases, can you use "one such family are" vs. "one such family is"? [duplicate]
Is it correct to say "one such family are..." as opposed to "one such family is..." in some circumstances?
Say, for instance, as used in this article on gene families:
[...] One such family are ...
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Neither do I / Nor do I / Me neither / Me either
In this circumstance, which would be the most correct / natural answer?
Person 1: I don't eat meat
Person 2: Neither do I / Nor do I / Me neither / Me either
This says both "neither do I" and "...
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votes
2
answers
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Value (in cents) of big words
I found the answer to this question interesting in that he referred to a "75 cent word". I would have called it a 50-cent word, not because I undervalued his answer but because that is how I have ...
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Is there an idiom for people who boast too much?
I am looking for idioms or informal/slang/colloquial expression for some people that make you think that they are able of building a skyscraper, constructing a spaceship, playing the piano better than ...
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3
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How did the phenomenon of doubling words come about?
I am referring to phrases such as: "Do you like her, or do you like like her." Can someone provide an explanation of this? There are many more examples but none come to mind at the moment.
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Why are you "On a train" yet "In a car" when you are inside both vehicles? [duplicate]
Why are you "On a train" yet "In a car" when you are inside both vehicles?
"On a bike" makes sense but "On a plane" seems wrong as you are actually inside the plane rather than on it.
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Is there a word for people who always act too friendly in order to curry favor with their acquaintances?
Is there a single noun or adjective for a person who is always flattering friends and acquaintances, not only to be liked and accepted but, at other times, to curry favor with them as well ? I'm not ...
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2
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Word or phrase for mere coincidence that brings happiness
I wish to state that my exposure to a certain area was a mere coincidence, and I am happy about the area. Moreover, I want to convey the idea that the incident was like a fairytale, something no one ...
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25
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Are there counterpart English expressions to Japanese proverb, "the nail that pops up is always hammered down?
I was once reminded by Robusto-san of a Japanese popular saying, ‘出る釘は打たれる - the nail that pops up is always hammered down,’ when I complained about sequential down-votes that I received.
I wondered ...
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Is there a secular, non vulgar alternative to "for heaven's sake"?
I know for heaven's sake, for Pete's sake, for God's sake and for Christ's sake. All of those, however are religious references. The only non-religious equivalent phrases I know are for fuck's sake ...
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Expression that means something like "killing the sheep to keep them from being kidnapped"
I'm looking for an expression that conveys an excessive risk management approach that ends up having a worse effect than what it is trying to protect against.
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"It's all downhill from here"—meaning and etymology
The phrase "it was all downhill from there" seems to have two, contradictory meanings.
The first indicates that things have since gotten a lot worse. For example (from http://bleacherreport.com/...
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Is the phrase "for free" correct?
A friend claims that the phrase for free is incorrect. Should we only say at no cost instead?
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Is there a word to describe someone who often inaccurately uses words?
Or a word to describe the act of inaccurately using complicated or unusual words (often in an attempt to sound more intelligent)?
I considered 'bombastic' but it doesn't have that quality of ...
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votes
8
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Expression for a choice which isn't really one
What would be a nice short expression to describe a choice which isn't really one, in that all of its possible outcomes are ultimately equivalent despite being presented as different?
My first ...
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8
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Term for using "thingy-esque" phrases rather than a common word
{This question came to mind because of the recent question .. What do you call the interconnecting bits of a puzzle piece in English? }
In my opinion, in English, it's reasonably common that—...
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I’m looking for a word or phrase that describes the feeling that something very bad or catastrophic is about to happen
It may be something that will happen to the person who is having the feeling but it may also be to several persons, as might occur with a highly destructive earthquake, for instance.
The word or ...
- 49.8k
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votes
10
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Is there a word for one who enjoys to eat for the sake of eating (a food hedonist)?
Does such a word exist? I don't mean to excess (IE, a glutton), but rather one who eats because he enjoys eating. Essentially, I'm looking for a word that's synonymous with "a food hedonist", or "a ...
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expression "caught between a rock and a hard place"
What is the origin and definition of the expression "caught between a rock and a hard place"? I also heard it in a situation where it could have had a jocose double sense, but I may have misunderstood....
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Word for when two people type the same thing at the same time in chat
I have the distinct feeling there's a word often used when two people type the same thing at the same time in Internet chat contexts. Not necessarily exactly the same words, but closely related.
...
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"Saving on the parrot's chocolate is futile"
In Catalan there is an expression "ser la xocolata del lloro" that can be translated as "saving by not giving chocolate to the parrot is futile", conveying the meaning that when a household wants to ...
- 4,419
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Why is "head over heels" used as if it were exceptional rather than commonplace?
Most people spend part of each day standing, and if they have normal anatomy their heads are over their heels in this position. Even sitting or lying down, the head is higher than the heels (if not ...
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Is there a shorter alternative for "Enjoy your meal"?
The French have "Bon appetit".
In Belgium and the Netherlands we have "Smakelijk".
Is there a short way to wish someone a good meal in English?
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Tendency of using pronouns 'she/her' when talking about a random person
Reading different specifications and manuals I've noticed that more often and often pronouns she or her are being used when some unknown person's behavior is described.
For example: "when user opens ...
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Is there a word or phrase meaning to plant my idea in someone else’s mind?
Is there a word or phrase that means to plant my idea in someone else’s mind so they think it is their own idea?
Just like what happened in the movie Inception.
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What do you call someone who always puts blame on others?
No matter what had really happened, this person will always blame and find an appearing logical/thought out way/strategy to it that, fundamentally, it's the other person who was the cause for all the ...
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4
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Why am I always compelled to begin a response with "Well, "?
Because of a certain 140 character limit I've learned where I can trim characters on responses but even after all this time I still reply with "Well, so and so . . ." and I go back and have to delete ...
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"To have a dinner" vs "to have dinner": which one is correct?
Does one need to use the article in this case?
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1
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Why do we say "don't you dare"?
I don't understand, because if 'don't' is 'do not' then wouldn't the sentence without conjunctions be 'do not you dare' which I'm pretty sure isn't grammatically correct. Like, when we say the term it ...
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4
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"This wine is drinking nicely" : does anything else drink nicely?
People tell me this phrase is only used in the context of wine. Even though my lack of knowledge of other phrases that are built similarly suggests these people must be right, my curiosity gets the ...
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2
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"To which", "by which", "on which" etc [closed]
I have come across the phrases like "to which","for which", "by which", "on which" and so on(using a preposition with a relative pronoun).
e.g. The chair on which the body was found..
Could someone ...
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Idiomatic expression for a difficult choice
This has cropped up several times in the past couple of months, and I've been struggling to find a fitting word to describe this phenomenon. I'll describe it:
You have two choices(no, it's not ...
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Polite alternatives to "as soon as possible"
I’ve found myself writing the phrase “as soon as possible” just too often. Sometimes I wonder if it sounds a little rude. How can I convey the same meaning in a more polite way but without losing ...
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Term for being unable to see glaring errors after working for some time on a task?
Back in the day, I used to do a lot of CAD drafting.
There is a well known phenomena whereby your ability to see mistakes, errors, omissions or plain nonsense in your drawing diminishes sharply ...
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Should I write "that being said" (vs. "that's been said" or "Having said that")?
I often write what "sounds" right (being not a native English speaker/writer), and I believe the expression "that being said" to be fairly common, as opposed to a more complete form like "that's been ...
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Which is correct, "buck naked" or "butt naked"?
"Butt naked" or "buck naked" both refer to completely naked, or do they? Where the phrase comes from I have no idea but that would be of interest.
This is a phrase I am too afraid to google and ...
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Is there a term for a foreign word that looks like an English word but has a completely different meaning?
examples:
Gift (German) = poison
poisson (French) = fish
embarazada (Spanish) = pregnant
sauce (Spanish) = willow
triviale (Italian) = vulgar
parentes (Portuguese) = relatives
slim (...
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How do I use "as of now" correctly?
Just to clarify, I am not a native English speaker. I occasionally hear from other non-native English speakers the use of the phrase: "As of now" with the meaning of Currently.
Initially I did not ...
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What expression would be the opposite of "Deal Breaker"?
I understand that "Deal breaker" is an expression used for a feature/characteristic that would make one not go for a deal (or terminate a contract), even if the deal's other features are great.
What ...
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Where does "ta!" come from?
Where does the expression "ta" come from?
Wikipedia has only this to say:
"ta!", slang, Exclam. Thank you! {Informal}, an expression of gratitude
but no additional information or links about its ...
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"Through" or "to" for expression of range
16-bit unsigned short integers that range from 0 through 0xFFFF
16-bit unsigned short integers that range from 0 to 0xFFFF
Which expression is better above?
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