Questions tagged [idiom-meaning]
An idiom's figurative meaning is different from the literal meaning.
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1answer
39 views
What does “run the place” mean here? [on hold]
"Virginia's state government seemed unable to find anyone to run the place who has not either applied boot polish to his face while at college or been accused of sexual assault. "
What do "run the ...
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1answer
36 views
when can you use cut your teeth on something from the first person perspective?
I was helping a friend to proof read and found this sentence very cringey.
'Also, Chambers that give their pupil first-hand experience which they can cut their teeth on their legal careers in the long ...
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1answer
32 views
Meaning of “feet to the flames”
Nia Warfield, "Crude oil is on track for its best January ever," CNBC:
Kelly also noted that investors are now holding oil companies' "feet to the flames" to increase cash flow amid the surge ...
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0answers
36 views
Idiom: “bulky and leaky”
What is the meaning and origin of the idiom "bulky and leaky"? I ran into it in the sentence:
Java already has somewhat a (bulky and leaky) type of closure: anonymous inner classes
There is ...
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1answer
85 views
Meaning of 'to charm water out of sand'
What is the meaning of the idiom 'to charm water out of sand'? I heard it in a conversation and cannot find any such idiom online.
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1answer
36 views
What comes into mind of a native speaker on "Please do it yourself!”?
I have read a sign which started with "Please do it yourself!". I read it and started laughing. May be because a possible special meaning of "it" or "do it" like in "do it with somebody". Is this ...
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1answer
125 views
How disrespectful is it to say “with all due respect if there is any due” and is there another way of saying this?
What does it mean when someone says in a debate "with all due respect, if there is any due" and would it be considered a little disrespectful or very disrespectful? Also these days is the phrase "with ...
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1answer
31 views
What does it mean by “wasn’t everybody saying”? [closed]
"As Mr Trump’s opponents called this a disaster, his supporters lambasted their criticism as hysterical—wasn’t everybody saying a year ago that it was sinister to have so many generals in the cabinet?"...
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1answer
51 views
“Standing on your dignity” meaning
Good day,
I found an old Melbourne, AU tram ticket from sixties. On the back of it there is a writing "Standing on your dignity is a very insecure footing".
Trying to decipher the phrase, I fail to ...
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2answers
215 views
“I hope she hangs the moon”
I am always on the watch out for new unfamiliar idioms, especially in American English, and today I found one “to hang the moon”.
"And so she's now talked about a lot," McCaskill added. "I'm not ...
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1answer
171 views
What does “Step up the two of us” mean? [closed]
Can anyone explain to me, what does "step up" mean in the song Imagine by Ariana Grande, which she says at the beginning:
"Step up the two of us, nobody knows us
get in the car like skrrt"
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4answers
67 views
What does it mean by “in their thousands”?
"SpaceX and OneWeb, a communications firm, plan to launch satellites in their thousands, not hundreds."
What does it mean by "in their thousands"?
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1answer
14 views
What does it mean by “a hotspot for anti-microbial resistance”?
"Widespread dumping of antibiotics in rivers has made the country a hotspot for anti-microbial resistance. "
What does it mean by "a hotspot for anti-microbial resistance"?
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1answer
17 views
What does it mean by “made a national champion of”?
"Although the chip battle may have pre-dated Mr Trump, his presidency has intensified it. He has made a national champion of Qualcomm, blocking a bid for it from a Singaporean firm for fear of Chinese ...
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1answer
19 views
What does “risk divides too wide for any bridge” mean?
I read a sentence "China should re-learn Deng’s self-knowledge, or risk divides too wide for any bridge." Can you help explain the meaning of "risk divides too wide for any bridge" and show where the ...
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1answer
29 views
What does “liberal's idea of a model” mean?
What does "no Ameican liberal's idea of a model" mean in the sentence "South Carolina, no American liberal’s idea of a model, has pursued a notably enlightened reform to the sentencing of non-violent ...
2
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1answer
424 views
What does “the dog who caught the car” mean?
There's a back-and-forth email correspondence between Sam Harris and Noam Chomsky discussing ethics here. In one of the emails Sam says to Noam:
I trust that certain of your acolytes would love to ...
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1answer
205 views
Phrase: “goes like a rattlesnake”?
While watching episode 3 of season 2 of "Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father" I came across the the following sentences, all by the same native (British) English speaker (aged 78 at the time of ...
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1answer
191 views
What does “say mass” mean? [closed]
I cannot understand "saying mass" means in the sentence "Pope Francis conferred sainthood on Óscar Romero, an archbishop who was murdered in 1980 while saying mass by an army-backed death squad in El ...
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1answer
46 views
What does “baselet” mean?
FONOPs [Freedom of Navigation Operations] have grown “more regular and
strident” under the Trump administration,
says Alessio Patalano of King’s College
London. America’s European and regional
...
0
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1answer
56 views
What is “injury woes”?
I believe it is a fixed phrase (‘injury problems’ does not work as a substitute) and can admit that there is no account of a singular form (‘injury woe’). So, it makes the said phrase an idiom.
I ...
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2answers
766 views
What does “If you are playing the Yankees, you don’t want the umpires to show up wearing pinstripes” mean? [closed]
The sentence goes:
A good judge, like a good umpire, cannot act as a partisan... If you are playing the Yankees, you don’t want the umpires to show up wearing pinstripes.
I cannot understand the ...
2
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1answer
216 views
What does “bring a vote to the floor” mean?
I once read in a newspaper the sentence like " some leadership pressed to bring a vote to the floor on the confirmation of something." So what does the phrase mean here? Any slang used? Where can I ...
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1answer
89 views
Can anyone tell me what “a card scandal” in this sentence means?
I have a question about a sentence from Sherlock Holmes's series "The Adventure of the Three Students". Here it goes.
He was nearly expelled over a card scandal in his first year.
Can anyone be ...
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3answers
58 views
What does “longest weak patch” mean?
I did not know the meaning of the part after the comma in the sentence:
Since May spending on projects ranging from railways to power plants has fallen compared with a year earlier, the longest ...
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4answers
248 views
What does “extend a finger” mean exactly? Is it a commonly spoken phrase?
I came across the phrase “They’ve extended a finger” in the article that came under the headline “Mazie Hirono’s blunt style makes her a favorite of liberal looking for fighter” in Washington Post ...
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1answer
80 views
What is a wash dish tongue?
In this article†, Edward Hibbert (who plays Gil Chesterton), describes his character:
Gil’s effete and affected with a wash-dish tongue.
What is meant by a "wash-dish tongue?
Note: Googling "wash-...
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1answer
195 views
To let some of my cats on the table
While reading J.L. Austin's book How to do things with words I found this (to me) curious sentence:
... and here I must let some of my cats on the table...
The context seems to imply that the ...
4
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1answer
582 views
Cut my legs out from under me?
I would like to know the exact meaning of this phrase (cut my legs out from under me,) because I've been searching for it everywhere, but 'till now I've only come across the definition of "cut the ...
1
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1answer
236 views
What does 'The Thick End Of' mean, and why?
I came across this phrase around 20 years ago, and have always understood it to mean 'most of'. I might complain about having to pay "the thick end of £4" for a coffee, when it cost somewhere between £...
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0answers
58 views
Deep state versus cabal [closed]
I ran across the term "deep state" and web searching (including a link to the term in the NPR page above) seems to indicate that it is the same as a cabal. Political/government cliches that influence ...
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3answers
538 views
“The cat that got the cream” - is there any innuendo?
I think this is a British idiom.
The American version would be, "The cat that killed the canary."
I was about to say this to a female friend, intended as a "well done" sort of compliment, ...
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1answer
38 views
What is the meaning of “as classic as they come”?
These shoes are as classic as they come.
I am not sure if it means that its style won't be affected whether the trend changes as time goes. Does it mean that this item is a timeless piece?
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2answers
129 views
“Tip of the iceberg” negative or positive
Does this idiom indicate the negative side or positive side?
Example: what you have seen about his character is just the tip of the iceberg...
Does this example show whether he has so much good ...
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1answer
148 views
Origin of phrase “dollars to doughnuts” [closed]
What is the origin of the phrase "dollars to doughnuts", and what is the phrase trying to convey when most commonly used?
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7answers
17k views
Meaning of the phrase “womp womp” in American English?
I'm British, I'd like some assistance understanding the meaning of the American idiom "womp womp" in this context:
PETKANAS: “I read today about a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome who was taken ...
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1answer
152 views
Meaning of the expression “Ain't no trip we can't get past”
"Ain't no trip we can't get past"
Does anybody here know what it means?
This expression sort of resembles a saying in Spanish that goes something like this: "there is neither a sickness which ...
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0answers
19 views
Sweet-spot in computing sentence [duplicate]
What means "sweet-spot"?
Those temperatures may be sustainable, but they are higher than they should be.
In a well-ventilated computer case, an SSD should be showing temperatures close to room-...
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1answer
229 views
What's an idiom or a phrase that can be used to explain something's versatility? [closed]
What's an idiom or a phrase that can be used to explain something's versatility ?
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3answers
426 views
Is there a positive counterpart of “Showing one's true colors”?
Showing one's true colors applies to a situation where a person did something that you perceive as negative.
For instance: I thought Jake was a nice guy, but at the club, he showed his true colors.
...
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1answer
537 views
Is it possible to say “I take myself with a grain of salt?”
Does the phrase "I take myself with a grain of salt?" mean "I think about myself sceptically"? Or it doesn't? Either the first phrase have no sense at all?
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2answers
235 views
What does it mean when someone says to “deliver the eyeballs”?
Skimming through the following article on Guardian I stumbled upon the following sentence:
So if someone asked “What’s your space?” and you had a deeply unfashionable job like, say, writer, it ...
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2answers
457 views
Meaning of “What's in it for (someone)?” [closed]
On another SE site, I wrote in a comment
What's in it for X?
(X is a person.) I was asked what this phrase meant. I looked in three online dictionaries of idioms and couldn't find it. It showed ...
3
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2answers
267 views
In “pedophilia,” why philos rather than eros?
Greek carefully distinguishes between philos (non-sexual love) and eros (sexual love). There are 100s of "phile" words (e.g. an audiophile is a person with a non-sexual love of stereo equipment) and ...
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1answer
26 views
“On your own block”
You belong on your own block, where I can whistle for you.
I am totally confused by “belong on your own block”, could anyone please help me understand this sentence? Your help would be greatly ...
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3answers
489 views
Difference between art and science [closed]
I see this phrase used in lot many places:
is as much art as it is science
However, I am not sure what it means. Can someone please help me understand?
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2answers
207 views
What does the sentence “Please don't drop this from your radar” mean? [closed]
What does the sentence "Please don't drop this from your radar" mean. I searched for this in Google I found some idiom named drop off the radar but still I need some clarity on this. I want to learn ...
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1answer
303 views
What does it mean if someone says “this man I think u are up to something”? [closed]
this man I think u are up to something
One of my friends asked me this question because he got this text from his girlfriend. So, can anyone help me out to understand this phrase?
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2answers
59 views
Does “head start” imply a comparison or competition with others?
I'm working on an application for a summer school. In the letter, I am explaining how I have been preparing to get into the field in question and how the summer school would further help me with that ...
5
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1answer
120 views
Can “much less” be used in affirmative manner?
There was the following paragraph in Washington Post (March 26) article under the headline, “The 5-minutes fix: What to make of Stormy Daniels.
“Daniels is openly profiting from her newfound fame ...
