Questions tagged [meaning]
This tag is for questions related to definitions and nuances of meaning of a word or phrase.
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does anyone know what's the meaning of "busta straight busta"?
I've playing a game called gta san andreas and in the second mission the character of the game says this sentence
busta straight busta
according to the urban dictionary:
A busta is somebody who ...
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Understanding the phrase play someone for a fool
I want to fully comprehend the phrase "play someone for a fool" or the phrase "play him for a fool." I know there is deception involved in the action connected to this phrase. ...
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Difference in nuance or meaning between "The result, American officials say…" and "American officials say the result…"
The following is an excerpt from The New York Times of Feb.2. 2023.
If the last sentence reads: "American officials say the result has been hundreds of troops killed or injured a day," does ...
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Did the expression <bringing back memories> fit here? #2 [closed]
What things engulf you in memories?
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choose the best sentence structure [closed]
Given 4 options:
a. Because of the need for accuracy, all employees must diligently review their work at the end of the day.
b. Because of the need for accuracy, all employees who work here must be ...
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bolt is shut phrase [closed]
I was watching the BBC's Sherlock and encountered the following sentence:
Put a chain across the door, bolt it shut, think they're impregnable.
I'm in doubt about the phrase
bolt it shut
I can ...
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What is the meaning of the term 'Hormone-ravaged'? [closed]
What's the meaning of hormone-ravaged in this sentence?
She derided him as hormone-ravaged.
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What do you think is the right answer? [closed]
Statement: Cases of food poisoning due to consumption of liquor are increasing in rural areas.
Assumptions:
I. Percentage of people consuming liquor is more in rural areas.
II. There are many ...
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1
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What is the meaning of 'was to be knocked clean through the chimney'?
How often my wife was at me about that projected grand entrance-hall of hers, which was to be knocked clean through the chimney,
What is the meaning of the highlighted section?
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Why does 'tropical' mean 'figurative'?
I came across the word tropical in a context which seemed nonsensical but, according to Merriam-Webster, the word can mean 'figurative' or 'metaphorical':
tropical:
...
2 : FIGURATIVE sense 2
...
an ...
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What does this sentence in Nick Hornby’s “Fever Pitch” mean?
Charlie George is one of the few seventies icons who has so far managed to avoid being deconstructed, possibly because he appears at first glance to be one of the identikit George Best/Rodney Marsh/...
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What does this sentence mean? "...without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser."
I cannot fully comprehend a part of the following sentence:
Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent,...
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Does "bunkey" mean fool?
I found this word Bunkey. I know it's a name. Because I am not a native English speaker, I checked it on Google Translate, its meaning is fool. Then I google it, but I can't find any meaning about ...
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What kind of poultry are ‘Chesters’, and why are they called that?
What is the bird that’s called a Chester? Is it some special kind of chicken? This is some sort of edible poultry, so like a duck or a turkey or a goose or a pheasant or a partridge might be, not like ...
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Usage of "requirement" [closed]
I've got the below question from one of my colleagues from the States.
The question is for A's executives sitting on a board of a foreign
subsidiary (B) of A, are there supervisory expectations or ...
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what is the difference between 'in and inside'? [migrated]
The prepositions in and inside confuse me in these sentences:
She is in my room.
She is inside my room.
It is cold in my room.
It is cold inside my room.
Which one is better? And what is the ...
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what's the major difference between (were to have and was to have) [duplicate]
Including here:
If she were to be right about that, we would never hear the end of it.
If you were to have gone to Florida, you would have been there when the hurricane hit.
So, what's the main ...
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what does it mean if someone asks to batch him out? [closed]
What does it mean if someone asks to batch him out? Someone asked me to batch him out because he needs a push. No sure what I should do.
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What is the meaning of "Malik associates with artists"? (There are four options) [closed]
Malik associates with artists. This means he:
A. Thinks of him as an artist
B. Spends time with an artist
C. Sometimes does business with artists
D. Works across the street from some artists
I am ...
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What is the meaning of this sentence about analytic papers? [closed]
The authors, Yale professors Richard Nelson and Sidney Winter, were best known for a series of intensely analytic papers exploring Schumpeterian theory that even most PhD candidates didn't pretend to ...
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1
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Could anyone explain this theme [closed]
Theme: Innovative new age processes
This topic is for making a poster. I don't think I've found the right meaning for this topic.
(The topic is related to engineering)
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Can someone explain me what's the meaning of the word "shake" here? [duplicate]
The sentence:
"So what else you got shaking carl?"
Well the word shake here does not make any sense, it's a specific slang or what?
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What is the meaning of the expression "sling a yarn"?
I am quoting from The Return of Sherlock Holmes, Black Peter:
See here, mister, said he, I make no complaint of being man-handled in this fashion, but I would have you call things by their right ...
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Usage of optimism
Optimism usually suggests a positive, hopeful attitude. However, does it always have to be related to a silver lining in a cloud?
For example,
James got fired from his job. Look on the bright side! ...
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What does cynical actually mean?
The dictionary definition of cynical is:
believing that people are motivated purely by self-interest; distrustful of human sincerity or integrity
However, there is an additional bullet point under ...
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How confident is confident?
I'd always thought that "sure" and "certain" were close to synonymous, both meaning absence of doubt (with "certain" in a slightly higher register, and maybe a bit ...
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What does "bang" mean in this phrase?
The sentence:
I thought you said you was innocent, Carl? That you don't bang?
I'm playing a game that this word appears, and I want to know in a gang context what does that word mean, can someone ...
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What does this mean? Not ones requiring explicit verbal descriptions [migrated]
Demonstrations of infants' and toddlers' long-term memory have involved their repeating motor activities that they had seen or done earlier, such as reaching in the dark for objects, putting a bottle ...
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Using 'in' in English [migrated]
The bar in Barcelona which I met my wife in is still there.
What does 'in' in the relative clause of this sentence mean?
To understand this what subjects should I study?
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What does "What does X mean" mean?
Many questions on this site are in the form of "What does X mean". Many times the answer is clear, but in the living language such as English some words meaning varies by region, societal ...
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What does it mean when a restaurant is called an institution?
Is it meant to be a form of praise? Like x restaurant is an institution in New York.
I rarely hear about a restaurant called an institution.
I looked up the definition on Merriam-Webster, but still I ...
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Can you explain this to me [closed]
Can you explain this sentence to me.
Nothing beats the feeling of having done more in twenty-four hours than what the day expected you to!
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WW and OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
From the article "Elon Musk's Appetite for Destruction" (archived version for posterity), published January 17, 2023 on the web and slated for publication in the January 22 issue of the New ...
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Meaning of words "bake" and "painting" in context of cars
A sticker near the door inside a car said:
Exposing a battery to intense heat may cause deterioration. Do not
bake over 158F/30min or 176F/20 min in painting.
I understand the first sentence, ...
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What does the following passage from chapter 14 of "The Handmaid's Tale" mean? [migrated]
The sitting room is subdued, symmetrical; it's one of the shapes money takes when it freezes.
What does it mean "One of the shapes money takes when it freezes"? I'm sure it doesn't have a ...
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Contextual meaning of 'sought to legitimize the city's social strivings by evoking a history the city did not truly posses' [closed]
This sentence below was a GRE question and the two italics and bold words are the actual answers to the text completion. Still, I do not understand what the sentence is trying to say. My understanding ...
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He was drunk, and the people give back for him... - give back for him?
I am reading a story by Robert E. Howard, which contains the following line:
Drunk was John Kulrek, and the people gave back for him, murder in
their souls; so he came and laughed at Moll Farrell ...
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What does "I can already tell" mean? [migrated]
Example: "I can already tell, we have a lot in common."
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"Ink" as a term for coffee?
I've stumbled upon a thesaurus entry for the word "ink" that connects it to various words to describe coffee or caffeine, none of which I have -ever- heard in my life! I'm a coffee-drinker, ...
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Is this sentence grammatically correct? - Two verbs in a main clause [migrated]
It will not be directly apparent a virus exists while it is memory resident.
This came from a description of a computer virus in the Microsoft website, but I cannot understand the structure since ...
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Meaning of 'it does not deny ambiguity', 'truth may bear all lights', 'of divine ends'? [closed]
From the passage:
Great comic art is never otherworldly, it does not seek to mystify us, and it does not deny ambiguity by branding as evil whatever differs from good. Great comic artists assume that ...
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What does “more physical” mean?
Could you please explain what does “more physical” mean?
The context is:
Mr Ronaldo was football’s Rafael Nadal: less artistic, more physical, his career a triumph of sheer bloody-mindedness.
Is it ...
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What is the subject of the verb following the comma?
This quote is from Gone with the Wind, where Scarlett met Rhett Butler at a function to collect for the Confederacy:
Hot words bubbled to her lips and it was with difficulty that she checked them. ...
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What is the meaning of “half as dear and precious to each other as” in this?
'To be to you what you were once to him,' cried the younger, falling on his knee before him; 'to repay your old affection, brother dear, by constant care, solicitude, and love; to be, at your right ...
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Is "deliberate choice" a pleonasm?
Google reports about 2.130.000 results for "deliberate choice", so I am going to go ahead and use it, but in the mean time, I thought I should ask for an opinion from a strictly linguistic ...
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What does "take a high line" means?
Quote:"The greatest and perhaps the wealthiest. I am aware, Mr. Holmes, that you take a very high line in professional matters, and that you are prepared to work for the work's sake. I may tell ...
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What did Lady Gaga mean when she sang that she's heard a "sine" from above?
In Lady Gaga's song featuring Elton John "Sine From Above", she sang that she has heard a "sine" from the sky. Sine is defined as the very famous mathematical function in Cambridge ...
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Is there an English word to define someone who qualifies their knowledge by (family) association?
I know someone who consistently refers to the fact that their aunt/brother-in-law/cousin or someone in his family has the highest level of expertise to validate his comments to have the highest value.
...
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Does "going Spare" really relate to Austin Osman Spare?
Back in 2013 'Urbycoz' asked why 'Go Spare' meant 'Getting Angry' and this elicited a number of interesting replies. Coming late to the party I have just read this and was puzzled because I had always ...
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What is the meaning of "Patch on your jeans"?
What does it mean to say "those guys are not a patch on our jeans" as Biden said here:
I’ve long said — and I mean this — I have never, ever, ever been more optimistic about America’s ...
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