Tagged Questions
This tag is for questions about the meaning of a longer passage of English. A SPECIFIC CONCERN must be emphasized.
0
votes
1answer
23 views
Meaning of Euripides quote
The quote would be
"Every man is like the company he is wont to keep."
What is the meaning of "he is wont to keep" in this quote? Merriam-Webster translates wont as accustomed, used or inclined, ...
-1
votes
0answers
14 views
Does “involved” mean “at work”?
The processes involved in that method is fruitful.
I want to say that the process that is in work in or is part of that method is fruitful. Does "involved" mean what I intend?
-1
votes
1answer
30 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
votes
1answer
28 views
Don't (verb) - (like) or (unlike) I did
Say my intention is to say
"I did this bad things to her, but you shouldn't do it".
-Don't do that mean thing to her like how I did.
-Don't do that mean thing to her like unlike how I did.
This is ...
30
votes
6answers
5k views
Does “pass” mean OK or not OK? [on hold]
Today, I received a folder of Recruiting candidate CVs from one of our HR. In this folder, there is a sub-folder named "pass". Question is does this "pass" mean the CVs inside are OK or not OK?
If I ...
1
vote
1answer
54 views
What does “beacon of European sophistication” mean in this context? [on hold]
Please help me to find the meaning of this context:
Argentina, which for many years portrayed itself as a beacon of European sophistication in a continent of New World backwardness,now is a poor ...
0
votes
1answer
36 views
Usage of “wouldn't work” vs “didn't work” when talking about past experience / observation
Today at the airport someone said, "You can do that by pressing this button". The other person replied, "I tried that, but it wouldn't work".
It seems that they meant "it didn't work".
Is "it wouldn'...
0
votes
1answer
43 views
What does “There is a glitch in the system” means? [on hold]
I came across this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyqfYJX23lg&t=42s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyqfYJX23lg&t=42s . It´s apperently a video lesson for employees in hotels learning ...
-2
votes
0answers
12 views
What is the correct? [migrated]
What is the right choice
“I started playing piano when i was six “
Or “I was starting playing piano when i was six “ , and why?
0
votes
1answer
15 views
Can object be omitted in participial construction?
"Hyperfocus requires willpower and mental energy to activate, drawing from the limited supply we have to make it through the day."
In this sentence, I think the things that are drawn from the limited ...
0
votes
5answers
82 views
+100
The use of the word “faculty”
I am confused by how "faculty" is used in terms of conference/congress organization.
For example, on this website you see the international and US faculty of an educational meeting. I understand that ...
0
votes
1answer
35 views
All vs There Exist
If one is asked a question such as "choose all forms of data that apply?", and in the options there exists possible anwsers that denote large groups of data sets, but only a subset of that large group ...
0
votes
0answers
20 views
How to understand “vanquished peoples”?
Can anyone decompose the following complex sentence into simpler ones?
"The narratives that vanquished peoples have created of their defeat have, according to Schivelbusch, fallen into several ...
6
votes
2answers
751 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
votes
1answer
41 views
What does “shreds dirt” mean in this context?
I came across the expression "shreds dirt" in the following sentence in a story:
Rocky is a rock star who shreds dirt with his guitar.
I found the following meaning of "shred" on "The Free ...
2
votes
1answer
121 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 ...
0
votes
1answer
33 views
The use of 'otherwise' in a sentence
For some reason I cannot understand the following sentence
"Unless we mutually agree otherwise in writing, you will..."
Is this mean that agreement must be in writing or that it does not have to be ...
1
vote
1answer
43 views
What does “allow” mean in this sentence? [on hold]
They can't be allowed to lose hope. Many of them are lining up to catch a boat or a plane to parts of their island country that are still intact.
What does allow mean in this context? Here they ...
-1
votes
0answers
23 views
What does the phrase “hang it up” mean in this context? [closed]
In an app's description, I am not sure about the meaning of the phrase "hang it up". This app gives many options to create and share photo galleries.
I found the following meaning of the phrase above,...
1
vote
0answers
46 views
Why is she using “for” instead of “to” after the verb “lose” in this sentence?
I'm watching the famous TV show, “Desperate Housewives”.
I have learned a plethora of words and grammar things from it,
but now something caught my ears and I'm a bit stuck.
There's this sentence in ...
0
votes
1answer
63 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 ...
1
vote
1answer
17 views
usage of ‘indefinite article + proper name’?
I’ve just come across this sentence.
“Only an Albert Einstein could have the wisdom to reject an offer to become President of Israel because he argued that he did not have enough experience in ...
0
votes
1answer
46 views
I only read a book once
This exact sentence seems to me to imply that the speaker is trying to say that he already knows everything the first time he reads or hears it and cannot be deceived. But I am not sure about this. Or ...
5
votes
10answers
2k views
“I’ll believe it when I see it” for things that aren’t supposed to be referred to visually? [closed]
I’m looking for an equivalent idiom that refers to actions that aren’t supposed to be referred to visually.
Example:
Person A owes person B money and day after day says he will pay person B back. ...
-2
votes
1answer
90 views
What does “thread something through a pipe” mean in this context? [closed]
I am clueless about the meaning of the words "thread it through a pipe" in the following sentence:
You can bend a free kick round a wall of defenders, but can you thread
it through a pipe so that ...
0
votes
1answer
34 views
Meaning of “overcomes his encounters”
In an app's description, I found the following sentence:
The game is full of happy moments when the main character overcomes
his encounters one by one.
Is something missing here? The phrase "...
1
vote
0answers
39 views
What does “Given my reverence for, but ignorance of, the Bible, ….” mean? [migrated]
Can someone please explain the meaning of the passage below?
"Bruce could quote the Bible at will, and did so to an amazing degree. Given my reverence for, but ignorance of, the Bible, it all ...
0
votes
1answer
43 views
Meaning of “scramble” in the given context
In an app's description, I found the following sentence:
In this game you need to scramble" to alter the height of waves to
ensure your smooth passage.
I am not sure which of the following ...
0
votes
1answer
31 views
Meaning of “snowy detail”
In an app's description, I found the following sentence:
The game has a frozen wasteland that is full of beautiful scenes. You
will want to replay it many times to ensure that you don't miss a ...
0
votes
3answers
70 views
What does this passage mean? [closed]
'It was one of those dreams which,
while retaining the characteristic dream scenery, are a continuation of one’s intellectual life, and in
which one becomes aware of facts and ideas which still seem ...
-1
votes
1answer
28 views
Is 'prudent vigour' an oxymoron?
I was reading the History of the Fall and Decline of the Roman Empire (Edward Gibbon, 1776) when I encountered the phrase 'prudent vigour'. Prudent means carefulness and showing forethought while ...
2
votes
1answer
34 views
What's the meaning of “run over” in this context?
Here is an excerpt from the book called Help Me!
Wednesday night was coffee with a photographer who had just come back
from Iraq. He sounded interesting. He thought so too. I spent two
hours ...
1
vote
1answer
30 views
“All but” idiom or excluding “but” in this context?
I'm having a bit of trouble with this section of a biology paper:
"LSU was amplified in these species using F63.2 and Mollusc28R2, which amplified all but ~400 bases at the 3' end of the gene."
Does ...
0
votes
2answers
46 views
The meaning of “practice” in the mentioned text?
There is a special sense the word "practice" is used for that I have problem understanding. Following is the title of a book:
Food Sovereignty in International Context: Discourse, politics and
...
0
votes
0answers
37 views
Difference between “ to live in some thing” and “to live something”?
One day he overheard her talking about him with a friend. Lucile was saying: "other men live in things and events and emotions and the future. but he seems to know that living is something else...."
...
0
votes
2answers
21 views
Referred vs is Referred
I had a question, which of the sentences is correct? If both please explain the usage of each.
’Attitude’ is referred to as how a person thinks or feels about someone or something
’Attitude’ ...
1
vote
1answer
51 views
What does reverence mean in this context?
Their two children were like all agreeable children, and Lucile and Bellard went through the reverence, anxiety, and joy of their upbringing. And whether the moment yielded a torn frock or a hurt knee,...
0
votes
0answers
28 views
Meaning of “tend within and between”
Not sure what the expression means here. I will appreciate help. Thanks!
The second [technology] provides measures of hemodynamic or metabolic
consequences of neural activity such as local ...
0
votes
0answers
51 views
Is there any difference between “Crowd” and “crowd”?
I'm having some troubles understanding the meaning of "Crowd" in this context. Is there a specific need to write it with capital letter? I guess that here "the Crowd" is the gang of college mates but ...
4
votes
4answers
212 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 ...
-1
votes
1answer
23 views
Difference of work
actually I have a confusion of saying work in, work at and work for.
Now I am working at Vodafone is it right?
is it right to say I am working as a technical support at Vodafone or for Vodafone ...
-1
votes
0answers
24 views
Ad and Coupon: #1 pharmacist/doctor recommended and verb tense
I see on many coupons and ads in the paper such phrases that say: "#1 pharmacist recommended brand of magnesium," or "dermatologist recommended for over 65 years." How do I understand their syntax ...
0
votes
0answers
10 views
What does “I cannot be more thankful” mean? [migrated]
What does "I cannot be more thankful" mean?
I want to say that I am very thankful for having this opportunity. Can I say something like the following?
... and I cannot be more thankful for having ...
-1
votes
1answer
21 views
Usage of 'out of' in this context [closed]
What is the meaning of out of in the sentence? Is there any problem if it is not used?
They swindled local businesses out of thousands of pounds
They swindled local businesses thousands of ...
0
votes
1answer
25 views
What does “I'm really burned out on 4 cups of coffee” mean? [closed]
Context:
I'm getting a new coffee machine, and I am probably bad at figuring out the amount of instant Coffee needed for a cup. So im really burned out on 4 cups of coffee.
11
votes
7answers
5k views
Why is “bat down” not listed in any of major English dictionaries as an idiom, set phrase, collocation, no matter whatever it is?
I came across the following passage in September 17 “The Hill.” under the headline, “Trump says Kavanaugh may be delayed.”:
“If it takes a little delay it’ll take a little delay.” Trump told
...
3
votes
1answer
49 views
difficult nautical dialect
In the short story "The Last Cruise of the Judas Iscariot", by Edward Page Mitchel, Captain Cram, a sailor of Main, who builds a schooner with three masts to be frowned upon by the people of the town ...
4
votes
3answers
381 views
responsible as to her keel
In the short story, The Last Cruise of the Judas Iscariot by Edward Page Mitchel, which tells the story of Captain Cram, a sailor in Main, who builds a schooner with three masts, which was considered ...
0
votes
1answer
29 views
knocked clean out
In a short story entitled The Last Cruise of the Judas Iscariot by Edward Page Mitchel, Captain Cram, a sailor in Main, builds a schooner with three masts, which is considred by the town's people as a ...
0
votes
1answer
32 views
“it doesn't - right?” sentence meaning
from podcast transcript
WOOD: So one, when he has 45 minutes to get up on stage, I want people to pay close attention to the logical flow of his argument, to the evidence he's providing, to the ...
