Questions tagged [meaning-in-context]
This tag is for questions about the meaning of a longer passage of English. A SPECIFIC CONCERN must be emphasized.
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The word "Still" [closed]
I'm reading a book and there was a line which I don't fully understand. But here is a little bit of the background first.
He is a mere boy and yet defies your authority and ours. He robs the ...
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What does Homer mean when he says, "her words had wings"? [closed]
In both The Iliad and The Odyssey, Homer uses the phrase "words had wings" all over the place. Here's one quote of many:
Then the shadow of the swift-footed son of Aeacus knew who I was, and with ...
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What does the term 'grocer' mean in this song? (British usage)
In the song "Waiting for Margret to Go," which is about the death of Margaret Thatcher, the artist says "Grocers and Methodists lay her down low". What is the artist referring to by "grocer"? Is it ...
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What does "the book was drenched" mean, from the first page of a scanned book?
The first printed page in the scanned online version of Analytical Solid Geometry by Shanti Narayan says, "the book was drenched". I'm positive it doesn't have anything to do with wetness. So what ...
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What could "Your talent is well noted" mean? [closed]
I'm an amateur voice over artist and I've sent my auditions to a few casting calls. There is one individual in particular whom I've asked for an update regarding my entry. This particular part in her ...
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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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"Represent" vs "stand for" vs "means"
I am writing an academic paper.
I wrote the following sentences
Notation A ↔ B stands for that A corresponds to B. Qualid and ident
stand for qualified identifiers and simple identifiers,
...
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Can any member in this group kindly explain to me the meaning of 'Storying' in the context of narrative qualitative ethnographic research? [closed]
I keep coming across the term storying in articles on narrative research. The authors however do not explain how the term storying is different in meaning and connotation from the term storytelling or ...
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What is "regomised"? [closed]
This recent "The Register" article uses a totally weird word I've never seen (emphasis mine):
Our story comes from a reader Regomised as "Felix" and takes us back to the early ...
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What's meant by ". . . he went the pace extraordinary"? (go the pace ?) [migrated]
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XX, published 1892)
Passage 319
But before he was out of long clothes, the cloven foot began to show; he proved to be no ...
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Meaning of "teen" in Aeschylus's play "The Persians"
I came across the phrase "how shall I bear my teen?" in Aeschylus' play "The Persians". I also saw "the children of teen" in "Seven against Thebes". What ...
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Meaning of . . . “you just meet me on the ballast, and we'll make it a barquentine.”
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XI, published 1892)
Passage 177
“I don't see it,” returned the captain drily. “One captain's enough for any ship that ever I ...
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Meaning of "these thin boards divided the secret" [closed]
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XX, published 1892)
Passage 318
I had escaped the grounds and the cattle; I could not escape the house. A lady with silver hair,...
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What exactly does "The guy's multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit." mean?
Was watching Avengers: Age of Ultron. In that Nick Fury says this about Ultron,
The guy's multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit.
What does that mean?
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Meaning of the phrase 'you turned me out' in a song
A line from the song You Dropped A Bomb goes:
You turn me out, you turn me on
I understand the meaning of turn me on, which basically means 'you sexually arouse me'.
But I can't make out the meaning ...
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What is the meaning of the following sequence of words: "adj or pp+as+pronoun+verb"?
What is the meaning of the following sequence of words: "adj or pp+as+pronoun+verb"?
Example:
It is climate that largely determines the type of agriculture that may be carried out in a particular ...
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What did Walt Whitman mean by "a pennant universal"? [migrated]
(Edit: This was closed because it was marked as "opinion based" and I was asked to edit the question so that it could be answered by facts and citations.
@Fumblefingers gave citations, ...
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Meaning of "by a sort of flying sap" [closed]
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XIX, published 1892)
Passage 304
I will never deny that our prolonged conjunction was the result of double cowardice. Each was ...
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Meaning of "Bellairs had the address, and I was the more deceived or Carthew would have news of him."
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XIX, published 1892)
Passage 294
The conjunction of these planets seeming ominous, I drew near; but it seemed Bellairs had done ...
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Meaning of. . . "it was hardly possible but what he should suspect"
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XIX, published 1892)
Passage 290
“Well, it's the other thing that has done that,” I replied. “It's all bygone now, all dead and ...
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What does 'pards' mean in Keats's 'Ode to a Nightingale'?
John Keats's 'Ode to a Nightingale' contains the line "Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,".
Away! away! for I will fly to thee,
Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,
But on the ...
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What does 'haply' mean in Keats's 'Ode to a Nightingale'?
The following line occurs in Keats's poem 'Ode to a Nightingale':
And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne
It seems to me that 'haply' means either, as Merriam-Webster says, 'by chance', or, ...
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What is the meaning of "burke a school" in Anticipations?
In Anticipations (1901), chapter 9, in the middle of a long passage, H. G. Wells wrote (referring to a personification of Jewish people):
... He is a remnant and legacy of mediævalism, a ...
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I know it was a liberty—I made it out you were no business man, only a stone-broke painter; that half the time you didn't know anything anyway
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XVIII, published 1892)
Passage 287
“Jim,” I said, “you must speak right out. I've got all that I can carry.”
“Well,” he said—“I ...
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The difference between [migrated]
Is there a difference between
He walks so slow
And
He walks so slowly
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Can 'to wilt' be something positive? [closed]
I came across (a pretty sad) poem by Meggie Royer.
She writes:
I stood by as strangers stroked her muzzle and she wilted beneath their touch like she did once for mine.
For context: she writes about ...
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Austen's usage of the word "condescension"
I looked up the definition of "condescension" both in Merriam-Webster and the Oxford dictionary, both of which imply a negative connotation to the meaning, where the act of emphasizing one's ...
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"Watch" vs. "Watch as"
He watched them run.
He watched as they ran.
What's the exact difference, in terms of the information/scene conveyed? He was watching the runners in both cases. Do they have different connotations? ...
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What is "Antipodean English"? [closed]
I was watching this video where the English gentleman asks the Scottish MP to speak in "Antipodean English". From what I know, 'Antipodes' refers to the southern hemisphere and I am unable ...
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Use of 'plain old' in: "The loudest, most obnoxious and aggressive voices telling us the world is about to end plain old don’t act like it."
Could it be that we are hearing the hysterical pleas of “environmental activists” to change our ways or face doom and noticing that not only are they not changing their ways, but that their ways are ...
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What does "sweep on" mean in this context?
This context comes from the book "Black Rednecks And White Liberals" by Thomas Sowell.
Eventually, such strong feeling were aroused among the British public that anti-slavery petitions with ...
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Meaning of 'block' in "We attempted to block for local spatial variation..."
I am trying to translate a book from English and am confused about the meaning of the word "block" as it is used in this context.
We attempted to block for local spatial variation in the ...
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Meaning of “I didn't bring you ashore to sound my praises” [migrated]
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XV, published 1892)
Passage 241
“We've been pretty good friends, you and me, Mr. Dodd,” he resumed. “We've been going through ...
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What does 'lift up' mean in a religious context?
I came across this tweet from Sen Rob Portman from Ohio, referring to the death of Otto Warmbier,
His passing today is a loss for Ohio and for all of us. Jane and I are lifting up the Warmbier ...
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'. . . there's always a fathom or two of slack hanging out of the other end'
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XIV, published 1892)
Passage 227
“All very well,” said I. “That's your Hoyt, and a fine, tall copy. But what I want to know is, ...
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Meaning of "be just a little too smart by ninety-nine and three-quarters"
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XIV, published 1892)
Passage 224
“Guess so,” he said. “You needn't fool with it. There's nothing else but a lead-pencil and a ...
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Answering: "What do you say?"
If used as a salutation, what does "What do you say?" mean?
Is it a substitution for "how are you doing"? Perhaps some other question regarding my current state of mind? I really have no idea.
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Problems with understanding a requirement in a technical document
I'm following the advice of a user who answered a question on StackOverflow.
Page 15 section 4.A.4 of NIST call for proposal (the 2016 one) says:
For the purpose of estimating security strengths, it ...
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Meaning of . . . "fill up on a clean break"
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XIII, published 1892)
Passage 210
Thence we turned our attention to the table, which stood spread, as if for a meal, with stout ...
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Is there a difference between "select" and "selected"?
When flying, I often read phrases like the following:
Special Meals only available on select flights […]
Then again, wouldn't it also make sense to say
Special Meals only available on selected ...
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"my stomach told me" VS "my guts told me"
I'm an English learner and I came across this sentence:
My stomach told me that this was unprecedented.
Does this expression mean that I had a feeling or my instincts told me that something that had ...
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I like her too ill to attempt it
Source : Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.
'I wish to punish her sauciness, that's all— I like her too well, my dear Heathcliff, to let you absolutely seize and devour her up.' [Catherine]
'And ...
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Usage of Distribution and alternatives/synonyms
I want to use the word Distribution as it is used normally in the English language in a text where Distribution refers (also?) to the technical (Statistical) term. How can I do so while also marking ...
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What is the meaning of ‘resolution’ in this context?
Our youth are impatient with the preliminaries that are essential to
purposeful action. Effective organization is thwarted by the desire
for instant and dramatic change, or as I have phrased it ...
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At this time tomorrow, I am playing cricket [closed]
I know that:
At this time tomorrow, I will be playing cricket.
is used since the so-called future continuous is used to talk about a continuous activity at a specific time in the future. Even ...
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What is another way to phrase “continuing in character” in the same context as stated in the body of this post?
These Interrogatories are continuing in character so as to require you to file supplementary answers if you obtain further or different information before trial.
I believe the the first five words of ...
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The meaning of 'option' in 'like hell's own option'
More from Thomas Harris:
The coffee mugs had the thick rims that dribble down the sides. Starling watched Inelle
Corey walk heavily away like hell's own option and drank half a cup with her ...
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Government performance (in) .. Is it the right preposition?
I am writing a title for a research paper on the political effects of exposure to a governmental media campaign, on young people's attitudes toward the government efforts, and its capacity in the ...
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What do you call a person who talks bad about someone but still shows interest in that person?
For example: Sally Mae says she doesn’t like John because he’s ugly, but will go and act nice with him because others are watching.
What word would you use to describe Sally Mae?
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Does "sallow complexion" include bad meaning?
I'm non-native speaker and I live in Australia. When I filled out the form of a driving license, the officer made me fill sallow in the blank. I didn't know the meaning of sallow at that time, I did. ...
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