Questions tagged [meaning]
This tag is for questions related to definitions and nuances of meaning of a word or phrase.
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Can "particularly" mean the opposite of "especially"?
The common wording of the quote is:
All generalizations are false, including this one.
But can it be phrased like so?
All generalizations are false, particularly this one.
Meaning that there's ...
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What does "neat" mean in 1950s slang as a noun referring to a person? (see: Grease)
There are two instances in the play/musical "Grease" where someone is referred to as "a neat", and I'm having trouble figuring out the meaning.
The first instance is after Danny (&...
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Difference between Grandma and Grandma-ma?
This is my first question here so please be gentle with me. I have a relative staying with me from Mississippi who says things about manners and behavior in reference to his grandma-ma. It goes a ...
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"Within 7 working days upon arrival" vs. "of your arrival date" [migrated]
Two questions
Is there any difference between the sentence "within 7 working days upon arrival" and "within 7 working of your arrival date"?
How do we count these 7 working days? ...
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being nice vs. being kind [closed]
In the TV series Doctor Who, in his last episode 'Twice Upon a Time', the 12th doctor says:
Always try to be nice
and never fail to be kind.
full quote on wikiquote
What is the difference between ...
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1
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Meaning of "harvesting your eyeballs via electronic mail"
A few years ago I subscribed to the "Little White Lies” newsletter and in their latest edition there is a sentence I don't understand:
We understand that, when it comes to harvesting your ...
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Question of condition (sort of)
What is the term for someone who causes/allows themselves to experience a similar pain to someone else as a way of empathizing with them or making it up to them? For example a person witnesses the ...
CommunityBot
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'Blowing Dixie double four time' and 'He can play the honky tonk like anything' meaning
In Dire Straits "Sultans of Swing", what is the meaning of these two lines:
In the first verse:
You get a shiver in the dark
It's been raining in the park but meantime
South of the river ...
13
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3
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Where does "funk" and/or "funky" come from and why the musical reference?
Free your mind and your ass will follow - The Mothership has landed!! Why 'funk', of all words to describe such bootilicious music?
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What does "what is your deal?" mean in an informal, romantic context?
I've heard a guy saying "What is your deal?" when hitting up on a girl two times on a TV show.
According to the Free Dictionary:
What's the deal? (informal) something that you say in order ...
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Is ‘progressively worse’ the equivalent of ‘regressively better’?
It’s seems like (by distribution) these two statements should be equivalent. Are there any etymological or grammatical reasons why this should not be the case? In this SE user’s experience, ...
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Better definition of 'Observatory' that includes modern usage
Commonly when we hear 'observatory' we probably think of an astronomical observatory. Merriam-Webster defines 'observatory' as:
a building or place given over to or equipped for observation of
...
CommunityBot
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The Richest Man in Babylon Explanation
I am reading "The Richest Man in Babylon" but could not get the meaning of the following sentences:
Provide also that thy family may not want should the Gods call thee to their realms. For such ...
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Difference between “pragmatics” and “pragmatism”?
pragmatic
adjective prag·mat·ic \prag-ˈma-tik\
: dealing with the problems that exist in a specific situation in a reasonable and logical way instead of depending on ideas and theories (http://www....
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Distinction: "What can I do you for?" vs. "What can I do for you?"
Usually, when being served the phrase "What can I do for you?" is used but sometimes I also hear "What can I do you for?" in quite the same context. So is there a difference or is it just a slip of ...
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2
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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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1
answer
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Meanings of "carriage" in Enola Holmes
The following conversation takes place near the beginning of the movie Enola Holmes
Mycroft: We didn't send for you silly girl, we sent for the carriage.
Did you at least bring it?
Enola: The ...
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8
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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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How widespread is the use of the term 'sidemeat'?
In Grapes of Wrath (1937) John Steinbeck uses the term sidemeat, sometimes hyphenated side-meat.
The OED confirms this is North American (I have never heard it used in Britain), and refers to salt ...
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What does the phrase "have no idea" mean?
Have no idea is a phrase appears many times in the book We have no idea: A guide to the unknown universe, for example in the title, or in this sentence:
It's the biggest chunk of reality, and we ...
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Is there a difference between "you two" and "you both"?
We can say "Thank you both for coming" or "How did you two meet?" but the other way around just seems wrong: "Thank you two for coming" or "How did you both meet?".
I'm having difficulty in ...
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How to express a situation when a class teacher briefly and quickly mentions a section without full coverage
How to express a situation when a class teacher briefly and quickly mentions a section without full coverage.
What is the best word (verb & noun) for this situation. Is it called skim? This is ...
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Learning English : almost like this "where are you from ?" [migrated]
I have one question almost meaning like this "where are you coming from?" but not ask country or state or province, it is not long way long time. It is short way and just happening. It is ...
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"Deploy in your way" or "Deploy your way"？ [closed]
Deploy in your way
or
Deploy your way
Which is correct? What I want to say here is to use your own method to deploy something into your computer.
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2
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Is "stife" a name for smoking cooking oil?
My parents and grandparents used to describe smoking cooking oil as "stife". Has anyone else heard of this? Perhaps I've spelt it wrong?
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Is afeast or possibly affeast, afeest etc. a word?
My English (vai Liverpool)-Canadian mother used this word to mean 'disgusted by' or 'repulsed by.' Example: "he is afeast of mixed foods." meaning you think mixed foods are disgusting or inedible.
I ...
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How to talk about two different counts
In our scientific article, I have a sentence:
The numbers of residents and transients are constant over time.
I want to say that the number of resients is constant and the number of transients is ...
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What's the meaning of "to outdraw" somebody? [closed]
In the lyrics of "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen, there's one line that has been puzzled me for a long time:
Well, maybe there's a God above
But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to ...
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Is "intellectually exacerbating" grammatically correct; and does it mean what I think it means?
Is "intellectually exacerbating" grammatically correct, and does it mean something along the lines of "making others stupider"? If it doesn't, what adjective can I use in lieu of ...
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Difference in the usage? ; It "can / could / must" be something serious
I'm teaching English in Japan. I'm using "Grammar In Use Intermediate Workbook" (Cambridge). The following is the question in the workbook:
Complete the sentence. Use can, could, must or (...
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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 "The past is never where you think you left it" mean?
It's a quote by Katherine Anne Porter. Does it mean "past won't happen again", or something different?
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What is the meaning of "partial cloaks"
What is the meaning of ""partial cloaks" in this sentence?
Partial cloaks that work like sophisticated camouflage -rather like the alien in the 1987 movie Predator — might be ...
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What's the word for when two worlds coexist in the same space simultaneously but one is hidden or veiled from the other?
Consider how the wizarding world is hidden from the muggle world in the Harry Potter/ Wizarding World universe.
Or in Hell Boy II. The troll market is hidden under a bridge. Red can see it but it's ...
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Is “actual” both a false friend and a cognate from Spanish to English?
English definition of “actual”:
existing in fact; typically as contrasted with what was intended, expected, or believed.
Spanish definition of “actual”:
current, present, contemporary
These are ...
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Verb for "swapping" non-commuting operations and modifying them appropriately (commute?)
In mathematics, computer science, physics or any other field that has the concept of commutative operations (or operators), is there a verb to describe the action of taking a sequence AB of two non-...
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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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1
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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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“(sesame)” meaning in subtitles of “Sing”
What can “(sesame)” mean in subtitles of “Sing” (an animated movie)? It's the scene where sad Buster Moon is walking over his destroyed theater.
This moment (no words being said):
MW says:
1 : a ...
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When and where did 'hospice' in the sense of 'palliative care facility or program for the terminally ill' originate in English?
Merriam-Webster's Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, first edition (1898) has this entry for hospice:
Hospice, n. {F., fr. L. hospitium hospitality, place where strangers are entertained, fr. hospes ...
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“the room whose door is broken” vs “the room which door is broken”? [migrated]
Which exactly is the difference in meaning and usage between choosing whose versus choosing which in this first sentence?
He chose to live in the room [ which / whose ] door was broken.
How do these ...
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What is the difference between antonyms and negations?
Merriam Webster defines antonyms as :
a word of opposite meaning.
However, I cannot understand what does opposite in the definition mean . Does it mean a negation ? For example, negation of to teach ...
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Galloping incompetence & galloping ineptitude
Is it correct to use "galloping" as a synonym of "extreme"? For example, I often see "galloping incompetence" and "galloping ineptitude".
But Merriam Webster's ...
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Does the phrase "violations will be enforced" make any sense?
I see this on traffic signs around my town, and I don't think it makes any sense. I googled the phrase and apparently, a lot of people use it that way, but that does not change my opinion.
I think ...
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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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Was "terror" ever a positive thing?
A friend has just told me that "terror" used to be a good thing, as opposed to the negative thing it is today:
ter·ror (trr) n.
Intense, overpowering fear. See Synonyms at fear.
One that ...
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Is "push a button" correct English? (as opposed to "press a button")
My intuitive understanding of the English language (I am German) would correlate with the following quotation:
The word "press" means to exert force on an object, but no motion of the ...
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Etymologically, how did 'outrage' get 're-analyzed'?
Wiktionary:
From... Old French... oultrage (“excess”)... derived from Latin ultrā (“beyond”). Later reanalysed as out- + rage, whence the contemporary pronunciation, though neither of these is ...
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Why does "put up with" mean "stand, endure"
I'm a student learning English. Whenever I get stuck on phrasal verbs, I imagine the idiomatic meaning with the literal meaning and figure it out.
put up with
Tolerate; endure.
‘I'm too tired ...
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