Questions tagged [meaning]
This tag is for questions related to definitions and nuances of meaning of a word or phrase.
16,672
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Meaning of " trapping "? [closed]
This is the passage I'm reading:
Using this
method—and both human and inhuman
spirits can do this—the entity bypasses
the physical eye and projects the desired image directly to the ‘mind’s eye,’ or
...
0
votes
1
answer
44
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Knowing who can be?
This is a phrase from one of my favorite songs by John Lennon, LOVE.
Love is knowing we can be
As a speaker of English as a second language, my first response was like we can be what?
I know it's ...
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2
answers
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What does "fabulism" mean when used to describe one's accomplishments? [closed]
In this recent article in Science, a botanist is reported as accused
of apparent plagiarism, fabulism about his professional accomplishments, and fabrication or manipulation of data.
There is no ...
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1
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Is "samuraily" correct?
Pahlavāni, knighthood, and samuraily may be different in forms of
cultural output, but all three are inherently from the same
historical essence.
Pahlavāni (پهلوانی) is a Persian word. In its ...
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"I was set" versus "I was sat" [migrated]
In a television show I heard chef Gordon Ramsey say: "I was set at this table by the waitress." However it is also possible that he said: "I was sat at this table by the waitress."
...
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votes
1
answer
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What is the meaning of famous? [closed]
Does being a famous author mean that many people will recognise your face when you go to places?
Will most of the people know you personally and have a relationship with you?
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votes
5
answers
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What do 'flat-chested' and 'unromantic' mean when speaking of a house?
I am quoting from the Return of Sherlock Holmes, The Six Napoleons, by Arthur Conan Doyle:
In half an hour we had reached Pitt Street, a quiet little backwater just beside one of the briskest ...
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3
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856
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What is the difference between "would be needed" and "may be needed"?
I am trying to understand the below sentence grammatically.
"To determine whether sending a link actually occurred, more context
would be needed"
Why did we use would in this sentence. ...
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0
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20
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what is the difference between "as is necessary" and "as may be necessary"? [closed]
An event has the words
The participant shall bring such items as are necessary for the initiation of the event.
And also
The participant shall bring such items as may be necessary for the competing ...
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30
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What kind of statements are “the best pie I’ve ever eaten” and “the most beautiful mountain I’ve seen in my life” [closed]
My partner always makes statements such as those in heading. They are always sensationalised to create emphasis and drive home his enthusiasm for the subject. For example we were discussing Florence ...
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“Why does a Moon-rock taste better than an Earth-rock?” joke meaning [closed]
In the last episode of “The Last of Us” TV show there is the following pun:
Why does a Moon-rock taste better than an Earth-rock?
Because it's a little meteor.
What's the wordplay here?
P.S. I've ...
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1
answer
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Is it correct to say something like "An issue is being had by them"
One can say "We're having this issue". But is it too awkward to, instead, say "This issue is being had by us", or would the meaning change completely?
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Is “senior year” a direct object or something else in “I played my senior year”? What about “perfect game” in “I threw a perfect game”?
In the sentence “I played my senior year” (Referring to baseball) would senior year be an adverbial phrase or a direct object?
Would the same apply to “I threw a perfect game”? In the second example ...
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13
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Will websites like English StackExchange and its ilk become obsolete due to ChatGPT? [migrated]
I'm seriously worried. I would love to hear thoughts from members of this community.
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with something to recommend it
I'm reading an Economist report on mending an algorithm-related law called Section 230 and the last sentence (the part in bold, to be specific) confuses me a bit:
When platforms “alert specific users”...
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1
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80
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Do we ever use "treatment with" instead of "treatment of"?
I'm trying to understand the syntax/meaning in the following sentence:
The poet was distinguished by concise treatment with the paraphernalia of fire that were characteristic of the genre.
My ...
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3
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What does it mean "to drive something into a ditch"?
I got an email from an English native speaker.
The context is that a known situation is not going as expected.
The problem is ongoing, and at some point, the person responsible (P1) says to the people ...
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What is happening in the sentence "He stood, brazenly naked," [migrated]
In the following sentence, "he" is the subject, "stood" is a conjugated verb, "brazenly" is an adverb, and "naked" is an adjective.
He stood, brazenly naked.
...
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3
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65
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What does "the fitness of things" mean?
I'm struggling to understand what it means, from this sentence:
In science, we sometimes have convictions which we cherish but cannot justify; we
are influenced by some innate sense of the fitness of ...
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1
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147
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What's the difference between backward(s) and backwardly?
What is the difference between backwards, backward, and backwardly? They're all adverbs, but I feel like there's some sort of difference in their meanings and uses.
Although this question is similar ...
0
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1
answer
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What is the reason behind "has" in the sentence "One of us has done it"? [closed]
In the sentence,
One of us has done it.
We consider "one" as a third person. But why is this true?
The "one" is among "us." We know "Us" is the first person. ...
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0
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Why is It "what is that supposed to mean?" And not "...to means?" [migrated]
I know it looks stupid but I really couldn't understand why it's "mean" and not "mean". Is It because it's on the past?
1
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0
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What does “bolted a little out “ and “ stand a trifle “ mean here? [closed]
“you have bolted a little out of course, as young fellows often do; and you shall never have another chance, nor the ghost of half a one.' The wild young grandson makes answer to this and says, 'You'...
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1
answer
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What does "the access to [...] has been premature" mean?
In one of his promotional lectures, Dr. David Berlinski says as follows:
... Nonetheless, I've written this book. And I've written this book
because it seems to me that the access to atheism in the ...
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1
answer
92
views
Hail vs flag down [closed]
When it comes to taking a taxi or calling a waiter, which one should we use and what is their difference?
Hail a taxi or flag down a taxi?
Hail a waiter or flag down a waiter?
0
votes
1
answer
61
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When is "Northern fall"?
One of my favorite Australian YouTubers keeps saying "Northern" to mean one of "early" or "late", and I don't know which. For example:
The new Pokémon DLC is coming ...
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0
answers
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I may go to the party - permission or possibility? Or both? [duplicate]
Hope you can help me to answer this tricky question. I´m posting here as I got the impression that it needs a linguist or at least a native to answer it.
When you say: I may go to the party. Does this ...
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2
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484
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What is the meaning of "someone needs more training in table manners" in this text?
In the following excerpt from Making Numbers Count, by Chip Heath and Karla Starr, the authors talk about different ways of expressing social distancing during covid-19 pandemic.
Could you please ...
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1
answer
44
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What does upappeased mean? [closed]
The word upappeased appears in a poem by Renee Vivien. It doesn't appear to be in the OED and I am not sure what it means.
"I
follow slowly the graceful contours of your hips,
The curves of your ...
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1
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29
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Difference among "suspicion" - "doubt" - "reservation" [closed]
I have a question related to word choice. I know the answer is "reservation", but I can't tell the difference among three other options. The question is as follows:
If I were you, I would ...
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42
votes
3
answers
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In England, why are some high schools called hospitals?
I noticed that in the UK some high schools are called hospitals. For example, Grey Coat Hospital,
Christ's Hospital and Queen Elizabeth's Hospital. Does hospital sometimes mean school?
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Why does the suffix “able” sometimes have the meaning of obligation in words such as payable or answerable?
According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary,
the meanings of responsible, answerable, and payable
are
responsible: liable to be called on to answer
answerable: liable to be called to account
...
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1
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49
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What's the meaning of "jutul" ? Is it somehow related to "jotun" or giant? [closed]
When I saw the series Ragnarok, I saw that the word "Jutul" was used as the name for a fake family lineage which was actually "jotuns".
But intuitively, just picking the word "...
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What does endorse mean in banking?
According to Oxford Languages,
sign (a check or bill of exchange) on the back to make it payable to
someone other than the stated payee or to accept responsibility for
paying it.
I'm having trouble ...
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2
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Meaning of the word "star" in Australian English?
This is "star" in the context of talking about celebrities. My impression from talking to one Australian is that the word has a negative meaning to refer to a "prima donna" -- ...
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0
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What is the meaning of ‘ leave me to mind ‘ here?
What is the meaning of ‘ leave me to mind ‘ here ?
It means leave me alone , or not ?
“Strangers are nothing to me, grandfather,' said the young fellow catching at the word, 'nor I to them, I hope. ...
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2
answers
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Can an argument be "undergirded"?
When writing an argumentative text (like a comment), it is common to support one's arguments with further explanations and examples.
Can this process of supporting the main point of the argument be ...
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What does saying "without the service" mean when paying the bill at a restaurant?
I just heard an actor in a movie say "without the service" when paying the bill at a restaurant. (The movie was The Strays, from 2023 - navigate to 08:19 mins from start).
I assume it's ...
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1
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Does anyone know what the word "Some" means here? [closed]
Just to context:
I've playing a gang context game and after a funeral the rival gang drives by shooting and then the characters that were at the funeral have the car blown up and then they have to run ...
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How to understand "an endless loop of eggs and beans and eggs and toast and beans and toast and eggs"? [migrated]
FOR SOME, cooking during lockdowns was a chance to try out the kind of time-consuming, intricate food preparation that the rush of ordinary life makes impossible. Endless loaves of sourdough were ...
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What does "boot-bashing" mean in this context?
In his book Turkey: A Short History Norman Stone writes:
Madrid and Ankara are both artificial capitals, without economic
activity between penpushing and boot-bashing...
I can't find many plausible ...
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Meaning of franchising (Dostoevsky's The Idiot)
What is the meaning of franchising in the following sentence:
Wasted your money franchising the letter for nothing.
https://archive.org/stream/MajorNovels/69%20The%20Idiot_djvu.txt#:~:text=Wasted%20%...
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2
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Why do 'fast' and 'fastness' mean the same thing? [closed]
...to the north the impenetrable forests of Gurgan and the Elburz range, to the south the fastnesses of Persia itself, a province which Artaxerxes III, contemporary of Philip, had never visited during ...
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Does “at the borders of” mean “out of” in this text?
Does “at the borders of” means “out of” in this text? If not, what is its precise meaning?
In such ways, theology became as yet marginalised, or even banned from
the university as no longer deserving ...
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1
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Is there any sense of 'novelty' that has an element of sentiment in it?
Maybe I made up a phrase:
'because of the novelty of it'
Surely not, but searching online returns no results, zero.
I wonder, could a retro and/or abundant food such as Spam be considered a novelty ...
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What is a word that means 'to change on a case by case basis'? [closed]
Words like 'professionality' and 'friendship' are words that mean something different to each person and change in many situations. What word defines this occurrence?
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Is "shaping" an adjective in "has been truly shaping for"? [closed]
I'm writing this sentence:
Five years at X has been truly shaping for my professional life and development.
Is "shaping" here used correctly as an adjective?
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2
answers
199
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Noun- verb combo
In recent times,more often, I come upon "noun- verb combos", operating as verbs such as dry-clean, kick-start, bad-mouth, sweet-talk, cherry-pick....
some of which have hyphens and others ...
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1
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162
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What does 'cosmic unfairness' mean? [closed]
What is the meaning of 'cosmic unfairness' in the passage below?
The existential torment and cosmic unfairness of being interested in someone romantically who isn't romantically interested in you.
I ...
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votes
2
answers
57
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Can 'increase' be used to simply describe a difference in value between two groups without a temporal connotation?
I see the word 'increase' used a lot in science writing to describe a greater average value in one group compared to another. For example:
There was an increase in wealth among women compared to men
...
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