Questions tagged [meaning]
This tag is for questions related to definitions and nuances of meaning of a word or phrase.
15,922
questions
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24 views
What is difference between “be my guest” and “help yourself”? What are the cases to use these idioms correctly? [closed]
What is difference between "be my guest" and "help yourself"? As far as I concerned both of them are used as a permission to do something. What are the cases to use these idioms ...
0
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0answers
19 views
Meaning of “followed” in this sentence
The president of a large Japanese real estate firm was another. He'd sent Eisman his company's financial statements and then followed, with an interpreter, to solicit Eisman's investment. "You ...
1
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1answer
36 views
Origin of the English word chevel [closed]
I'm originally from Yorkshire and my family, especially my mum, used the verb 'chevel', in the context of "you're always cheveling sweets". I don't know what the exact spelling was. Does ...
-1
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0answers
38 views
Can you explain the structure and meaning of this sentence? [closed]
However small the words he exchanges,
he makes friends immediately… with everyone he meets.
I couldn't understand this section: "however small the words he exchanges".
Can you explain its ...
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0answers
18 views
Where would I find words that are often misused and have interesting distinctions? [closed]
For example:
Aggressive vs Assertive
Wishful vs Hopeful
I'm basically looking for words that are commonly misused as synonyms, but actually have deep and important
0
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1answer
84 views
What does “right monkey” mean? [closed]
A comic called Mr Al Read would sometimes say "Right Monkey" as a catchphrase on the radio. I cannot find the meaning of the phrase in a dictionary.
0
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0answers
20 views
Interchangeability of where and when? [duplicate]
This is the day where I will arise to redeem your life and fully
restore it back to Me.
I Hear His Whisper Volume 2: 52 Devotions
Brian Simmons · 2016
M-W Learner's Dictionary: Where
The dictionary ...
2
votes
0answers
23 views
What does “play at writer” mean in this context in the The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck? [closed]
" Bukowski
wrote back to the editor: “I have one of two choices—stay in the post office and
go crazy . . . or stay out here and play at writer and starve. I have decided to
starve.” "
What ...
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0answers
16 views
What does the phrase “I think so” mean? [migrated]
I asked the following question:
Do all English language schools in your city believe that all people can learn English if they want to?
He replied:
I think so.
What does that phrase "I think ...
-1
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0answers
33 views
What does this phrase mean? I especially couldn't understand the second sentence [closed]
It takes two to make things go right. It takes two to make it out of sight.
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0answers
34 views
Is it a correct slogan for my saffron company “It is a criterion for measuring authenticity and quality”? [closed]
I want to show that my company is a place for measuring authenticity and quality, I would like to know if my slogan is correct or not. Here is my slogan — "It is a criterion for measuring ...
4
votes
1answer
597 views
What does “It's Mandarin for purgatory” mean? [closed]
The phrase is taken from a TV series called "Arrow".
In the beginning of the first episode Oliver says: "The name of the island they found me on is Lian Yu. It's Mandarin for purgatory.&...
3
votes
1answer
64 views
What is the origin of “set” (noun) as used in “television set”? Tubes?
The colloquial (and mostly archaic) term "television set" invokes a narrow use of set (noun). Merriam-Webster defines this as:
(22) an apparatus of electronic components assembled so as to ...
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0answers
30 views
0
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0answers
31 views
Could anyone explain the meaning and rhetoric of the following four-letter word?
Late in the third quarter of a March game between the Utah Jazz and
the New Orleans Pelicans, Rudy Gobert, the Jazz’s 7-foot-1 center,
caught a pass and slammed down a dunk as the Pelicans’ Josh Hart ...
0
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0answers
40 views
What’s it called when someone makes a joke [closed]
They created a person for me on GTA, I sent them an email before hand and asked them to make me a character after I hit 500k subs on YouTube.
Is there a certain type of humor for this? Like if I said ...
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0answers
31 views
Is “that” the right complement of the verb “require” [migrated]
Here are original sentences: "Sometimes a creative problem is so difficult that it requires people to connect their imaginations together; the answer arrives only if we collaborate"
But how ...
18
votes
9answers
3k views
What is the non-funny equivalent of a spoof? Such as a dark, gritty, alternative re-telling of a story
I'm wondering if there is a word for a non-funny spoof/parody, as described in the title.
Without giving away any spoilers, Invincible (the TV series, haven't read the comics) seems very much like an ...
0
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0answers
21 views
How do you interpret this Disclosure? [closed]
Edit: Do you interpret the following to mean that there were new windows/doors?
"Basement sliding door had a small leak during rainstorm, replaced sliding door and all new siding for house. All ...
-1
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0answers
15 views
How much meaning of a sentence changes in respect of changing the position of “The”? [closed]
Can anybody explain the differences of meanings if the position of article "the" changes?
Of the (ex: Legends of the galactic heroes)
The of (ex: The shape of an egg)
The of the (ex: The ...
-1
votes
1answer
50 views
What is the year in this circumstance?
The context of this post is coming from this question.
There is a sentence:
wkj is the share of the three-digit SIC industry j’s exports from country k to any other country k out of all of the ...
0
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0answers
29 views
workshop or studio? [closed]
In the context of university studies - i.e. mechanical engineering - students work on projects in specific equipped rooms with the necessary tools - are these rooms to be called "STUDIOS" ...
1
vote
1answer
41 views
Meaning of “gamecock” when referring to a person [closed]
I was watching a south korean drama (Youth of may), second episode, and the scene is:
The guy is waiting at the restaurant for a blind date. The girl arrives late and as soon as she seats in front of ...
-3
votes
0answers
34 views
Concerning the word Die compared to Jesus dying for us [closed]
It is said Jesus died for us. For our sin. I think Jesus is a metaphor for a placenta (I have endless evidence to support my “theory”) and the placenta “dies” after we are born. It is said the die ...
4
votes
2answers
97 views
She can't sing AND/ OR dance
She can't sing or dance.
She can't sing and dance.
I saw both sentences; I guess that they are whole negation and partial negation respectively.
However, I am not sure which of the action verbs is ...
-1
votes
1answer
69 views
Can I say “I'm waiting for no one but you to call on my phone”? [closed]
It's intended to mean that I'm only waiting for you to call on my phone but is it grammatically correct and understandable if I say the following?
I'm waiting for no one but you to call on my phone.
0
votes
1answer
92 views
What is the meaning of this statement? [closed]
In this book 'The Prevention of Suicide in Prison' I would like to know meaning of this statement:
It also became clear that within this setting all behaviours came at a
price (such as reading/writing ...
0
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0answers
32 views
“Die in vain” in a sentence - what could it mean? [closed]
With the interpretation of the following sentence:
For what it may be worth, I assure you the memories we've experienced won't die in vain, they'll be often reminisced and forever treasured.
I have ...
-1
votes
1answer
44 views
“Hot food had to be served piping hot” means? [closed]
Does it refer to the food temperature or degree of spiciness?
0
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0answers
33 views
What does it mean to say “Someone won't know I'm there”?
In one of the video clips of SNL(https://is.gd/WVr1OQ), the man said the thing that drives his mom crazy is "when he sometimes wake up earlier than his mom, he gets out of their bed so that his ...
1
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0answers
31 views
“Here I go” in the context of death
I am interested in the different usages of "here I go" when used in a more abstract sense.
It apparently used some times before death, examples here – Famous Last Words
or also in some ...
0
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0answers
11 views
usage of can + make [closed]
I've faced a question and decided to ask here. Which one is correct?
They can't speak good English, but they can make themselves ______ .
a) understand
b) understood
c) understanding
d) a and b
...
0
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0answers
32 views
What does the phrase “fallen off the lips” mean?
I was listening to a interview in which the following dialogue occurred:
Interviewer: “I went to a church service for years and the words ‘poor’ and ‘poverty’ never crossed the lips of anyone or any ...
2
votes
1answer
92 views
How to translate “por la cara” to English?
I'm looking for a suitable English translation of the Spanish expression "por la cara".
In Spanish, unless you go very deep into the details, for various context that are very specific, ...
0
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0answers
16 views
Correct to use “index” for marking “first occurrence”
I found that several studies have defined the first occurrence of hip fracture diagnosis as "index hip fracture" (https://www.google.com/search?q=%22index+hip+fracture%22&rlz=...
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0answers
14 views
meaning of “draft prospectus” [closed]
Every mortgage bond came with its own mid-numbingly tedious 130-page prospectus. ...Burry spent the end of 2004 and early 2005 scanning hundreds and actually reading dozens of them, certain he was the ...
0
votes
1answer
21 views
How do I see the equivalence of these two definitions of risk homeostasis? [closed]
These two definitions should be equivalent, but correct me if I'm wrong.
Definition 1. Risk homeostasis is that when something becomes less risky, the more risk is taken, in order to keep the expected ...
0
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0answers
19 views
originate and sell subprime mortgage lender [closed]
I wonder what the form of grammar "originate and sell mortgage lender" is? There is verb in front of the word "mortgage lender" and I wonder if I should look at them as whole noun?
0
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1answer
37 views
What do “industry's exposure” mean and meaning in context?
Dong, 2019, page 898 documented:
We measure firm exposure to international laws in two ways. First, we rely on the industry’s exposure and define the treatment
based on a firm’s exposure to the passage ...
0
votes
1answer
51 views
What would be a word that means pushing someone to their limit in a negative form
I'm currently writing a story about a young man who was took everything from him and that died for the causes he fought for, I'm looking for a word that means taking everything from someone and more.
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0answers
23 views
To be featured and some proper nouns [closed]
In the "About the author" page of a book published by Wiley (for dummies) there is a sentence about Joelle Jane Marshall, the author of the book, like this:
Jo has been featured in "The ...
0
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1answer
31 views
What does Raw Defiance mean? [closed]
I looked up about the word "Raw" and found it has bunch of different meanings, one of them being 'A Natural, uncontrolled quality'
And, the other day, I heard someone say, in a bit of an ...
-1
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0answers
34 views
What is the meaning of “self-respect”? [closed]
What is the meaning of "self-respect" or "respect yourself"? I googled the term but I can't find a clear explanation. I just get the feeling that it is not exactly the same as &...
0
votes
1answer
34 views
Meaning of the verb to change when it is used in a properly intransitive way and not simply omitting the reflexive pronoun
What does the verb to change mean when there is no object (not even implicit) as opposed to simply omitting the reflexive pronoun?
For example:
Do you want to change? vs Do you want to change yourself?...
0
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1answer
51 views
Royal versus Loyal [closed]
One of the online English-learning sites in Japan where I study English, regularly uses the expression "Royal customers" instead of "Loyal customers" in their address. I felt it ...
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0answers
30 views
Sentence Meaning of “I have lived in the land of Israel for at least half of the year over the last decade” [migrated]
I am not a native English speaker, so I am confused about the simple sentence below.
I have lived in the land of Israel for at least half of the year over the last decade.
What does it mean? Does ...
1
vote
2answers
27 views
Which preposition to use with the word 'divest'? (Should it be 'divest of,' 'divest from,' or no preposition at all?)
I am wondering which preposition would best fit this usage of the word divest. In this case, the word is being used in the third subsense of the first sense found in Merriam-Webster:
a : to deprive ...
1
vote
1answer
54 views
What does 'intimated' mean in the following sentence? [closed]
As we shall see, when satisfaction is invoked in Othello, and by
Othello himself, what is being sought is proof and revenge, knowledge
and retaliation, certainty and redress. And what is more than
...
2
votes
1answer
60 views
syllable stress in pronunciation of frequently used expressions [closed]
I think that the first case in which stress in a frequently used expression starting to gnaw at my mind occurred after hearing someone pronouncing a noun adjunct in a way deviating from the way I was ...
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0answers
32 views
Where is the verb in “ The need to fetch water for family, or to take care of younger sibling while their mothers goes” [closed]
I got a bit confused after reading the following sentence that from a book:
"The need to fetch water for the family, or to take care of younger siblings while their mother goes".
In this ...
