Questions tagged [meaning]

This tag is for questions related to definitions and nuances of meaning of a word or phrase.

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1 vote
3 answers
148 views

Are "seldom" and "rarely" truly interchangeable?

As per answer to When do we use "rarely, hardly, seldom"?, the words "rarely" and "seldom" are synonyms and can be used interchangeably. I wonder if this is really the ...
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-1 votes
1 answer
46 views

What is the meaning of practiced upon here? [closed]

Sammy has been practised upon, and has broken confidence. It has all come out. You had better not be in the way, for strangers are going to call upon you. They have been very quiet as yet, because ...
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2 votes
1 answer
139 views

What does "wortier" mean?

I'm reading a fantasy novel, which features a profession called "wortier" (people who magically alter books, making them behave more like spreadsheets). I was curious whether the author had ...
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0 votes
1 answer
42 views

Is a/the scion always the successor of the current family head?

Nothing I found online regarding the word seem to indicate that a noble family can only have one scion, but in media I always see the word as being singular and most important, usually regarded as the ...
1 vote
0 answers
54 views

What is a word equivalent to "bias" without the meaning where it is considered to be unfair?

What is a word equivalent to "bias" without the meaning where it is considered to be unfair? From a google search the meaining of bias is: an inclination or prejudice for or against one ...
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6 votes
3 answers
755 views

Has the word "believer" always had the meaning of someone who believes in God or has it picked up that meaning somewhere along the line?

Has the word believer always had the meaning of believing in God or has it picked up that meaning somewhere along the line ? When I say "I am a believer", without further context, does it ...
1 vote
3 answers
47 views

Possible meaning of "running past" on this phrase [closed]

I'm an English student and I have a question about this sentence. It comes from a song, here's an excerpt: If you feel like giving up now Turn it into a smile You'll see new days are running past ...
1 vote
0 answers
50 views

Is there a definition of "up to" where "up to 100% protection" is a meaningful statement? [closed]

OK, so I'm a math geek, and I realize that sometimes I interpret the world, uh, differently. For example, I see a package advertising that the contents were made with "real fruit", and I ...
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0 votes
0 answers
101 views

Confusing paragraph in a psychology book

I am currently working on translating a book called Self-Compassion. Yet, I faced a paragraph (the bolded one) that I don't quite understand. Any help? BEFORE EXAMINING SELF-COMPASSION IN MORE DETAIL,...
1 vote
2 answers
12 views

Can "synthetic" be used as an adjective meaning "synthesizing," "that which synthesizes," as in: Write synthetic headlines

The idea here is that one should write headlines that effectively synthesize the ideas in the article. Can I express that idea through the phrase: write synthetic headlines? I assume that I can use ...
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-2 votes
1 answer
71 views

What does "it's a whole lot of cake with not a lot of icing" mean? [closed]

"That/this/it's a whole lot of cake with not a lot of icing" I don't have great context for this but I don't know if saying this sentence can be construed as offensive, etc.
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2 votes
1 answer
57 views

What is meant when light is like a benediction?

I've recently undertaken to expand and enrich my vocabulary, but the word "benediction" has me stumped. I believe I have a good sense of the denotative meaning, but the connotative meaning ...
0 votes
0 answers
25 views

The body of scholarship on... Can it be a type of library or catalogue?

The fund also launched what soon became a respected publication in the field, The Journal of Air Law […] This added to the body of scholarship on aviation Harry and the directors sought to build ...
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0 votes
1 answer
58 views

Can "hold on" be used to mean pausing the work being performed?

http://www.differencebetween.net/language/difference-between-hold-on-or-hold-off/ says: “hold on” is to wait, or grip while “hold off” is to postpone, cancel or stop an action. So does "hold on&...
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0 votes
0 answers
53 views

Meaning of "psychometrizing"?

This word is in "The Demonologist the extraordinary career of Ed and Lorraine Warren" couldn't find the meaning of it. When I Google it this word would come up "Psychometrics" ...
5 votes
1 answer
104 views

What does the verb "scrolf" mean?

I was skimming through Laureen Beukes' novel Zoo City (having already read it once), and at some point my eyes fell on the following sentence on the 2nd page: Leaving the Mongoose to scrolf at its ...
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-1 votes
3 answers
38 views

A groups of reviews - „assessment“ vs „evaluation“

I'm looking for the nuanced difference in meaning of words: „assessment“, „evaluation“ and „review“ - in the specific context of „reviewing“ various products. As far as I understand, the main ...
0 votes
0 answers
48 views

Is a "circle" or a "group" of people more suitable to describe a large number of people in a community?

According to Merriam-Webster: community: a unified body of individuals circle: a group of persons sharing a common interest or revolving about a common center group: a number of individuals assembled ...
4 votes
3 answers
229 views

About the use of 'say please'

I'm not a native English speaker, so maybe there are something I don't pay attention to, today I said 'Can you do ....?' and he said 'Say please'. Does that mean what I said is impolite? I'm confused, ...
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0 votes
2 answers
49 views

Heartache, too, inspires its own sad curiosity

I would like to know the definition of the following "curiosity." The times cannot be numbered when Thomas Atkinson will ask, Why? Why? And again Why? (For heartache, too, inspires its own ...
0 votes
2 answers
39 views

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-...
0 votes
1 answer
31 views

Too big of a something meaning [duplicate]

The recruiter asked me this: This might be a too big of a company you’re looking for! I don’t get what does this mean?
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-1 votes
1 answer
42 views

Is "a rant on <topic>" equivalent to "a rant about <topic>"?

Is it correct to rant on something? Or is ranting about the only correct usage of the word? E.g. "He's been ranting on his landlord all evening".
0 votes
2 answers
47 views

democratic rule [closed]

some explanations of "rule" vs "govern" from quora.com: Rule - or ruling - implies ownership. if you’re governing it, you don’t own it; you’re just tasked with management and ...
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2 votes
3 answers
82 views

The meaning of as + adj + as + noun + to be?

As serious as the problem was, no one paid enough attention to it. I want the above sentence to mean: although the problem was very serious, no one paid enough attention to it. Does the structure “as ...
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9 votes
1 answer
1k views

'An engagement tablet' -- What is it?

In a story by Denton Welch I came across this fragment: "... and playing with the scent bottles, matchboxes and engagement tablets of old cracked ivory-the cracks were black, like my nails when I ...
0 votes
1 answer
54 views

Ouch! Are you Ok? I think so. What's the meaning of "so" in this sentence [closed]

A: Ouch! B: Are you Ok? A: I think so. What's the meaning of "so" in this last sentence
0 votes
2 answers
69 views

What is the difference between "I don't think~yet" and "I think~yet"?

I’m confused about how to use ‘yet’ in positive and negative sentences. For example, I don’t think exam is graded yet (meaning exam is not graded?) I think exam is graded yet (also meaning exam is ...
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6 votes
1 answer
105 views

Does 'pre-empt' have 'presage, signal, or indicate' as one of its meanings in current British English usage?

A UK Ministry of Defence 'Intelligence Update' posted on Twitter on October 29, 2022, includes the following bullet point: In the Russian national identity, [Prince Grigory] Potemkin is heavily ...
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0 votes
1 answer
92 views

“(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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-1 votes
1 answer
40 views

Which kind of love is "defeated love"?

In the end of J. M. Coetzee's short story "Nietverloren" a narrator complains about how South Africa changed, and there happens the following dialogue: “You sound bitter.” “The bitterness ...
-1 votes
1 answer
32 views

How does the punctuation used affect the meaning in this sentence? [closed]

Here is the sentence: Life in Britain changed enormously under Elizabeth; but the monarchy adapted, and emerged stronger. Were it up to me, I would phrase it based on my comprehension as: Life in ...
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-1 votes
1 answer
31 views

About usage of "yet" [closed]

I need help with the difference. "Are you a member of the club yet?" "Are you a member of the club ?" What's the difference?
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0 votes
1 answer
53 views

Meaning of "over" in a sentence [closed]

I am reading an academic article and there is a key sentence in the discussion that can change the whole idea. "The metric used is mean average precision, which calculates the mean of the ...
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-2 votes
2 answers
51 views

What does "DMV" refer to? [closed]

Could you please tell me what does "DMV" refer to in the following text: For your billionaire friend, resources would hold out a tad longer. He or she would have a full-time job spending $50,...
0 votes
1 answer
47 views

Meaning of 'if not fact' in this sentence [closed]

Would you please tell me what 'if not fact' means in this sentence? and also writing 1-2 examples of that would be great. Thanks. Fantasy or fiction (of which drama is one form) permits people to ...
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0 votes
0 answers
41 views

Meaning of 'in away' in this sentence?

What does the bold part (in away) mean in the following text? The total volume of water in the saturated sample must therefore be thought of as consisting of water that can, and water that cannot, in ...
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6 votes
3 answers
3k views

What does the line "they'll be sorry they bought come sun up" from Deadwood mean? [closed]

So I've always been bad at understanding dialogue from TV shows. Here's a line from S1E1 of Deadwood; (it is not a spoiler). The setting is American Western expansion in 1876. There's two characters, ...
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-1 votes
1 answer
67 views

meaning of this passage from The Left Hand of Darkness?

Next come the lords and mayors and representatives, one person, or five, or forty-five, or four hundred, from each Domain and Co-Domain of Karhide, a vast ornate procession that moves to the music of ...
0 votes
0 answers
64 views

''She had been a virgin only twice removed before''

I am trying to translate the story I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison and I just can't grasp the meaning of this sentence: that she had been a virgin only twice removed before AM ...
1 vote
3 answers
508 views

Meaning of "All them creeps in that store to steal from, Arnie's got to pick out a lady bull to clip!"

Could you help me understand the last sentence of the following passage? "Hey," I say, "what happened with you guys when I saw you running out of Namn's Christmas Eve?" Arnie ...
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13 votes
2 answers
3k views

What is "gallows flesh?"

In the Grimm's Fairy Tale "The Golden Bird" a fox gives a prince advice that he Buy no gallows'-flesh, and do not sit on the edge of any well. Of course, he does sit on a well, and his ...
-1 votes
2 answers
27 views

What is a Residency Affidavit in the USA? [closed]

What is a Residency Affidavit in the USA and how does it differ from a Proof of Residency?
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1 vote
1 answer
86 views

intention vs objective

I'm trying to write a logical/philosophical essay about the topics of interests and actions, and more precisely, of logical fallacies that arise from equating interests and actions.[1] After 30 years, ...
0 votes
2 answers
72 views

What does the word "attic" mean when referred to as a status?

In a report of a software issue (or bug) here, the status of the issue is described as: Status: attic ... Status: open --> attic What does the word "attic" mean here? I know attic ...
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-2 votes
1 answer
61 views

The text of [a person's name]

when, with Griesbach [the Greek text of J. J. Griesbach] in my hand, I read over every verse in Chinese, and suggest my doubts relative to the force of particular characters, rejecting some, and ...
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0 votes
2 answers
62 views

Is this postulate about the past perfect and past perfect continuous valid?

If the second action of the two entails the ending of the first, then the past perfect simple emphasises completion, while the past perfect continuous emphasises duration. I had waited for three ...
0 votes
2 answers
68 views

What is a one-word (probably verb) synonym for "thinking back to" with a sort of paying homage connotation?

I'm looking for a certain synonym for "thinking back to" or "reminiscing from the past". It is used in a sentence like "This building was built with historical aspects in mind,...
0 votes
1 answer
23 views

Question regarding the usage of 'As in'

'The multi-storey pagoda came to Japan from China in the sixth century. As in China, they were first introduced with Buddhism and were attached to important temples.' I initially thought this meant ...
0 votes
1 answer
57 views

What does it mean for something to be "so-called"? [closed]

What does it mean if someone says, This is the so-called [noun] or This is the so-called "[noun]" What is the purpose of the addition of so-called? Are these sentences neutral or has ...
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