Questions tagged [phrase-meaning]
The meaning of phrases.
1,157
questions
1
vote
2answers
56 views
“To the extent of” in this context
Often it is suggested that the differences amount only to personal
preference. However, not all of the descriptions are equally able to
describe all observations of the real world. To the extent ...
1
vote
1answer
41 views
Does the phrase “born and bred” usually connote a sense of pride and eminence in any way?
I recently had to update my profile for a job role and I used the phrase "born and bred in xxxx" to indicate that I was born and raised in a certain part of the world. I always thought born and bred ...
0
votes
2answers
104 views
What is the meaning of “We have outfoxed the fox, which makes us very bloody foxy.” in the TV series Misfits?
In the episode 5 of season 1 of the British television series Misfits the character Nathan Young says:
We have outfoxed the fox, which makes us very bloody foxy.
Transcript.
What does it mean in ...
0
votes
0answers
47 views
“Studied at” vs. “Went to”
What is the difference between the two.
I realize "went to" might be a bit less formal but both are correct, aren't they?
For context, while in class I said to the teacher "I went to (name of school) ...
1
vote
1answer
75 views
What does “rings around the brain” mean?
I'm watching the movie "Mary Poppins Returns".
At one point Marry Poppins sings:
Too much glee leaves rings around the brain
I'm not quite sure what "rings around the brain" means. From context I ...
2
votes
1answer
66 views
Meaning of Pudding of a young man
Could someone explain what the pudding means here. I'm a bit confused.
From the stammering and awkward conversation, she had with Haroun that
day Naveed discovered to her consternation that her ...
0
votes
0answers
21 views
What is the meaning of “numb content”?
I run into the phrase "numb content" while reading Asimov's The End of Eternity, Chapter 5 - Timer,
"We're all busy," mumbled Harlan, fighting to keep off something that could only be described as ...
0
votes
1answer
63 views
What does 'there's nothing to say that…' mean?
I stumbled upon a sentence:
There’s nothing to say that you have to process all the state transitions at the same time
What does this phrase mean? Specifically as a 'clause' if I can call it that (...
0
votes
1answer
47 views
“Cried his father in transports”
What does "in transports" mean in the cherry tree story from The Life of George Washington by Mason Locke Weems:
"Run to my arms, you dearest boy," cried his father in transports, "run to my arms; ...
3
votes
1answer
80 views
To burn something to the ground
According to Collins Dictionary to burn something to the ground means to completely destroy it by fire. I have two questions regarding this phrase:
1- What is the exact connotation of it: Does it ...
-1
votes
1answer
30 views
what does the phrase “ on the same spectrum “ mean? [closed]
In the sentence : My disease is nowhere near as bad as hers but they are on the same spectrum
0
votes
0answers
20 views
Usage of 'Offset'
I was reading an article on Investopedia (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/speculation.asp) and encountered this:
With speculation, the risk of loss is more than offset by the possibility of a ...
0
votes
1answer
37 views
“being able [noun] to [verb]” usage
I was reading a contract and I found this usage of "be able to" very unfamiliar.
If during the execution of the Project any product from which
intellectual and/or industrial property may arise, ...
0
votes
0answers
33 views
I've surely heard about 'talk to each other' but is 'talk with each other' the same thing?
To avoid using a same phrase more than once, can I use 'talk to ~' and 'talk with~' interchangeably?
-( For example : "but now, come to think of it, we talk to each other much less than we do with ...
32
votes
2answers
4k views
Meaning of “I have often seen Essex cheese quick enough”
John Heywood (c. 1497–1580) once wrote:
I never saw Banbury cheese thick enough
But I have often seen Essex cheese quick enough. 1 2
The first line alludes to how a Banbury cheese was very ...
0
votes
1answer
45 views
X removed from Y
Does "X removed from Y" as a general rule mean "X minus (without) Y" i.e. does "What is femininity removed from motherhood" in the following text mean "What is femininity minus (without) motherhood"?
...
3
votes
2answers
126 views
“Politics stops at water’s edge” — meaning
I read the following phrase in the topic of foreign policies of a country,
"It stops at water's edge."
What does "politics stops at water’s edge" mean?
0
votes
1answer
57 views
What is the meaning of “a little shy of a year”?
When I read an article in The Washington Post yesterday, I met a sentence which confused me: "Valerie Schönian was born on Sept. 25, 1990, a little shy of a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall and ...
0
votes
0answers
59 views
Being confused about fractional odds ⇔ decimal odds
I’d like to ask about the following sentence from the Silver Blaze by Conan Doyle.
“Five to four against Silver Blaze!” roared the ring. “Five to four
against Silver Blaze! Five to fifteen ...
0
votes
1answer
48 views
what's meaning of “expressly found that”
The judge expressly found that the material risks (sovereign default,
currency default and counterparty default), were all disclosed and
known to AP.
Could you kindly explain what "expressly ...
0
votes
1answer
64 views
Old time sign board at a race track, what's “h ft”?
I’d like to ask about the following sentence from the Silver Blaze by Conan Doyle.
Wessex Plate. 50 sovs each h ft with 1000 sovs added for four and five year olds. Second, £300. Third, £200.
This ...
0
votes
1answer
44 views
What is the exact meaning of “names of sensitives” and “spoke”?
What is the exact meaning of "names of sensitives" and "spoke"?
does "spoke" refers to talking about something or not?
Finally, above the monotonous horizon of human happenings there did
actually ...
0
votes
0answers
50 views
what is the meaning of this sentence? “Oh, Lord, still the tumult of the people!”
what is the meaning of this sentence? "Oh, Lord, still the tumult of the people!"
These were not long in coming, and they broke out in Irving's own
church. It was in July, 1831, that it was rumoured ...
1
vote
1answer
47 views
Where does it comes from “pull the other leg, it's got bells on”?
What is leg and bells mean in the phrase "pull the other one, it's got bells on"
0
votes
0answers
42 views
“(~), but in the interest of time.” What does it mean here exactly?
"We've never really had a call for it before you, but in the interest of time."
I searched for the meaning of "in the interest of (something)" but I couldn't grasp the meaning of "but in the interest ...
0
votes
0answers
32 views
Can “life span” apply to substance
I'd like to know if life span can be used for substance such as "The life span of a thing is...". I ask this because life means being, not material.
-1
votes
1answer
50 views
what is the meaning of these lines?
what is the meaning of these lines "when his prototypes were holding
moorland meetings in Gallo way and avoiding, or possibly even
attacking with the arms of the flesh, the dragoons of Claverhouse"?
...
0
votes
1answer
67 views
meaning of 'couldn't be less' in this context
Well, — in King James’s golden days, —
For the days were golden then, —
They could not be less, for good Queen Bess
Had died aged threescore and ten,
And her days, we know,
...
-1
votes
1answer
55 views
does “heavy cloud” and “thunderstorm” are used in their real meaning or not? [closed]
does "heavy cloud" and "thunderstorm" are used in their real meaning or not?
also i can not understand the true meaning of "judgment"??
is there anybody who can explain about this?
Swedenborg claimed ...
0
votes
1answer
41 views
meaning of “out of the season” in this sentence
It's something said by a production manager: "I'm responsible for the refining process, and I organise the shift system...Out of the season, I supervise the overhaul of the plant." Does "out of the ...
0
votes
2answers
67 views
What is “since before” without anything between these two words?
Here's a sentence from the "Critical Introduction to Law and Literature" by Kieran Dolin:
His decision denied that these indigenous peoples had proprietary rights to the lands in question, despite ...
-1
votes
1answer
51 views
What is the meaning of “psychic grossness” and “want” in this paragraph?
What is the true meaning of "psychic grossness" and "want" at this paragraph?
Swedenborg claimed that a heavy cloud was formed round the earth by the psychic grossness of humanity, and that from ...
1
vote
0answers
50 views
Difference and usage of “contains exclusively” vs “exclusively contains”
Since the late 1800s, the phrase "contains exclusively" has been consistently used more often than "exclusively contains". Ngram viewer: "contains exclusively" vs "exclusively contains".
What is the ...
-1
votes
0answers
23 views
What's the season of forgiveness?
I’d like to ask about the following sentence from The Blue Carbuncle by Conan Doyle.
Besides, it is the season of forgiveness.
I’d like to ask if the phrase “the season of forgiveness” rings a ...
7
votes
4answers
1k views
What does “a flight to quality” mean?
I was reading an article on the Economist about revolutionizing management education and came across an interesting expression.
Geoffrey Garrett, dean of the Wharton School, at the University of ...
-2
votes
1answer
42 views
What is the true meaning of “since his time” and “since his day”?
What is the true meaning of "since his time" and "since his day"?
Here are examples of them in use:
We have to face the fact that in the
main the spiritual observations which he made have been ...
2
votes
1answer
46 views
What does “having a confirm for someone” mean?
The context:
"Thanks for your message.
Sorry for that you haven't received the item yet.
I understand you truly, but please don't worry; we will fix the problem for you smoothly.
Could you please give ...
-1
votes
0answers
58 views
“The End of story” vs. “The End of a story” vs. “The End of the story”
I want to give a title of my artwork to symbolize death. Among the following phrases, what is more appropriate for this and I'd like to understand what the differences are?
The End of Story
The End ...
2
votes
1answer
56 views
Meaning and origin of the phrase “slips don't count”
I ran across this expression recently in some Popeye cartoon [EDIT: it was Never Sock a Baby, 1939], but it seems to have been a recognized slang expression with maybe even a bit of old-timey flavor ...
1
vote
0answers
26 views
This is everything about
This is everything about sinews.
This is everything about armpits.
What does this simple structure really means? In my quotations the teller is talking about a book. Does he mean that the book ...
0
votes
1answer
64 views
What does “convey/possess a sense of immediacy” mean?
Such contemporary accounts often convey a sense of immediacy and impact...
The opening pages still convey a sense of immediacy and excitement...
The challenge of the environmental beat is to convey ...
0
votes
2answers
55 views
What is 'anxiety'?
English is my second language and I don't live in an english speaking country, so my exposure to native speakers is rather low. I often see the term 'sth. triggers my anxiety' (e.g. this workplace ...
0
votes
1answer
40 views
What does the formation of putting words an idea or feeling given here mean?
Here's the conversation I was having with a guy:
So, in this context, f I drill down, from my perspective, they may not mean anything together.
Can you please help me figure out what his expression ...
0
votes
3answers
141 views
Meaning of 'let's even the odds'
So recently I have stumbled upon a phrase :
let's even the odds.
I have googled it without any help. If anyone can explain it for me I will be grateful.
16
votes
5answers
2k views
Nobel prize in literature 2018 - what is “encyclopedic passion”?
The question is inspired by the today's announcement of the Nobel prize awards in Literature for 2018 and 2019.
The short description for Olga Tokarczuk has been worded as follows:
The Nobel Prize ...
-1
votes
2answers
105 views
What the word “black” refers to in the case?
I'd like to ask about the sentence below from A Case of Identity by Conan Doyle.
while the lady herself loomed behind his small black figure like a
full-sailed merchant-man behind a tiny pilot ...
0
votes
1answer
62 views
How do I distinguish between several meanings of “as of”?
In a few answers here, people quote Cambridge dictionary and state that "as of" means "starting from a particular time".
starting from a particular time or date:
As of next month, all the
...
-1
votes
1answer
73 views
throw the book at my head
I had not the vaguest idea what this meant and when I could not
remember the words, my tutor threw the book at my head, which did not
stimulate my intellect in any way.
what does the writer (...
3
votes
2answers
408 views
“Given” versus “Given that”
I just received a proofread version of an academic manuscript from my copy editor. She essentially changed all of the instances in which I had written "given that" to "given." I've tried to read up on ...
0
votes
0answers
162 views
What does the expression “ranging from something to something” mean?
I am studying for a TOEFL exam and I have a question about this particular exercise. The exercise is about a short text which talks about what is aggression and the theories that study it. Edit: Here ...
