Questions tagged [phrase-meaning]
The meaning of phrases.
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35 views
Does the term “reduce” necessarily require the object being reduced to already exist?
I'm curious about the term "reduce" and whether it requires pre-existence. For example: If the government were to "reduce" arms sales, would that mean the government would decrease the amount of arms ...
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0answers
44 views
What does expression 'get it right' mean? [on hold]
I noticed it has several meanings depending on context.
On one hand, it can be understood as 'to do something in a proper way and get expected result'.
On the other hand, it sounds like 'to ...
2
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0answers
53 views
What does “work on my tan” mean?
Here is the context:
He
It's not gonna be easy
She
Well, I don't do easy. If I wanted that I'd move to Florida and work on my tan
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1answer
27 views
Can someone simplify the 2nd and 3rd point (from top) of the post given in image below?
I am confused about what the 2 paragraphs (specified in title) actually mean.
So far my brief understanding of:
Paragraph/point "2"→ Authors who refuse to write a story where they dont express their ...
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1answer
58 views
What does the phrase “fire a long line” mean here? [on hold]
Here is a sentence from an action game:
You need to grapple downward, then fire a long line through a gap.
I am not sure about the meaning of the phrase fire a long line. The preceding sentence ...
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4answers
327 views
How did “pissed” come to mean “drunk” or “angry”?
How did "pissed" come to mean "drunk" or "angry" in expressions such as: "I'm pissed" OR "I'm pissed off"?
All dictionaries I consulted just gave that definition.
So, does it have anything to do - ...
2
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2answers
58 views
What does the phrase “level them up” mean here?
Here is a sentence from a combat game:
If the player wins battles, she collects yellow slime which she can
dump on her favourite characters to level them up.
I am not sure about the meaning of ...
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1answer
35 views
Meaning of “And that’s probably likely always to be the case” [closed]
I have trouble understanding two lines in an article in NYTimes.
Ever more so, it seems. The past few decades have seen “an amazing
array of experimental tests of general relativity, all of them ...
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1answer
37 views
THIS DEPARTMENT HAS WORKED ____ DAYS WITHOUT A LOST TIME ACCIDENT [closed]
What does this sentence mean? Does it mean that no unfortunate event happened? What would that event mean? A fight?
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0answers
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mocking someone ,mocking his social media [closed]
Help please with the right meaning of verb MOCK . In my sentence i have to write about bullying at school that a boy taking away cellphone from another boy and mocking his social media. But i'm afraid ...
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0answers
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I'm JUST SAYING = its usage according to the context provided here? [duplicate]
https://youtu.be/vKdSaunduTE
How does " ... I'm JUST SAYING , ... " exactly used in the Youtube video ?
I think the context began at "2:08min " .
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0answers
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I'm Just saying = its usage according to the context provided here? [duplicate]
https://youtu.be/vKdSaunduTE
How does " ... I'm JUST SAYING , ... " exactly used in the Youtube video ?
I think the context began at "2:08min " .
P.S : really hope some true fans of Batman dc ...
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1answer
72 views
“I'm bound where my feet take me, and heart where my wills”
In Sandman #38, there is a moment when two strangers meet on a road and the following dialogue happens:
"Where are you bound, young peddler?" asks the man.
"I'm bound where my feet take me, ...
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2answers
54 views
“To make a lie” meaning
I'm reading a book and I bumped into this sentence:
He had aged well; his face was lined and wrinkled like every
other resident of Hilltop, but there was a youthfulness about
him, a certain ...
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1answer
28 views
Today, renewables work only with fossil-fuel backup or Today, renewables work only as fossil-fuel backup
I was reading an article from nytimes and had two doubts in this passage:
Where will this gargantuan amount of carbon-free energy come from? The
popular answer is renewables alone, but this is a ...
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1answer
29 views
'Sooner than' meaning in this construction?
I have never seen a construction beginning with 'Sooner than' as the following one:
Sooner than fix the broken screen, l would buy a new mobile phone.
I looked it up in a number of dictionaries ...
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1answer
51 views
Meaning of this passage from nytimes [closed]
China has long prevented many American internet giants from providing
services within its borders, and it has placed tight strictures on how
other American technology firms can operate. The ...
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1answer
54 views
Meaning of “ZTE, which competes with Huawei in telecom equipment, was determined to have sold American-origin goods to Iran” [closed]
What is the meaning of:
ZTE, which competes with Huawei in telecom equipment, was determined
to have sold American-origin goods to Iran.
Only thing that causes confusion is the part "have sold"? ...
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1answer
125 views
What is being toasted by “Here's looking at you”?
Some time ago, a question has been asked here about the meaning of the famous toast from the movie Casablanca: ‘Here's looking at you, kid’. Several answers have been posted to it, including a very ...
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1answer
77 views
What is the meaning of the term “town hottie”?
I know I heard this term several times before, but when I look it up, I can't find anything on it. Thanks in advance.
3
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1answer
136 views
What is the grammatical structure of the expression “F*** you!” and its derivatives?
I heard that expression along with its derivatives so many times, in movies or otherwise, but I can't get it grammatically, meaning, does it stand for a complete sentence like "I will fuck you!" or "I ...
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1answer
48 views
Meaning of phrase “rent full month”
What does "I only rent out full month" mean when said by a potential landlord?
At first I thought it means that the apartment can only be rented starting at the first day of a month, but now I think ...
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2answers
47 views
What kind of surfaces are semi-vitreous?
I read a post somewhere recommending a certain way to remove some kind of residue, but the post said it would only work for (at least) "semi-vitreous surfaces".
So, glass would fall under this ...
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2answers
41 views
Meaning of “to be” in this sentence
upstream binaries can starve downstream binaries by allocating all requests to be in experiments prior to the requests being sent downstream
I cannot understand the meaning of the phrase "to be" here,...
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1answer
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Biospheric Superabundance: Subscending the Agri-Logistical. Epistemologically-Ontological Anthropocentris [closed]
I was just watching CBC. They had a rerun of This Hour Has 22 Minutes. I think the original aired Oct 30 2017. On the show, a lady is promoting a book entitled:
"Biospheric Superabundance: ...
2
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0answers
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What does the phrase 'Throw your Cap on It' mean and where did it originate?
In watching a recent soccer match, the commentator stated that the goalkeeper should 'throw his cap on that'.
This was immediately preceded by a relatively comfortable save by the goalkeeper from a ...
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1answer
52 views
What's the meaning of bold part? [closed]
From this site
Together, we’ll be looking to build on early successes with our digital-first approach to campaigns including ‘Holly’s Must Haves’ and to better utilise data for ‘always on’ cross-...
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1answer
41 views
What does a “course of instruction” mean?
Googles definition of class says "course of instruction". Would that mean a class could be something taught to a single person over a period of time?
4
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1answer
109 views
Why is it called a boxing ring when the shape is a square?
Can someone please provide some history towards the usage of 'boxing ring'?
As we know, the boxing ring is in fact a square.
Just wondering does the ring date back to traditional battles in Ancient ...
1
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1answer
84 views
What is the history of the phrase 'mother tongue'? [closed]
Where does the phrase 'mother tongue' originate from?
Based on this phrase, in a literal sense is a language deemed to be feminine?
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1answer
48 views
What is the meaning of the expression “loco for coco?” [closed]
I've seen the expression "loco for coco" a few times, but I don't really understand it.
Sometimes it refers to Coco, the animated film or just chocolate.
What is the original meaning of this ...
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1answer
331 views
“Last days of Rome” phrase, meaning with examples
I would be interested to know the origin and evolution of meaning, along with example usage, for the phrase "last days of Rome".
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1answer
29 views
What does these phrase “he is on the field” and “all layers of play shed off as…” mean in this sentence? [closed]
"Chanyeol is as intense when he kisses as he is on the field, all layers of play shed off as he just.. conquers."
I tried to look up the words in dictionary but still i couldnt get what it means.
...
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1answer
32 views
What is the meaning of the phrase 'all our'?
I read a sentence recently: 'May there be sweet-sour flavour in all our lives'. What is the meaning of the phrase 'all our'? Does it mean 'in the lives of all of us' or 'all through our lives'?
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1answer
54 views
From my early age vs From an early age
When I'm going to start a sentence with From my early age grammar checker shows an error. It's suggest me to use From an early age
Is there any major different with both of the term.
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1answer
46 views
What does 'shrink' mean in this sentence: “I don't talk about me like a TV show character would to his shrink” [duplicate]
"I don't talk about me like a TV show character would to his shrink"
I've heard this alternate usage very rarely, so I couldn't understand what the person means when he/she says it.
I guess this is ...
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2answers
57 views
Meaning of a sentence from the novel The Invisible Man
She had cooked the ham and eggs, laid the table, and done everything, while Millie (help indeed!) had only succeeded in delaying the mustard. And him a new guest and wanting to stay! Then she filled ...
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11answers
6k views
A term for a woman complaining about things/begging in a cute/childish way
I'm trying to find a fitting translation for a Chinese term, which means that a woman is trying to be cute in front of her man in order to get what she wants. While she does this, her voice will ...
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2answers
88 views
What does it mean when someone says “Don't call me ”boy“! ”
non native speaker here. when someone calls another person boy and the other person responds by saying "don't call me "boy" ". Does that mean the first person was calling the other person "boy" to ...
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3answers
49 views
Meaning of 'fall foliage'? [closed]
There is the sentence in the book which includes words like fall foliage angle. What is the intention of the author in the highlighted sentence. What the author wants to convey in this line from Phil ...
0
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1answer
50 views
What does “is its own” mean here?
In general I do not understand the usage of "is its own" in a sentence. A sentence containing "is its own" immediately becomes unclear to me. For example what does "is its own" mean in the following ...
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1answer
38 views
Is 'Another Europe is possible' correct English? [closed]
Given that we don't have a second Europe, I thought it should be something like 'A different Europe is possible'. Or does this sentence have the same meaning?
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1answer
22 views
I want to know the meaning of “get into my bones”
From Churchill’s My Early Life,
I gained an immense advantage over the clever boys. They all went on to learn Latin and Greek and splendid things like that... We were considered such dunces that we ...
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1answer
67 views
'End of the line' or 'End of line'? [closed]
As an English learning student, I'm having a trouble understanding the differences of these 3 expressions.
The end of line
End of the line
End of line
Could someone explain the differences ...
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1answer
34 views
Confusion in meaning of word “classic”? [closed]
I have searched the meaning of "classic" in Cambridge dictionary, but I am not satisfied about its meaning as adjective
What is difference between terms classic and old? As we often use terms like ...
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1answer
28 views
Is “So simple a beginning” the same as “A beginning so simple”? [closed]
There are two parts to this question:
Is "A beginning so simple" structurally (grammatically) correct?
If the above is correct, does it have the same meaning?
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2answers
96 views
What is the meaning of “make up someone's mind”? [closed]
I don't understand about meaning of word of the phrase: "make up someone's mind".
For example: he makes up his mind about something.
Thanks you for helping.
5
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1answer
83 views
Meaning of expression: “After the powder, the jam”
In Agatha Christie's novel "Hickory Dickory Dock" there is a scene between "employer" and "employee", where the former one begins by criticising heavily the practices of the latter but ends on a very ...
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2answers
279 views
What does it mean when someone says: “King me”? [closed]
When two children are playing chess or something like that, what does it mean when one kid says: "King me"?
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1answer
25 views
Can someone elaborate the following sentence for me, specially the bold part?
Reactions to German Idealism, especially those of the neo-Kantians, logical positivists and Bertrand Russell, were also instrumental in the founding of analytic philosophy, which today reveals and ...
