Questions tagged [phrase-requests]
This tag is for questions seeking a phrase or an expression that fits a meaning. If you're specifically seeking only a single word, see the "single word requests" tag too.
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Idiom for putting an end to something that has been dragging out way too long? [closed]
Is there an idiom in English that means to put an end to something that has been dragging out way too long?
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Are there alternative words or phrases to "net worth" that don't imply it determines a person's value?
I've never liked the term "net worth"; it seems to imply that a wealthier person is more valuable or important. Are there alternative words or phrases which do not have this problem?
Bill ...
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Alternative phrasing of "Older History"
I'm writing an essay which I want to divide into 3 parts. The first will detail events from the recent past (past decade), the second will go further back in history (past century) and the third will ...
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What is the word for suddenly remembering something you used to say or do consistently, then because of that memory you begin to do whatever that was? [closed]
It’s not a memory. The closest that I can think of would be restore, revive or rekindle but none of them feel correct. It’s not a very formal word, I feel like I’ve used it in my daily life without ...
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How to describe actions towards realizing a goal
I am struggling to find the right verb to describe taking actions to realize a goal.
Specifically, here is a sentence I am trying to write in an elegant and terse manner :
The government first ...
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What is the phrase or idiom for this "Member of neither group"?
Description #1
A person from a democratic country hates democracy and loves communism. So, he moves to a communist country.
People from the communist country don't like him as he is a citizen of a ...
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How to precisely phrase finding the next eligible person in by-laws
I am to formulate sections about successorship in by-laws. It's a bilingual document. The non-english version is crisp and clear, however, despite having decent knowledge of the English language it's ...
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Referring to animal sounds and such by meaning rather than sound?
Is there a word/phrase/such for referring to the noises of animals while categorizing them by meaning, rather than what they sound like? The words shouldn't refer to the sound at all. Preferably it ...
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How do you name the phenomenon of being single at a late age?
Specifically, a woman who is single at a late age.
"Late bachelorette", "late singleness"... It doesn't sound right.
Is there a way to describe it as an adjective and also as a ...
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What do you call part of a conference or summit for free time [closed]
WHat are some elegant ways to describe the ending of a summit or conference where participants can engage the time however they wish. They can go elsewhere, network, leave... etc. but in the program a ...
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What's a phrase that captures someone who appreciates and is comfortable with diversity vs someone who is more comfortable with homogeneity?
What's a phrase that captures someone who appreciates and is comfortable with diversity vs someone who is more comfortable with homogeneity?
Is there a phrase that's already in use that's similar to ...
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Suitable idiom or an expression
I want to describe a feeling of guilt yet relief. An example would be that a classmate is feeling reassured for thinking that his rival's marks are not greater than his but also feeling guilty for ...
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Does English have an equivalent to the Aramaic idiom "ashes on my head"?
When Aramaic speakers (Assyrians) exclaim "ashes on my head!", it means something horrible has happened - Such as death of a loved one and as well as a bad incident or accident (involving ...
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Idiom/metaphor for a constant figure in a certain place
I was wondering if there were any idioms or cliched metaphors commonly used to describe someone who you can always expect to see in a certain place because they spend a lot of time there (or even ...
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What is the term for metaphorical definitions of words?
In the medieval period when students were being taught languages like Latin or concepts in metaphysics, etc, often the education would take place as a catechism involving pat questions and answers. In ...
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Idiomatic expression about an impossible task beginning with "You can't..."
I am trying to find an equivalent of a Russian saying which means that it is simply/humanly impossible to do something. I have read the answers from the post Phrase for saying something is impossible ...
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A word or phrase for a brief, unplanned romantic interaction
I'm writing a scene in which two characters have a bit of a heated snog in a broom cupboard. Neither is intending to take it any further. What word or phrase would best fit this type of situation? I ...
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What word or phrase would describe somebody who is under a lot of pressure?
I can't think of a word that describes somebody who is under a lot of pressure. The most satisfactory word I can think of is "strained," but that isn't very rich. It can be an adjective, ...
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A word or phrase for turning something into nothing
I have a character delivering a monologue (fortunately not too long), and want to capture the idea that something turns into nothing, using a single word or striking turn of phrase.
"Evaporate&...
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Term for composition of all three of position, velocity, and acceleration?
Is there a (preferably technical) term that means “the position, velocity, and acceleration” of an object? It would be a nice addition if there were also a distinct word that includes jerk.
I was ...
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Is there a dual to "non-sequitur"? [closed]
A non sequitur:
"a conclusion or statement that does not logically follow from the previous argument or statement."
"A non sequitur is a conversational literary device, often used for ...
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A word or phrase to say something was in a sense unexpected yet it was only to be expected?
The uprising was —————— .
The uprising was so unexpected. Nobody would predict it. But, at the same time, in a sense it was only to be expected, because there were a lot of unsolved issues in the ...
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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 ...
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Phrase / term for a workplace with flexible hours?
I had come across a phrase (I can no longer recall) that means that a workplace ABC has no fixed work hours and the deliverable work can be done as and when an employee pleases; just that it should be ...
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Is there a name for comedically ignoring something major while pointing out something mundane?
Example: a video shows someone being injured and often times the top comment is something like "Wow... it's so tragic that people still think it's ok to wear green pants" or something ...
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Phrases/idioms to say you should have done a certain thing without using "regret"
Are there any suitable phrases/idioms to describe that I should have done a certain thing and I regret not having done it?
For example, I have one regret from my school days, which is that I didn't ...
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Is there a word for someone who would be a single-issue voter, even if not eligible to vote?
I'm 16 years old, so (at least where I am) I can't vote yet. If I could vote, I would be a "single-issue voter"; there is one political issue that is, to me, more important than any other. ...
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Suitable phrase for an easy journey?
I want an attractive suitable phrase for describing an easy journey.
For example,
The journey was a piece of cake.
I think the sentence sounds absurd hence I need something more appealing and fancy.
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A word for the state of being a johnny-on-the-spot
I'm looking for a word or short phrase (something a bit catchy, maybe) that evokes a state of being a useful to the point of being indispensable. This entity has become so integral to the process that ...
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In equations, what single term represents =, >, <, >=, <=, or !=?
I've been doing research to find the terminology of equations, but I can't find a single term for the possible symbols that can go between the left-hand side and the right-hand side of an equation. On ...
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What is an expression that means, "there isn't a fecund supply of something, easy to acquire a portion of"? [duplicate]
I was considering saying, "you may be looking for X, and you may think you've found it, but as you approach it, you realise that while there may be some offerings, they often aren't truly what ...
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Word/phrase to describe an all or nothing type comparison in sizes?
I currently have a counting system where if we have a red and blue jar, and the red jar has 3 items while the blue jar has 6, I say that the blue jar had an "increase" over the red jar.
...
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A term that captures translate and rotate
From this question, transform (or linear transform) was the consensus.
Say I have a broad phrase like:
Travel of the fluid urges a _____ of a partially-submerged bob.
Forgiving the lack of context, ...
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Opposite of "Smart" electronic devices?
There are many things today that have the term "smart" attached to them. These are most often electronics devices or machines that have embedded computer hardware and software. Some of these ...
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Word/phrase meaning snobby or "special elites" dominate area of expertise [duplicate]
I want to find the appropriate word choice for the following:
Whereas bench-depth for "topic ABC" used to be very strong in years
past, recent years exhibit ________.
I had initially ...
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What is a word for "determine oneself" [closed]
There is a Greek verb (αὐτοκαθορίζομαι) that I constantly translate as determine oneself and which proof readers constantly replace with other irrelevant verbs that they think fit the context. The ...
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Unusual word order to fit a rhyming structure
Is there a term for when a line of poetry has the words in an unusual/less natural order to fit into a rhyming structure?
e.g. Your journey will end with the ending day, You never again will
pass ...
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Unusual words used to denote a specific length of time? [closed]
I'm looking for unusual/uncommon words that refer to a period of time. Something like fortnight:
(chiefly UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, dated in North America) A period of 2 weeks. (...
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Exact word or phrase for the following situation
What is the exact word/phrase for following kind of behaviour?
One person has already been to a crowded place and the person thinks that he is highly likely already caught the covid virus infection ...
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Adjective/noun for creating a payment schedule
Let's say I'm creating a payment schedule for a real estate contract. The price is X and I need to create five payments that amount to X over the next year.
What is the (ideally professional) word for ...
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What is a tune or song called that is recurrently used so people start to associate the tune or song with that what it is used with?
Lately I stream live on YouTube. While doing so, I play music. Every time I begin a stream I play the same song, the rest is random (shuffled).
The idea is that people get used to this, and start to ...
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What's a word that describes something that is obvious but you didn't think of in the first place? [duplicate]
What's a word that describes something that is obvious but you didn't think of in the first place? Usually this happens when someone points out something and you're pleasantly surprised/shocked by the ...
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Word for "things that make you laugh"
Is there an English word or phrase that describes a particular type of moment or thing that would make you laugh or enjoy?
For example,
Some people might think animals are funny, but it might be ...
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Looking for a term that is ambiguous whether it's singular or plural of person
I'm looking for a word or term that makes it ambiguous whether it's singular or plural person. Preferably I'd like it imply singular with it leaving room for plural, but I can settle for just being ...
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A word for the action of offering bad deals
Situation (imaginary and hyperbolic to establish the point)
There are two types of candies available in a shop. Type one is sweet and savory, but type two is infested with a serious bacteria, but ...
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Delusional? delusions of grandeur? paranoid? Help!
How can I describe someone who thinks I have special connections with people such as the government, state, etc?
I am hoping for a special descriptive word for someone who keeps telling me to send ...
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What's the phrase/idiom for 'being very disappointed in someone'?
I'm writing this piece of text, and sometimes it can be tricky, because English is not my first language, so obviously most of the time I think in my mother tongue.
We have this phrase in my language, ...
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Reducing ambiguity about something standing horizontally, right side up
A small remote controlled car can be hooked up with a cable to a computer, where various configurations can be altered. There is an option to re-calibrate some sensors. For it to work accurately, the ...
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English equivalent of the Farsi expression "if it is decided to get the drunks, they will have to get everyone who is in the city"
I'm looking for an English equivalent of this beautiful, succinct Farsi saying, گر حکم شود که مست گیرند, which roughly means:
If it is decided to get the drunks, they will have to get everyone who is ...
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How to describe changing some words to match what has been used elsewhere [closed]
Assume I am building an application which contains various error messages. Some of them say:
error on phase X
error on phase Y
...
and others say:
problem on phase A
problem on phase B
...
At some ...
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