Questions tagged [phrase-usage]
How and why certain phrases are used in varying ways within various contexts.
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"That clause" with "subject + verb" replaced by an infinitive
I have 2 questions about the 3 sentences below.
Sentence 1: Source: Novel "Holes" by Louis Sachar (1998) - Page79- Line 8 （You can find this sentence on Google Books.）
Tell Becca that when ...
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What triggered the slang term "epic fail"?
Epic fail is defined as a spectacularly embarrassing or humorous mistake, humiliating situation, etc., that is subject to ridicule and given a greatly exaggerated importance.(Dictionary.com)
The ...
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Was “who’s she, the cat’s grandmother” common in Scotland? [duplicate]
My mother’s retired Scottish nanny, who was born in 1888, and grew up near Ullapool, on Loch Broom, would say this. She also took care of me when I was a child. She would correct me when I spoke of ...
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Can “niche” be used as a collective noun?
I know people can use language however they want, but I recently heard someone claim that “niche of people” was a phrase. I had not heard it before and disagreed that it was a phrase people used. The ...
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Which one is appropriate when describing belonging?
Talking of memory, which is correct?
To my heart
Or
In my heart
If talking of belonging, which one is correct?
She always belong to my heart
Or
She's always in my heart
Can I use "always ...
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"There's no point" + gerund vs "there's no point in" + gerund
I've noticed that both are used though "point in" is seemingly far more prevalent. Is there any difference or it's down to one's preferences?
E.g.
There's no point in talking to you.
vs.
...
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Is there any rhyme or reason to Positive vs. Ridiculous examples for the phrase: "might as well have ... for all the good ..."?
I am a native US English speaker, and my question today has to do with usage of the following phrase:
I might as well have [insert potential action] for all the good [previous action taken] did!
...
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Does "watered up" mean you have a craving for something?
Tonight at dinner my friend from Tulsa, OK read from the menu that the university cafeteria was serving egg noodles at one of the stations. To his disappointment, they were actually serving rice.
&...
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When do we use "an analogy", "a metaphor" and "a figure of speech"? [closed]
I have difficulty understanding when we use "an analogy", "a metaphor" and "a figure of speech".
I feel like in a casual conversation, people just use any of these words ...
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Can 'something else' be used negatively?
I've used the expression "to be something else" in a lot of different contexts. I'm wondering now whether sometimes I have used it wrongly.
This is when I have said it to refer to someone as ...
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Euphemistic pee-pee/wee-wee: which refers to the organ and which refers to urinating?
Does one pee-pee with his wee-wee, or does he wee-wee with his pee-pee? Is one phrasing more typical than the other?
That is to say: How is pee-pee used more commonly- as "to urinate" or as &...
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Which contexts warrant the use of prepositional phrases over stacked adjectives, and vice versa?
Are there good reasons to use, e.g., "customer relationship management solution" over "solution for customer relationship management"?
I understand that in certain contexts ...
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Middle English “Whan that” vs “Whan”
whan pronoun
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses) whom
MED online University of Michigan
How does one construe “that” in the phrase “Whan that”? This seems to be the normal construction in ME, but ...
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An English equivalent to the Spanish phrase «Me pasó a un amigo»?
In Spanish we sometimes say something like «Me pasó a un amigo». For example, you could be telling someone to be careful when doing something because otherwise something bad and possibly embarrassing ...
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Is the question ""Does it exist what I'm looking for?" " the most usual way to ask a question in this meaning? [closed]
I'm doing a translation from Portuguese to English, and I've found a phrase that is a simple question, but I don't know if it exists, because it simply doesn't exist on Google, with one exception.
&...
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"The associations between x and y " vs "The associations of x with y"
When conducting and reporting a statistical analysis, is it more correct to state:
"The associations between x and y "
"The associations of x with y"?
Or are both equally correct?...
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How to Translate the "Killing" in this Context?
This is a clipping from a director's memoir(source: A Life: An Autobiography by Elia Kazan) which I once cited in another question, recording an actor's affair.
When we got back to Munich for the ...
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Can I email someone (with) something? [closed]
Can I say "I emailed you (with) a brief introduction of our program along with the application link"?
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Is the expression "to hire help" a euphemism for "to employ servants"?
When reading about the differences in the language used by upper-class speakers and middle-class speakers in the 1940s in the US in Philadelphia Gentlemen: The Making of a National Upper Class, I ...
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Is it correct to say “take one mile at a time”? [closed]
Is it correct to say:
Take one mile at a time.
Or is it better to say:
Take it one mile at a time.
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Does contemporary usage of "neither...nor..." for more than two options originate in the US?
I use either...or / neither...nor to introduce two alternatives - 'this' or 'that'. So I was surprised to read the following in (British) The Spectator magazine -
If the same claim were made on TV, ...
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Is “The door can't open” always an incorrect expression?
I am not a native speaker of English. I would like to know whether "The door can't open." is always an incorrect expression.
More specifically, the Wikipedia article on Force dynamics has ...
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Does 'we got each other' have the same meaning as 'we got each other's backs'?
To have someone's back means to "always be ready to defend or help someone."
So by extension, "we got each other's backs" is a way of saying that you and another person are both ...
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What kind of statements are “the best pie I’ve ever eaten” and “the most beautiful mountain I’ve seen in my life” [closed]
My partner always makes statements such as those in heading. They are always sensationalised to create emphasis and drive home his enthusiasm for the subject. For example we were discussing Florence ...
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At what point did most English speakers know the joke, "What time is it? Time for you to get a watch!"? [closed]
When is the first documented usage of the joke, "What time is it? Time for you to get a watch!"? At what point in history would most English-speakers know this joke, meaning, if you stopped ...
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Do original languages in Greek and Hebrew Bible texts use formal or informal language where traditional translations in English used Thee and Thou? [closed]
After reading comments re: use of Thee and Thou vis-a-vis accuracy of translations to modern (not Elizabethan) English, all very informative, I am still wondering if the original texts of Hebrew and ...
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Is "Good boy!" still appropriate for a child?
I have a neighbor who is a non-native in English. When she sees my little son playing around, she often exclaims: "Good boy! Goooood boooy!"
It always feels inapropriate. This phrase seems ...
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What is it called when applying the solution provided to a particular question / problem creates a new problem?
What is it called when applying the solution provided to a particular question creates a new problem?
Potentially: "consecutive problem" or "subsequent problem"?
What is this ...
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"interest + gerund" or "interest in + gerund" [closed]
Which is more appropriate usage:
"Please let me know your interest attending the game"
or
"Please let me know your interest in attending the game".
Thank you in advance.
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The difference between "add up" and "lump"
Do these two sentences mean the same thing: "lump all the lodging charges" vs "add up all the lodging charges"? Generally, is the latter used more?
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Is "being away from home a good deal" strictly habitual?
On his internment during WWII, P. G. Wodehouse commented:
The chief drawback is that it means your being away from home a good deal.
Striking. Because, I think, he's slightly stretching the use of ...
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"call out" vs "call in"
When I am ill and cannot go into the office to work I say "I called out sick". I now live in Texas and people like to correct me and say that it's "call in sick".This doesn't make ...
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What does the phrase "I could care less," really mean? [duplicate]
What does the phrase "I could care less," really mean? When I look at it I think that it refers to an expression of indifference, but many people use it when they're implying that they don't ...
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Encroach on/upon, encroach into
I was wondering if someone could explain the difference between "encroach on/upon" and "encroach into". I cannot figure out the clear difference between them. Here are two sample ...
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Usage of "out of point" and "off the point" to mean "out of scope"
I have seen people use both phrases (and I have even used the first phrase many times) to mean that something is out of scope/not relevant to the topic at hand. Say your teacher gives you an essay on ...
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Is “reading a book” a pleonasm? [closed]
I always see people writing this, and I interpret the “book” as any form of literature – therefore, it should be a pleonasm.
Or do we interpret the “book” as one of the many forms of literature (i.e., ...
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How does "I'll have your job!" translate to getting someone fired?
Maybe it's reading a story on reddit about an entitled Karen, or maybe it's talking to an upset customer that starts to threaten you, or maybe you're expressing frustration at someone else not doing ...
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Hook, line and sinker [closed]
I learned that "hook, line and sinker" is used to emphasize that someone has been completely deceived or tricked. I'd like to know whether it is appropriate to use the phrase in a formal ...
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Is it proper to say something is "conceivably close to" something else, or "imaginably close to"?
My friend (who is native German, we are both academics) wishes to include a sentence like this in his thesis:
"It is possible to design approximation algorithms which come conceivably close to ...
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Order status — "Invoice Pending" vs. "Pending Invoice" — do they mean the same thing?
I am working on a software platform that keeps track of work orders. A work order can have a status associated with it. There is some debate going on about how we should name these statuses. For ...
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What does the phrase "About one stone" in response to the question "How have you changed over the years" mean?
Googling it didn't seem to lend any results except the unrelated killing two birds, etc, stuff.
Edit: In Berkshire Hathaway's 1995 annual meeting at 1:04:54 (or second occurence of the word "...
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Is there a term for words that tend to be applied to one sex or the other?
I don't mean explicitly but rather a connotation. One example is that in my experience, "affable" for some reason had only been applied to males. Irrespective of this example, I am asking ...
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What does it mean: Let's cue the iceberg
I was watching a webinar on cybersecurity, and heard following sentence from the speaker:
...So, let's cue the iceberg
Can someone please explain the above phrase with some context/example?
An ...
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What are some examples of the phrase "being thus made"?
What is an example of a two or three sentence long excerpt from an old book which uses the phrase "being thus made". It does not have to be from a book, any piece of writing will do.
The ...
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Does “a book launch” mean “a book launch event”?
A book launch event announced to be held in Berlin last summer was
canceled.
A book launch announced to be held in Berlin last summer was canceled.
Does ‘a book launch’ in 2 clearly mean ‘a book ...
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Is the phrase ‘Berlin book launch event’ correct? [closed]
Last August a Berlin book launch event was cancelled unexpectedly.
By ‘a Berlin book launch event’ I mean ‘a book launch event that was going to be held in Berlin’. I say it like that just to be ...
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What is the meaning of the phrase 'for the purpose of' in legal context?
I've come across this phrase many times in contracts and other legal instruments of similar nature, and can't seem to understand what its actual meaning is. For example,
For the purpose of this ...
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Usage of "suss out" in Australian English
What's the meaning of "suss out" in Australian English? (Sydney, specifically) How does it compare with "figure out"?
I've heard the verb used slightly differently than normal in a ...
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Is ‘in its own turn’ used correctly in this sentence?
The relation between freedom and democracy is not one-sided: democracy
does require freedom, but contributes, in its own turn, to
freedom as well.
Here I’ve used ‘in its own turn’ to emphasize two-...
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How to 'properly' turn the name 'Hardy' into an eponym? E.g. "Hardy-ian", "Hard-ian", "Hard-enian"
I was conversing about G. H. Hardy's book, 'A Mathematician Apology', and I had had wished to describe a part of his ideology as an eponym, but it didn't sit well with me. I do not know of a 'proper' ...
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