Questions tagged [phrases]
This tag is for questions about phrases in the linguistic sense. In linguistics a “phrase” is a group of words that make a unit of syntax with a single grammatical function. Use [phrase-requests] if you are searching for a phrase.
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What's handdog air? [closed]
In a Robert galbraith book there is a phrase "a small man with a hand-dog air".. Is it some new slang or is it a typo? If typo what's that? Hair? Do small dogs have common hair style or what?...
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Is this use of "complete with" idiomatic? [closed]
"I’ve seen a Japanese brass band competition complete with the equipment in Youtube and the performance was simply great".
Is the use of "complete with" correct there? Based on ...
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Is "went off in search of her hedgehog" a VP, and can it be broken down further?
I am new to linguistics and am currently learning how to figure out phrase markers for sentences.
I am unsure about this sentence:
She went off in search for her hedgehog.
I know that "she" ...
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'No one she recognized'. A slightly strange sentence [duplicate]
Good afternoon!
Can you please tell me the meaning of the phrase:
"No one she recognized"
The context is as follows: a woman is watching from afar a stranger who is swimming in her pool. ...
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Here lies - so telling lies here? [migrated]
Sorry for my low level question, I am not native... I am thinking of a phrase "here lies Joe" which does not mean something like "Joe is telling lies here". I wonder why is it so ...
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Can you link action verbs with verbs of being in a sentence
Can you link action verbs with verbs of being in a sentence? As in say
These are people who think critically, solve problems collaboratively, and are prepared to thrive in a global society.
Lori
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What is the origin of the phrase "toothless wonder" and what's the meaning of this?
Google says just that "toothless wonder" is an individual in the public who is lacking a single front tooth. Well, that's logical. But what's the purpose of word "wonder" then?
If ...
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What does "as fresh as paint" mean in this context?
I saw the following dialogues in the first episode of the Desperate Housewives tv show,
Andrew: I'm just saying, do you always have to serve cuisine? Can't we ever just have food?
Bree: Are you doing ...
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Is there a word to describe a sentence in which two positive words are used? [closed]
An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which contradictory terms appear in conjunction with one another. Can there be a figure of speech in which similar compatible terms appear in conjunction with one ...
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Prepositional phrases in sentence subjects:"The level of maturity in argument here is astounding.”
We’re having a disagreement about the propriety of a prepositional phrase inside the subject of a sentence, as it’s complicated by the presence of a second prepositional phrase, namely “here.”
Simply–...
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What's a phrase that describes a person who keeps making attempts doomed to fail because they don't want their previous work to have been for nothing?
What's a phrase that describes a person who keeps making repeated attempts that they know are doomed to fail because they don't want all of their previous effort to have been for nothing?
They feel ...
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What's up with the syntax of "more fool me"?
In UK English, the idiom "more fool me" means something like "and I'm a fool for doing so".
But how might you try to understand the underlying syntax? Is "fool" an ...
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Searching for words/phrases/expressions to describe competitive struggling
You know how when you talk to someone about a bad time you're going through, and they feel the urge to one-up you to achieve some sort of imaginary victory point?
E.g.
School is challenging because I ...
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Is "foot to" an established, idiomatic phrase?
During my recent research I came across a document containing this line"
Hopefully all of my entries foot to the 4 attachments a lot better than the version I sent you on Friday. (original pdf ...
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I was trying to describe a recipe to my friend that I'd had a go of
Is this dialectal use:
And I thought I've got a nice kitchen now maybe I should learn to cook. And I'm learning, it's going quite well. I don't always know the right words for things. I couldn't ...
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What is a "hand‑tooled mitre‑crozier applique"?
In Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code, a bishop, in an attempt not to stand out in the airport crowd or on the plane, wears a certain type of outfit. It's been quoted multiple times by critics, ...
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Is the phrase "put paid to" widely understood outside of the UK?
A comment on this question notes that the phrase "put paid to" (meaning put a stop to) is unlikely to be understood in the US. Another comment indicates that the phrase is widely understood ...
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Does "for all the" mean a contrast or a cause and effect or a irony?
Does "for all the" mean a contrast or a cause and effect?
"For all the work he put in, the project was sure a disaster. "
Does this mean because of all the work he put in, the ...
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What do you call a noun phrase that is separated by a comma from the main clause? [duplicate]
Please look at these two sentences:
It is serene, this piece of the Old World.
Word has reached my ears of this Aragorn, son of Arathorn, and I tell you now, I will not bow to this Ranger from the ...
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Origin of "get back on terms"
I'm interested in finding the origin of the phrase "get back on terms". Commentators in the Tour de France and other big bike races use it all the time. I understand it in context; its ...
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What does this mean: "Summer unofficially begins once the calendar is on point"
The phrase on point has several well-documented meanings (some of which have already been discussed on EL&U, here). But none of them seem to fit the usage in a headline of a recent article in the '...
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What does "defend a lawsuit" mean?
The planters sued hundreds of peasants for breaking their indigo
contracts, with over seventeen thousand rupees being spent defending
these lawsuits.
(source)
Does the above sentence mean that the ...
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"Don't rock the boat" attitude [duplicate]
When someone tends to hesitate to acknowledge a problem and avoid involving trouble even if needed, is it ok to say in a negative nuance that
He/She always has a "don't rock the boat" ...
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Sentence Structure Question (Is it acceptable?)
I just came across this sentence while studying for the SAT and wonder if it makes sense.
The women soon disperse, SOME entering the shallow waters at the beach, OTHERS venturing out onto the rocks to ...
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Type of phrase - Absolute phrase [closed]
I need to know the grammar and syntactical explanation of a phrase in the following sentence:
The protest was reportedly linked to members of the group objecting to the replacement of the group ...
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"Worked it around" or "worked around it"? [closed]
I had a sentence like this in my manuscript:
[describing some limitation] .... Some studies worked it around by
combining the results of two models ...
in the sense that those studies made a ...
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"of" in "slow of the mind" "slow of heart"
Stonecrusher considered both of them to be slow of the mind except in fights. (book)
This use of the preposition "of" sounds nonidiomatic to me, but I wonder if it is a dated use. This ...
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Should I answer a question asking for reason with "because" or with "that"? [duplicate]
I'm trying to find the correct way to answer a question asking for a reason. I've searched here and the net but not been able to find the answer, probably because I do not how to search correctly. I'...
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What does this participial phrase modify? "Unknown to them"
I came across sentences:
For instance, a user has surfed across an innocent-looking site, holding information on an upcoming industry event. Unknown to them, however, a malvertisement campaign is ...
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What's the name for saying "no" but not meaning that?
What is it called when someone says no, but actually doesn't mean that?
Imagine this situation: when two lovers have had an argument then one of them is trying to apologise but the other one (usually ...
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Phrase similar to "polishing a turd" but less negative
I have on the tip of my tongue some phrase that captures part of the meanings “polishing a turd”, “feature creep”, and “tits on a boarhog” but I can't quite recall it.
The phrase I'm looking for is—...
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Is the phrase 'screw up' or 'screwed up' considered profanity/too harsh for young children? [duplicate]
I heard a character in a children's cartoon use it and was a bit shocked given that it was like a PG/Y7 rated show and I have thought of the word as a vulgar phrase, albeit a mild one.
That being said,...
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"In their own gesture of preparation" meaning? [closed]
The following passage is from this book :
" The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Lorraine Warren "
The morning of the day had come.
In their own gesture of preparation, the
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How should I punctuate a phrasal adjective with additional adjective before the noun?
I am trying to discover the correct hyphenation and/or comma placement for the following sentence relating to honey bees:
When she hatches out of her egg, she is placed into a royal jelly filled ...
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Is it a noun clause or phrase when the nominal entity is modified by a determiner?
From my textbook, A noun phrase is headed by a noun. Modifiers include articles, adjectives and demonstratives. Qualifiers include prepositional phrases and relative/adjectival clauses.
Given the ...
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Another name for Plants [closed]
Can I write 'blood-lacking living beings' instead of just plainly writing 'plants'? P.S: I have this assignment where creative names are appreciated!
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Could “doesn't mess around” mean “being serious about” sometimes? [closed]
She doesn't mess around when it comes to playing cards.
In this sentence, “doesn't mess around” means “she's taking this seriously”?
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Is this phrase ambiguous "up to 15 mins prior to"? [duplicate]
I came across this sentence.
"Click here to visit the event page and select 'Join now' up to 15 minutes prior to start time."
What does that really mean? That we should join in the last 15 ...
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What is the origin of the phrase "in this day and age"?
I've searched but have not found any information about the origin of the phrase "in this day and age."
Has anyone researched this? Why not write "today"?
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What does the phrase "A blank is a blank is a blank" mean?
I've heard this phrase a couple times, one of them being
A number is a number is a number.
Despite some searching, I'm still unsure what this phrase means.
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Participial phrase with a subject unomitted [duplicate]
I wonder this sentence is both grammatically and idiomatically correct.
"That movie having a pretty big budget, filmmakers did not need to have one in order to succeed."
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What is the adverbial phrase "after my workout" modifying in the sentence, "I am hungry after my workout."?
I'm trying to determine if the adverbial phrase modifies the adjective "hungry" or the verb "am." Would it the answer change if the sentence were phrased like this instead: "...
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Possibility of omitting preposition phrase
I wonder if I can omit the parenthesized part here?
Extraordinary success is achieved by working on commissions one after the other rather than (by doing all of them) simultaneously.
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Does "It would be the last time..." refer to the past or the present?
From my understanding, in direct speech/conversation (not as a narrative), "That would be the last time..." refer to the past event, and "This would be the last time..." refers to ...
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Redundancy in “up and running”
Ever since encountering the phrase “up and running” in reference to the state of a mainframe in a university computer center in the early 1970s, I have wondered why the machine was described as both “...
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What does 'put a notch on his belt' mean? Is it a common expression?
The following is an excerpt from the USA Today of March 31.
Donald Trump's lawyer said Friday that the former president will surrender to New York authorities.
Trump's lawyer, Joe Tacopina, told NBC'...
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What's the meaning of "legit" in this sentence?
I've playing a game called GTA san andreas and at the beginning there's a specific part of the first scene that the police ask to character if he's doing something wrong
basically the police says:
So ...
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What is the "ism" where sex is considered for procreation only and what is the opposite where sex is consider for recreational purpose
I am looking for single word or phrase in following context
1.) An "ism" (belief or school of thought) where sex (Activity or activities) is considered for procreation only
and
2.) an "...
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Is it correct to say something like "An issue is being had by them"
One can say "We're having this issue". But is it too awkward to, instead, say "This issue is being had by us", or would the meaning change completely?
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What's the definition of the "head" of a phrase? [closed]
What's the definition of the “head” of a phrase?
I have come across two types of definitions:
The first one uses circular reasoning (for an example, see the Wikipedia definition). The head is ...
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