Questions tagged [terminology]
This tag is for questions seeking or discussing a term (or terms) belonging or peculiar to a science, art, or specialized subject (e.g. linguistics, mathematics, physics, biology, finance, theatre, music, philosophy, astronomy, medical, nautical etc.). Consider adding [single-word-requests] and [phrase-requests] tags also if relevant.
186
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Terminology for using "the" instead of plural
I'm wondering about the following construction:
The dog is a noble animal.
This seems to have the same meaning as:
Dogs are noble animals.
I'm wondering if this sort of construction, referring ...
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Term for Successful Sale after Demoing Product
I believe there is a business term for such an event, but I can't recall what it is.
An example would be a vacuum salesman showing a prospective buyer how a vacuum works, and the buyer ends up ...
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1
answer
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Specific term for a "Synonym Phrase"?
Is there a specific term for a pair of phrases where each word technically has the same or similar meaning, but when taken together, has a completely different meaning or implication?
I used Synonym ...
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if only usage: leave out the 'was'
When 'it' refers to a letter or a complex situation projected to be caused by a letter, is it okay to use 'if only' in the following way? Why or why not?
"It'd all be appropriate if only written ...
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What is the term for the overlapping panel of this type of double-breasted uniform jacket?
I'm looking for the term of art in suit- and jacket-making for a specific design element that appears on some types of military, especially navy, uniform jackets, like these ones (left to right: a ...
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3
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Term for the ending consonant of one word connected/disconnected from the next leading to different yet related meanings?
In his 2013 TEDx Houston talk The tyranny of the rocket equation, astronaut and International Space Station Flight Engineer Don Pettit humorously introduces two categories of mass launched from Earth ...
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Phrasal verbs with synonymous opposites
There are some cases in English where one can substitute in a word that normally has an opposite meaning, but instead produces the same meaning. For examples, consider the following meanings and uses:...
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A way of saying "What could have been"
What's another way of saying "what could/should have been?"
Ex. She reminisced of what could have been.
Preferably short
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Difference between 'gain optimization' and 'gains optimization'
What is the difference between gain optimization and gains optimization in a financial context?
I want to know in particular if one of those terms is better English, or if they have different ...
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1
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Etymology of "guard" as a position in grappling
In grappling martial arts and combat sports, particularly Brazilian jiu-jitsu, the word "guard" refers to a type of body position on the ground. In a guard position, one person (the one who &...
3
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1
answer
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Words/phrases like "kindred spirit" that refer to both the speaker and the subject of the sentence
The google definition of kindred spirit is "a person whose interests or attitudes are similar to one's own."
That means that if I were to say to someone "You are a kindred spirit", I am describing ...
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What is it called when the inference is biased internally but accurate externally?
Let say you are to make some inference about something, say a population. Typically you would take a small sample of that population and then make some inference. How you analyze that sample basically ...
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A hole carved out in wall for a wooden crossbeam
I once saw a word for a hole carved out in a wall on purpose to accept a wooden crossbeam that fits into the hole. I think it had a "p" in it, something like "pit hole" ?...
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2
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1
answer
166
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Is there a term for words that are stronger than a similar counterpart? (e.g. Dislike vs. Hate)
Title says it all, but some more examples could be:
like vs love
pleasure vs euphoria
carelessness vs apathy
etc.
...essentially words that carry more weight than their counterpart despite having ...
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0
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Is there a term for instances of letter sequences that aren't pronounced as a single sound?
We don't pronounce "th" in "pothead" as a single logical sound, or "ph" (as "f") in haphazard. They are consecutive letters pronounced individually.
Is there a ...
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Is there an accepted term for this style of management?
There are terms for different management styles—for example seagull management, mushroom management, and micromanagement. What I am looking for is a term that describes management which changes well-...
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2
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What are these kinds of classifications called?
While browsing EL&U I sometimes see people pointing out in their answer that some words have been used in an unusual way (or should I call it structure?), producing sentences like "the writer ...
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Collective term for uncountable nouns for places, like "hospital", "school", "prison", "court", "church"?
Certain nouns for places, locations or buildings seem to have idiomatic uncountability.
This blog lists a couple of those.
Idiomatic uses:
Home / town: No article precedes ‘home’ unless you add ...
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2
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0
answers
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Were the verb forms / structures named after their most typical / common use?
A verb form like "went" is called a "past tense". However, it is not only used to talk about past events (e.g. We went to Morocco last January), but also about unreal or uncertain present or future ...
user217372
2
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1
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75
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Is there a name for words that are both transitive verbs and adjectives (ex: "hurt")
I'm wondering if there is a name for the words that are both transitive verbs and adjectives. As in the example of the poetic phrase:
"hurt people hurt people"
meaning:
"people who ...
2
votes
1
answer
192
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What could be one word for time off for family/personal work?
What could be a word/one word and slang for a time-off period, that someone took for his personal/family work?
i.e. I took time-off from office to do some personal work, household chores.
The word ...
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2
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1
answer
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Is there a term for words or expressions that have meaning in both directions?
I'm talking about words like 'comfortable' (the chair is comfortable, or, I am comfortable in the chair) and 'curious' (it is a curious painting, or, I am curious about that painting). So, is there an ...
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Looking for a term, similar to "epigraph," meaning a quotation given in order to explain another text
For an English Lit. essay I am writing on TS Eliot and Joyce, I wish to use a Biblical quotation I find useful in illuminating certain themes common to their work (1 Corinthians 13 if anyone is ...
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Is the verb auxiliary in "I do"?
In the sentence "I do like mint ice cream" 'do' is an auxilliary verb. However, if you were responding with a "I do" in a wedding vows context, is 'do' auxilliary? It would be if you continued the ...
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Is "strategization" a word, or is there something more correct/appropriate?
Is strategization a word? As in:
We noticed flaws in their accounting department so the project will
include a QuickBooks strategization.
[EDIT] As @tchrist points out, this isn't the best ...
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1
vote
1
answer
320
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Meaning of the term "empty use" in the context of modal verbs
I'm reading a book titled Comprehensive High School English Grammar & Composition. The author, who is Indian, says this on the use of the modal verbs can and could:
Can is used to express "...
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What is the name for a quote that fails to be coherent in the wider sentence?
This question is about terminology. I am requesting a name for a particular kind of badly-formed sentence that incorporates a quote, where the fault is with the manner in which the quote is ...
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Why would design files produced by a project be called "collateral"?
I've been checking out the Open Compute Project's contributions database which is where you can find a bunch of design files for open-source computing hardware developed by OCP members. Cutting ...
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Is there a specific term in English used to refer to two antonyms that are also synonyms of each other?
For example:
"Up" and "down" are definitely antonyms, but they can be used as synonyms like in these sentences
Are you up for a game night?
Are you down for a game night?
Or the ...
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0
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75
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What’s the term for the common part of coordination?
What do you call the part that is common to a list?
Example:
I buy apples, bananas and citrus fruit.
can be expanded to three sentences
I buy apples.
I buy bananas.
I buy citrus fruit.
How do you ...
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1
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0
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56
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Word for the final instance of awarding a perpetual trophy
We have a perpetual trophy that has been awarded for almost four decades. The Award is being retired, and presented to a worthy recipient one last time. How do I refer to this instance of the awarding?...
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Specific type of deception or logic error
The word I'm looking for should describe a case where, during a logical argument, a person uses a word with multiple definitions in sense (1) in one part of the argument, but in another part of the ...
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0
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116
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Looking for a word for animals that defecate anywhere
There is a word for animals like horses and cows that defecate wherever they happen to be when the need strikes them, versus animals like dogs and cats that seek out one place or another to do their ...
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0
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Samey metaphors -v- unlike metaphors
Often metaphors are likenesses where there's a direct connection. For example on the news somebody describes a crash/ earthquake/ explosion as It was like a bomb going off.
What about where the two ...
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What is Anterhise?
In the pirate song by Henry Every, there are the lines:
Then away from this Climate and temperate Zone,
To one that's more torrid, you'll hear I am gone,
With an hundred and fifty brave Sparks of ...
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0
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Does "reclaiming" only apply to group-identity derogatory words (turned into terms of empowerment)?
I have a follow up to this question,
Is there a term or word for the process of a group of people taking (or attempting to) an insulting word/phrase and making it their own?
which received the ...
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0
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Is there a term for the following type of conduct: someone only responds to one part of your message instead of the whole message?
For those who know german: Die Person geht nur auf einen Teil der Nachricht ein
Here's an example to further elaborate:
A (about something B said): She doesn't even sound rude. Maybe if it's said in a ...
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0
answers
55
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-logy: Word for "the study of humour"
I'm searching for the correct word for:
"The branch of knowledge and research concerned with funniness / what
people find funny / what makes people laugh"
Generally such words are suffixed ...
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0
answers
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What would be the "medical" term for hitting your head against a brick wall?
My Grandfather was a GP from Aberdeen and often took pleasure in explaining how he dealt with time-wasters. The individual would come into the surgery seeking a Doctors note excusing them from work on ...
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74
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Term for when seemingly-random or loosely-related words form a unique, descriptive sentence or phrase?
Is there a term for when a series of words come together to form a unique, descriptive sentence or phrase?
A few examples I can think of:
XKCD comic about strong passwords: As an example of a strong ...
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1
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0
answers
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Is there a specific term for letters that have the same appearance in both lower and upper case?
There are letters that have the same "look" (excluding the size) in both lower and upper case.
Cc
Oo
Pp
Ss
Vv
Ww
Xx
Zz
In English, is there a specific term for these?
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0
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Is there a word for measuring "how easily change can happen or be made"?
If one word exists, I will call it X.
X would describe how easily change can happen or be made, in general. Example:
This building is made out of legos, so it has a high X, thus making it easy to ...
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0
answers
963
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Single word when you know destination but not path
Is there a single word which describes knowing the destination but not the path?
Knowing the objective but not the method?
Knowing the 'what' or 'where' but not the 'how'?
In a sense this would be the ...
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0
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80
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What's a word to describe 'thinking unconstrained by time'
Most of us think existentially, until we start thinking about things in the future, or things in the past...but it's usually from the vantage point of 'now.' The word or term I'm looking for is ...
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Is there a term for contemporary words that historically described a state of affairs that's no longer the case?
The example in question: the term "chemist" has been used to describe pharmacists since the middle ages, because in the middle ages and perhaps until a century or so ago, the pharmacist ...
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0
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114
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Term for the unit of grouping large numbers?
I asked this on mathoverflow but I guess it's not so appropriate there so...
In English and probably most (if not all) western languages, we group numbers by powers of 1000. So we have:
ones, tens, ...
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English equivalent for the german term "Bestellrunde"
The German term "Bestellrunde" literally translates as "order round/turn" or "a round/turn of orders".
It implies a request to consumers/customers to place their order ...
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What factors over time have affected the most common word used to mean "woman who flies a plane"?
I was looking at this thread:
Has the suffix "-trix" acquired a pejorative meaning in recent years?
And I became curious about the popularity of the words aviatrix, aviatrice, aviatress and ...
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What is the term for saying something negative fishing for positive comments?
Help me! There is a term for when people say or post something negative or complaining but in reality they are fishing for positive (compliments). What is this term?!
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The correct term for little pieces of rubbish of all sorts found on the floor
There are always little pieces of rubbish found on the floor, which means when you clean the floor, dust is not the only "rubbish" that you have to get rid of. What is the correct term for those ...
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