Questions tagged [word-usage]
This tag is for questions about correctly using a word. The word has to be provided within the question. The question should be limited to the usage of one word. For the usage of complete phrases there is the tag phrase-usage.
9,332
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How common is 'rider' in the sense '[a]n amendment or addition to an entertainer's performance contract'?
I came across a usage of the common word rider on a TV cookery show that I'd never met before. On checking, I found just two online dictionaries with the very specific definition
rider [noun] [UK ...
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1
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How did "phenomenal" come to mean "extraordinary"?
Phenomenal nowadays is primarily used in common discourse to mean extraordinary, although it has a now-rarer secondary meaning which I suspect was originally its primary meaning:
a. known through the ...
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What's the difference between "either" and "at the same time"? [migrated]
I can't carry a heavy bag and a heavy heart, either.
Is this sentence grammatically correct?
Can I say this instead?
I can't carry a heavy bag and a heavy heart at the same time.
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3
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Looking for a word that means coming from two diverse places
I have a background in fiction writing and creative event planning as well as in business operations in international shipping. I want a word that could help me describe my background.
With my ____ ...
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Meaning of "not without parts" [closed]
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XIX, published 1892)
Passage 298
Such was our first interview, the first of many; and in all he showed the same attractive ...
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36
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Is there any obligation to invariably use commonplace collocations in English? [migrated]
For example, these four words are synonymous: become, get, go, turn. But
you would probably say go crazy and become famous, not become crazy
and turn famous.
However, is saying become crazy or turn ...
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2
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62
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Misuse of the word "paraphrase"?
My understanding is that the word means a rephrasing of something the person has said in expressing the same sentiment or idea.
But I think people use the word to mean essentially, say something in a ...
- 583
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23
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Is 'bold' used correctly here? "This aspect of this issue seems bolder than the rest." [migrated]
I've been having a little bit of a debate with one of my friends about the correct use of a word. I hope the native English speakers can help me put an end to this :)
I know the word "bold" ...
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1
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157
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Is "wheat skin color" a thing in any dialect of English or just a bad translation from Chinese?
While shopping for action figures, I came across various sellers offering "wheat skin" colored figures, for example here and probably more notably Walmart.
That color seems to be what I'd ...
- 291
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41
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Correct usage of 'nostalgia' [migrated]
How do I use the word nostalgia correctly?
For example, say I saw an old doll of mine and it reminded me of when I was a kid; what would be the correct expression to describe that?
I got nostalgia ...
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42
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Prefixing a road name or number with "the" -- geographical preference or proper English? [duplicate]
In reading about the LA Freeway Fire this week, it struck me (from the East Coast) as very awkward when they consistently refer to roads by prefixing them with "the". i.e., "The I-10&...
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what does the word "another" refers to in the sentence : "he could not forget or pardon a lapse in another"? [migrated]
I am quoting from The Return of Sherlock Holmes, The Second Stain, by Arthur Conan Doyle : “Mr. Holmes, I will tell you everything,” cried the lady. “Oh, Mr. Holmes, I would cut off my right hand ...
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2
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52
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Barrier to entry in an industry or into an industry
I'm struggling with the correct way to use barrier to entry in the following sentence:
Technical interviews are an ever present barrier to entry in the software industry
or
Technical interviews are ...
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Usage of ' Please be submitted [migrated]
Is it grammatically correct to write
Please be submitted the monthly financial report.
Instead of writing the following?
I would like to make a monthly financial report.
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115
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Can a canal carry coal?
I am trying to justify the use of the phrase "the canal carried coal from the mountains down to the city below." A pedantic proofreader is insisting that the canal carries barges and the ...
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Would not 'armistice' be a better word to use than 'pause' in present discussions of 'ceasefire'?
In the current situation, there are calls for a 'ceasefire' and calls for a 'pause'.
Humanitarian pauses and ceasefires – what are the differences?
Chatham House org
But there exists a better word ...
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1
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75
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Is "bugly" used in British English?
Is "bugly" (from 'butt ugly') used in British English? And if it is, is it more common in some regional dialects than others?
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Can “spooky” and “sketchy” be considered synonyms?
German kids widely use a mixture of German and English (Denglish). I'm a German boomer, and strongly dislike my daughter's (24) usage of Denglish. Normally she simply uses correctly translated English ...
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3
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What is the origin of the verb 'foxed' in reference to book condition?
I ordered a book online, unseen, and the invoice told me the book, or at least its pages, were 'foxed'. I had never come across the expression, did not know the word could be a verb and discovered :
...
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2
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71
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Use of the word fellow to refer things, not people [closed]
Is it correct to apply the word fellow to a thing, not a person? For example "fellow companies"?
Definitions in M-W, Collins and Cambridge all point to fellow being applicable only to people....
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42
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How to distinguish these two senses of characteristic or attribute?
There are two different senses in which we use the word "attribute"; for example, I can describe someone as "blond", which is a hair color. We say "blond" is a ...
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51
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"my stomach told me" VS "my guts told me"
I'm an English learner and I came across this sentence:
My stomach told me that this was unprecedented.
Does this expression mean that I had a feeling or my instincts told me that something that had ...
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1
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70
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Use of the word "provenance"
Can the word provenance be used in reference to a person, or should it only be used for objects?
For example, would it be improper to ask someone for their provenance?
Longman, and AHD, for instance, ...
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2
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What is difference between "have a look at" and "have one's look at"?
In a opening of the news about several drugs for Alzheimer's disease, the news broadcaster said,
He(the reporter) has "our" look at the breakthroughs and what they could mean.
Why is not ...
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3
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105
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Correct adjective from “transcriptome” and other similar biological terms
In the last 20 years or so researchers have been able to study the complete set of RNA transcripts present in a single organism in a particular state. This is referred to as a transcriptome — a ...
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When did “word” become a synonym of “promise” for the first time?
We know that the word word can sometimes be a synonym for promise, as in:
You have my word.
to mean:
You have my promise.
And I haven’t seen any other sentence structures that word is used to mean ...
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139
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Is ‘ask them to both be there’ or ‘they both will be there’ ever grammatical?
I am trying to articulate how to position the determiner/predeterminer ‘both’ behind the nouns being modified. Every rule that I came across on a cursory search involves some unspecified exception, so ...
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44
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What is the meaning of "further down the agenda"?
In this sentence:
Some of the sensitive topics that have dominated xxx talks in the past now seem further down the agenda.
What is the meaning of "down the agenda" in this sentence?, What ...
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616
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Usage of "bubble wand" vs "bubble blower"
I've seen both the term "bubble wand" and "bubble blower" refer to the same thing in online translation dictionaries — a toy with a closed circle that one can blow bubbles through.
...
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5
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158
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How to be 'ornery' in BE?
I'm looking for the best BE substitute for the AmE word "ornery" in the phrase "an ornery bunch".
Complicating the task for this second-language speaker of English is that ...
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Use of the verb ‘output’ [closed]
I need some advice on the use of output as a verb.
To put it in context, I am working on a desktop app that uses some of the functionality of MS Word. In the app, there is an element called a binding ...
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12
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The usage of "can not" vs. "cannot" in mathematics
I saw the following passage in Professor West's homepage, and I hadn't noticed this point before. See https://dwest.web.illinois.edu/grammar.html#cannot
"Can not" and "may be". ...
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1
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Does jewel sometimes have a negative meaning? [closed]
In the lyrics of song Sorry by Halsey there's this line:
I've missed your calls for months it seems
Don't realise how mean I can be
'Cause I can sometimes treat the people
that I love like jewelry
...
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348
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Our heart or our hearts
I just read a quote in which someone, on behalf of herself and her spouse, wrote "Our heart goes out for ....". I Googled to know if when it comes to speaking about heart not as a body organ,...
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3
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area or area size? [closed]
When talking about the growth of a production plant, which of the following is correct, and why?
We are growing in area and number of employees.
Or:
We are growing in area size and number of ...
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2
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Can "stagnate" be used as a transitive verb?
I know that some verbs can be used either transitively or intransitively. Is it acceptable to use a verb transitively that is generally not used that way? As in:
"I can't continue to stagnate ...
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5
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Does "until now" always imply that the action is finished?
Neither my wife nor I have English as our mother tongue, but we use English to communicate to each other, which sometimes causes confusion.
My wife often uses the expression "until now" to ...
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Difference between "wave AT" and "wave TO"
What's the difference between "wave" used with "to" and "wave" used with "at"?
Two sentences as examples:
She's waving at the person behind me.
and
The ...
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1
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Is this the proper use of imbued?
I am writing lyrics to a song, and the first two lines I have written read as follows:
The spiral begins as these thoughts are imbued,
"I'm hideous sin and I have no value."
The idea I ...
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1
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42
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Can parts "comprise" the whole? [duplicate]
A quick google search shows that you can use "comprise" in the following ways:
The hotel comprises 58 rooms.
or
A car comprises an engine, a transmission, a body, a chassis, etc.
I know that ...
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What does it mean to be “cashiered?”
I was reading up on the Dirlewanger Brigade (a scummy bunch of Nazis even by Nazi standards) and came across this line:
“…cut-throats, renegades, sadistic morons, and cashiered rejects from other ...
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Should the word "cousin" (without specifying which) be used to denote first cousins only or any "cousin"?
tl;dr If I'd introduce you to someone with "Say hi to my cousin Harry.", would you be surprised to later learn that it's my seventh second cousin twice removed because I used the word cousin ...
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Give or gift? That is the question [duplicate]
Used be, one gave a gift. It was called gifting, the gift was given.
When, why and how did "gift" replace "give" as in "I gifted her a bouquet"?
"Gifted" used ...
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2
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87
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"Keep it unchanged" vs. "Keep it constant" vs. "Keep it unchanging"
Using Google search, I found that the phrase "keep it unchanged" is very common while "keep it unchanging" is very uncommon and "keep it constant" is not so common. ...
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140
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Can I use the phrase 'sororal twins' to describe a set of female twins?
Fraternal twins is what you call a set of twins who look different, but the word fraternal also has the meaning 'of or relating to brothers', and comes from a Latin root meaning 'brother'.
The ...
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2
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52
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Can you "feel dubious" about something?
My general feeling is that "dubious" should be used to describe "a dubious wastrel" or "a dubious abandoned castle drawbridge" — instead of "I felt dubious towards ...
Nick A
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36
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Verbs that go with a specific noun -- name for this?
The verb for lying is "told","I told a lie." Occasionally I will hear, "I said a lie."
The latter usage really is cringey to me although perhaps "said" is a ...
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106
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Which is better: "On first reading" vs. "At first reading"?
In the context of a section in a technical document that describes several topics, one of which is essential and others can be skipped, which of the following is better?
You can skip the others on ...
1
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0
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She came home exhausted [closed]
Is it correct to say "She came home exhausted"?
Is it necessary to use the verb "to arrive" here?
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1
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219
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Origin of "home and dry"
Cambridge says that the idiom home and dry is British English, which explains why I hear it used around me. It means:
to have successfully finished something
but I have heard it used also literally. ...
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