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Results tagged with expressions
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user 13804
This tag is for questions about expressions. Expressions are words or phrases used to convey an idea, or else a particular term used conventionally to express something. Consider phrase-requests and expression-requests if you are looking for an expression, phrase-meaning if you are unsure about the usage of a given phrase.
14
votes
Accepted
Why the "up" in "hang up the phone"?
Do a google image search for "old time phone" and I think you will understand a little better. Once upon a time, the phone had little U shaped hook on the side, and the ear piece rested there while n …
- 13k
0
votes
Adjective for the likes of someone who consistently has a hard time finishing what s/he has ...
The colloquial sticktoitiveness is a good antonym for your situation. So perhaps what you need is "xxx lacks any sticktoitiveness."
- 13k
4
votes
Accepted
"Under sail" - literally only sail boats or also valid for boats with engines
As an avid boater, I can tell you the correct expression that encompasses both sail and power vessels is under way. The M-W Dictionary even gives it as the first definition:
in motion : not at anch …
- 13k
42
votes
Phrase to describe a moving goal that is forever just out of reach
Going right along with the theme established by Chenmunka, there is also the sisyphean task.
This is derived from the Greek myth of Sisyphus, an ancient king of Ephyra/ Corinth.
After being boastfu …
- 13k
2
votes
To indirectly and politely ask about something "I wanted to" vs "I would like to"
In my mind, I barely hear any difference between your two options. The use of past-tense "wanted" over present tense "want" in the first example could be debated. However, I feel the most polite way …
- 13k
2
votes
Accepted
Is it a native way to say "I misremembered the time for the appointment"?
The word misremember strikes me as a word that is falling out of common use, and this ngram supports that.
Some examples of more common ways to say, for example, that the appointment was supposed to …
- 13k
0
votes
Phrase expressing a positive future or destiny
Although mostly used as a form of farewell or good-bye, sailors often wish each other "fair winds and following seas." The implication is of a boat or ship running before the weather, being comfortab …
- 13k
3
votes
What word or short phrase could be used to describe 'sharing an activity, task, job or burde...
I don't have a single word, but there is a well-known idiom:
Many hands make light work: A large task does not seem as daunting when it is shared among multiple people.
Here, the "hands" represent t …
- 13k
4
votes
A word that means "being protected from other people's TMI"
I don't think there is a word that exactly means what you are looking for. However, I will offer shielded, in the "exposed to (danger)" sense of the first verb tense definition given in the link.
Wh …
- 13k
0
votes
Substitute "Pop the roof"?
You don't specify the reason for the building work, but if the intention is to resell, you can use the colloquial term flipping.
House flipping has become a hobby or even business in several parts of …
- 13k
7
votes
What is the expression for the process of getting over the loss of a loved person?
Although it is a term that is often mis-used and over-used, some people might refer to this as having achieved closure.
In the psychology sense, the need for closure refers to needing to find an answ …
- 13k
0
votes
What's an expression for "it doesn't matter where you start so long as you end up in the sam...
There is a technical term consequentialism, known better by the idiom the ends justify the means.
The concept holds that an action should be judged not by the inherent rightness or wrongness of the a …
- 13k
10
votes
a person who behaves in an overly familiar way
The word you want is presumptuous: (link and defintion from Merriam-Webster)
overstepping due bounds (as of propriety or courtesy) : taking liberties
The word shares a root with presume, suggest …
- 13k
29
votes
What is the expression to describe that you are surrounded and have few ways to act?
Note that the same link offers similar expressions "between the devil and deep blue sea" and others. However, I think rock and hard place is more common in everyday use. …
- 13k
-2
votes
Non-vulgar way to express an "Oh shucks!" moment?
I would call that something along the lines of "a dawning sense of dread."
From Merriam-Webster:
Dawn: to begin to be understood
Dread: to fear something that will or might happen
- 13k