New answers tagged american-english
6
votes
Accepted
Is the phrase “nitty-gritty” racist?
Coverage of 'nitty-gritty' in slang dictionaries
J.L. Lighter, Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang (1997) has entries for nitty-gritty as a noun and for nitty-gritty as an adjective, ...
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Is the phrase “nitty-gritty” racist?
The earliest reference for nitty-gritty is 1940, by which time there were no slave ships.
The "racist" origins seem to be the inventions of a fevered mind.
The OED* has
Forms: 1900s– ...
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0
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Is "know the drill" used in American English as well as UK English in a daily conversation?
As a "Baby Boomer/Generation X" British-born person I feel that the expression as a whole is very widely understood in the UK but certainly not an "everyday expression" for native ...
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Are English Wikipedia articles written in British English (BrE) or American English (AmE)?
There are multiple things going on here. First there's a difference between spoken and written language. Most of the differences between spoken British English and American English. Since spoken ...
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1
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Are English Wikipedia articles written in British English (BrE) or American English (AmE)?
In general, English Wikipedia articles can be written in whatever standard variety the writer is familiar with- with the caveat that within a given Wikipedia article, the style should be consistent (...
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Are English Wikipedia articles written in British English (BrE) or American English (AmE)?
Any variety of English is acceptable in Wikipedia, but:
if the subject of an article is particularly associated with a certain English-speaking region (not just UK or US) then the article should use ...
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0
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displaced vs replaced
replace:
1 : to restore to a former place or position
replace cards in a file
2 : to take the place of especially as a substitute or successor (this is the case here)
3 : to put something new in the ...
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vote
Apostrophes in sentences with implied words
The s' ending to a word is used when both of two conditions are met:
The noun is being ascribed possession of something.
If only this condition is met, we just add 's.
The noun is a plural.
If ...
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2
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Is “I'm working totes” new slang?
It is not new slang, it is industry/job specific slang. If you haven’t worked totes, you are unlikely to recognize the term, but it has been around for a while.
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8
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Is “I'm working totes” new slang?
In a retail setting, I would typically classify totes as reusable, durable sealed containers of products that must be sent back empty when the next delivery truck comes to deliver more of them. If you ...
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What does "Chop chop man bun" mean?
"Chop-chop" is a degrading Americanism used to tell someone who is considered to be an inferior to hurry up, work harder, or work more quickly. It stems from how Chinese immigrants to the US ...
3
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What does "Chop chop man bun" mean?
It is an informal way to tell someone to hurry up. The expression is of Cantonese origin.
chop-chop! exclamation.
[synon. Chinese pidgin, orig. Chinese k’wâi-k’wâi]
hurry up!
1834 [UK] Canton ...
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6
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What does "Chop chop man bun" mean?
Referring to a person by referring to a part of their anatomy is an example of synecdoche.
Note that "chop chop" is not at all a polite way to ask someone to hurry up.
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