50
votes
Why are they 'nude photos'?
Collocations modifying photo often don't refer to the photo as a physical object. They instead refer to the subject of the photo, or what's depicted in the image.
To demonstrate this, here are the ...
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46
votes
I am looking for a word (a noun preferably but an adjective would suffice) that denotes a person that knowingly allows another to use them regularly
One possibility:
Merriam-Webster doormat
2: one that submits without protest to abuse or indignities
It's metaphoric extension of the basic meaning - someone who gets "walked on" a lot.
- 4,006
44
votes
What do you call a person who loves to run?
You'd most often use a noun for the person (eg runner, jogger) and then an adjective to describe them (keen, avid). So you might call them an avid runner or a keen jogger.
- 1,475
30
votes
There's a product described as "Omaha Steaks Burgers" is this proper English?
"Omaha Steaks" is the brand of the meat. Although it sounds clumsy it is correct.
- 497
26
votes
Why are they 'nude photos'?
nude ADJECTIVE
...
1.1 [attributive] Depicting or performed by naked people.
‘she won't do any nude scenes’
Lexico
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24
votes
Why are they 'nude photos'?
It’s a way to refer to photos with nude subjects. As you can see from Ngram this expression took off from the ‘60s/70s when pictures portraying nude people, generally women, started to become popular; ...
- 67.2k
20
votes
"Fish and chips shop" or "fish and chip shop"?
It is a "fish and chip" shop, but you order "fish and chips".
Or just a chip shop since they always sell fish too.
In general, a shop selling a product refers to its product as a collective noun in ...
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18
votes
There's a product described as "Omaha Steaks Burgers" is this proper English?
The brief answer by KCCole is correct: "Omaha Steaks" is a brand of meat.
See "Omaha Steaks Burgers” sold by Omaha Steaks mail order company. As suggested in the comments that follow, "Omaha Steaks" ...
- 5,496
17
votes
I am looking for a word (a noun preferably but an adjective would suffice) that denotes a person that knowingly allows another to use them regularly
I would propose pushover or lapdog
Pushover
someone unable to resist an attraction or appeal : sucker
Lapdog
2 : a servile dependent or follower
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14
votes
What does "consequence-free chance" mean?
"Chance" here is used in its sense of "opportunity."
"Consequence-free" is a compound adjective meaning "without any harmful result."
Thus, a "consequence-free chance" means an "opportunity [to act] ...
- 1,445
13
votes
What does "consequence-free chance" mean?
It's not free chance you want to look at, but consequence-free as a modifier of chance. This means a chance that is free of consequence.
Let's look at other uses of -free, including a couple of ...
13
votes
I am looking for a word (a noun preferably but an adjective would suffice) that denotes a person that knowingly allows another to use them regularly
A fashionable word is "simp". It refers to men who allow themselves to be used by women in the hope of receiving favours or approval.
The older meaning of this word is "simpleton", ...
- 37.1k
11
votes
What do you call a person who loves to run?
I think Mike C. has a great answer, but if you'd prefer a noun version over an adjective, I would call the person a running enthusiast
A person filled with or guided by enthusiasm.
Enthusiasm, of ...
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10
votes
There's a product described as "Omaha Steaks Burgers" is this proper English?
The possessive would actually not be correct here. "Omaha Steaks" is the name of a brand. As such, it is being used as an adjective in this construction and not a noun. For instance, if you had a ...
- 21.4k
10
votes
Why are they 'nude photos'?
It happens fairly often in English that an adjective is "transferred" from one subject to another, even when it doesn't strictly speaking apply to the latter, provided it is still relevant (in some ...
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10
votes
Differences between "machine learning" and "machine-learning"
The hyphen shows you mean
{machne learning} methods, that is: methods for machine learning,
and not machine {learning methods}, that is, learning methods for machines.
- 25k
8
votes
Accepted
Can a noun work as an adjective, and the adjective as a noun?
Two different facts are needed to thoroughly answer this question.
First, Hazel is both an adjective and a noun. Online dictionaries can be hit-and-miss in quality. Even high-quality dictionaries ...
- 2,152
7
votes
"Attributive Noun" vs " Compound Noun"
Well, here we go.
Compound nouns vs attributive nouns
Your research is not quite accurate. Your steel bridge is not really either and your teacup is a compound noun. However, steel is an attributive ...
- 5,427
7
votes
A Latin word that is like the word "trinity" but for "five fold" or "five as one"
Quincunx is not exactly what you asked for, but it can be pretty close when used in a very slightly metaphorical sense:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each ...
7
votes
Why are they 'nude photos'?
Nude photos is a noun phrase that has become idiomatic and manifests in slang such as "nudies" or simply "nudes". The phrase "nude photos of X" does indeed seem like a retro-construction. This ...
- 2,787
7
votes
Accepted
I am looking for a word (a noun preferably but an adjective would suffice) that denotes a person that knowingly allows another to use them regularly
Can I suggest milquetoast?
a timid, meek, or unassertive person
A milquetoast person knows they are being abused, but does nothing about it. I think it fits pretty well, though the word is often ...
- 616
7
votes
I am looking for a word (a noun preferably but an adjective would suffice) that denotes a person that knowingly allows another to use them regularly
Consider servile:
too eager to serve and please someone else in a way that shows you do not have much respect for yourself
Cambridge Dictionary
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7
votes
Accepted
"They also need the Poland international striker to help sell shirts and add appeal for potential future sponsorship deals." -- why "Poland"?
Here, Poland is a metonymy referring to the national team, the Poland national football team. Poland is also used attributively to modify the noun phrase "international striker". One might ...
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6
votes
Accepted
Wafer -- New Adjective or Attributive Noun?
This is not a particularly new use in discussing British government.
The 1970 book The battle of Downing Street says:
The wafer majority of his Government...
The 1976 book Walking on the ...
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6
votes
There's a product described as "Omaha Steaks Burgers" is this proper English?
They are suppressing the word brand. Correct phraseology would be
"Omaha Steaks" brand burgers.
(to the extent "burgers" itself is correct English.)
It sounds like they've fabricated "Omaha ...
6
votes
Accepted
Should "words" be plural in "The Words Hunters"?
Generally, no.
The word words is an attributive noun, which functions as an adjective. Adjectives in English are not inflected for number, so even if you are hunting more than one word, Words in ...
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6
votes
Can a noun work as an adjective, and the adjective as a noun?
In a comment, BillJ wrote:
I'd take "hazel" to be an adjective, so in the NP "hazel eyes", "hazel" is an adjective modifying "eyes". And in "Her eyes are hazel", "hazel" is an adjective as ...
6
votes
Accepted
What word would work as a better substitute for "Stalker"?
A possible word is shadow, which can be used as a noun, verb, or adjective, and which has many different senses. Overall, it has a neutral meaning, and, even though it can be, it's not inherently ...
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6
votes
Accepted
"Fish and chips shop" or "fish and chip shop"?
"Attributive nouns" or the first elements of compound nouns tend to be singular in form
There is no absolute rule forbidding the use of a plural noun in the first part of a compound, but it ...
- 80.3k
6
votes
Why are they 'nude photos'?
It's often the case when describing containers that we use adjectives that describe their contents rather than their own intrinsic properties. (containers isn't a technical term but it fit the concept)...
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