About

Use this tag for questions that are about understanding English speech, or writing at a level above individual words or phrases. Oftentimes, the literal meaning of a word or idiom is clear, but it's not obvious what the significance is of that word in the context of a whole paragraph or article. This tag also marks requests for help understanding allusions to literature, pop culture, politics, current events, or other elements of English language usage which depend on a broader context.

Consider this question checklist and the example questions to determine if your question fits the tag. If if it does not, check the related tags listed below for one that might work better.

Question checklist

• Is the question about the meaning of English Usage in a larger context?
• Does the question contain that context (book passage, newspaper article, etc.)?
• Does the question clearly describe your concern regarding the meaning?

Example questions

• “The Dude abides” — what does “abide” mean in that context?
• What does “There she blows’” mean?
• What does President Obama’s phrase “We don’t need to spike the football” mean?

Not what you are looking for?

• Use meaning for questions about the meaning of words or phrases devoid of specific contexts.
• Use etymology for questions that concentrate on the origin of a word or phrase rather than nuances of the meaning.
• Use word-choice if you want to choose what word to use in a certain context.