New answers tagged word-usage
-1
Context. "99% of all conflicts are about the misunderstanding of words used in different contexts." - Newton Minnow, the head of the Federal Communications Commission under President Kennedy
1
The definitive English usage of forbear is surely the epitaph on Shakespeare’s grave:
William Shakespeare's grave, Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-on-Avon, England.ᴀᴛᴛʀɪʙᴜᴛɪᴏɴ: Clipping of image by David Jones from Wikipedia
Containing this quatrain in iambic tetrameter:
Good frend for Iesvs sake forebeare,
To digg the dvst encloased heare.
Bleste be ...
2
I'm not sure that "sentence" does have a negative connotation - although the convict might not agree.
The first entries in the OED for "Sentence(n.)" are
†1. Way of thinking, opinion. Obsolete.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 69 Þer byeþ zome..þet none guode techinge ne onderuongeþ ak alneway weryeþ hare sentense huet þet hit by.
1609 Bible (Douay) ...
0
Interestingly, and as you wish to be "archaic", the verb to forbear + from (intransitive and reflexive) is agood choice:
Yes, there is no reason why you should not use "forbear" in the imperative.
OED:
a. transitive. To refrain from using, uttering, mentioning, etc.; to withhold, keep back. †Formerly const. from, to, or dative.
b. reflexive. ...
1
When you take the phrase "be bleat" on its own, it is meaningless in English. As you noted, "bleat" means a cry of pain or displeasure, typically made by a sheep, and of course no one can literally be that cry of pain. But as with many song lyrics, that doesn't mean it's actually meaningless.
Essentially it's a shortening (or "contraction") of "he can't be ...
0
Administration according to the Cambridge dictionary means back office work which one performs to control or coordinate for the accomplishment of a plan or task. This work is mostly performed by clerks in an office.
Edits
According to the recent edit: Administration Services in the Indian government means the work environment which is involved in government-...
2
This is a deliberately joky slang word, like "intertubes" or "interwebz". It's not appropriate in a formal context and might not even be understood.
1
This is an informal usage of "way" as an adverb: it means that the lighthouse is a long way out at sea. You could think of it as equivalent to the word "far". (Personally I think "way out to sea" reads a bit more nicely).
from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/way :
way
adverb
UK /weɪ/ US /weɪ/
way adverb (EMPHASIS)
informal
used to ...
0
The term rag trade began in the eighteenth century to describe the sale of rags or second-hand clothes. Its ironic sense meaning the fashion industry began in the late nineteenth. Below are the relevant dates from the OED. Note that the 1983 quotation does refer to "The Manhattan rag trade", suggesting that it has been a term used in the US - at least in New ...
-1
Neither is used in the US. I just heard a judge on a British TV drama say "I am minded to agree...." I've never heard that phrase before.
"I have a mind to" is the American version, but it's obscure/old fashioned. Also, "I am inclined to" is used currently in America.
-2
Grammarly, yes. Semantically, I would say no, cause the first impression of the phrase to me is that you work, instead of studying, in the university and so does your mate. You can use "schoolmate" to describe it. "Colleague" is mostly used to describe someone who works in the same business or field.
2
Take a look at the definitions of "hardly" in the Collins dictionary you will see that it's effect is to reduce something to a very small amount. This is why
"Hardly had I arrived at the station when the train came"
means that there was only a small amount of time after my arrival before the train came. "Hardly" affects "had I arrived" and means that ...
1
No, you would not be able to use it that way in English. Confer means specifically to discuss with someone else, or exchange opinions or ask for advice. You could say something like
I'm unsure what products we have in stock, but I will confer with our warehouse manager and get back to you.
You would be able to use "check" in place of confer in that ...
-2
Ok. I figured it out. They’re nearly identical when used in that sentence but will is future tense where must is logically to happen whenever . Nearly the same meaning in this sentence just present vs future.
-2
As has been said - in most contexts, "will" indicates a prediction: "You will pay for your sins" = "At some future time, you will pay for your sins" The speaker does not explain how or when this will happen.
Must carries an obligation and also usually refers to something that should be done now or in a very short time:
"You must pay for your sins"-> "You ...
2
Ago works well here. It retains some of the nuance of time and can only really be replaced by "earlier" - which would refer to earlier in my journey which is neutral as to whether it means "at an earlier point", or "at an earlier time."
0
To buy something at the cost/expense/price of something = to get something that you want but only by losing something else.
At the expense of = at the cost of.
Definition of at the cost of:
by giving up or hurting (something else).
Example:
She completed the project on time but at the cost of her health.
2
This is an adjectival use of the word chance - which is normally a noun.
A "chance encounter", for example, is one that has been unplanned, or was unforeseen. It simply happened "by chance". So a "chance stumbling upon a run-down laboratory" is something that could not have been predicted, and was not arranged in any way. It was a fortuitous event which ...
1
The answers to your three questions are respectively yes, no, and no.
In general....
Your passive continuous verbs are much too complicated. Native speakers opt for simpler verb constructions than these.
The prose is way too heavy.
A bunch of your phrasing is just a bit off.
Top Ten Fixes
Here are the first ten things to fix that popped into my mind.
...
0
"A acquires the lock prior to B."
2
"Funnily enough, I do believe in democracy". [my sentence]
"Funnily enough, he did say he believed in democracy". [my sentence]
funnily enough is an idiomatic expression that means that what you say after it is unexpected. It can be placed at the beginning or at the end of a sentence, and not usually in the middle. It is more spoken than written. It is ...
0
Definition of born (Entry 1 of 2)
1a: brought forth by or as if by birth
Definition of birth (Entry 1 of 3)
1a: the emergence of a new individual from the body of its parent
b: the act or process of bringing forth young from the womb
So no it's not actually proper to use born for hatch, born means emerging alive from a living being.
2
Palaver has an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary, both as a noun and a verb.
Its etymology is given as follows:
Etymology: Probably via early West African Pidgin < Portuguese palavra
word, speech, talk (13th cent.) < classical Latin parabola parable n.
Compare Spanish palabra (1207), French palabre grandiloquent speech
(1604). With the ...
0
Too long for a comment. Regarding the popularizing of the phrase — Bruce Springsteen's Blinded by the Light song, which was rerecorded in 1976 by Manfred Mann's Earth Band, had a line in the lyrics that was mostly misheard and is one of the more notorious mondegreens in songdom.
Manfred Mann's Earth Band's recording of the song changes the lyrics. The ...
2
Early underworld use of 'douchebag'
Here are three early (1939–1950) instances, courtesy of Hathi Trust and Google Books search results, of douchebag used in a (presumably) pejorative sense. First, from a footnote in the preface to the first edition of Hickman Powell, Ninety Times Guilty (1939):
Underworld people are almost never known by their right ...
1
Hell yes. Just ask someone over the age of about 45! This isn't obscure or mysterious. Everyone in school said "douche" and "douchebag" in my childhood in the 1970s and 1980s. Northeastern USA. Very common. Also see SNL circa 1980; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6XF4RxU7xQ
1
Erin is just someone’s given name. For most native speakers, the female first name Erin is homophonic with the male first names Aaron and Aron.
The US Social Security Administration reports that it was the 28th most common first name for baby girls born in the United States during the 1980s, when it peaked. It first hit the top-100 list during the 1970s, ...
-1
adjective. Having a lot of space inside; roomy. 'Attorneys and judges in this bland, wood-paneled space all wear capacious robes patterned on the gowns of medieval European clerics.
https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/capacious
0
The diffrence between at rest and not in motion is that at rest was metaphorical meanings. at rest could mean dead or calm like your sleeping forever and your mind is calm at your emotions "resting".
Here are the google definitions for at rest.
not moving or exerting oneself.
not agitated or troubled; tranquil.
"if you think something's wrong, consult the ...
0
Images Printed in soluble ink are bllurable with a wet thumb. That's Not a terribly uncommon usage.
1
No, "out of" is not idiomatically used in the ways you show.
The closest I can think of is the phrase "out of concern for", as in:
Out of concern for her alcohol addiction, we didn't serve wine when we invited her to dinner.
This is used when describing an action taken to avoid harming someone else.
1
It referred to the moment in the actual incident where the elves threatened the Witcher and Geralt basically said "kill me now." As opposed to the bard, who was busy bleating. :)
0
Hailnames are extremely fraught. There is some good discussion at Is there a word for colloquial forms of address? -- in short, there are none that cannot be misunderstood. The exact situational use, tone, and social details affect their interpretation deeply, and in ways users often are not consciously aware.
As a colloquial word for friend, as in "My ...
3
That's going to depend on tone of voice.
Hey, buddy, get off my car!
This usage is condescending; especially when you don't know the person. Expect it to be replied with "I'm not your buddy, pal!".
Hey, buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuddy.
— Pauly Shore
This usage is friendly, though people will probably question your intelligence.
I went to the lake with a ...
-1
No, it is not offensive:
Buddy
(North American English also bud)
(informal) a friend.
an old college buddy of mine
Howard and Mick were drinking buddies.
We were good buddies.
(OLD)
Top 50 recent answers are included
