Search found 2379 matches
- Wed Jun 19, 2019 9:34 am
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: Shortie
- Replies: 6
- Views: 6919
Re: Shortie
Shorties is successful , in part, because it sound good. Tallies rather misses the mark on that. I would use lanky (lankies) or giants but neither have that comfortable group feeling that shorties achieves. Lanky may be a bit old fashioned and giant may be a bit off the scale unless the relativeness...
- Sat Jun 15, 2019 5:53 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: inversion
- Replies: 14
- Views: 10031
Re: inversion
Still doesn't really work for me, Tony. The fronting of the locative expression, combined with the inversion, put massive emphasis on the fronted noun. ... In the case of sentences c and d, this would mean that the sentence is "about" the distance. It's not. it's "about" the cloud of dust. It's all...
- Thu Jun 13, 2019 12:00 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: debate someone
- Replies: 0
- Views: 12003
debate someone
I have, in recent terms, heard the following usage which I find odd. Am I alone?
He won't debate me = He won't have a debate with me.
I will debate her = I will (would like) to have a debate with her.
He won't debate me = He won't have a debate with me.
I will debate her = I will (would like) to have a debate with her.
- Thu Jun 13, 2019 11:56 am
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: Hades
- Replies: 5
- Views: 5470
Re: Hades
I would guess that it is something that was originally a " minced oath " for "what the hell", although I can find no early occurrences of it. I remember it being used as a minced oath. Hades was a much milder that Hell when being used in a curse. I'm not sure, but I think I recall it being used in ...
- Tue Jun 11, 2019 4:58 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: inversion
- Replies: 14
- Views: 10031
Re: inversion
OK Phil, I'll give it a try. They remind me of books I used to read when I was a boy. c. In the distance moved a cloud of dust. The small band of khaki clad men had reached the edge of the village. They looked out over the flat plain of the dessert which they would have to cross. "Look", said Algy p...
- Tue Jun 11, 2019 1:51 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: Hades
- Replies: 5
- Views: 5470
Re: Hades
I presume you have already found that Hades, in Ancient Greek mythology, is Hell. Therefore "what the Hades" and "what the Hell" are conceptually equivalent. There will be many who will not know that Hades is Hell. "What the Hell" isn't considered to be particularly rude; merely ill-mannered. The us...
- Sun Jun 09, 2019 8:38 am
- Forum: Word Origins and Meanings
- Topic: Damascene conversion
- Replies: 7
- Views: 15771
Re: Damascene conversion
Sometimes a word is just right. Talking to an exSWP member who later was Labour Party candidate about his support for Brexit, he described how he decided in 1992 to read the Maastricht treaty for himself and not just swallow the party line. He was struggling for words to describe that experience. I ...
- Sun Jun 09, 2019 8:16 am
- Forum: Word Origins and Meanings
- Topic: recuse
- Replies: 3
- Views: 9682
Re: recuse
As far as I am aware, the correct usage is reflexive: "The judge should recuse himself." The transitive use is very rare and means that a person challenges a judge to stand down: "He recused the judge." From the OED 2. transitive. a. To reject or renounce (a person, authority, judgment, etc.); (Law...
- Wed Jun 05, 2019 9:19 pm
- Forum: Word Origins and Meanings
- Topic: recuse
- Replies: 3
- Views: 9682
recuse
The judge should recuse.
Not a word I had remembered coming across. But, so says the OED, it is mainly USA and South Africa.
It means , in this case, that the judge should stand down because of a conflict of interest.
Not a word I had remembered coming across. But, so says the OED, it is mainly USA and South Africa.
It means , in this case, that the judge should stand down because of a conflict of interest.
- Wed Jun 05, 2019 9:11 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: Bale out / bail out
- Replies: 4
- Views: 5295
Re: Bale out / bail out
Ok.
From an aeroplane:
- bale - pushing people out
- bail - getting yourself out
A company:
- mostly bail.
- bale to sever a company from a parent(ish) company. Either for that company to be the survivor or to sever liabilities liabilities.
From an aeroplane:
- bale - pushing people out
- bail - getting yourself out
A company:
- mostly bail.
- bale to sever a company from a parent(ish) company. Either for that company to be the survivor or to sever liabilities liabilities.
- Tue Jun 04, 2019 10:28 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: Palace traditions
- Replies: 4
- Views: 5295
Re: Palace traditions
The key part is, I suspect, the meaning of "navigate tricky waters". In the literal meaning it is "to make a route through waters which has obstacles and currents that may ground or turn over the boat". So in this case the "tricky waters" are palace protocol. And the whole problem is how to make sur...
- Tue Jun 04, 2019 10:15 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: So surprised or so shocked
- Replies: 6
- Views: 5900
Re: So surprised or so shocked
speechless
- Fri May 31, 2019 11:45 am
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: Trouser belt loop
- Replies: 4
- Views: 5714
Re: Trouser belt loop
Thread also has the concept of going through multiple places. - To "thread" my wife's sewing machine requires 12 different threading actions to complete. - To "thread" the headlamp wiring on my car goes through about 10 apertures. Also of note is the use of "he threaded his way through the crowd" an...
- Wed May 29, 2019 8:28 am
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: Thing with a roof
- Replies: 3
- Views: 5520
Re: Thing with a roof
I am not sure there is an English language equivalent.
It is somewhere between: a clothes airer, a washing line , a drying room.

It is somewhere between: a clothes airer, a washing line , a drying room.

- Tue May 28, 2019 11:31 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: An eatery that cheats a customer
- Replies: 5
- Views: 7276