Questions tagged [meaning]
This tag is for questions about the meaning of a word, which a dictionary cannot answer. If the question is about the meaning of a word that can't be understood outside its phrase or sentence, the "meaning-in-context" tag should be also used; for the meaning of a phrase, use the "phrase-meaning" tag instead. Your question should normally include the dictionary definition of the word, and explain how the dictionary does not answer your question.
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What does the line "So long and thanks for all the fish!" mean?
I got a mail with the subject "So long and thanks for all the fish!" from my Manager. What does it mean?
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What is the difference between “nope” and “no”?
What is the difference caused by using “nope” instead of ”no”?
Is it used because “nope” sounds better and not straight like “no”? In some situations, it feels like nope is better to use than no even ...
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3
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Does "a couple" always mean two?
Today I said some event was a couple of weeks away. A native speaker from Australia corrected me and said, no it's at least three weeks away. What followed was a discussion as to whether a couple ...
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Meaning of "respecting" in "no law respecting an establishment of religion"
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably ...
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Difference between "illegal" and "very illegal"
From my understanding of English, "very" means "more than the usual" or "to a higher extent".
I've seen on several places the expression "very illegal", such as here as an example: https://youtu.be/...
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votes
5
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What's the difference between "last" and "latest"?
When should I use "last" and "latest"?
I found two examples:
What was the last book you read?
Karen was always up to date on the latest fashions
It seems both mean "the most recent". Can we use ...
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votes
4
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What is the difference among "Sign up", "Sign in" and "Log in"?
As I said in the title, I am wondering what is the meaning of the following expressions, and what are the differences between them ?
"Sign up"
"Sign in"
"Log in"
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When a girl mentions her girlfriend, does she mean it like lesbian girlfriend?
I have a classmate and sometimes she says something like "I told my girlfriend that she has to blah blah".
Does this wording imply a lesbian relationship, or is she referring to a her best friend (a ...
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votes
3
answers
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Meaning of 'sesquiannual'?
I saw a new comic on xkcd http://xkcd.com/1602/ and understand that I don't get to go to the linguistics club.
I Googled the word 'sesquiannual' and some say that it means it 'happens every one and ...
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The college in 'Electoral College'
By college, I understand as a school or a university. How to make sense of the College in the term 'Electoral College'?
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Why are nice picture/gif/video about foo called "foo-porn"?
I was browsing Reddit and I discovered many subreddits named after foo-porn, to name just a few:
/r/EarthPorn
/r/FoodPorn
/r/Map_Porn
/r/ruralporn
/r/shockwaveporn
/r/SkyPorn
/r/unixporn
It seems ...
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votes
3
answers
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What does "viewer discretion is advised" mean?
Viewer discretion is advised.
I've stumbled upon this phrase a few times (mainly at the beginning of video clips or movie trailers), but I'm still not quite sure what it really expresses. What is ...
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votes
9
answers
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Can I say "fingers" when referring to toes?
In my native language, there is no word for toes. You just use the same word for both toes and fingers. In this context, I would say a human has 20 fingers.
Recently I've heard someone saying a ...
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2
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How many meanings does "I am in" have?
I have heard the phrase ‘I am in’ or ‘I am absolutely in’ (and similar variations) several times.
As I understand it, it means I agree with the idea and I will join you in your efforts.
Recently, I ...
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votes
6
answers
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'Ask away' - what does 'away' mean?
“Sir,” said Harry, reminding himself irresistibly of Voldemort, “I
wanted to ask you something.”
“Ask away, then, my dear boy, ask away. . . .”
In this sentence, I don't know what does 'away' ...
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votes
6
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Meaning of "Sue me"
I came across a dialog between two people struggling on a cutting the line situation. Here is the dialogue:
A: Hey man, the end of the line is over there.
B: Yeah...
A: No seriously, I was here ...
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12
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Agnostic vs Atheist
Every time l look up the meanings of the two words agnostic and atheist in the dictionary l become more confused. For me, both refer to someone who doesn’t believe in God. Is there a simple, ...
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What is 'explain like I'm five'?
In my recent question, I got this link in an answer.
Here, 'Explain like I'm five' is written. I tried to find its meaning on the Internet, but I got only an acronym ELI5.
Is 'explain like I'm ...
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4
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What is understood if I say "I'm an English teacher"?
What is understood if I say "I'm an English teacher"?
"I teach English", or
"I'm a teacher coming from England"?
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4
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Do native speakers still use "ought to"?
Do native speakers still use "ought to" in daily conversation?
I haven't seen "ought to" used on any social or news ... websites. I only read about it in English grammar books.
Ngram:
Trends:
...
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votes
2
answers
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What is mom-pkin?
My bae asked me about the meaning of mom-pkin in the book she's reading. I'm stunned and google searching produced but acronyms and chemical stuff. The full sentence is as follows.
She still had ...
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"The first time I met my wife I knew she was a keeper. She was wearing massive gloves" - Alun Cochrane
What is the pun in this joke "The first time I met my wife I knew she was a keeper. She was wearing massive gloves" by Alun Cochrane
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What is the difference between IMO and IMHO and IHOP?
I was reading a public forum, and I saw the following abbreviations:
IMO
IMHO
IHOP
As far as I see, these are interchangeable somehow, but I don't understand the correct usage of them.
Just assuming ...
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41
votes
9
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"co-worker" vs. "colleague"
What is the difference between "co-worker" and "colleague"?
In my company there is an employee whose name is Bob. But Bob and I, we don't know each other. In this case, is Bob my "co-worker" or "...
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votes
5
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What is the difference between "do you like" and "would you like"?
Do you like candy?
Would you like some candy?
Do you like walking?
Would you like to go for a walk?
What is the difference? And are they the same or not? Do they any use in different situations?
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votes
5
answers
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Is Let us = Let's?
Many times I heard these words interchangeably. I want to know if "Let's" and "Let us" are used for the same meaning.
I think (for me):
"Let us" is word used for requesting. Like Let us do something ...
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votes
4
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Why would you say "it changed me" instead of "it changed myself" here?
I was correcting a sentence written by a Japanese friend, and I corrected one of his sentences to:
"Learning foreign languages changed me".
He asked me why he could not use "myself" instead. I am ...
Kazemi
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What does "have a pop-up feel" mean?
Support for the Rohingya cause across the region has a pop-up feel.
Source: Nouzie
I looked up pop-up in Merriam Webster:
1: pop fly
2: a component or device that pops up
3: a pop-up ...
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What does "He has insurance, but Christ" mean?
He has insurance, but Christ.
Could you please tell me what the meaning of phrase above is?
I think that if the writer said "He has no insurance, but Christ" it would be correct.
The full text is ...
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votes
4
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"Not funny 'ha-ha'", what does Siri mean?
When I say to Siri, the virtual assistant from Apple, "Ok, Google," or "Hey Cortana," Siri replies:
Very funny. I mean, not funny "ha-ha", but funny.
I don't know how I should interpret this ...
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What does "chrome" mean besides the metal?
I have trouble understanding the following sentence from lwn.net
Because the nightly builds are not full browsers, the interface leaves out most of the traditional browser chrome.
I know there's a ...
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What is the difference between feet and very feet?
Here for the past 40,000 years, a deep fissure in the Earth's crust
has allowed oily tar and methane to bubble up to the surface from far
underground, evidence of the ceaseless activity below our ...
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What does "this will date me" mean?
What does the phrase "this will date me" mean?
I searched for it here on "English Language Learners" and on Google but I could not find the meaning.
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What is the difference between "hug" and "embrace"?
What is the difference between hug and embrace?
Hug:
Squeeze (someone) tightly in one's arms, typically to express affection.
Embrace:
Hold (someone) closely in one's arms, esp. as a sign of ...
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The grammar of "Stop Asian hate"
I have seen many people on the Internet from America sharing the sign “Stop Asian Hate”.
I know they mean “Stop hate against Asian people”, but why don't they say “Stop anti-Asian hate”?
I also see ...
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1
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What's the difference between words "number", "count", "amount" and "quantity"? [closed]
I just can't understand when i should use one of these words and when another. They are too similar, but looks like they are not absolutely the same. So what is the difference between them?
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What does "Scary-lookin' fing, inee" mean?
... Harry had never met a vampire, but he had seen pictures of them in his Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, and Black, with his waxy white skin, looked just like one.
'Scary-lookin' fing, ...
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Why does "graphic" mean violent or gory?
My German friend asked me why "graphic" means "violent or gory", as in "graphic content" or "graphic language".
(Related, but not the same question: What‘s does ...
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How many flies does it take to screw in a light bulb?
I encountered this lightbulb joke today, but I can’t figure out why it is funny:
Q: How many flies does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: Two, but I don't know how they got in there.
My best ...
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What's the meaning of " you're being G.O. Sixteened."?
Some of the lines of the American drama Manifest that confused me:
It was said by a Policewoman boss to his subordinate
Look, you're being G.O. Sixteened. Do you understand? They catch you lying, ...
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What does "One CPU is going to 'smoke' another CPU" mean?
I faced the following sentence:
You really can’t say a 4.1GHz FX-8350 is going to smoke a 3.5GHz Core i7-3770K because in a hell of a lot of workloads the 3.5GHz Core i7 is going to dominate.
I ...
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Are some offensive words always masculine?
I have an interesting question which has got me thinking lately. You see, there are some nouns that I have always seen be used as masculine such as the words "fucker" and "motherfucker" (which I am ...
- 494
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4
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"Hi there!" -- What does this 'there' mean?
There's this particular interjection-like usage of there that I think belongs to the spoken register and maybe doesn't refer to anything; as in:
Hi there!
You alright there?
Why is it ...
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Difference between "where are you from" and "where do you come from"
What is the difference between "where are you from" and "where do you come from"?
Are they the same? Are they used in the same situations or not?
When you see someone for the first time which one ...
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votes
2
answers
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Meaning of the "On guard!" exclamation
I recently watched the very epic ending of the Shrek 2, and when the cat draws his rapier, he shouts "On guard!" to the castle guardians.
I perfectly understand the meaning from the context, but was ...
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"Crashing at the Y" What does it mean?
I heard in the movie Adventureland:
Em Lewin : So what's the plan?
James Brennan : I'm gonna crash at the Y for a week, I'm gonna look for a shitty job, and I don't know.
IMDB has a longer ...
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Is there any difference between "temporary" and "provisional"?
The English dictionary shows that either temporary or provisional indicates the short time. Therefore, I get confused about which is more proper in the following sentence:
Any physical theory is ...
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what is the difference between "yet" and "still"?
what is the difference between "yet" and "still"?
When we can use "still"? and when we can use "yet"?
Are they synonyms or not?
"The plan could yet succeed." Can I use "still" in that sentence ...
- 4,297
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votes
4
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The meaning of "half woman, half girl"
"It was the same mirror I'd gazed into as a child, then as a girl, then as a youth, half woman, half girl."
Educated by Tara Westover
What does "half woman" mean? (For example: A ...
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