Questions tagged [phrase-request]
This tag is for questions seeking a phrase that fits a meaning. If you are looking for a word, or don't care, see the "word-request" tag too.
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Collocations used when talking about doing a job as in a paid position of regular employment
If I moved to a foreign country to work there, what were some collocations I should use?
"I'm going to England to take/work/undertake/carry out/perform/do a job."
I'm not sure which verbs ...
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How to ask where someone just came from?
I have one question almost meaning like this "where are you coming from?" but not ask country or state or province, it is not long way long time. It is short way and just happening. It is ...
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How can I express that the number of classes and screens in the application must be equal?
An Android application consists of one or more than one screen. The android developers define a special structure for each screen in an application. These structures are called "class".
How can I ...
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Is it called "the filter/strainer/cover/seive of my bathroom drain"?
This is the drain in my bathroom
What is the piece of metal with many holes called?
Is it called "the filter/strainer/cover/sieve of my bathroom drain" in casual everyday English?
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Do we have structure "somebody/something turns somebody off something"?
I don't know why dictionaries only have this structure
turn somebody <-> off
to make somebody feel bored or not interested
People had been turned off by both candidates in the election.
The ...
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How to ask for the position on a book that someone has finished reading
What are some of the most frequent questions to ask friend for the position (either general like chapter number or specific like page number) in a book that they have finished reading yesterday? I ...
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Is the use of the construction 'May I have you...' to begin a request unnatural?
Is the use of the construction 'May I have you...' to begin a request unnatural?
I have been using this construction for quite some time, what with 'May you...' not being an appropriate beginning to a ...
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How do you say two or several things are about equivalent to each other in English?
How do you say two or several things are about equivalent to each other in English?
For example, if I post a question here and receive two answers which seem equally good to me, and I don't know ...
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". . . who probably confounded the word with a familiar oath" - What *is* the "familiar oath"?
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XVII, published 1892)
Passage 263
...That Trent, he come first, with his 'and in a bloody rag. I was
near 'em as I am to you; ...
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What do nasty kids call their mother/father?
I'm wondering what kids use to call their parents when they are quarrelling with them.
I assume the common rude way to call women is bitch. But is it something kids use even when they are very nasty? ...
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The word that describes the feeling when you're disgusted by a certain taste
Imagine that you're having a really sweet and high-fat piece of cake. At first, you can have it just fine, but after a while you get sick of its overwhelming taste. How do I describe that I am now ...
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How do I use ‘weight’ in a phrase so that it means ‘increase the portion of something’?
I wanted to suggest the team to increase the portion of something. e.g increase it from 10% to 70%.
and I want to find a phrase that has "weight" in it.
I have searched for weight in, weight on, put ...
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Is 'puts it on speaker' the most natural way to expess when...?
Jeff's phone rings. It's Billy. He doesn't pick the phone up, just answers, and puts it on speaker.
Jeff: Hi, Billy.
Is 'puts it on speaker' the most natural way to express this? And is it enough ...
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What is a simple word/phrase to refer to the act of 'Toppling something over'?
As a non native English speaker, I am sometimes in an interesting situation when communicating with my 4 year old in English.
Recently he has been 'knocking over' the Christmas tree, and I am at loss ...
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What is the piece of wood that is often long and square in cross-section and used to make table legs or chair legs called?
Look at the above picture, you'll see 2 pieces of wood that are long and square in cross-section. They are used to make chair legs.
What are they called?
I don't think they are called "plank"...
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Phrase request: Scale units
Can you help me to think of another ways to say:
"The gauge has a scale with units at a distance of every 10 cm."?
Are the following sentences correct:
"The gauge scale is divided by 10 cm ...
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Is it correct to say "get to sleep" in this situation?
Now it is 10 pm and you put your daughter on the bed and tuck her in and you want her to fall asleep quickly.
Now your daughter sit up and talk and play with toys on the bed.
I see this in Oxford ...
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What is the common verb used to say you jerk a little bit because someone suddenly calls you while you are focusing on something?
Sometimes, I was watching TV or studying when my daughter suddenly called me or suddenly tap me on my back from behind. That action made me jerk a bit or give me a little shock.
Is it correct to say &...
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Can we say "he picked his ear" to mean "to remove earwax from his ear canal" the same way we say "pick his nose/teeth"?
We often say "he picked his teeth" meaning he removed food in his teeth, and "he picked his nose" meaning he removed boogers in his nose.
Is it common to say "he picked his ...
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How to phrase this?
Person 1: I hope you can forgive me.
Person 2: _______________________? You're my best friend.
How could I not forgive you?
Why would I not want to forgive you?
Why should I not want to forgive you?
...
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How express you tie 2 strings in such a way that it has a loop?
Look at the picture above, when you tie 2 strings together, you create a complete knot like the last third picture. This kind of knot is very hard for you to untie them.
When I tie 2 strings together,...
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Is it correct to say "I have low-paid insurance"?
Now, Bin works for a company and his company buys insurance for him. When he goes to hospital and pays the hospital fee, the insurance will cover some of this fee.
It depends on kinds of insurance. ...
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Word/phrase for straight-lined
I don't even know how to describe my question, but it's like going in straight line vs not going in straight line, like:
what's the proper word/phrase to express the idea that
I've __________ the ...
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Ways to refer to a research topic
I look for a construction to start a sentence about previous studies on something, something like
In the field of reading comprehension, some studies investigated the effect of visual structure on ...
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An expression for venturing into an experiment with unknown consequences without much knowledge
I'm looking for an expression for venturing into an experiment with unknown consequences without much knowledge. I vaguely remember there was something from ancient Greece or in Latin that was ...
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Is it correct to say "Could you check my second tooth from the inside on the right of my lower jaw"?
I have a decayed tooth as shown in the above picture.
What can I say to let the dentist locate it?
Can I say "Could you check my second tooth from the inside on the right of my lower jaw"?
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Is it correct to say "The washing machine signaled off"?
When my washing machine finishes washing, it makes "beep-beep-beep" sound to let me know that it has finished.
I found this example in the Oxford Dictionary
The microwave beeps to let you ...
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Do we say "we have a situation here" for big serious problems in American English?
According to dictionaries, especially in American English, people say "we have a situation here" when they have "an important or sudden problem".
I am not a native speaker so I can ...
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How to express informal strong dislike
As you can say in a positive informal way that you have a "soft spot" for something, or you "have a thing for"... what would you use to say informally you have a dislike or you do ...
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What is the natural way of saying in this situation, Mom had just been home but her son didn't pay any attention, but kept watching TV?
What is the natural way of saying to your son in this situation,
Mom had just been home but the son didn't pay any attention to her or
say "hello" to her, but just kept watching TV?
Is it ...
CommunityBot
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Can we have adjectives before objective personal pronouns, for example, "I have some photos of baby him"?
THis is a part of the script in the social network film
Erica Albright : Well, why don't you just concentrate on being the
best you you can be.
Mark Zuckerberg : Did you really just say that?
Erica ...
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How to express my sold items are diverse?
In Czech, I would say there is a varied offer, would that be correct? What about diverse, various, miscellaneous, multifarious?
Also, I didn't find any synonyms to offer in the business sense. Are ...
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Do we have a verb to express that we talk and share very personal information with someone?
We often share our secrets or very private personal information with someone that we trust, like our best friends or people that we know very well.
Do we have a verb to say that we talk with someone, ...
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"what this all is about" or "what this is all about"
One wrote:
You might guess what this all is about from the headline if you are up to date
I changed it into:
You might have already guessed what this is all about from the post's title if you ...
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What is a noun expressing a very young person who has advanced skills even higher than adults?
Mozart composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty.
Not many grownups can do that.
What is a noun expressing a very young person who has advanced skills even higher than adults?...
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Is "100% correct pronunciation" an understandable, correct, and proper English expression?
If I put "100% correct pronunciation" in the following sentence, is it understandable and correct? "100%" is what I would like to emphasize. If it is not right, how should it be ...
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Is it natural to say this to a child "hold out your hands under this box to disinfect them"?
We are living in a building block and at the entrance of the building, there is a box like this
When I press it, it sprays alcohol-like liquid, which is not thick and sticky like gel.
When we about ...
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What may be said about someone who is a certain type of person, and who only seems to be so?
Edited:
Quite often, some people are ready to do anything to make an impression of being a certain type of a person that they actually are not.
For example, being asked for her first impression ...
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What is the verb expressing that a child just wants their mom to be exclusively for them?
Now, a woman has a 5-year-old daughter and now she has just had a newborn baby. The daughter starts to get jealous of the baby because she just wants her mom to take care of her only not the baby.
...
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What to call a troll who persistently annoys others through jargon
Not too long ago, I've encountered this god awful 'troll' on Discord who tends to provoke others without a break. The person would compose paragraphs of endless blasphemy purposely for the attention ...
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Can we say "we are just about a third way to the city"?
halfway (adj/adv): in the middle between two points
Say, the distance between your house and your friend's is about 20 miles. You are driving to your friend's house and your car is about 10 miles away ...
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How to describe the widest measurement of an irregular shape fabric folded in half?
Sorry if I sound confusing. I can't describe it succinctly.
Let's say I have a piece of cloth in irregular shape. I've to provide the measurement of the fabric in half. To measure, I flatten the ...
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What is the adjective that express the eyes of people who are sick or high on drug?
I suspect my children have some symptom of flu or Covid.
Their eyes are somehow spacing out or lacking vividness or liveliness like some people are high on drug.
What is the adjective that express the ...
CommunityBot
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Can we say "The fire alarm is going off" to express the state of making sound?
We say “the fan is on” to express its current state.
and “the fan suddenly went on” to express an action.
Normally we use the simple past tense for an action because it happened.
if I say “the fan is ...
CommunityBot
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Can we use "gift" for non-material thing, e.g. "My dad took me to the amusement park as a gift"?
Dictionaries say "a gift: a thing that you give to somebody, especially on a special occasion or to say thank you"
I am not sure if "a thing" here can be a non-material thing.
For ...
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(How) can I say 'state of the [non-art]'?
I read the noun 'state of the art' or the adjective 'state-of-the-art' every now and then, but once in a blue moon I saw 'state of the [non-art]'. I cannot remember what the [non-art]'s are, then I am ...
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What are the synonyms to the phrase "balls to bones" from Matrix movie?
That's a part of Oracle and Neo dialogue from Matrix:
Oracle: So, what do you think? You think you're the one?
Neo: I don't know.
Oracle: You know what that means? It’s Latin. Means “Know thyself”. I’...
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What is it called: a card necklace?
Look at the picture
This is a string that is knotted a card at one end. The card could be a swiping card or ID card (like some reporters often wear around the neck when they are on duty, they will be ...
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Is there a phrase like "there is always a tea shop set up earlier"? [closed]
The compelling ending of this article reads that:
Mankind can always pride itself for the giant leap with a small step. But remember, there is always a tea shop set up earlier.
I wonder if the ...
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Looking for opposite expression to "She looks twice her age"
She looks twice her age.
How to express the opposite of the sentence above, i.e. the fact that she has youthful appearance. Is it "She looks twice less her age"?
