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 ...
user2251274
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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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". . . 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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"...
- 21.6k
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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 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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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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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 ...
- 21.6k
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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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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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Alternative idiom or phrasal verb for eating an elephant one bite at a time
Eat an elephant one bite at a time.
I am looking for an alternative to this idiom that expresses the same idea.
The idea expressed: If a big task is given, tackle it piece by piece
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The idiomatic antonyms of "keep someone in the loop"?
In this thread I realized that 'loop someone in' does not fit in the scenario of inviting someone into a WhatsApp group for an intermittent discussion, and the idiomatic expression should be 'keep ...
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Can we use "since" in future tenses, for example, "I will be free since 6pm today. Now is 3pm"?
We normally use "since" to mean "from a time in the past until a later past time, or until now".
Can we use "since" in future tenses, for example, "I will be free ...
- 21.6k
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Term for predecided meaning of an unrelated expression
I just heard a friend telling me about a concept of gryps. Translating it to English produced very little (let alone anything of relevance).
Originally, a gryps, is a message passed to, from or within ...
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What is the verb expressing the action of moving some farm animals in a field to let them eat grass or plants?
The verb "drive an animal" is to force an animal to move. For example, the shepherd is driving a cow. It does not mean to make the cow eat.
What is the common verb expressing the action of ...
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Is it correct to say "Can you put your school supplies into your backpack"?
I want my daughter to put her ruler, 2 pencils, 1 eraser and a book into her backpack.
Do we have a general word to refer these things?
I thought of "stuff" but it is too informal.
Can I say ...
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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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a buyer and seller and straw buyer
When X buys something, they are a buyer.
When X sells something, they are a seller.
What would they be called if they buy something on someone else's behalf?
A straw buyer???
Note that X does not ...
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What's the contrary of "cherry picking"?
Cherry picking in artificial intelligence research (and in some other contexts) is the act of choosing examples of good (accurate, grammatical, etc.) predictions. I wonder which word or phrase ...
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What is "a shirt with short sleeves" called?
Normally a Tshirt is made of cloth (I don't know what kind of cloth it is) that is soft and does not leave creases even though you don't iron it (see the picture above).
A shirt is normally made of ...
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is it correct to say "hold the toy fan blade-away"?
The person in the picture above "is holding the knife pointy-end down" and I think "pointy-end down" is an adverb.
The person in the picture above "is holding the knife ...
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What is the area for people to sit in a stadium called?
What is the area for people to sit in a stadium called?
It seems to be called "stand", but I am not sure.
But why "stand"?? because people can sit there too?
Can we say "I was ...
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What is a tight narrow space between things that are in tight contact with each other called in everyday English?
This is a picture of my sofa. There is a tight space between the arm and the seat of the sofa.
If you have a cover, you can tuck the cover in this tight gap.
Is that tight space called a gap?
For ...
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Better / proper translation of "包容" in English
I looked at the translation of "包容" in English, and both google translate and the collinsdictionary say it means "tolerate".
However, that's not the meaning/message/idea I want to ...
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Any other phrases similar to "Now I can die in peace"?
I picked this expression from the title of a book written by Bill Simmons (a famous sports personality.)
I am looking for similar expressions, which natives use, like the title of book above Now I can ...
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Is it correct to say "we thread the bolt into the nut snugly"?
I asked this question on Quora
How do we say "we screw the bolt into a nut in such a way that the thread of the bolt and the nut fit well together"?
Quora is not a smart system. Whenever it ...
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What is the British word for the American word "pop quiz"?
According to many dictionaries, "pop quiz" (American English) is like a surprise informal test without warning in advance to test if a student has studied at home.
In Britain, one beautiful ...
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Is it correct to say "Do not touch the rim of the toilet" or "Do not touch the lip of the toilet"?
My children sometimes touch the the rim of the toilet bowl as shown in the above picture as they have no idea how dirty it is.
We often use "the lip/ rim of a cup/ a pot...".
I am not sure ...
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Is it correct to say "You must get on/off the motorbike from the left side"
When my children get on/off the motorbike, I want them to start doing it by standing on the side that doesn't have the tailpipe or exhaust because the tailpipe might be very hot especially when the ...
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Using "impulse" instead of "reason" in "for some reason"
Can I use the expression "for some impulse" similar to "for some reason"? It doesn't sound right. How to use "impulse" correctly, when I want to mention the urge and not ...
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What is the phrase expressing that someone promised to meet you, but then canceled the meeting without telling you in advance?
You friend promised to meet you, but he didn't turn up. Or a boy promised to pick a girl up at school but she waited and waited but he didn't come.
This happens in many situations but we often see it ...
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Clinical investigation?
In Portuguese, it is common to say that a patient is "undergoing an investigation" of their disease (meaning: the physician is trying to diagnose what they have, i.e., is "investigating&...
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Idiom for describing when you feel heavy and uncomfortable
I am asking for an idiom to describe follow feeling (It is called '찌뿌둥하다' in Korean):
'When we feel a little heavy and uncomfortable because of body aches and colds'
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Is it called a water shadow?
The sun light or bulb light shines into the water in a pool and causes some moving pictures on the wall or ceiling.
Is it called a water shadow?
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Is it natural to say "Turn the bike so that you and it are side by side"?
Looking at the above picture, I am sure we can say "the woman is sitting on a chair and there is another chair opposite the woman"
Now:
...
You were sitting at a table.
Your child parked ...
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Do we have a verb expressing that we take out things that are floating on water?
After I squeeze juice out of an orange into a bowl. Some of the orange pips floats on the orange juice.
If we don't take all the pips out then we have to check for pips when drinking the juice.
Do we ...
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Is it correct to say "I pressed the wrong button in panic/ in confusion"?
I had this situation today.
I went into an elevator while a man was running towards the elevator. According to "elevator etiquette", I was supposed to press the button "<>" ...
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Do we have a phrase expressing that you have to look around, back, down and up to make sure you won't fall, trip, sleep, or bump into things?
When my children walk on a road or a place with many objects around, I often tell them to:
look down: to make sure they don't trip over or slip on something.
look up: to make sure they don't bump ...
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