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.
2,552
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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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2
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77
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What is the word used to say the roads are very convenient for you to go because you don't have to changes lanes or many lanes?
If you don't have to change lanes or just have to change few lanes when going from A to B, it is very easy for you because changing lanes are dangerous and not convenient.
When I look for a school for ...
- 21.6k
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What kind of sentence is this?
“I had the plumber fix the trap”.
If had is being used, why fix is not in past participle? It is a special structure to commend something? Then the followings sentences are good? What is the name of ...
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What is the disapproving word that expressed a woman who wears too much make-up?
When my son grows up, I want to advise him to stay away from women who wears too much make-up.
What is the disapproving word that expressed a woman who wears too much make-up?
For example, "Son, ...
- 21.6k
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1
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What are small tiny pieces of paper of different colors that people often throw into the air at a wedding or when celebrating?
What are small tiny pieces of paper of different colors that people often throw into the air at a wedding or when celebrating?
Do we call these pieces "glittery tiny paper"?
Also, there are ...
- 21.6k
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1
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60
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Can we say "you're taking it so simply"?
We have this phrase
take somebody/something seriously
to believe that someone or something is worth your attention or
respect
As a teacher, it’s important that the kids take you seriously.
It’s only ...
- 21.6k
6
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3
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Better style for "Is there..." questions
I noticed that in writing I very often phrase questions in the following manner:
Is there a setting for the time delay [in the app]?
Is there a reference to Colonial influence in Australia [in a book]...
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3
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81
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Can we say "The mom is hatching her premature baby"?
Normally, we say "the hen is hatching its eggs".
I am not sure if we can say "The hen is hatching its chick".
A mom, who has a premature baby, needs to hug her baby all the time on ...
- 21.6k
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1
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47
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Is it correct to say "Do you want to have your photo with your classmates taken?"?
I have a daughter studying at kindergarten.
One day her teacher said to me that the class was taking a photo of its students (like a photo of a group of students in the same class. it seems like ...
- 21.6k
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2
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Do we say "The man is bowing" in this situation?
When seeing a king, a peasant has to go down on his knees and bow like this.
Do we have a word to express this action?
Or Do we just say "The man is bowing"?
But if we say "The man is ...
- 21.6k
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1
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28
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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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4
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What do we call a group of people who holds hostage for ransom?
I have watched the 2 films "Plane" and "Shotgun Wedding".
In these films, there is a group of people who holds hostage for ransom. And people in the films call them "pirates&...
- 21.6k
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1
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30
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Do we have a phrase expressing that you missed doing something but you decided to move ahead without getting back?
You packed your stuff for a trip to a place.
When you are half way to the place, you realized you forgot to take your ipad with you.
But you decided to keep on the trip rather than returning back home ...
- 21.6k
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1
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31
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What is the word expressing the study of the connection between human physical appearance and human characters?
According to Chinese or some Asian old knowledge, there is a connection between human physical appearance and human characters.
For example, a person who has high cheek bones tends to demand things ...
- 21.6k
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1
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46
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How to name this position in English?
A teacher in school is supposed to ask students (once a month or a bit more often) about what kind of food they would want to have for lunch daily during the upcoming month, and then, based on their ...
- 4,208
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What is American equivalent of "Can you move up a bit"?
I the Oxford Dictionary, they say
a bit [singular] (especially British English) a short time or distance
Can you move up a bit?
The dictionary didn't say the equivalent expression in American ...
- 21.6k
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1
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636
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"How do you [do something]?" but asking about the listener's case specifically
For example, I want to ask how to use a device, not about its general usage, but for the listener's case specifically.
If I say "How do you use the device?", the listener would explain the ...
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2
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64
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Is it correct to say "I bought 2 sets of 3 bunk beds"?
Normally, we just have a unit of bunk beds that has just 2 beds that look like this. Is it correct to say "I have a pair of bunk beds" or "I have a set of 2 bunk beds"?
..............
- 21.6k
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3
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What is the person who guards a parking area called?
A parking area might have a person who stands at the entrance. You buy a ticket from them and the person lets you park your car in the parking area.
When you want to get out of parking area, you give ...
- 21.6k
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1
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59
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Is it correct to say "I fingerprint into the building"?
Some buildings require a magnetic card to get in.
I asked a question before and it seems that people say "I swipe into the building every morning".
However, some buildings require you to ...
- 21.6k
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1
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134
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Is it correct to say "students salute the flag in the schoolyard before first class"?
In some countries, school children must salute in front of their school flag in the morning before beginning their first class.
Do you have that custom in England or America?
If yes, what is the ...
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1
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Do we have an expression saying that a person is in a bad situation but doesn't dare to fight back but wait until the right moment?
Say, you are working for a bad boss who treats you badly. However, you don't dare to do anything to upset him but sneakily apply for a new job and wait until you get a new job offer.
When you get a ...
- 21.6k
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2
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45
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Do we have a common word expressing "paradoxical" in everyday English? [closed]
In the dictionary
paradoxical adjective (of a person, thing or situation) having
two opposite features and therefore seeming strange
It is paradoxical that some of the poorest people live in some of ...
- 21.6k
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2
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57
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What is the word saying that you mistakenly paint outside the lines when you do a painting?
My children are attending a painting class (not a drawing class).
They first draw an outline of a picture in pencil on a paper.
Then, they paint within the lines of the picture and try not to paint ...
- 21.6k
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1
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25
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What is the common verb that expresses a person tries to convince children to follow them or do something bad?
My daughter is about 7 and I want to train her to take the public bus to school (not a school bus because the school doesn't have a school bus) by herself. But the problem is that I am afraid some bad ...
- 21.6k
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1
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366
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Do we have a word referring to "a place where you keep your belongings (like your bags) there before you can go into the supermarket"?
checkout (noun) is the place where you pay for the things that you are buying in a supermarket
For example, I paid for my groceries at the checkout
Now, a supermarket might have a rule in which you ...
- 21.6k
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3
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29
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Do we have to say "the city and each of its households were in lockdown" or just "The city was in lockdown"?
During the Covid 19 pandemic, each person in each household in my city was not allowed to leave their houses without permission.
If a family wanted to buy food, they had to call a soldier and give ...
- 21.6k
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2
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356
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Is it correct to say "Oh, I have missed the stop" when I forgot to get off the bus at a correct bus stop?
We often say "Oh, I have missed the bus" when the bus had left before I arrived at the bus stop.
Now, I was on the bus and busy talking with a friend and forgot to get off the bus at a ...
- 21.6k
12
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16
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What is a word with a negative connotation that describes a person who talks as if he or she knows everything?
When I talk to my cousin about many topics, he talks to me like he knows everything (cars, sport, education, etc.). He doesn't listen to me much and he talks as if he is an expert in everything but I ...
- 21.6k
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4
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How do you say "manos a la obra!"?
In Spanish when you are explaining something practical you would first introduce the theme a bit theoretically, for example
In this essay I would like to show you how I solved the Harry Potter ...
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32
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expressing the idea that you are a child of a marriage, in which parents belong to different races
What's the natural way in English to express the idea that you are a child of a marriage, in which parents belong to different races?
"I am a cross-cultural marriage kid."?
"I am a ...
- 4,208
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1
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American equivalent of "on spec"
The Merriam-Webster Advanced Learner's Dictionary labels "on spec" British. I'm wondering what its American counterpart is.
Its definition is "without being sure of success but with the ...
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Is it correct to say "have some fruit on New Year's Day for luck"?
In some Asian countries, they believe that if you do something on New Year's Day, you might do it more often through out the year as good or bad luck.
For example, if you argue with your wife on New ...
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0
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29
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Is it natural to say "Go wish your grandparents happiness and good health"?
At traditional Vietnamese or Chinese lunar new year, children are expected to say to adults something like "I hope you are healthy/lucky and happy" or "I wish you health, luckiness and ...
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2
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85
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Is it correct to say "Cut the rope with a knife with your mouth"?
I know that both "with" and "by" can be used to say how something is done. After "with", we use an object and after "by" we use a method.
For example, "I ...
- 21.6k
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2
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108
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Can we say "could you swim a loop?" to mean to swim from one end to the other end and then get back to where you start?
According to my research, "to swim a lap" means to swim lengthwise from one end to the other end of a pool.
In Vietnamese, we say "could you swim a circle/ a loop of the pool?" (...
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1
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Is the flexible plastic tube that is connected to a handheld shower head called "a shower hose"? [closed]
It seems that dictionaries often relate "a hose" as a long tube for watering garden or putting out fire as shown in the above picture.
My bathroom has a shower that look that the picture ...
- 21.6k
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1
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What is a small piece that we pinch so that we can zip and unzip things?
What is a small piece that we pinch so that we can zip and unzip things?
Do we call it "a knob" or something?
- 21.6k
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2
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64
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Is there a word expressing "to keep moving your body, your hands or your feet because you are nervous, bored, excited, etc."?
According to the dictionary
fidget (with something) to keep moving your body, your hands or your feet because you are nervous, bored, excited, etc.
Sit still and stop fidgeting!
My child keeps ...
- 21.6k
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1
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271
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Is an open-space floor (without walls around) called a rooftop?
In the dictionary
roof‧top noun [countable]
the upper surface of a roof
So, according to the definition, anything that is the upper surface of a roof is called a rooftop.
I can not visualize that.
...
- 21.6k
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1
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When speaking of the item is going to be something in the future, is there other ways than "-to-be" suffix?
For instance:
I am your bride-to-be.
He is your client-to-be.
Are there other ways to convey the meaning without making it a complicated sentence?
Thanks for any kind of resource/tips.
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Set a dog on somebody - but not on somebody but something in advance
I am searching for a word/phrase for quite a while now both off- and online without any findings. There is a phrase set a dog on somebody, which in my understanding means that the "setter" ...
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69
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An English expression or idiom for a person who puts his anger on an innocent person who didn't do anything wrong?
I am sure there is an English expression or idiom saying that a person puts his anger on an innocent person who didn't cause it. But, I can not remember it.
Say, a husband had an argument with his ...
- 21.6k
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2
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How to tell people when to arrive early for an event? Admission / Doors open / Start
I'm a German native speaker and I struggle with translating a very German concept into English.
Whenever Germans plan a (business) event and send out an invitation, there is a good chance, that it ...
0
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1
answer
80
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Is it correct to say "Can you hear water babbling through the pipe"?
I am sitting next to a waterspout along a building, then I hear some sound caused by water running through it.
What is that sound called in English?
According to my research,
to babble: [intransitive]...
- 21.6k
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1
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28
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The "knowledge of knowledge transfer" in technical / non-technical English
I need to know whether there is any technical term to refer to the specific knowledge and ability which is used to transfer the knowledge itself; i.e. I am looking for a (perhaps) technical term that ...
- 14.3k
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2
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92
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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"?
- 21.6k
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1
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34
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What's the phrase that ends with "up" and which somewhat means "someone who considers everything taboo and don't discuss anything"
So, it's a phrase like 'stuck up' or 'pent up', etc. It's been bothering me for a while now but I just can't remember the phrase. I think it starts with 's' and ends with 'up' and it means something ...
- 17
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2
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50
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Can we say "Please read it in your mind" when you ask someone to read but not out loud?
You ask a child to read a letter but not out loud.
If I say "please read quietly", then the child might murmur the letter.
If I just say "Please read it", then the child might read ...
- 21.6k
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2
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133
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can we say "a fish hops"? [closed]
Look at the above picture.
There was a fish which jumped out of the water and landed onto another spot in the shape of a curve.
That movement of the fish looks like a hop.
But we often say "a ...
- 21.6k