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Results tagged with phrase-usage
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user 174869
This tag is for questions about how to use a particular phrase. If your question is a request for a phrase to use, you should use the "phrase-request" tag.
2
votes
After that, we got to talk/got talking/got to talking
to get (to) VERB-ing means "eventually began [VERB]ing"
We were sitting around the campfire and got (to) talking about horror films set in the woods.
They all had so much alcohol to drink, sooner or …
- 3,626
1
vote
Accepted
arrived to a pair of unexpected discoveries
arrive to means "to be greeted by", in the sense that the object of the preposition to is what "greets" you when you arrive, "greet" there being used in a figurative sense: what "greets" you is what y …
- 3,626
3
votes
hold the lion's share of something
The underlying analogy is "taking the major portion of something to consume it". Admittedly many writers ignore that sense and use the phrase as if were merely a synonym for "most". But it isn't trul …
- 3,626
1
vote
The rate of people reaching the age of 65 and over in Japan is X%
The word "rate" is often used to express a volatile number (one that changes monthly, say). We speak of the "rate of unemployment", which is expressed as a percentage of the population that are able t …
- 3,626
1
vote
Accepted
Usage of "I am agreeably disappointed in"
One of the meanings of disappoint is to belie expectation. Since not all expectation is hopeful, and since the lawyer had indeed expected worse "from gentlemen in [his] position" and had learned not …
- 3,626
0
votes
High-functioning workplace?
workplace is a synonym for "worksite" or "office" and includes the people working there together to produce desired results. So when they are cooperating with each other and getting things accomplishe …
- 3,626
15
votes
Can we say "Mike has a date with Mary tonight" when they have been a romantic couple for years?
While I agree with the comments and answers saying that the word date can be used for a pleasant planned encounter by a married couple, in American English the word is often used with a hint of scare- …
- 3,626
2
votes
Is it correct to say "you are about my chest tall" to mean the height of that person is abou...
You could say "The grass was chest-high" but not "my chest-high". It would be "up to my chest".
When speaking of a child's growth, say, it would be something like:
You have grown so quickly in one ye …
- 3,626
0
votes
Is it correct to say "I screwed the tap onto/into the pipe"?
Nowadays "male" and "female" threads are being called "external" and "internal" threads, respectively. The designations are changing in catalogs and technical documents.
If both pieces are freestandin …
- 3,626
10
votes
Accepted
Can we use "gift" for non-material thing, e.g. "My dad took me to the amusement park as a gi...
Yes, as a gift is idiomatic there. Compare:
They took us to the movies as a treat.
She put her hand on her forehead as a clue.
He ate some peanuts as a snack.
He washed their car as a gift.
The phra …
- 3,626
0
votes
Do we say "I will tattle on you to the teacher"?
Long story short, to say that someone tattled is not always to speak disapprovingly of them, but it can be.
The verb tattle means to inform someone in authority that an infraction of some kind, usual …
- 3,626