46
votes
Idiom for a student being purposely overly verbose only to make an essay look longer
I would describe the process as inflating or padding my essay.
I might call the extra words and phrases I add fluff.
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8
votes
Idiom for doing something you didn't ask
The word is...
unilaterally (Cambridge Dictionary)
in a way that involves doing or deciding something without first asking or agreeing with another person, group, or country (emphasis mine)
...
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6
votes
Idiom for a student being purposely overly verbose only to make an essay look longer
Dictionary.com
waffle 2 /informal, mainly British /
verb
1 (intr often foll by on) to speak or write in a vague and wordy manner: he waffled on for hours
noun
2 vague and wordy speech or writing
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5
votes
Idiom for a student being purposely overly verbose only to make an essay look longer
It's on the vulgar side, but in college we used the term bullshitting to convey this exact meaning. One who was particularly skilled in it was a bullshit artist.
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4
votes
Alternative idiom or phrasal verb for eating an elephant one bite at a time
There are probably lots of similar sayings, but the common one that springs to mind is:
slow and steady wins the race
Although it doesn't specifically mention breaking a task into pieces, this ...
- 95.9k
2
votes
Idiom for a student being purposely overly verbose only to make an essay look longer
I can't think of any commonly-used idiom. If I wanted to express this idea, I would probably say, "unnecessarily verbose", or simply "wordy".
There is the informal phrase, "...
- 62k
2
votes
Accepted
How to say more elegantly "to move the index in a disapproving manner"?
This gesture is called wagging your finger at someone. Cambridge defines it as:
If you wag your finger, you move it from side to side, often to tell someone not to do something.
- 3,719
2
votes
The "knowledge of knowledge transfer" in technical / non-technical English
Knowing how to transfer knowledge
Knowing how to do knowledge transfer [for example]
How to Do Knowledge Transfer Effectively So, how does one actually
transfer knowledge?
Knowledge transfer is an ...
- 41.1k
2
votes
Accepted
Clinical investigation?
I think you have the wrong information.
In idiomatic English a "clinical investigation" is the doctors trying to diagnose what is wrong with the patient. If there is no ambiguity then, like ...
- 6,905
2
votes
Idiom for a student being purposely overly verbose only to make an essay look longer
Purple Prose is a related idiom, that is definitely critical or derogatory.
It's not specifically aimed at inflated length, but there is significant crossover.
- 21
1
vote
Accepted
Is there any idiomatic expression for accurate vs. not accurate tools?
A word that's often used is crude.
Inexpensive digital calipers are fairly crude measuring devices.
It means "imprecise", or "unsuitable for situations that require narrow tolerances&...
- 3,049
1
vote
Accepted
Is there a phrase like "there is always a tea shop set up earlier"?
To be honest, the entire article is a little stilted, but just about manages to get away with it.
Neither quoted sentence is particularly idiomatic, but the overall intent seems reasonably clear.
The ...
- 16.5k
1
vote
Accepted
What does "he might be pitching you on the opposite of what he said" mean?
There's no expression "pitch someone on the opposite". This is just the verb "pitch" with the word "opposite" in the same sentence.
From Merriam-Webster:
pitch ...
- 48.8k
1
vote
Idiom for doing something you didn't ask
In the UK you could say that they did it off their own bat.
idiom UK informal
to do something without anyone else telling you or asking you to do it:
I didn't ask her to buy them a present - she did ...
- 111
1
vote
How to say more elegantly "to move the index in a disapproving manner"?
The gesture of moving an index finger back and forth to express disapproval is usually called 'wagging a finger' or 'finger wagging'.
If you wag your finger, you shake it repeatedly and quickly from ...
- 70.8k
1
vote
Idiom for a student being purposely overly verbose only to make an essay look longer
"Padding", "puffing up", "pencil whipping", "glorifying", "bullshitting", "bloviating" and "inflating" all work equally well.
- 361
1
vote
Idiom for a student being purposely overly verbose only to make an essay look longer
I'm not sure there is an idiom that is an exact match, but a few similar phrases come to mind. (Perhaps with a British slant.)
"Alice only had one original idea in her essay, but she milked it ...
- 111
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