New answers tagged idioms
2
votes
What's meant by ". . . he went the pace extraordinary"? (go the pace ?)
It is a postpositive adjective or postnominal adjective, placed after the noun.
Some more common examples are
attorney general
queen regnant
matters financial
court martial
So 'pace extraordinary' ...
- 16.2k
2
votes
What's meant by ". . . he went the pace extraordinary"? (go the pace ?)
to go the pace
1829–
colloquial. to go the pace: to move at great speed in the course of a hunt, race, etc.; (hence) to proceed in a vigorous, energetic, or dissipated way. For some reason, it ...
- 41.8k
2
votes
Politicians talk too much
As @James K explains, it is a play on Chicago’s nickname, The Windy City, based on its particular weather, and on the metaphor of wind for (excessive) talk.
Some other examples of this metaphor, which ...
- 5,850
4
votes
Accepted
Politicians talk too much
This is a joke.
"Politicians" are people who have an elected office in a legislature or senate (for example). Their job involves lots of discussion. So they have to talk a lot. Some people ...
- 203k
0
votes
Meaning of "little more o’er the merry-o"
... the devils dance floor refers to the raised wooden platform of a gallows. swinging should now be obvious.
as for the Merry-O its similar to how Derry-o is just a reference to a derry (or orchard) ...
-1
votes
What is the Kool-aid reference?
Speaking strictly to the phrase, Electric Kool Aid, I must confess, as a child of the 70's, I had my share of the, Spanata Concoction, laced with whatever, Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, LSD, was ...
- 1
2
votes
Accepted
What does "You need to keep your brain at the top of its game" mean?
on top of one's game is an idiom:
variants or at the top of one's game
: doing something at one's highest level
at the top of its game in your example is close to the idiom and has similar meaning.
...
- 7,689
3
votes
Accepted
How does it really feel when people say "thank you for your patience" to their clients in English?
In my opinion, "thank you for your patience" is perfectly appropriate when the wait comes to an end: a restaurant patron has been waiting for a table, so you thank them for their patience ...
- 3,526
1
vote
Accepted
pinch out vs. peter out
The correct geological term of art is pinch out.
Here's some text from some geology modeling software called Seequent:
Improved pinch-out behaviour – Previously, if a drillhole did not contain valid ...
- 3,167
Top 50 recent answers are included