New answers tagged meaning
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"The jumbo jet was blasted out of the sky." — If we took "out of the sky" away, would the sentence remain correct?
Firstly, 'blast' does not mean 'explode'. Nor does "blasted out of the sky' necessarily mean that.
Consider the difference between 'blown' and 'blown up'. To blow something means to subject it to ...
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"The jumbo jet was blasted out of the sky." — If we took "out of the sky" away, would the sentence remain correct?
The word "blast" is about exerting a strong and sudden force. It has many different nuances depending on the context in which it is used.
In Merriam-Webster's entry, this usage corresponds ...
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Is there any difference between "post under" and "post with"?
I think that the history of usage may be that to "post under" comes from the term to "write under" a name - because the author's name would be on the cover, and their writing on ...
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"What for" and "why"?
"What for" speaks to the purpose of something - what is the goal or objective and is essentially looking forward.
"Why" can also mean that, but also "Why" can speak to ...
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Haven't spoken or haven't been speaking
This isn't really a grammar problem, it's more of a logic one. "Speaking" is both something that could happen for a specific discrete time or for a period of time. You say, "evidently, ...
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Is there any nuance between "is one island" and "is an island"?
The emphasis is different here. "One" focuses on the fact that Hainan is a province composed of a single island. Rather than two or more islands. The latter states that Hainan is an island. ...
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Is there any nuance between "is one island" and "is an island"?
You are correct that either 'an' or 'one' could be used, depending on the context. Unfortunately, you don't have any context.
"Hainan is an island" is probably the expected answer. The ...
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19
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"James flicked a peanut at her." — What can "flicked" mean here?
The most common way to 'flick' a small object like a peanut or pea is to place it onto a flat surface and then to use your middle finger to propel it.
I would imagine that James either placed the ...
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"James flicked a peanut at her." — What can "flicked" mean here?
To "flick" something is to throw it with minimal motion of the arm. Often it will be just a bending of the wrist towards one's torso, and then a rapid motion of the wrist away from the torso,...
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38
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"James flicked a peanut at her." — What can "flicked" mean here?
That dictionary description is accurate, but it's such a specific action, you really have to see it:
(Source)
It's not a peanut, but you get the idea.
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How to make sense of "are precisely as the analysis in (80a/b/c) would lead us to expect"?
If I say, "That cheap pair of calipers has so much slop, they're not good for measuring anything", and then when you take them in hand and see for yourself that my opinion of them was ...
- 121k
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How to make sense of "are precisely as the analysis in (80a/b/c) would lead us to expect"?
It’s saying that the judgments about whether one set of utterances are grammatical can be made based exactly on the analogous judgments about the other utterances’ gramatticality. The judgments are ...
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2
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Accepted
Games people play
Book titles (such as the title of this question) are probably more often noun phrases rather than actual sentences. And obviously noun phrases and sentences can't "mean" the same thing, ...
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Meaning of 'for' in 'read poems for grammatical correctness'
In one possible reading, “for” means “in order to find or get,” similar to reading a passage for its meaning, reading for comprehension, asking for information, working for money or shopping for milk.
...
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at another boundary, one separating the territory of the test subject from another neighbor
Robin A has two neighbours, B on the left and C on the right. If the experimenters play B's song from A's left, he recognises it as B, but if they play the same song from the direction of C's ...
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What does "when using CMOS logic as the resistor..." mean in the following sentence?
I think the correct form is:
"..when CMOS (that is) used as the resistor is replaced with another MOSFET..."
The main idea which is delivered in the sentence is that of the CMOS being ...
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Meaning of 'for' in 'read poems for grammatical correctness'
I mean what they wanted to express with that sentence was clearly "I don't mind if poems are not grammatically correct".
But likely they already had the 2nd sentence lingering in their head &...
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Meaning of 'for' in 'read poems for grammatical correctness'
I personally interpret the sentences in a similar way to "look in something for". The phrase "look in something for" is most often use as meaning opening a container and attempting ...
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Meaning of 'for' in 'read poems for grammatical correctness'
for introduces an end-purpose, goal, or aim: "I go shopping for food." "I hike in the woods for some peace and quiet".
But it's not at all clear what the first phrase introduced ...
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Meaning of 'for' in 'read poems for grammatical correctness'
The first sentence is using "for grammatical correctness" loosely. It should be understood to mean something like "for the purpose of investigating the notion of grammatical ...
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what is the verb for "to make something humorous"?
Humorize is one. The spelling is relatively new (previously spelt “humourised”). Also, I have personally made up my own word… “commedize” for this situation. While it is not a word in Standard ...
3
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"All outta angst" : derived from angst or free from angst?
All outta [something] is an "eye dialect" spelling for "all out of" [something]. That is, there is none of it remaining. The stock or supply has been completely depleted.
If you go ...
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"All outta angst" : derived from angst or free from angst?
One thing's for sure
I'm all outta angst
Society don't bother me
And there's something wrong with that
The actual lyrics include the full phrase "I'm all outta angst", which clearly shows ...
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2
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to hold a conversation VS to maintain a conversation
"hold a conversation" is the term that you would generally use to describe talking to somebody in a normal situation.
"maintain a conversation" is generally used when the speaker's ...
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Meaning of "the usual 'get to know you' banter"
To "get to know" somebody means to spend time with them, usually talking about your lives, interests and views.
The adjective version of this verb is "get-to-know-you". The "...
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"A line of cars swung out of the palace gates." — How will the sentence meaning change if I replace "swung" with "moved"?
A "wide curved movement" as described in the dictionary can be imagined to be one you would see in a large processsion or parade. Due to the typically large number of vehicles and ...
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2
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Is 'bold' used correctly here? "This aspect of this issue seems bolder than the rest."
'Bold' can mean courageous as you stated, but that usage is a little old-fashioned - we are far more likely to say 'brave' in modern English. I'm not saying that use of 'bold' is archaic or out of use,...
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What does it mean if when someone says. “I don’t know when you will get your chance.”
The person is expressing that he doubts you will have an opportunity in the future. In other words, your chances are low.
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What does it mean if when someone says. “I don’t know when you will get your chance.”
I don’t know [when you will get your chance].
The bracketed element is a subordinate interrogative clause (embedded question), where the meaning is:
"I don't know the answer to the question 'When ...
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Meaning of "less something than something else"
Yes, it does mean what you think. Another way of saying it would be "not so much a Moses as a Mister Magoo".
An Ngrams search for 'less a * than a' found examples such as
Walcott is shown ...
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When/If you eat KFC chicken, you are a fast food lover. - do they mean different to you?
As what @FumbleFingers commented, the when version does not make sense as being a lover of fast food is a relatively permanent characteristic.
You are a fast food lover.
BE in this sense is a ...
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6
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Can "slit a bag" mean "unzip a bag" or "open a bag"?
No. "Slitting a bag" should be used and interpreted literally, meaning a sharp object is used to cut it. If a bag is opened some other way, it should be described as such.
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After I said bad things about him, he got angry(,) and I got scared from looking at his angry face. - meaning differences?
In OP's exact example the presence or absence of the comma (pause, in speech) can't make any difference to the meaning, because there is only one possible meaning in terms of causes and effects. But ...
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2
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"He is very excited that he will <get to> meet his idol." — What meaning does the sentence acquire in adding "get"?
This sense of get means be allowed to or have the opportunity to. Using it in your (or Oxford’s) example emphasizes not just the fortunate event but the good fortune that the event reflects, and ...
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What's the difference between "Spain's fastfood consumption" and "the consumption of fastfood in Spain"?
There isn't really any significant difference between your two examples, any more than there is a difference between "my father's son" and "the son of my father". Spain's fast food ...
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Which is the subject of 'Generalising'?
In the active voice, the passage reveals that the subject can possibly be we or one:
Generalising still further, it seems possible that we/one can characterise all grammatical variation between ...
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5
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Does "knee-jerk" mean having a lot of leeway here?
Yes, knee-jerk means automatic and unthinking - so judges had to apply the law rigidly. "A gets to stay because he fulfils the right conditions; B cannot stay because she doesn't."
Mrs Barry ...
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5
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What does the word "another" refer to in the sentence “He could not forget or pardon a lapse in another"?
Here, another means another individual, anyone else. She’s comparing the standards to which he holds himself to those he would apply in judging other people.
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2
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does everything I tell him to
The difference is more a matter of connotation than denotation.
My brother does anything I tell him to.
That could be paraphrased, "Whatever I tell my brother to do, he does. I could tell him ...
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What does merry mean in merry-go-round?
This is one compound word "merry-go-round" and not three words.
A "go-(a)round" (meaning an act of turning or rotation, or a device for causing rotation) is a phrase from Victorian ...
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3
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Accepted
Is there any nuance between 'in terms of' and 'in the case of'?
They aren't interchangeable.
'In terms of' is used to specify which particular area of something you wish to discuss. In terms of money, my new job is very good, but in terms of interest it is poor.
'...
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3
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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 ...
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What does “nine bells” mean?
Before marine mechanical clocks were available, time was tracked with an hourglass. Actually, a half-hour sand-glass. The day started at local noon, determined by the maximum elevation of the sun ...
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What does “nine bells” mean?
As discussed, this literally doesn't make any sense. The system of bells on board ships only goes to 8 bells.
It is possible that this was inserted as a deliberate piece of irony - with the meaning of ...
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"Files can be attached to your email at the push of <a> <the> button." — What is the rule for choosing an article here?
If you use "the" in that sentence, it is not understood by the audience which button you're talking about. In many cases, the person saying this doesn't know which button it is, as in:
You ...
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5
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"Files can be attached to your email at the push of <a> <the> button." — What is the rule for choosing an article here?
The collocation template “P the N1 of a N2”—where P is a preposition and N1 is a motion, gesture, or other action—is simply idiomatic. Thus, besides at the push of a button, we also have for example,
...
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41
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What does “nine bells” mean?
Traditionally, watches at sea—essentially shifts when any one portion of the crew, particularly the lookout (whence the name)—were four hours long. To keep track of the passage of the watch, the ship’...
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16
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Words like "gender-specific" formed with "specific"
Yes, the suffix "-specific" is active, which means we can still use it to create new words as we need them.
It's mostly used to mean that each item or type in the category is different in ...
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I wish X didn't do it now
We talk about present conditions or general truths with the present simple, and we backshift it to simple past in statements in the irrealis mood:
They make a lot of noise.
I wish they made less ...
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3
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Tom was too kind to tell Sally the truth
It means that Tom’s kindness exceeded some threshold and as a result, his telling Sally the truth was impossible.
The collocation too kind as an expression of modesty or gratitude doesn’t work here. ...
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