12
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What words of endearment may I use for describing a misbehaving child?
This is enormously family dependent, and rapidly changing. Words like "scamp" or "rapscallion" or "scalliwag" now seem rather dated. "Cheeky monkey" seemed ...
- 219k
10
votes
Accepted
What does wicky mean in the phrase 'wicky wacky day'?
It's a kind of reduplication. It has no meaning in itself; it's sound-play that only serves to intensify, to make it wackier.
Why "wicky"? This is a vowel-shift reduplication, and many of ...
- 12.9k
9
votes
Accepted
She got her bag caught vs. She had her bag caught
In American English there's a subtle difference:
Subway Policeman: Why do you have this woman's purse and why is she lying unconscious on the floor of the subway car?
Male Passenger: She had her bag ...
- 124k
6
votes
What words of endearment may I use for describing a misbehaving child?
Out of those rascal is common enough to be understood (if still a little old-fashioned) and the most likely to be affectionate out of context.
Most of those words are usually used to refer to adults ...
- 10.1k
6
votes
She got her bag caught vs. She had her bag caught
I would certainly use get [something] caught to describe an accidental occurrence; as Stuart says, have it caught sounds as though she deliberately caused it to become trapped.
However, I think have ...
- 54.8k
5
votes
Accepted
What does "little" mean here?
'Little' is a diminutive term, and is sometimes used informally in terms of endearment, like "my little honey bunch" or "he's a little hottie!". It doesn't literally mean "...
- 101k
3
votes
Accepted
When does the end of the trip happen if we say "they had a trip to a candy factory"?
The phrases "beginning of a trip" and "end of a trip" are not rigidly defined in English. You have to look at the context and apply common sense. "Beginning of a trip" ...
- 65.7k
3
votes
Accepted
meaning of "provision" here
The second, although in this case it's not so much a condition as a specific item in a legal document.
- 4,672
3
votes
Accepted
Is 'in the same way' redundant '...in the same way as...'?
It's true that including in the same way (often, in such contexts, in exactly the same way) doesn't significantly alter the basic meaning.
But it provides emphasis, which when used appropriately is an ...
- 71k
3
votes
Accepted
Clearing present simple and present perfect with since
To lift an explanation directly from Oxford dictionary, 'since' means "in the intervening period between the time mentioned and the time under consideration, typically the present".
So there ...
- 101k
2
votes
Accepted
What does it mean "The scene struck him immediately and forcibly, cutting through the beer haze like the flick of a wet towel"
"The scene" is whatever he saw. I haven't read the book so I have no idea what that is. From what follows, I guess it was something surprising or horrifying.
Yes, "beer" here ...
- 65.7k
2
votes
Accepted
Does the meaning of "as with" depend on the context?
In each example, the sense is as is the case with...
The second one says that Symbolic logic has grown beyond the circumstances of its birth, in the same way that other branches of mathematics have ...
- 54.8k
2
votes
Is there any nuance between "wildflower" and "wild flower"?
"Wild" as an adjective has a range of senses, many of which don't apply to flowers.
It can mean "not domesticated". And in this sense it has exactly the same meaning as wild ...
- 219k
2
votes
What words of endearment may I use for describing a misbehaving child?
I used to read and hear imp, it sounds almost cute but perhaps it's not so common nowadays.
She's [a bit of] an imp
This tells the listener that the small child sometimes misbehaves.
I believe ...
- 27.1k
2
votes
What words of endearment may I use for describing a misbehaving child?
Some possibilities would be "scamp" or "terror".
Note, phrases like this would usually be used as an exclamation, rather than as full sentences:
You little scamp!
You terror!
- 4,410
2
votes
Accepted
What does "so I'm not" mean?
The key part of the sentence is "I'm not understanding", which means the same as "I do not understand".
Bella is saying the because Duncan can also do the same as was done to Bella ...
- 4,490
2
votes
Accepted
What does "pastels and plastics of Los Angeles" mean?
Pastels are a color scheme:
Barbieland, in the movie, is distinctively colorful. Pastels also have the connotation of being emotionally positive, in a way. “Leaving behind the pastels of Barbieland” ...
- 169
2
votes
Accepted
Is the word "you" used as generic "you" here?
It's somewhat ambiguous. Ruth is a ghost who, as a living human, made up Barbie and then died. So she is talking about herself.
But she's also talking about humanity as a whole. The things that humans ...
- 1,890
2
votes
Accepted
What does "keep it singing" mean?
Answer deleted by me because I didn't realize you can't actually delete accepted answers. Apologies to all.
- 44.8k
2
votes
She got her bag caught vs. She had her bag caught
For the most part, the two forms mean the same thing, especially in the context given.
And they are both a bit ambiguous, too:
they could imply that the subject intended for her bag to become stuck, ...
- 312
1
vote
What words of endearment may I use for describing a misbehaving child?
It seems to be BrE-specific, but the first word that came to mind for me was "tyke". From Cambridge dictionary:
a child who behaves badly in a way that is funny rather than serious
- 3,117
1
vote
What words of endearment may I use for describing a misbehaving child?
A pretty non offensive, endearing way to refer to a misbehaving child is to replace their name with 'Trouble'. You can also use it when they are not misbehaving at the moment but often tend to.
I once ...
- 257
1
vote
Is there any nuance between "wildflower" and "wild flower"?
There is no notable difference between wildflower and wild flower.
It's a fairly common occurrence for English speakers to combine (or sometimes separate) words that appear together.
Because there ...
- 81
1
vote
Accepted
What does "running stuff" refer to?
“To run” something can mean to “manage” or “oversee”, like “running a company” (overseeing the company’s operations; being in charge); or even “running an errand” (doing a small task).
Wiktionary, “...
- 169
1
vote
Accepted
Can 'of manuals' be fronted in '...the most conservative of manuals...'?
Yes, Of manuals, only the most conservative ... would be grammatical.
It makes "manuals" the topic, and suggests that you are then going to talk about other kinds of writing, in contrast to ...
- 75.3k
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