8
Generally speaking, the verb is deliver:
[Merriam-Webster]
3 a(1) : to assist (a pregnant female) in giving birth
// The doctor delivered several women.
3 a(2) : to aid in the birth of
// delivered a baby
3 b : to give birth to
// His wife delivered a healthy baby girl.
Based on this definition, the example ...
3
The F-word: Is there a polite but equally emphatic and concise alternative to this specific meaning?
"To hell with them!" If that's too strong, you can slide back down the axis running from acceptability to force by substituting "heck".
3
The analogous word is necessitates:
[Merriam-Webster]
1 : to make necessary : REQUIRE
// Business was growing, which necessitated the hiring of additional employees.
2 : FORCE, COMPEL
// was necessitated to choose some other route
The following summarizes the examples and constructions from the question:
It is sufficient [adjective] ...
2
It is not ungrammatical to say primary reference but it is a bit clumsy, and in the examples may be the only reference. Its typical use is in these examples:
The primary reference for the XXX widget is the manufacturer's data sheet.
My primary reference when looking for a word is Roget's Thesaurus.
I suggest using the word proof (which you used as a ...
2
My girlfriend works in a hospital pharmacy. They had a cockroach infestation in the air ducts. She described what they did while waiting for the "Pest Control" team to deal with the problem, like this:
We trap cockroaches by putting a vending machine plastic cup over them, and sliding a piece of card underneath. Then we carry the whole thing outside the ...
2
You're using more than one sense of 'politically sensitive'. Typically, this is used to refer to an issue where there are opposing sides with strongly held beliefs (for example, in the US, people often feel strongly about the issue of gun control). To refer to such an issue, you might say that they are a "third rail," likening the issue to the electrified ...
2
Thick and thin are generally used to describe the transverse dimension of some long object, whether it's cylindrical or not. You also hear fat and skinny.
Less common, but still possible are wide and narrow. In cases where diameters have numerically-defined standards (e.g., electrical wires or plumbing pipes), you might hear wide gauge and narrow gauge.
1
The F-word: Is there a polite but equally emphatic and concise alternative to this specific meaning?
As requested, reformulating and expanding some comments as an answer.
All I can come up with is something like "damn it" (which is still considered cursing), or "screw it/them", which is still at least a tad unprofessional, depending on the situation at least.
"Damn it" or "damn them" also sounds a lot more angry/hostile than "fuck it" does - "fuck it/them"...
1
The F-word: Is there a polite but equally emphatic and concise alternative to this specific meaning?
Never mind the bollocks, here's the Sex Pistols!
Sorry, I couldn't resist. Definitely what I would say, though.
P.S. According to the linked page, some stores refused to sell the record because bollocks was considered offensive in 1977. Convenient.
1
The F-word: Is there a polite but equally emphatic and concise alternative to this specific meaning?
A relatively recent slang term that could be used to dismiss a person or an ideology without seeming to be vulgar and has the force and obnoxiousness of the swearing is the word:
"Whatever!"
The word itself can be a pronoun or an adjective meaning of any matter or any type. Its popularity grew around the 1990's. It seems to be a more forceful variant of ...
1
As suggested in a comment under the question, a one-off is about 5 times more common in the UK than in the US—at least according to Google Ngram Viewer when it comes to the printed word. (Although, annoyingly, the hyphenation doesn't seem to make a comparative graph possible.)
But the fact that a one-off is more common in UK English than in US English ...
1
Putting the noun into a preposition phrase doesn't convert it into an adjective, but the phrase can act as an adjective, as in your example, "of great determination" more or less equals "very determined".
In "it smells of pee." there is no adjective. Rather the phrase is another way of saying "It has a/the smell of pee." where "pee" is a noun. For an ...
1
Honestly, as a programmer, I would just say "Reports", "Report no" (as in number), Reports count", or "Times reported", as Aric suggested.
Yes, I know this is a necromancy answer, but I suppose it might help someone else in the future.
1
Apparently it is, here are a few usage instances:
From: Apache Lance, Franciscan Cross by
Florence Byham Weinberg
It was easy enough to fake eating when the only light was that of the ceremonial fire
From Performing Chekhov
By David Allen
There's a big difference between fake eating and really eating, and I've never seen anyone fake eating ...
1
Since definition #2 that you quoted does mean "to pretend" then using "fake" to mean "to pretend" would not be idiomatic. You are stating exactly what you mean.
"Are you faking (something)?" = "Are you pretending (to do something)?"
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