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Questions tagged [expressions]

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This tag is for questions which a dictionary cannot answer asking the meaning of a particular expression.

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Which of the following expressions, if any, are correct? following on from last month's meeting following last month's meeting Context: Following [on from] last month's meeting and in preparation ...
Franck Dernoncourt's user avatar
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My friend said: She got her hand at stitching her own dress. Which, I guess is not idiomatic, is it? Is there a construction 'got one's hand at doing something' to mean 'finally found time for doing ...
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I am wondering why this expression is not found in Ngrams but there are a few examples in Google Books, though, true, mostly by non-natives. The databases are supposed to be the same, aren't they? How ...
Crassy's user avatar
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I came across this expression, "don't touch my cake". Googling results seems to indicate that it is mainly related to food. But I was wondering if it is also applicable to instances of ...
Desmon's user avatar
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Yesterday, I was with my groupmate to discuss what we wanted to do for our group project. We’d had some beef before and hadn’t been on speaking terms since. Even though I made several attempts to ...
Underwood's user avatar
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Please consider these sentences: 1.　If he’s Italian next year by acquiring Italian nationality, he’ll be European. 2.　If he’s Italian next year by acquiring Italian citizenship, he’ll be European. 3.　...
GWisdom's user avatar
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I just came across that expression that many people find very funny: You know you are old when you clean to the music you used to drink to. Reading many threads on different websites, I still don't ...
OldPadawan's user avatar
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Reading about Henry VIII and queen consort Anne Boleyn, I came to the part where Catherine of Aragon died. On 8 January 1536, news of Catherine of Aragon's death reached Anne and the King, who was ...
OldPadawan's user avatar
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In the movie Terminator, a guy says, Hey, I think this guy's a couple cans short of a six-pack. I think I can read Hey through guy's. Is that 's is short of is? or a possessive expression? What does ...
Jin Kwon's user avatar
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I know that expressions of frequency (once a day, twice a week, three times a month, every day, biweekly, monthly, daily, annually, etc.) usually go at the end of a sentence. Example: I hike to the ...
Alexander Jorgensen's user avatar
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Could someone help me understand what does "predecessor-but-eight" mean in the sentence below taken from an Economist article? Is it some sort of a construction or a formal/old-fashioned ...
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I'm an English teacher and a student of mine just asked me this. It should be noted that he's a software developer, so I'm assuming this is in reference to missing small mistakes because he's ...
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I've been wondering if English uses "die" (imperative) to express hostility. Background is, in Japanese, the literal "die" is often used as a sort of swear word, like "fxxk ...
sundowner's user avatar
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So I was listening to Sawano Hiroyuki's music ViEW on YouTube when I read this comment: In case anyone is wondering, "Don't let me get me" means "Don't let me hurt myself." There'...
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https://vivfortoday.com/relationships/dear-mom/ I wish you weren’t a stranger. "Mark remembers you. He was eight when you passed away. Sometimes I envy the fact that he has his memory to go on. ...
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The full text is from the story of The Little Prince: In the course of this life I have had a great many encounters with a great many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence. ...
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I saw this expression : ((by the ears)) in the story that its name is the (unparalleled adventure of one hans pfaall) : the full text is :By late accounts from Rotterdam, that city seems to be in ...
Milad's user avatar
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"being" in this context Meaning of italic text (The above two links are previous discussions related to this post.) Taken from Happiness for Humans by P.Z. Reizin Okay, I am. Just a bit. 8....
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Taken from Happiness for Humans by P.Z. Reizin "Okay, I am. Just a bit. 8.603 per cent tempted if you’d like me to put a figure on it. Jen and I know a lot about one another’s taste in music and ...
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The 10 AI Innovations Expected to Revolutionize 2024–2025 YouTube video (time frame 3:45) Number eight: GPT-5. Unless you're a time traveler who just arrived in today's digital age from the Stone Age,...
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And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let ...
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In this YouTube video, "How to Write Emails Like a White Lady", the speaker explains a character called Audrina, who is on one end of a spectrum where Karen, the meme, is on the other end. ...
Detaroit's user avatar
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Explain whether the plans are still on top? For example, a trip. If the plans to travel in a specific period didn’t change.
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I encounter a sentence “The district elections and the requirement that both renters and owners be represented will allow better representation of the diverse community” where I don’t understand the ...
VilemRousi's user avatar
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a) What do you have over Tom? Could that mean In what way are you better than Tom. I think I can beat Tom tomorrow. Really? What do you have over Tom? As far as I can see, he's better than you in ...
azz's user avatar
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(KCRA news) More than a decade before she would become the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris was making a run for statewide office in California in a close contest. (FORTUNE news) Mike Lynch was ...
Curiosity's user avatar
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Listen to the conversations and number the pictures in the order you hear them. Sentence one is what I hear in a listening test. But I find this sentence needs a little modification, because you can'...
ForOU's user avatar
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The snake found its way into a vent, entered the gallery and knocked over several items while the gallery was closed on Monday. I see this structure used with other verbs: - make one's way to ...
Yunus's user avatar
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I had a rather surprising exchange with a user, the formulations of whom I found aggressive and provocative. I understand that they don't mean any harm, just have a certain style of expression, so I'...
Konrad Viltersten's user avatar
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This expression or colloquialism seems to have a negative connotation and can be used as an equivalent to expressions with a synonymous meaning. • Not too big in the brain department – (meaning-not ...
Gio's user avatar
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For example, when talking about global warming and the causes leading to the problem, suddenly I run out of ideas to talk about (not because I can’t find the exact words to express what I want to say, ...
Phoebe's user avatar
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Hello: which one of the following expressions is the most idiomatic? I made them up myself. Thank you! To buy some pastries To buy some baked goods, or To buy some bakery products
Maurice's user avatar
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I have a friend who is really talented; he can play 5 instruments. I'm talking to another friend and want to express how impressed I am by the other guy. Can I say: Mann. He can play more instruments ...
An IELTS Learner's user avatar
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In Chinese, we can distinguish students, or even teachers, in the ivory tower from those who have entered the real world, infused with challenges, unspoken rules or norms, and complexities, using the ...
Lerner Zhang's user avatar
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I have seen that many dictionaries say this expression is humorous. If that's true, what other alternatives exist that can be used in a formal setting such as a business meeting or at a meeting in ...
Idk29's user avatar
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Earlier, I needed to make a sentence like this: For dating, it's important not to get ahead of yourself. This made me question what "yourself" here is indicating. This expression means, &...
Gwangmu Lee's user avatar
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In Emma (2020), in presence of Mr Elton, the local vicar, Mr Woodhouse commented on his daughter Emma's potrait of Harriet, a young girl: Mr Woodhouse: Yes. It is very pretty. When It is finished, ...
M. K Ang's user avatar
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This may be a duplicate, but I'm wondering how much I should be careful about saying sorry. I'm Japanese, and often it is said that Japanese people say sorry too easily and it could cause troubles in ...
sundowner's user avatar
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I'm watching Glory Road (2006) and there's a moment where one of the players yells to another "you in my office!" after pushing him to the side to dunk. What's the meaning of this expression?...
Baudelaire_18's user avatar
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1 answer
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I have often come across the phrase "excruciatingly painful" in articles and even in short stories or novels, but is this a correct phrase? Since "excruciating" already means ...
Madhur's user avatar
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8 votes
1 answer
2k views

I watched 'The Crown' and faced the expression 'heavy lies the crown' several times throughout the series. What does it mean and how can we use it in a daily sentence?!
fateme's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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I am reading Limited Liability Companies for Dummies by Jennifer Reuting, and the use of 'impaired' sounds strange to me in this context: I know, I know — you’re busy! You operate on a need-to-know ...
Lerner Zhang's user avatar
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2 votes
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Is it possible to put the time expressions before or after the negative word? Or is there only one way? For example : The students usually don't like eating fish The students don't usually like eating ...
שבי לוי's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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I saw this error message on my university's website, which seems weird to me. After googling, I found no other people using this error message in their apps or websites. But some of my schoolmate ...
AprilGrimoire's user avatar
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1 vote
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I encounter expressions which are a name of a quantity + “of” + a value. Examples: “The car is going at the speed of 200 km/h.”, “The top of Mt. Everest is at the altitude of 8848 meters above sea.”, ...
matj1's user avatar
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10 votes
4 answers
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I'm trying to understand how to express a concept from my culture in English. In my language, we have a term, which roughly translates to casting the evil eye. This term is often used in situations ...
Iman Mohammadi's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
2k views

I'm reading the book The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, and I read this about a Mole: And instead of having an uneasy conscience pricking him and whispering ‘whitewash!’ he somehow could ...
MariaD's user avatar
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An example from Modern Family: Woman1: Desiree just moved in down the block Man: Fun! Where? Woman2: 314 An example from The Office: Micheal: Look (He is pointing out a bottle of wine that has been ...
Alim Gölcük's user avatar
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12 votes
3 answers
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I often hear the phrase "It's on" in conversations, particularly in situations filled with anger or confrontation. Could someone explain what this phrase means in such contexts? Is it always ...
Iman Mohammadi's user avatar
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The context is "Just hit the books and learn what works otherwise I've got no sympathy for you. Just keeping it a buck."
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