English Stack Exchange
English Stack Exchange

Most Popular

more tags
1500 questions
60
votes
5 answers

Origin and exact meaning of the phrase "I have to go see a man about a dog"

I hear my older coworkers use this idiom/phrase occasionally. It seems possibly to be a humorous way to get out of a conversation. Even as a native English speaker, I've never figured out the exact situation you would use this phrase. It almost…
Doug T.
  • 2,690
60
votes
3 answers

What does "non-normative" mean in this context?

From the ECMAScript language specification ECMA-262 page 1 Section 4 This section contains a non-normative overview of the ECMAScript language The text goes on to say ECMAScript is an object-oriented programming language for performing …
P.Brian.Mackey
  • 797
60
votes
4 answers

If I farm, I'm a farmer. But if I guard, I'm a guard?

One who farms is called a farmer. One who waits is called a waiter. One who dives is called a diver. One who programs is called a programmer. But one who guards is called a guard. How did it come to be that this word dropped its -er ending for its…
spacetyper
  • 2,719
60
votes
17 answers

"Can I" vs "May I" in restaurant setting when ordering

A while back, while we were getting fast food, my friend commented on my usage of "can" versus "may" when asking to take my order. I said: Can I have a ....... and my friend argued you're supposed to say May I have a ....... Although I had…
Hunter Frazier
  • 747
60
votes
14 answers

"To camouflage" is to sight as "to ____" is to sound

I am looking for a word that describes disguising or hiding sound with other sound. Much in the same way that camouflage acts in hiding visual objects. I ______ our conversation with loud music to avoid recording. What could be used for hiding one…
Rahul
  • 1,511
60
votes
7 answers

“between” vs. “among”

Today I was cut off in the middle of the following sentence: Between Cook, Strauss, and Pietersen— My friend said I was wrong. He said that for more than two entities, among/amongst are used, and that between is only for two entities. I vaguely…
Akin
  • 1,521
60
votes
11 answers

English proverb for "They danced, but didn't take a bow", as for failing good work on a final step

There is proverb in Ukrainian, "They danced and danced, but didn't take a bow" (Танцювали, танцювали, та не вклонилися). It is used to point out that someone has put a significant amount of time and effort into performing or creating something…
Aeternia
  • 1,653
60
votes
5 answers

What does “Your hair is so white now, it can talk back to police” mean?

Vanity Fair magazine (April 27) introduced a barrel of jokes about political figures Cecily Strong delivered at Best White House Correspondents’ Dinner held on April 25th in Washington under the headline, “Cecily Strong’s best White House…
Yoichi Oishi
  • 70,211
60
votes
4 answers

Etymology of "a pride of lions"

Etymonline does not hesitate to assume that "a pride of lions" is the same word as pride, noun of adjective proud. There would be other possibilities, e.g. a connection with Latin praeda (prey). A group of lions might be a group of animals that go…
rogermue
  • 13,878
60
votes
5 answers

In the word "Scent", is the S or the C silent?

So I saw a post on a funny pictures site... "In the word "Scent", is the S or the C silent?" In particular, how does the pronunciation of "scent" differ from "cent" and "sent"? Small audio references would help me in particular.
Pimgd
  • 663
60
votes
11 answers

You "show" someone a picture. You "---" someone a song?

In Maltese, we have a verb meaning "to show" corresponding to "to see/to look", and we have a different verb corresponding to "to hear/to listen": inti tara stampa (you look at a picture.) ---- jiena nurilek stampa (I show you a picture) inti…
MGA
  • 1,058
59
votes
9 answers

Is it appropriate to use short form of "have" ('ve) when it means possession?

I feel uncomfortable saying sentences like the following: "I've a car" instead of "I have a car" "They've a great time" instead of "They have a great time" "He's a pen" instead of "He has a pen" etc I ask this because I read this sort of thing in…
serg
  • 5,101
59
votes
9 answers

Was "book" to "beek" as "foot" is to "feet"?

"Foot" is a curious word in English because it is pluralized in an unusual way; the "oo" in the word is changed to "ee". Did this once use to be a standard way of pluralizing things in English (or a language that contributed to English), which…
Jez
  • 12,705
59
votes
6 answers

Is there some rule against ending a sentence with the contraction "it's"?

I heard this lyric in a song the other day and it just sounded so wrong that I assumed it must be incorrect grammar, but I can't find any specific prohibition that applies. That's what it's. That rolls off your tongue with the grace of a moose in…
JohnFx
  • 7,464
59
votes
5 answers

Difference between "publicly" and "publically"

I know publically appears as an incorrect spelling in most dictionaries (in fact as I type this up on my Safari browser it keeps trying to correct the spelling to publicly). However I have seen the word spelled in that manner before in certain…
Nikhil
  • 2,071
1 2 3
…
99 100