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1500 questions
49
votes
10 answers
How did nominal come to mean "within acceptable tolerances"?
The word "nominal" has a number of definitions.
For example, the Free Dictionary gives seven:
nom·i·nal (nm-nl) adj.
a. Of, resembling, relating to, or consisting of a name or names.
b. Assigned to or bearing a person's name: nominal…
Oddthinking
- 3,253
49
votes
4 answers
How should I punctuate around quotes where the punctuation required by the quote interferes with the punctuation of the sentence?
The American convention in quotations is (typically) to place punctuation inside quoted text. But I always run into situations where the punctuation of the quote interferes with the punctuation of the sentence. How would you punctuate this…
Robert Cartaino
- 2,022
49
votes
8 answers
Is there an antonym for “capitalize” (as in letter-case)?
A word that starts with a lower-case (lowercase?) letter can be capitalized, but what is the converse action?
Google has only one page in the top results that addresses this and the closest thing to a proposed answer is decapitalize, which trips…
Synetech
- 2,333
49
votes
1 answer
What does “Barack Obama’s real crime is presiding while black” mean?
I thought it’s unusual for me to be able to come to the end of Maureen Dowd’s’ article without any second thoughts on her particular turn of phrases when I’ve read today’s NYT article titled “Reindeer Games,” in which Dowd dealt with Michigan…
Yoichi Oishi
- 70,211
49
votes
9 answers
What is the opposite of the Devil's Advocate?
If I am arguing against a proposal that I may actually agree with, then I am playing Devil's Advocate.
However, what if I do not necessarily agree with the proposal but am arguing for it, with the same goal of making sure it is fully vetted. What…
David Boike
- 531
48
votes
1 answer
"Sign up" vs. "signup"
When we have a button on a website for creating an account, should it say "sign up" or "signup"?
I see "sign up" in most places, but which is the correct one?
Harry Dobrev
- 661
48
votes
6 answers
How should I spell Zelensky?
Recently, Volodymyr Zelensky (for this question, I will use the shorter version of his name), the president of Ukraine, has been in the news frequently due to the war in his country.
However, news sources seem split on how his name is spelled. It is…
Joe Kerr
- 791
48
votes
5 answers
Why is a song's radio edit called a ‘7" version’?
For some reason, I used to think that a 7" version of a song was a 7-minute long version.
Then, I started noticing that most 7" versions I came across were in fact around 3:30 long. Upon further inspection (understand "I googled the question"), I…
RichouHunter
- 1,394
48
votes
4 answers
Why "god" in godparent?
I'm looking for the etymology of words like godparent, godchild, etc. In particular, why "god" is added as a prefix? So far I haven't found an explanation. Wiktionary (for godfather) states:
From Middle English godfader, from Old English godfæder…
luchonacho
- 2,201
48
votes
15 answers
A word to describe an excessively formal process or procedure
I'm looking for a single word that can describe that a given process is overly formal in the sense that it requires plenty of steps or involves myriad subprocesses.
For instance, some company is about to introduce a new development methodology and…
48
votes
1 answer
What is the binary equivalent to "decimal" and "decimal point"?
I've been working with numbers in fractional form (e.g. 1/2) and written out (e.g. 0.5). However, the numbers are in binary and I do not know what to call the dot between the zero and five in the written out example. Calling it a decimal point seems…
pngdeity
- 565
48
votes
24 answers
What Are Some Pejorative Terms for the Words "Boat" or "Ship"?
There should be dozens of them, but I'm stumped here. Nothing other than "tub" and "frying pan" comes to mind. If someone witty wished to insult your boat, yacht, or ship, what would he or she call it?
Ricky
- 20,450
48
votes
11 answers
What does "Wine! Because you never got a pony" mean?
The term Wine! Because you never got a pony appeared in a meme on my social media. My first reaction was to question if there was a spelling mistake, i.e.
Whine! Because you never got a pony
would mean that someone should complain due to the lack…
user108066
48
votes
9 answers
Is there an idiom for "winning a contest because you were the only participant"?
Is there an idiom for winning a contest because you are the only participant and there is no competitor?
Dante
- 829
48
votes
5 answers
What is wrong with saying "pleased to meet you"?
I read an article1 in The Telegraph, where it mentions that the phrase "pleased to meet you" was used inappropriately.
When I was little, my mother collected me from a school friend’s party. As I clutched my goody-bag and balloon, I shook the hand…
user2682