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1500 questions
43
votes
17 answers
Idiom for situation where you can either gain a lot or lose a lot
I couldn't find a short idiom for a risky situation where you can either gain a lot, or lose a lot, but there is no in between.
In French, we use "quitte ou double", which was the name of a game where, at each successive question, either your gains…
dim
- 549
43
votes
6 answers
What is meant by "don't piss on my boots and tell me it's raining"?
I have heard a couple of times recently the phrase "don't piss on my boots and tell me it's raining", usually in the context of a heated argument so I've hesitated to ask speaker what exactly he meant by it. Can anyone here help?
Brian Hooper
- 36,868
43
votes
3 answers
Why is the plural form of "house" not "hice"?
The plural of mouse is mice, and the plural of louse is lice. Why is the plural form of house not hice?
According to Merriam-Webster, the word house is already longer in the language, just as mouse and louse, so it is not because it is a foreign…
wythagoras
- 2,178
43
votes
21 answers
Appropriate word for someone immune to embarrassment?
I am looking for a word which can be used to describe someone who is very "comfortable in their skin", secure with themselves, and most importantly completely immune to being embarrassed or mocked.
Some examples might include consistently…
jII
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43
votes
2 answers
What does the phrase "Begging the question" mean?
What does the phrase "begging the question" really mean? And does it even matter if I use it correctly? Almost everyone just uses it as a synonym for "posing the question" these days.
JSBձոգչ
- 54,843
43
votes
5 answers
What does "What are you up to?" mean?
I overheard my manager asking "What are you up to?"
What does that idiom mean? Is it an informal/negative way of asking??
HanuAthena
- 963
43
votes
3 answers
Double is to triple as halve is to ...?
"Divide by three" is the only way I know to say this but I'm looking for a single word, if one exists.
user152482
43
votes
6 answers
What is the opposite of the "sub" prefix?
The term subcategories refers to lower level categories.
Which term should I use to refer to higher level categories?
Does supercategories sound right?
Emanuil Rusev
- 1,921
43
votes
5 answers
How is a' in mathematics pronounced?
It often happens that two or more similar values are distinguished with the ' symbol, e.g. a, a', a'' and similar. How is this pronounced?
Felix Dombek
- 1,270
43
votes
5 answers
Regarding Re: ; what is the correct usage in an email subject line?
I want to know what is the recommended way to use Re: in the subject line of an email.
I use Re: in the subject line as a shortform of 'in regards to'.
Whenever I have used Re:, people have told me that Re: is only to be used when replying to an…
Devdatta Tengshe
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43
votes
6 answers
What does "pax" mean in the context of the apartment rental?
I'm looking at apartment ads in Singapore, but I don't understand what pax means. Here's an example:
View 8pm today @ Hdb Approved HDB 1+1 Blk 3 Jalan Kukoh (Chin Swee Rd):
15 min walk Chinatown MRT
furn with ac
avail 15th May
$1.5k max 5 pax
Kit Sunde
- 1,248
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43
votes
8 answers
What's the difference between "big" and "large"?
What's the proper way to say: a large family or a big family? What's the difference between them?
Valentina
- 1,071
43
votes
2 answers
What is the proper use of [square brackets] in quotes?
I sometimes see square brackets used while quoting. My assumption is that they are replacing a pronoun with what the object of the pronoun, but I never know for sure because I don't usually get to see what the original quote looks like before the…
Dan
- 1,051
43
votes
2 answers
A number between 0 and 1 - like a percentage but expressed as a decimal
I'm looking for a word to replace "percentage" for numbers between 0 and 1.
To explain: what I'm actually dealing with are decimals (like 0.12), semantically however they serve the purpose of percentages (the equivalent here being 12%,…
ephemer
- 555
43
votes
9 answers
Is it correct to say "on accident" instead of "by accident"?
There is a great chasm on these phrases in the US. The great divide seems to be currently centered at the age of 40. The younger generation has began shifting to "on accident" for unknown reasons. What is your view?
eruditass
- 1,715