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1500 questions
34
votes
14 answers
Word to describe person who is rich in wealth, but is poor in class?
Looking for a word to describe a person who is rich in wealth, but is poor in class.
I've heard of words to describe poor people who have no class or manners, words to describe rich people who have class and manners, but I've not heard of a word to…
yuritsuki
- 2,485
34
votes
18 answers
English equivalent of "c'est gratuit"
In French, we have an idiomatic expression to say that something was done for no reason.
For instance, if a guy passes by and insults or spits on someone in the street for no reason, we would say "c'est gratuit" (literally "it's free"). It means…
Joffrey
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34
votes
14 answers
English equivalent for "Don't burn your house to smoke out a rat!"
In my language there's a saying which literally translates to
Don't burn your house to smoke out a rat!
It advises us to use solutions that are appropriate to the magnitude of the problem.
Eliye pedichu illam chudaruthu! - in…
NVZ
- 22,590
34
votes
7 answers
Using the expression "the same" for a previously mentioned item
I frequently use "the same" as in the following sentence.
I need the details of XYZ project. Could you please send me the same as soon as possible?
Is this grammatically correct? I have not been corrected till now, but I have not seen the usage…
rest_day
- 4,113
34
votes
14 answers
What is the word for "to do something one considers to be beneath oneself"?
I looked up this word before, and I got a definition which sounded something like "to do something one considers to be beneath oneself," but I can't remember exactly what the word was.
I can think of a would-be sentence, though, save the…
Ryan
- 441
34
votes
8 answers
Precise names for parts of a day
I have learnt these words so far, please correct me if I'm wrong:
Dawn, maybe 4am–6am?
Morning, maybe 6am–9am? The food for the morning is called breakfast. People greet each other Good morning!
Noon, maybe 11am–1pm? The food is called…
Lenik
- 5,155
34
votes
21 answers
How to jokingly express an "if you pay me, I'll say it" attitude?
Let's assume I am an expert in an academic field. I have my opinions, however if I were invited and paid to give a lecture I would be willing to support opposing views.
Question: What would be a possibly ironic (or at least without despise) way to…
macraf
- 2,740
34
votes
15 answers
What is "a room a company provides for eating food" called?
Companies provide a room which has tables and chairs. In some companies, the room may have other things such as refrigerators and microwaves.
I have been calling this place pantry, but I noticed that pantry is actually a storage for food in addition…
Arman Fatahi
- 427
34
votes
4 answers
What is the origin of the exclamation mark?
Granted this applies to more than English, but I hope it's not off topic.
Recently I wondered when the exclamation point/mark entered our language and how. I did search the site for an answer and didn't find one.
With Googling, I accumulated a lot…
anongoodnurse
- 55,278
34
votes
14 answers
A word for people who work under a manager
I'm looking for a word to fit the sentence:
Was it ethical for Bernie, the manager, to quit without informing his ____?
Here are some of the words I've tried and why I don't think they quite work.
Subordinates/Underlings: sounds too…
Julia
- 1,624
34
votes
8 answers
What's the difference between "adviser" and "advisor" -- are both interchangeable?
I work for a financial services provider and we deal with "Financial Advisors" all the time. Increasingly, I'm seeing people send emails and so forth with the term "Financial Adviser" and the terms adivsor and adviser seem to be increasingly…
lomaxx
- 603
34
votes
15 answers
"True" is to "false" as "truth" is to... what?
If I were to reverse the sentence, "I care about the truth" I would want to say:
I care about the false.
Is that correct? It seems awkward at best:
He speaks the truth! / He speaks the false!
This one truth is important to all / This one false is…
MrHen
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34
votes
5 answers
Why is white noise called 'static'?
People often use the term 'static' or 'static noise' to describe the sound of an untuned radio - which is more accuractely called white/pink/brown noise depending on the frequencies present.
I'm curious as to why it's called 'static'. What's…
dwjohnston
- 10,945
34
votes
8 answers
Which is correct: "with regards to," "in regards with," "regarding"?
I have been using the following phrases but I am still not confident that they are grammatically correct and sound right:
"in regards with something"
"with regards to something"
"regarding something"
I have also heard/read people using an…
korchev
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34
votes
16 answers
One word - someone so scared that he can't move
I am not able to find an appropriate word to fill in for "scared".
He was so scared, he couldn't move. He turned to stone.
He was too shocked. He almost turned to stone and could not move.
What would be a single word that has more intensity than…
weakphoneme
- 1,603