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1500 questions
32
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7 answers
Is there a word for a question asked despite knowing the answer, but meant to elicit a response for the sake of the audience?
In journalistic writing I often see writers, correspondents, and interviewers use questions in non-literal ways. Of course there are rhetorical questions designed to make a point and not meant to literally elicit an answer.
Instead of that, I have…
Addem
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32
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5 answers
What does this mean: 'Chuck Norris can lead a horse to water AND make it drink'? Why is it funny?
Chuck Norris can lead a horse to water and make it drink.
I read this on http://chucknorrisfacts.com. What I think this sentence means, is: Chuck Norris can take his horse to where the water is and then his horse will drink the water. So, what is…
Rakesh Juyal
- 901
32
votes
2 answers
Is "ageing" the only exception?
have, having
love, loving
make, making
take, taking
give, giving
hate, hating
strive, striving
Etc. When a verb in its lemmatic form ends with "-e" then its present participle omits that letter.
Except that the British make an exception of the…
Michael Hardy
- 2,506
32
votes
6 answers
19th century English texts occasionally use Germanic-style number words, such as "four-and-twenty". When did this fall out of use?
19th century English texts occasionally use Germanic-style number words, such as "four-and-twenty", but the same text would also have the modern "twenty-four" in places (see e.g. Conan-Doyle for several examples).
How did the usage of…
32
votes
14 answers
What would you call a person who is obsessed with being "normal"?
I am searching for a word which means someone who has an obsession with being 'Normal', or someone who cannot bear to be different from other people, or similar. Is there any such?
Context:-
A lives in a western country, and always eats rice with…
DynamoBlaze
- 445
32
votes
4 answers
Origin of "queer as a clockwork orange"
While reading a recent Ken Follet novel, I came across the following, spoken in a gay bar set in early sixties London:
"I am queer as a clockwork orange, a three-pound note, a purple unicorn, or a football bat."
Previous to this, I had thought…
Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
- 20,777
32
votes
4 answers
"Approach to" or "approach for"
When do you use approach for, and when do you use approach to?
(How can I answer questions like this? In which dictionaries should I look? How do I google it?)
The reason to ask this question is an argument with my friend: what's right, approach to…
valya
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32
votes
7 answers
What do you call "intellectual" jobs?
Is there a term describe professions that rely on thinking in a broad sense (researcher, software developer, sales person, marketing, HR, etc...) as opposed to jobs that are mostly physical (bouncer, cleaning person, etc...).
I was going for…
Stilltorik
- 423
32
votes
6 answers
'less' is to 'fewer' as 'more' is to what?
This question is related to the previous one on less-vs-fewer. I prefer using fewer instead of less when referring to discrete items. Something sounds off about less than ten people, in my opinion.
But what about the flip side? The phrase more than…
I. J. Kennedy
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32
votes
7 answers
What is the meaning of "don't mention it" (in response to "thank you")?
I read at several places that "don't mention it" is equal to "you're welcome". But for me, the word means something like "don't go around talking about this to anyone". So what is the real meaning of the phrase and how does it fit in as a response…
Can't Tell
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32
votes
8 answers
"Baggage" versus "luggage"
I have the feeling that luggage is more closely associated with vacation travel, whereas baggage is for general transportation. Or... are they just exact synonyms?
Anson Kao
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32
votes
2 answers
How to correctly apply "in which", "of which", "at which", "to which", etc?
How does one correctly apply “in which”, “of which”, “at which”, “to which”, etc.?
I'm confused with which one to apply when constructing sentences around these.
J.He
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32
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6 answers
What is meant by "pun intended"?
I am not a native speaker of English. I came across many articles which used the phrase "pun intended". In many cases I am not able to grasp the meaning of the sentence as what this phrase mean in the context. For example,
Behavioural experts say…
bubble
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32
votes
13 answers
Any equivalent to this Persian proverb "The yellow dog is the jackal's brother"?
Suppose you have a new boss and your former boss was a vicious and dictator one. Now you are visiting the new boss for the first time. He seems to be a nice person to you, but one of your colleagues who has worked with him before, after hearing your…
Soudabeh
- 9,217
32
votes
4 answers
Is it a "driver license" or a "driver's license" or a "drivers license" or...what?
I've often wondered why my Ohio license is called a "driver license". It is awkward to say it like that.
Wouldn't something like driver's license be more appropriate?
Or driving license (like hunting license)?
(Note: image above shows driver,…
Michael Haren
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