Questions tagged [phrases]
This tag is for questions about phrases in the linguistic sense. In linguistics a “phrase” is a group of words that make a unit of syntax with a single grammatical function. Use [phrase-requests] if you are searching for a phrase.
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Is 'Ears like a Shite Hawk' an expression for someone with good hearing? [closed]
I'm sure someone used to use this expression for someone with good hearing.
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Welcome as short version of "you are welcome" [migrated]
Is it possible to say welcome instead of you are welcome?
What would be the short response to a thank you, especially in written communication?
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Stop blowing your load in the Golden Arches
While doing some research I came across the following phrase:
“Young men do not need to proactively freeze their sperm,” says David Ryley, a reproductive endocrinologist at Boston IVF. “If men want ...
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Specific term for a "Synonym Phrase"?
Is there a specific term for a pair of phrases where each word technically has the same or similar meaning, but when taken together, has a completely different meaning or implication?
I used Synonym ...
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Why is "second" an adverb in "came a close second"?
Consider the following example sentence excerpted from Oxford Learner's Dictionaries:
One of the smaller parties came a close second (= nearly won).
Much to my surprise, the example sentence is ...
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Why do phrases "By fair means or foul" and "By hook or by crook" have such different use of preposition 'By'?
Both idioms have pretty much the same meaning. Both are centuries old idioms. However, one uses preposition 'by' twice while the other doesn't. Why? Can someone please explain what am I missing here?
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What is "with the larger group being the first to flee" called? [duplicate]
I've been reading about the lore of Red Dead Redemption 2, I came across a certain phrase that I wonder about its name and what is the kind of function it serves. I have seen it elsewhere many times, ...
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Why does the phrase "as a mapping out of a..." work?
"This deck of cards can be viewed as a mapping out of a spiritual journey, one that parallels the journey of faith and discovery found in Anderson's book."
I am specifically wondering about ...
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Can we transform verbs from one form to another?
The complex transitive form "verb + direct object + to+ v¹":
It takes two hours to get to the airport.
Now can we use the simple form "verb + Direct object".
For example,
It ...
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Is "go through the effort" a new variant of "go to the effort" or is it a long-standing, maybe regional, variant?
I'm 99% sure I've always used and read and heard "go to the effort" but I've started noticing in the past year or so that people younger than me, at least on YouTube are saying "go ...
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Looking for a word that is grouping a bunch of supportive phrases [duplicate]
What would the word be for a list of phrases you would say to someone if they posted that something negative happened to them? People reply things like
sorry to hear that
hope you're ok
but you're ...
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Mid-sentence phrase where you need 1 of 2 things but could also have both as well
I have been losing sleep over this, I have used this string of words before but can not think of it the best way I can describe it is in the title I believe it uses a combination of “if, and, or” and ...
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On-demand treatment or Required treament?
I'm struggling to name a department in my hospital in English.
This department provides paid treament services. I mean that we serve the needs of our patients.
Should I use "Department of On-...
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How to use " I have got to hand it to you " [closed]
I just want to know how to use this idiom as I came across it yesterday.
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"A good thing about still living in the house we grew up in"
(From A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe, Part II Cambridge Choir, chapter 16)
(A letter from Uncle Robert)
. . . We might pop up to Cambridge for evensong every now and then, though I'm not ...
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