All Questions
Tagged with single-word-requests etymology
106
questions
9
votes
6
answers
5k
views
When did "phone" become accepted as its own word? When did phone start to replace 'phone?
In older print publications, I have come across telephone shortened to 'phone, with an apostrophe to mark where the beginning of the word had been omitted. Now, however, phone does not need an ...
- 84.9k
-1
votes
1
answer
64
views
What's the meaning of "QTY"? [closed]
I found the abbreviation "QTY" in an assay (not essay!😊). Can you tell me the meaning of this abbreviation? How can I paraphrase/explain it into ordinary words?
- 39
3
votes
1
answer
69
views
How come that "bimonthly" means "twice a month" and "every two months" simultaneously? [duplicate]
What's the story behind this word, and how did it end so ambiguous, while other languages differ?
There's already "Bimestral"why does every dictionary still uses "once every two months&...
- 4,766
-1
votes
1
answer
103
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Is there a word for when the name of something describes or defines how it is made?
I am wondering if there is a word for this as described in the title.
My example: I am writing about a SWANA ingredient/food product by the name of "Freekeh", which is based on the Arabic ...
- 3,259
0
votes
3
answers
93
views
Does "transparent" have contradictory meanings?
Varous definitions of the word "transparent" seem almost contradictory:
nearly invisible
easy to perceive
functioning without the user's perception
The first two definitions seem to be in ...
- 8,644
1
vote
0
answers
43
views
Meaning of "she has hern" in Faulkner's 'As I Lay Dying' [duplicate]
I am reading "As I Lay Dying" and have usually been able to look up the meaning behind the choice of words that Faulkner uses. However, I am unable to find a satisfactory definition of the ...
- 8,620
0
votes
2
answers
155
views
What does "Sandbagging" (or sometimes sandboxing) mean as an expression in startup or sales and where is it coming from?
I have heard one meaning of it in the context of a personal goal is to set a too-easy goal (i.e., that you know you can easily achieve). I also heard it is coming from golf. Can someone shed more ...
- 6,281
11
votes
2
answers
992
views
Name for when an adjective modifying a noun changes the class of objects the noun describes
When adjectives modify nouns, usually they restrict the class of objects that the noun refers to.
For example:
Red car
A red car is, in particular, an instance of a car.
However, in specialty ...
- 84.9k
-1
votes
3
answers
696
views
Word to describe someone with all knowledge in some field [closed]
Word that describes someone that has all possible knowledge in some specific field, like an expert.
- 203
2
votes
1
answer
253
views
Is "samuraily" correct?
Pahlavāni, knighthood, and samuraily may be different in forms of
cultural output, but all three are inherently from the same
historical essence.
Pahlavāni (پهلوانی) is a Persian word. In its ...
- 2,450
1
vote
1
answer
8k
views
Word and etymology for "small of one's back"
I've encountered the phrase small of one's back often when I was reading the Divergent series, and recently encountered it again on a Wikipedia article. I've searched its meaning on the internet, but ...
- 10.5k
2
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Is "startlement" a word?
I have always thought that startlement is a word in the lexicon. But one day when I was writing in a google doc, I saw it underlined like a typo. I googled it to see if it was indeed a word, or a ...
- 1
2
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Birth of the word "tonite" and its popularity
Watching an old film dating back in the 1930s, I came across the word tonite, the wrong and more phonetic-like variant of "tonight" (it was written on the advertising poster of a night-club).
When ...
- 66.7k
6
votes
5
answers
4k
views
Transformation Of The Meaning Of the Word "Idiot" [closed]
The historical core meaning of the word "idiot" was a person with a low IQ to a developmentally disabled degree.
This sense of the word is now used infrequently as it is considered rude. ...
- 75
7
votes
3
answers
391
views
Closed -> Closure, Open ->?
Am I right in assuming that the word closure is derived from the word closed?
If so, I would be interested to know the name of this procedure and what it yields when applied to the word open.
My ...
- 14.5k