Search found 714 matches
- Mon Jan 25, 2021 9:57 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Hew
- Replies: 6
- Views: 594
Re: Hew
Etymonline has this to say on the question: "Seemingly contradictory sense of "hold fast, stick to" (in phrase hew to), 1891, developed from earlier figurative phrase hew to the line "stick to a course," literally "cut evenly with an axe or saw."" Thanks. So it seems that the similar double meaning...
- Mon Jan 25, 2021 2:33 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Hew
- Replies: 6
- Views: 594
Re: Hew
Both 'hew' and 'cleave' have the same two opposite meanings of 'cut' and 'adhere (to)'. But I note that the two meanings of 'cleave' have different etymologies. How can the similar dual meaning of 'hew' be explained? Could the 'adhere to' meaning of 'hew' have been subconsciously influenced by 'clea...
- Sun Jan 24, 2021 9:57 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Leviathan
- Replies: 2
- Views: 78
Re: Leviathan
"Not to mention..." is an example of a rhetorical device called apophasis, whereby one refers to something while claiming not to refer to it.
http://alphadictionary.com/goodword/word/apophasis
http://alphadictionary.com/goodword/word/apophasis
- Wed Jan 06, 2021 1:42 am
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: prosody
- Replies: 0
- Views: 388
prosody
prosody
1. The study of metre, rhyme and versification in poetry.
2. The patterns of stress and intonation (pitch) in speech.
1. The study of metre, rhyme and versification in poetry.
2. The patterns of stress and intonation (pitch) in speech.
- Sat Jan 02, 2021 1:32 am
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: Hobby
- Replies: 2
- Views: 2146
Re: Hobby
The name of the game 'Subbuteo' is a pun on the word 'hobby' (the bird/a pastime).In addition, I wonder about the link to the eponymous football game Subbuteo
'Buteo' is Latin for 'buzzard', so 'subbuteo' is an 'under-buzzard', i.e. a small buzzard.
- Thu Dec 17, 2020 10:09 pm
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: Zetetic
- Replies: 2
- Views: 2160
Re: Zetetic
Is there any difference in meaning between 'zetetic' and 'empirical'?
- Tue Nov 10, 2020 10:48 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Verily
- Replies: 13
- Views: 1433
Re: Verily
We still use very as an adjective in such expressions as "the very thing I wanted" and "the very devil of a problem".The sense of very changed in the 15th century to "greatly, extremely", but that of the duplicated adverb verily remained true to its roots.
- Tue Oct 13, 2020 8:43 am
- Forum: Site News
- Topic: Traffic drop
- Replies: 9
- Views: 1491
Re: Traffic drop
Everything on the site is working OK for me. No problems. With regard to David Myer's posts above, another regular member we lost some years ago was Saparris, with whom I used to write 'Group Poems' (see Res Diversae). I don't know about Daniel Obertance – he is not in the List of Members, and there...
- Fri Oct 02, 2020 8:13 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Luthier
- Replies: 8
- Views: 1247
Re: Luthier
Most Americans say "th" when speaking of the German airline "Lufthansa" and I am OK with that. I suppose the "proper" pronunciation of "Neanderthal" also requires a "t" not a "th," but I don't feel like a caveman because I pronounce all the letters in the word. In the UK we pronounce "Lufthansa" wi...
- Fri Sep 25, 2020 8:58 pm
- Forum: Idioms
- Topic: Back in the day
- Replies: 3
- Views: 1748
Re: Back in the day
Thanks a lot for the information. I suspected that this idiom is of recent origin. It seems to have caught on quickly.
- Thu Sep 24, 2020 1:21 am
- Forum: Idioms
- Topic: Back in the day
- Replies: 3
- Views: 1748
Back in the day
Back in the day (A long while ago, especially at a time of which one has happy memories) This, as a complete expression (rather than "Back in the day when...") seems to be a fairly new idiom. I would be interested in any views about its use, and date and place of origin. Is it a specifically Britis...
- Mon Sep 14, 2020 10:01 pm
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: Avenue
- Replies: 3
- Views: 673
Re: Avenue
'Avenue Road' (something of a tautology) and 'The Avenue' are very common street names. Don't you hate those ridiculous computer programs that ask for the street name and want the word 'street' or whatever in the next field and they offer all the alternatives the silly programmer could think of? Usu...
- Mon Sep 14, 2020 1:26 am
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: Avenue
- Replies: 3
- Views: 673
Avenue
avenue From Latin via French. Originally 'approach' or 'way of approach', then 'approach road to a country house', then 'wide road lined with trees', then any wide street, then used randomly for the names of residential streets. Still used to mean 'approach' in a non-physical sense, e.g. 'avenue of...
- Mon Jul 20, 2020 11:47 pm
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: Cockeyed
- Replies: 1
- Views: 1134
Cockeyed
cockeyed
Crooked, absurd, drunk, or having a squint.
Crooked, absurd, drunk, or having a squint.
- Thu Jun 04, 2020 11:10 pm
- Forum: Res Diversae
- Topic: Palindromes
- Replies: 4
- Views: 10320
Re: Palindromes
It is, of course, more difficult to make the spaces as well as the letters symmetrical. The best I can do at present is the following:
No pay? God, pets! I spot Bateman. No tub, but on nametab tops I step. Dog, yap on!
No pay? God, pets! I spot Bateman. No tub, but on nametab tops I step. Dog, yap on!