The Idiom Guide

Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by Poziga, Aug 25, 2014.

  1. KaTrian

    KaTrian A foolish little beast. Contributor

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    I'm on p 155, and it seems 'paralysis' was the only noun to get an article after sort. I've realized Sarah Waters -- or her characters -- really like to call stuff sort of this and sort of that. It's starting to irk me a bit. :dry:
     
  2. passenger

    passenger Member

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    Can anyone use these three words in a paragraph or two in a healthy way that really captures their nuances?

    Assiduous, Approbation, Amiable.

    The more examples the quicker I can get a real feel for them. Thanks in advance.
     
  3. Poziga

    Poziga Contributor Contributor

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    http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/

    Just put the three words in the browsing window. You'll get quite more than three examples. ;)
     
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  4. passenger

    passenger Member

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    wow, nice.
     
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  5. passenger

    passenger Member

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    hah, 100 million word collection and candor strikes once... wow.
     
  6. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    That is one weird resource.
     
  7. Poziga

    Poziga Contributor Contributor

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    You mean this positively? :)

    I was introduced with corpus during lectures on my university. It's good for seeing how words are used in common language. But the corpus I provided deals exclusively with British English...
     
  8. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    Yes, definitely positivity intended. :D

    I bookmarked it.
     
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  9. passenger

    passenger Member

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    Could an echo be described as a cadence? I'm trying to get a better feel for the word.
     
  10. KaTrian

    KaTrian A foolish little beast. Contributor

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    What's the term in English for selling goods unpacked, like all that the customer gets is the product? Like e.g. nuts, candy, fruit, etc. In this case the context is buying single movies from a service provider like Netflix (one term would be video on demand, I suppose). Do you guys have a term for that?
     
  11. passenger

    passenger Member

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    Do you mean like farmer's market or swap meet?
     
  12. KaTrian

    KaTrian A foolish little beast. Contributor

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    No, not really. For example, in Finland we have this "grocery store" that doesn't sell any packaged stuff. The customer picks what they want to buy and basically pays only for the product, not for the brand, packaging etc. It's akin to selling loose candy or bulk confectionery, but this type of commerce is not limited to just candy, but even streaming a movie from Netflix would fall into this category as all that the consumer gets is the product. We call it irtomyynti in Finnish ('loose sale'). Now I'm wondering if there's a legal or official term for it in English. :confused:
     
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  13. passenger

    passenger Member

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    Sorry nothing comes to mind. :(
     
  14. passenger

    passenger Member

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    For future re
    For future references you can go to www.vocabulary.com and type typeof:sale in the search box and it will bring up good results or partsof:commerce
     
  15. passenger

    passenger Member

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    Is there a word for the outside of a hotel walkway next to the rooms?

    [​IMG]
     
  16. cutecat22

    cutecat22 The Strange One Contributor

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    Corridor?
    Hallway?

    In the hotel but outside the rooms or outside the whole building?
     
  17. passenger

    passenger Member

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    whole building
     
  18. cutecat22

    cutecat22 The Strange One Contributor

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    Perimeter Path?
    Or maybe, access path?
     
  19. passenger

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    As I walked along the second floor perimeter of the hotel...

    As I walked along the second floor access path of the hotel...

    As I walked along the second floor outer path of the hotel...

     
  20. cutecat22

    cutecat22 The Strange One Contributor

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    Hmmm. Would they have a path that goes all the way around a second floor exterior? That would be like a kind of balcony.
     
  21. passenger

    passenger Member

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    Yeah, I was wondering if there was another word for it.
     
  22. cutecat22

    cutecat22 The Strange One Contributor

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    All I can think of at the moment, is platform/catwalk/terrace/veranda

    Ooo, mezzanine (can that be used for external as well as internal?)
     
  23. passenger

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    wow, very nice! Thank you.
     
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  24. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    "Bulk." As in, "We don't need a whole bag of flour; let's go see if they have flour in the bulk section."

    Edited: Oh. You already said bulk. :) OK, it's still all I've got.

    But "bulk" wouldn't work for this, and I'm not sure what would. You mean just one movie, no membership, no expectation of a continue business relationship?

    You could make a metaphor with the term "a la carte", which is what I say when I just want the piece of chicken and not the whole dinner. ("Could I just have the chicken a la carte?") But I'm not thinking of anything that would communicate the desired meaning without explanation.

    Edited to add:

    I got curious and Googled the phrase

    buying movies a la carte

    and did get plenty of hits where this phrase was used to refer to a single purchase or rental without buying some sort of "plan."
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2014
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  25. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    I like a la carte for this (though it technically means it seems we don't have a term for this and had to borrow from French ;) ). Certain specific items have a term for this, but the term isn't universally applicable. Like if you were to want to buy your plates, china, glasses, cups etc. individually instead of in a set, that would open stock, but open stock immediately brings all things kitchenie to mind. o_O
     
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