Browsing All posts tagged under »phraseology«

Time of the day

November 17, 2016

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Stop being ambiguous and call your time of the day a spade.

Didn’t do, or didn’t didn’t do?

August 6, 2015

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By the laws of the planets and logic, "didn't do nothing" means "did something." Only if you're language course is called "maths."

The Great Sociology Charbroiled Words List

October 19, 2011

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YOU CANNOT READ anything in sociology (and, extension, the perverse field of linguistics) without constantly bumping into a plethora of pretentious, meaningless words. Those words are what we normal people call padding. The more offensive term is gratuitous padding. Both terms come under the general heading of soloing techniques (see Glossary). If you’re in sociology […]

Phraseology: ‘as it were’ vs. ‘so to speak’

August 17, 2011

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SOMEONE HAS ASKED Learn English or Starve to explain the English phrase as it were, which LEOS already knows since time immemorial that many people (even native English speakers) have trouble with it. The phrase as it were is closely associated in meaning with the phrase so to speak, and this is where the fun […]

‘Add oil’ is lingo spillage

September 4, 2010

3

Why the Chinglish "add oil" used for encouragement is pointless linguistic oil spillage.

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thenakedlistener

thenakedlistener

Printbroker, financial printer & editor. Previously in London, Rome, Tokyo & Beirut. Motorbiker & non-practising lawyer. Wears cowboy boots & a ponytail. Fabulous.

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