English Language & Usage Weekly Newsletter - Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Top new questions this week: Is there an English idiom that means "you can always find a law to convict anyone"? There's an infamous phrase in Russian (attributed to Stalin's Chief Prosecutor Vyshinsky): "Был бы человек, а статья найдется" Translated literally, this means "if there was a man, an ... *idioms *idiom-requests   asked by DVK 46 votes answered by Canis Lupus 53 votes What does it mean to call someone a 'drink of water'? What does it mean when you call someone a 'drink of water', like at the end of this clip from the Shawshank Redemption? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD07V7Lwacc It's intended as an insult from the ... *pejorative-language   asked by Ne Mo 24 votes answered by Little Eva 33 votes Is there an idiom for "I'm not an expert when it comes to kinds of feces" There is an idiom in my language, which literally sounds like "I'm not an expert when it comes to kinds of feces". Which means that one considers all the instances of some group as equally bad, not to ... *phrases *idiom-requests   asked by Aeternia 24 votes answered by Little Eva 12 votes Are there English figurative expressions equivalent to Japanese idiom 馬耳東風 meaning a person who doesn't listen to other's advice? North wind tells the arrival of spring season in Japan. And incidentally, we have an idiom, "馬耳東風," of which literal translation is 'the east wind to the ears of horse,' meaning a person who doesn't ... *idioms *proverbs   asked by Yoichi Oishi 19 votes answered by Jim 38 votes What do we call 'Shakespearean trash-talk'? A classic example: In the opening scene of Richard II, Henry Bolingbroke and Mowbray seeks the adjudication of the king. They hurl accusations of treachery and cowardliness at each other. They ... *single-word-requests *phrase-requests *literature *shakespeare *literary-english   asked by asef 19 votes answered by Brian Hitchcock 56 votes Giving false information in good faith Kayla and Rob are good friends, and they also happen to be taking a class together at a community college. The class is very small, so the professor knows all of the students by name. One day, Rob ... *phrase-requests   asked by n00neimp0rtant 16 votes answered by medica 7 votes Word that describes terms that exclude or divide people A few examples: A creationist and an evolutionist want to save an endangered bee species. The creationist remarks about how bees were 'created' to pollinate plants. The evolutionist no longer wants ... *single-word-requests   asked by carrizal 15 votes answered by philosowaffle 29 votes Greatest hits from previous weeks: New (slang?) meaning of bass? I have come across the song "About that bass" by Meghan Trainor, and was wondering what "bass" and "treble" mean in the chorus, which goes: Because you know I'm all about that bass, 'Bout that ... *word-usage *meaning-in-context   asked by MickG 6 votes answered by Barmar 3 votes Is "fastly" a correct word? Slow has the adverb slowly. I tend to use fastly as the adverb for fast. However, it is underlined in most spell checkers I use, which makes me wonder about the existence of this word. Is fastly a ... *adverbs *is-it-a-word   asked by Gnoupi 30 votes answered by Kosmonaut 45 votes Can you answer these? a flap in "wedding" and "bidding" I'm wondering if a flap occurs in "wedding", and "bidding" in American pronunciation? I can't hear it out here: http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/wedding *pronunciation   asked by Tim 2 votes Is it "kelly pool" or "Kelly pool"? Kelly pool is a "cue sport" played on a pool table like billiards, snooker, and other variants of pool. But which is more accepted? Capitalised or not? Or are both OK? *orthography *capitalization   asked by hippietrail 1 vote Question about "between" vs. "among" - generic group or distinct members? I have read Grammar Girl's excellent post on the difference between "between" and "among", but I've run into a scenario that has confused me. I used the sentence "Compare heights between these ... *word-choice   asked by jbhak4 1 vote

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