Discussion Forum
This is a forum to discuss the gray areas of the English language for which you would not find answers easily in dictionaries or other reference books.
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Latest Posts
Where did the “wire” come from?
What does “and of” add to this phrase? That is, what is the difference between:
“I agree. Islam isn’t evil in and of itself.” and “I agree. Islam isn’t evil in itself.”
What is the difference between these two questions?
“What is his motive?”
“What is his motivation?”
If over-the-counter drugs mean drugs that you can buy off the shelf, then why is it called over the counter? Prescription drugs are the ones that you purchase over the counter literally. It should be “off-the-shelf” not over-the-counter. Don’t you think?
If you say “five of ten” in the context of time, you mean 5 minutes to 10 o’clock. But, why is this? “of” is a possessive preposition, so one would think that “five of ten” would be 5 minutes that belong to 10 o’clock. That is: 5 after 10.
I would think that “went to the extreme” would be more natural. Why plural?
How did this word come to mean “a usually inferior work of art or literature produced chiefly for monetary return”?
What does this mean?
I hear this expression every now and then, and I understand it as “screwed”, but it seems odd to say “the best”. Why not “all of him”? What does “the best” imply?
What does this mean? And where did it come from?
