English phrases

"As the crow flies" is a colloquial term used to describe the most direct route between two points on the Earth. It is most often used to differentiate distance along this route with that along a less direct route, such as a road or railroad, and is generally the same as the great circle route. Some people use the variation "by the crow flies". An example would be the distance between Key West and Pensacola, at the two opposite ends of Florida. Driving, the distance is approximately 792 miles or 1275 km, but directly across the Gulf of Mexico it is o ...

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The phrase "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" expresses a form of retributive justice also known as lex talionis (Latin, 'law of retaliation'). It may have originated in ancient near-Eastern and Middle Eastern law, such as Babylonian law. In societies not bound by the rule of law, if a person was hurt, then the injured person (or their relative) would take vengeful retribution on the person who caused the ...

Including:

• An eye for an eye - Lex talionis in Judaism
• An eye for an eye - Criticisms
• An eye for an eye - External references

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Agree to disagree or "agreeing to disagree" describes or refers to a situation where two or more people or groups of people resolve conflict by reaching an agreement whereby both sides tolerate but do not accept the views, opinions or position of the other side. Both sides typically "agree to disagree" where they recognise that further conflict is unnecessary, ineffective or otherwise undesirable. They may also remain on amicable terms while continuing to disagree. "Agreeing to disagree" is a common phrase in English which may be better described as a situ ...

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A Bad Thing, written with capital letters for added emphasis (and with the words similarly emphasised when spoken) is something which has negative consequences for the subject under discussion. The opposite of a Bad Thing is a Good Thing. Very Bad Thing is an emphasized form, often seen as its plural Very Bad Things. In some cases, a trademark symbol is added, as in "Bad Thing (tm)" or "Bad Thing™". The phrase originated in the humorous parody of British history text books, 1066 and All That (1930) by W. ...

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Catch 22 has become a term, inspired by Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22, describing a general situation in which A must have been preceded by B, and B must have been preceded by A. Symbolically, where either A or B must come into being first. A familiar example of this circumstance occurs in the context of job searc ...

Including:

• Catch-22 logic - Example

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A1 at Lloyd's is an expression that denotes utmost excellence which traces its origins to Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, a prestigious society that sets standards for ship construction. Lloyd's highest classification assigned to iron and steel ships is "100 A1", which represents the condition of the ship's hull as well as the efficiency of the equipment. "A1" is almost obsolete, since it is

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Chutzpah is the quality of audacity, for good or for bad. The word derives from Yiddish khutspe used by Jewish people originally from Eastern Europe, which in turn derived from Hebrew חוצפה ("khutz-pah"), universal to Jews throughout history, and by now it has taken on wider usage having been spread through film, literature and television. Though originally referring to a negative quality, the word chutzpah has developed some interesting positive connotations in English usage. Whereas in Hebrew chutzpah

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Great Architect of the Universe (sometimes Grand Architect of the Universe as used in the public ritual for a Lodge of Sorrow) is a term used by Freemasons (a fraternity which welcomes initiates of every faith) to address God. Freemasonry uses metaphors relating to building and construction, as it claims to derive its theology from the construction of Solomon's Temple as relayed in Tanakh. God is also represented by the Hebrew letters Tetragrammaton in many Masonic tracing boards. ...

Including:

• Great Architect of the Universe - Commentary

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The expression, "a curate's egg" means something that is partly good and partly bad and as a result is not wholly satisfactory, but also not completely unsatisfactory either. An example in conversational use would be, "How was your holiday?" "Somewhat of a curate's egg I'm afraid, the hotel was lovely, but it rained a lot." The phrase first appeared in a cartoon in the humorous British magazine Punch on 9 November 1895. Drawn by George du Maurier and entitled "True Humility", it featured a timid loo ...

Including:

• Curate's egg - Written examples of use cited by the OED

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Et cetera, usually abbreviated to etc. (archaic abbreviations include &c. and &/c.) is Latin for "and the others". It is often used to represent the logical continuation of some sort of series of descriptions. For example: We need a lot of fruit: apples, bananas, oranges, etc. (A common error is the use of the phrase "and e ...

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All your base are belong to us - Transcript. The cut scene transcript goes as follows: Narrator: In A.D. 2101, war was beginning. Captain: What happen ? Mechanic: Somebody set up us the bomb. (spoken in the Flash animation as Someone set us up the bomb.) Operator: We get signal. Captain: What ! Operator: Main screen turn on. Captain: It's you !! CATS: How are you gentlemen < ...

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All your base are belong to us, All your base are belong to us - Origins, All your base are belong to us - Transcript and translations, All your base are belong to us - Transcript, All your base are belong to us - Original Japanese text, All your base are belong to us - Literal translation, All your base are belong to us - Alternative free text translation, All your base are belong to us - Game ending, All your base are belong to us - Related phrases and usage, All your base are belong to us - AYB in society

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In telephone systems, a party line (sometimes multiparty line) is an arrangement in which two or more customers are connected directly to the same loop. Party lines remain primarily in rural areas where local loops are long. Privacy is limited and congestion often occurs. If selective ringing is not used, individual users may be alerted by different ringing signals, such as a different number of rings or a different combination of long and short rings. While this was mostly abandoned with the party line, it has returned as a feature for different people or devices within each home.

Party line, Party line - Telephony, Party line - Politics, Party line - Swingset etiquette

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Languages are not static. They evolve to meet new situations and, when one group devises a new word, others may borrow it. Hence, English has acquired agent provocateur from the French language, Kindergarten from the German, etc. Within a group of native language speakers, different social groups use language differently. For example, the word bling was coined in the American hip hop music community and is characteristic of the way in which people who are members of that culture speak and write but, as a word, it ...

See also:

Americanism general, Americanism general - Explanation

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A number of theories have been put forward as to the etymology of the word "trivia". One variation dates to early Latin, from the prefix tri-, "three", and via, "road". Trivium thus meant "the meeting place of three roads, especially as a place of public resort." In the Roman empire, a trivium would often have a tavern (Latin: taverna). In Roman times, such a place was viewed as common and vulgar, in the sense that we express in the phrase the gutter, as in "His manners were formed in the gutter." The Latin adjective triviālis, derived from trivium, thus meant "appropriate to the ...

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Trivia, Trivia - Etymology, Trivia - Resources

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Many of the early episodes of the show feature a sensible-looking announcer (played by John Cleese) dressed in a sensible black suit and sitting behind a sensible wooden desk, which in turn is in some ridiculous location such as behind the bars of a zoo cage or in mid-air being held aloft by small attached propellers. The announcer would turn to the audience and announce "and now for something completely different", launching the show's opening credits starting with second series of the show. It derived from the kind of phrase used to link i ...

See also:

And Now For Something Completely Different, And Now For Something Completely Different - Catchphrase, And Now For Something Completely Different - Film, And Now For Something Completely Different - Film rating, And Now For Something Completely Different - DVD Releases

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Most English compound nouns are noun phrases (= nominal phrases) that include a noun modified by adjectives or attributive nouns. Due to the English tendency towards conversion, the two classes are not always easily distinguished. Most English compound nouns that consist of more than two words can be constructed recursively by combining two words at a time. The compound science fiction writer, for example, can be constructed by combining science and fiction, and then combining the resulting compound with writer. Some compounds, such as salt and pepper or mother-of-pearl, can not ...

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English compound, English compound - Compound nouns, English compound - Types of compound nouns, English compound - Analyzability transparency, English compound - Sound patterns, English compound - Compound adjectives, English compound - Solid compound adjectives, English compound - Hyphenated compound adjectives, English compound - Compound verbs, English compound - Hyphenation, English compound - Phrasal verbs, English compound - Misuses of the term

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The term Chewbacca Defense was first used in the South Park episode "Chef Aid", which premiered on October 7, 1998 as the fourteenth episode of the second season. In the episode, Chef discovers that Alanis Morissette's hit song "Stinky Britches" is the same as a song he wrote years ago, before abandoning his musical aspirations. Chef contacts a "major record company" executive, seeking only to have his name credited as the composer of "Stinky Britches." Chef's claim is substantiated by a twenty-yea ...

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Chewbacca Defense, Chewbacca Defense - Origin, Chewbacca Defense - Usage, Chewbacca Defense - External link

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Damned if you do, damned if you don't refers to a Catch-22 situation in which one is placed into an unfavorable situation no matter what choice one makes. It is representative of an impossible-to-escape, unwinnable situation. A similar situation is termed the lesser of two evils, in which two evils exist, and one must decide the lesser of the two. Catch-22 logic - Scenario example. Consider the Kobayashi Maru exam in the Star Trek universe: in it, a cadet assumes a command position on a starship tha ...

See also:

Catch-22 logic, Catch-22 logic - Damned if you do damned if you don't, Catch-22 logic - Scenario example

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The phrase "enough money to choke a horse" would not be an idiom, because the meaning of the phrase can be readily understood from knowing the meaning of the individual words that make it up. Note that idioms are not the same as aphorisms or proverbs, such as "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," or sagacious recommendations like "don't count your chickens before they hatch." The idiom differs from other figures of speech or linguistic elements, such as similes, metaphors, analogies, allegories, allusions, jargon, slan ...

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List of idioms in the English language, List of idioms in the English language - What is not an idiom, List of idioms in the English language - A, List of idioms in the English language - B, List of idioms in the English language - C, List of idioms in the English language - D, List of idioms in the English language - E, List of idioms in the English language - F, List of idioms in the English language - G, List of idioms in the English language - H, List of idioms in the English language - I, List of idioms in the English language - J, List of idioms in the English language - K, List of idioms in the English language - L, List of idioms in the English language - M, List of idioms in the English language - N, List of idioms in the English language - O, List of idioms in the English language - P, List of idioms in the English language - R, List of idioms in the English language - S, List of idioms in the English language - T, List of idioms in the English language - U, List of idioms in the English language - W, List of idioms in the English language - X, List of idioms in the English language - Y, List of idioms in the English language - Z

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Simply put, it means that one cannot get something for nothing. Even if something appears to be free, there is always a catch. You may get free food at a bar during "happy hour", but the bar-owner either figures out a way to get you to pay or gets some sort of benefit (such as attracting new customers). This may or may not be true at the individual level, depending on the interpretation of the phrase. Though it is possible for an individual to get a "free lunch" (eg. a company cuts its costs and gains competitive advantage), someon ...

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TANSTAAFL, TANSTAAFL - Details, TANSTAAFL - Citation

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