Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
eager or intent on, example: he is keen to get to work on time. desirable or just right, example: "peachy keen" – "That's a pretty keen outfit you're wearing." (slang going out of common usage) keeper a curator or a goalkeeper: one that keeps (as a gamekeeper or a warden) a type of play in American football ("Quarterback keeper")
For example, the phrase, "John, my best friend" uses the scheme known as apposition. Tropes (from Greek trepein, 'to turn') change the general meaning of words. An example of a trope is irony, which is the use of words to convey the opposite of their usual meaning ("For Brutus is an honorable man; / So are they all, all honorable men").
A word is a basic element of language that carries meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. [1] Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consensus among linguists on its definition and numerous attempts to find specific criteria of the concept remain controversial. [2]
Fortnight, a primarily British word meaning a period of 14 days or two weeks. The word has been used for more than 700 years but Taylor Swift’s song “Fortnight” led many curious listeners to ...
Semantic change (also semantic shift, semantic progression, semantic development, or semantic drift) is a form of language change regarding the evolution of word usage—usually to the point that the modern meaning is radically different from the original usage.
For example, in the definition "An elephant is a large gray animal native to Asia and Africa", the word "elephant" is the definiendum, and everything after the word "is" is the definiens. [7] The definiens is not the meaning of the word defined, but is instead something that conveys the same meaning as that word. [7]
Primary meaning Kenning translated Original kenning Explanation Source language Example axe blood-ember Blóðeisu: N: Einarr Skúlason, Øxarflokkr 7 battle spear-din N: Snorri Sturluson, Skaldskaparmal: blood dead-slave N: blood battle-sweat One reference for this kenning comes from the epic poem, Beowulf.
Politicians employ euphemisms, [11] and study how to use them effectively: which words to use or avoid using to gain political advantage or disparage an opponent. . Speechwriter and journalist Richard Heller gives the example that it is common for a politician to advocate "investment in public services," because it has a more favorable connotation than "publ