Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Pother appeared in English in the sixteenth century. At that time, it rhymed with mother, other, and the like. And the like is a tiny group. The ODEE says: “…no source is known; perhaps influenced by bother.” Thus, bother was possibly influenced by pother, and pother by bother. Skeat did risk offering a conjecture about the origin of pother.
Almost any word or phrase can be overused, but naming a topic (agent, "character", or subject) in one sentence and then referencing it with this in the next sentence is an excellent way to help readers through a passage with clarity and ease.
I wish to god we'd both been drown'd / When first we cross'd the herring-pond; / But I may wish and make a pother. / Wish in one hand and spit in t'other / Then ev'ry leather-headed cull / Can guess which hand will first be full.
Stack Exchange Network. Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.
I agree with your "such as" example, but not with your "like" example. I think that the comma makes it clear that the reader should interpret the US as an example and not a prerequisite.
Stack Exchange Network. Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.
The phrase take a powder meaning to "scram, vanish," is probably from the 20's; it was a common phrase as a doctor's instruction, so perhaps from the notion of taking a laxative medicine or a sleeping powder, with the result that one has to leave in a hurry (or, on another guess, from a magician's magical powder, which made things disappear).
Fear not using the word cunt, since it was not considered taboo in public speech until 15c.. cunt (n.) "female intercrural foramen," or, as some 18c. writers refer to it, "the monosyllable," Middle English cunte "female genitalia," by early 14c.
The NOAD reports the following note about the origin of the word. ORIGIN late 18th century (originally dialect in the sense ‘cobbler’): of unknown origin; early senses conveyed a notion of "lower status or rank," later denoting a person seeking to imitate those of superior social standing or wealth.
Here's what "banjax" means - Banjax verb INFORMAL ruin, incapacitate, or break. He banjaxed his knee in the sixth game of the season. Basic research showed that it comes from the 1930s -