"What does it mean?" vs. "What does that mean?" — what's the …
Oct 16, 2013 · You: "What does that mean?" Compare the following: Me: "I'd use the word discombobulated, if I were you." You: "What does it mean?" Pretty similar, yes? Look a little more closely, however. The first pair indicates that you want to know what aspect of the word discombobulated applies to me, and not necessarily a definition of the word.
word choice - When should we use "and" and/or "and/or"?
The confusion is drastically exacerbated by mathematicians, logicians and/or computer scientists who are very familiar with the differences between the logical operators AND, OR, and XOR. Namely, or in English can be either OR or XOR; and/or can only mean OR. As you may have noticed, all of the terms look similar which leads to the confusion in ...
Understanding "as of", "as at", and "as from"
Joel is mistaken when he says that as of means "up to and including a point of time," although it is often used to mean so. As of designates the point in time from which something occurs. So as of some point would mean from the date specified onward. However, his answering of the best way to say each phrase is spot on.
What does "if and when" mean, and is it the same as "when and if"?
What I mean to say by that is that the button will remain disabled until one of the toggle buttons is turned on, and then remain enabled unless all toggle buttons are turned off. Pure "if" doesn't say exactly when the button is enabled, while pure "when" doesn't ensure that the button may be disabled after it's enabled once.
What does the / mean? - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
Jun 24, 2015 · Looking at forms in financial risk assessment, there is a question 'I'm happy investing a large proportion of my income / capital in a high-risk investment'. Is the '/' here being used as shorthand for '... proportion of either my income or my capital'; does it mean 'either / or' and is there a way to express it without using a '/'?
grammar - What does 'a couple of' mean? - English Language
Nov 16, 2018 · Couple can mean both specifically 2 or a small number (generally not much more than 2, but with no clear upper limit). The idiom "a couple of" inherits this ambiguity, but it is more often using couple in the vaguer sense, so unless context suggested otherwise, it would generally be interpreted as meaning "a small number of".
meaning - What does "yadda yadda" mean? - English Language
In a phrase like the usual yadda yadda, what does yadda yadda mean? What is its origin? Please read, this is not the usual yadda yadda! Three things: Because the dumps are quite a bit of work for us, we’re moving to a bi-monthly schedule instead of monthly. Meaning, you can expect dumps every two months instead of every month.
"I am on it" vs. "I am at it" - English Language & Usage Stack …
What does the latter mean? I found the definition of the former on Urban Dictionary and understand that it means I'm going to solve it shortly. For instance: A: This guy is making noise and I cannot concentrate on my work. B: Don't worry, I am on it. I've also heard: Oh, those reds are at it again. in the context of a feud between reds and blues.
"As a mean (s?) for" - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
May 31, 2019 · What's more correct, the plural or singular use of "mean" in the following phrases: As a means for; As a mean for; My intuition is the singular, the second one, since we have a singular "a" there. But common usage seems to be in the plural.
What does "by and by" mean? - English Language & Usage Stack …
There are words in the chorus of the "Preacher and the Slave" song by Joe Hill: You will eat, by and by, In that glorious land above the sky; Work and pray, live on hay, You'll get pie in the sky ...