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8 answers
What is 'explain like I'm five'?
In my recent question, I got this link in an answer.
Here, 'Explain like I'm five' is written. I tried to find its meaning on the Internet, but I got only an acronym ELI5.
Is 'explain like I'm five' a phrase or an idiom? What does it mean?
Rucheer M
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46
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10 answers
What is the difference between "me neither" and "me either"?
I want to know the difference between "me neither" and "me either", are both correct?
anderson seibert
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46
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5 answers
“I had a flat in the centre of town, but I didn’t like living there, so …”
I had a flat in the centre of town, but I didn’t like living there, so …
Why is there no article before “town”?
(The quotation comes from Murphy’s “English grammar in use” 4th edition, page 318).
Zak
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46
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4 answers
How to understand "I had two try"
"You're not the first one who's had trouble with money," said Mr. Roberts, scrutinizing Mr. Weasley closely. "I had two try and pay me with great gold coins the size of hubcaps ten minutes ago."
I think "I had two try" here means Mr. Roberts had…
dan
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46
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12 answers
Agnostic vs Atheist
Every time l look up the meanings of the two words agnostic and atheist in the dictionary l become more confused. For me, both refer to someone who doesn’t believe in God. Is there a simple, straightforward definition for these two words?
Mido Mido
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46
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4 answers
What is understood if I say "I'm an English teacher"?
What is understood if I say "I'm an English teacher"?
"I teach English", or
"I'm a teacher coming from England"?
German Martinez
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45
votes
3 answers
What does it mean? "I can't people today"
There is a shirt with a sentence written on it. The sentence is :
I can't people today
What does it mean? I've seen this link and I know that "people" can be a verb but in this special case, I don't get the meaning of the phrase.
Arman Malekzadeh
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45
votes
5 answers
Using 'very' to emphasize a 'noun' where emphasizing is NOT possible!
Quite clear to me is the use of very before an adjective. It emphasizes. But then, when very is used before a noun, it confuses me.
Furthermore, if it's before the noun which is not definable in degrees or intensities, is using 'very' okay? In other…
Maulik V
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45
votes
2 answers
Photo Vs. Picture Vs. Image : What is the difference between them?
Sometimes I hear people say 'Photos' and some time I hear them say 'Pictures'. In addition, I sometimes encounter the word 'Image'. In my understanding I feel that all of them are the same but I'm not sure about this. So what is the difference…
miami
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3 answers
"A boiled egg in the morning is really hard to beat" - explain the pun please
It's from The Last of Us video game:
A boiled egg in the morning is really hard to beat.
I don't get it.
Here are more puns if somebody is interested. I managed to understand the rest of them though.
Aleksander Alekseev
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44
votes
6 answers
Do you really answer “How do you do?” with “How do you do?”
I'm a non native speaker of English. In our learning we were told that when we say hello to someone we use equivalent phrase:
How do you do?
In response we do say:
How do you do?
But I'm unsure about the usage in the USA or UK. I haven't heard…
Sudhir
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44
votes
5 answers
What do we call 'ketchup', 'cheesy dip' , 'oregano' and things like that collectively, as they aren't side dishes?
With most of the Indian dishes, we are served with something other than side dishes i.e. salads.
Since most of the users here come from different countries, I come up with stuff that is internationally known.
So, for instance, if we have a pizza,…
Maulik V
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44
votes
1 answer
Why did he reject my thank you?
I know "No, thank you" means rejection.
Me: Hey, Bob. You want some drink?
Bob: No, thank you.
But I was involved with this kind of conversation
Me: Thanks, Mr Jordan for teaching me.
Mr.Jordan: No! Thank you!
Did he reject my thanks? Does this…
Realdeo
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44
votes
11 answers
Do native English speakers notice when non-native speakers skip the word "the" in sentences?
I always wanted to know if native English speakers notice when someone is skipping articles during a basic talk?
sushi
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44
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11 answers
How do I say “±” in English?
From here
I thought:
mathematical equation: 1 ± 1 - We can say "plus or minus one". Could I omit "or" to say "plus minus one"?
a signed mathematical number: ± 1 - We say "positive or negative one". Could I say "plus minus one" here?
Because "±1"…
Mithril
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