Feb 20, 2011 · 6 What is the origin of 'bootleg' ('bootlegger', 'bootlegging'), in the general sense of "illicit trade in liquor" (OED)? The Online Etymology Dictionary gives one possible origin, from 1889: As an …

Feb 7, 2011 · Do the adjectives “reliable” and “dependable” have the same exact meaning? If not, what is the difference and when is best to use each of them?

Nov 16, 2018 · A 'couple' is two of something, typically two people or a matching set of things. But it seems like there is ambiguity over what 'a couple of' means. Dictionaries often claim that, 'a couple of'...

Mar 19, 2013 · In the following sentence, what is the meaning of 'in the ether'? Rather than calling some function in the ether and passing arguments, we call a method on one particular object providing …

Oct 18, 2012 · I suppose the large number of "in" prepositions in the phrase can be explained like this: in many languages, including Russian we use the preposition which can be translated into English as …

Aug 14, 2010 · What is the plural form of "status"? @bobobobo: Besides, there isn't a single word not ending in -ius whose plural ends in -ii (AFAIK). Something like statii could only be the plural of …

Jul 23, 2024 · In The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova by Judith Hemschemeyer, we read: In this everyday gray dress, On rundown heels... I thought that "rundown" was a substantive and …

Mar 16, 2016 · On route is a less common variant of the original expression en route: The French loan phrase en route, pronounced on root, means (1) on or along the way, or (2) on the road. It is …

Sep 11, 2014 · What is the origin of "in a jiffy"? Etymology online Dictionary says origin unknown but speculates that it was slang (cant) for lightning and dates it as 1785. Wikipedia agrees but adds that the

Jun 15, 2020 · The difference is not in the action, but in where your focus is: on the present state or the past action. I have been to New York and LA. focuses on your present state: as a person that has …