The English Oracle

Videos

What do you call the person sitting behind the driver on a bike?

75K

Why do street parking signs say "no stopping or standing"?

12.4K

Why is this joke about elephants and quarts funny?

21.5K

When a foreign word or phrase becomes English

3.4K

What to capitalize in table headings?

21.8K

What is a good substitute that is less localized than "secular"?

579

Word meaning not knowing when to stop

6.3K

Life cycle, life-cycle or lifecycle?

168.8K

Can "anyways" be used at the beginning of a sentence?

18.5K

The sound of a moving tree trunk

10.9K

Why does 'swings and roundabouts' mean 'gains and losses that offset each other'?

66.1K

Is there a word for the situation where you are expecting something and then something totally different happens

10K

What's a concise word for "difficult to explain"

11.3K

Is “Thisness” an established English word? What is the alternative expression that sounds more natural and familiar?

1.9K

When traveling abroad, are you "oversea" or "overseas"?

121.9K

Where did the "art" in "Our Father who art in Heaven" go?

755

Is there a word or expression for when someone passionately wants something, and then discovers afterwards that it's different from how he imagined?

14.5K

"Importance of _ to" or "Importance of _ for"?

59K

What does "please with sugar and knobs on" mean?

3.1K

Does the phrase "pull the chain" have some sort of significance in jails and prisons?

14.6K

Why to use "May" before using "May God bless you"?

178.3K

"A lost cause, that is."

284

The meaning of "People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading."

2.5K

What does a single letter "J" mean in emailing?

535K

A word for "intimate friends" without any kind of romance?

48.2K

Can “sui generis” be placed before the noun?

6.5K

What on Earth does "cheap at half the price" mean?

27.4K

What is a more eloquent way to say "I hope I'm not asking too much"?

182K

Why do superlative adverbs sometimes use 'the'?

3.5K

Is there any relation between "genius" and "ingenious"?

12.1K

Meaning of "bloody" in "Full Bloody Italian"

1.5K

“Blue-green algae is/are present in the lake”?

6.5K

What's the difference between "big" and "large"?

187.3K

What is packaging tape called in the US?

7.3K

Since when did kidnapping come to include adults too?

34K

Word or phrase for tasking an expert with jobs that a novice could do

4.5K

Are there commonly used words to denote different gradations of friendship in English?

3.1K

Opposite of 'contaminate'

1.2K

"Between A and B" or "from A to B"

73K

What does "Easy peasy japanesey" mean?

104K

Phrase for being on an island too long

4.2K

"Philippines" vs. "Filipino"

45.3K

Is "eachother" correct?

14K

Are there synonyms for "love marriage"?

4.4K

Logically, could the word "University" mean the opposite of "Diversity"?

4.9K

What do you say when a person/an idea/... is crazy to your mind?

2.8K

Origin of the "-y" or "-ie" diminutive suffix to denote intimacy/tenderness? (E.g. Bob→Bobby, dad→daddy, Doug→Dougie)

27.2K

What should I say if I am not drunk but I feel that my head is heavy?

15.1K

Difference between "society" and "the society"

85.3K

Difference between "lots of" and "a lot of"

57.1K