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  1. expressions - Why has everyone started saying "it is what it is"? And ...

    Aug 3, 2021 · Few expressions anger me more than "it is what it is". It sounds so incredibly dumb to me. And I keep hearing it lately, from all kinds of people: Any sentence goes here. It is what it i...

  2. Is there a word to describe a phrase such as "it is what it is"

    Apr 21, 2012 · I disagree with your assertion that it expresses "a meaning that is meta to its lexical meaning (a sense of helplessness and resignment)". That assertion clutters up the question and …

  3. What is it called when someone implies something without directly ...

    Sep 5, 2024 · Plausible deniability is an expression - usually used in a legal or political sense - used with reference to speech which implies something (generally negative) but doesn't state it openly and …

  4. What is it called when something is described by what it isn't?

    Maybe you mean this sort of entry: recursion n. See recursion. even if indirect, i.e. via other entries. This we would call a circular definition. But something defined by its opposite? What could that mean? …

  5. "What day is it today?" vs. "What day is today?"

    Both are correct, and it may help to think of them in terms of the statements that answer them. The simpler form " What day is today? " is answered by " Today is X " The more common " What day is it …

  6. What is it called when a speaker accidentally merges two words?

    Aug 16, 2021 · There is a word to describe the action of accidentally mixing two words together, such as exclaiming trampede when struggling to explain what cattle do. The speaker tries to say one thing, …

  7. "What kind of stuff is it?" vs "What kind of stuff it is?"

    Nov 24, 2010 · The correct form is "What kind of stuff is it?" This is because the order of the subject and verb is reversed in a question.

  8. What is it called when you "buy" something for free?

    Sep 20, 2023 · Why my downvote? Because single-word-requirest that paint themselves into a corner (e.g. it must be a single noun or a single verb) or that ask for a word which must meet an impossible …

  9. grammar - "It worths it", "it worth it" or "it is worth it"? - English ...

    Feb 26, 2013 · Worth as a verb is obsolete. Where have you seen or heard It worths it or It worth it? What you will find is It’s worth it, used to describe something that has a value equivalent to what is …

  10. single word requests - What is it called when someone presents two ...

    Dec 3, 2018 · The form “ x or y ” (where x and y are possible statements or actions) is called a dilemma. When other options are (deliberately) omitted (implying that the mentioned two are the only realistic …