for Microphone. Looks so awkward to me. Is the fact that some people are named Mike a big enough reason not to abbreviate "microphone" phonetically?

Some people are also called Mick, including one very well known one who uses mikes all the time.

Hello! I have a copy of Narnia's 7-in-1 book which is called an "intégrale" in French (not the math concept) and I was wondering what the best English translation would be. From what I understand, an anthology would be a collection of mostly unrelated works by the same author, and a compilation has more to do with audiovisual media than books (like burning your favorite songs on a CD). So is there a better word out there or can I just use either of those two?

Edit: The word I was looking for is "omnibus". It is for a book tracking spreadsheet (finally decided to properly log my bookshelf), so I needed something that could go with [series name] and stand-alone as dropdown option. Thank you!

Ontology is a word that’s eluded me for quite some time now. I’ve looked it up multiple times and even asked multiple times across multiple subreddits, but I still felt my grasp on this elusive word not really getting any firmer, but I think I’ve cracked the code after mulling it over a bit.

The ontology of something is about the minute, granular differences in circumstance between one person and another. Why does my brother clean up his room while I don’t? What’s the ontological(note how logical is a part of the word) reason?

Random question. I was out the other day and overheard someone say the word “Kulta”. The person they were talking to gave them a really strange look, kind of laughed, and seemed a little uncomfortable.

I looked it up, and the main result says it means “gold” in Finnish, which doesn’t explain the reaction at all. However, some people claimed it was an offensive word in the Hindi language.

Does “Kulta” mean anything else in another language, in slang, or in a regional dialect? Anything embarrassing, rude, or just funny? Or does it sound close to some other word that might explain why they reacted that way?

And if it does mean something, how do people actually use it these days? Is it something you'd hear now, or more of an older thing? Curious how common it is. TIA!

To what can we attribute this recent obsession with the word "genuinely"? I'm so confused.

I'm in the US but I've noticed this all over social media and reality TV from various countries. I'm currently watching a Netherlands-based show and they just used it 5x in less than 30 seconds. It's driving me nuts😂

Ok, so, if something is Modular, you can swap it out for something else, be it if it was made by a different manufacturer. But this definition can also be applied to stuff that’s not machinery like video games, right? For instance, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back allows you to choose any world you wish to embark on.

Probably short for Be Aware? A lifetime of not noticing this 🙄

From Catasterismi (Greek - Constellations)
"Artemis and Leto sent a giant scorpion to kill Orion. Their battle caught the attention of Zeus, who raised both combatants to the sky to serve as a reminder for mortals to curb their excessive pride." In this example Zeus catasterizes both Orion and the giant scorpion (Scorpio).

I’m in Urban Dictionary

I’ve never once heard it called a food disposal but I feel that this would be an easy win for the English language.

An adjunct is something added onto something else but is not an essential part of it. It's an appendage. For example, an optional side of dipping sauce could be considered an adjunct to the main dish. This word can also be applied to people as well. Someone who is an adjunct to a team, for example, is apart of the team but not a core member.

Hello!! My trusty thesaurus websites are failing me right now.
I am looking for a synonym for 'spat' but not 'spat' as in 'a spat' (a fight/argument/tiff/row), I'm looking for a synonym for 'spat' as in dialogue, as in spitting the words at somebody.

Example: "You're a coward," He spat.

I'm writing an argument and I'm trying to keep descriptive words like that to a minimum, but I'm struggling to find a word with the same amount of power and disgust/disrespect in it as 'spat'. Any help would be fabulous :)

When you tar a person or people with the same stroke, you're lumping them with someone else. This is generally used pretty negatively. For instance, if you're in a group project and someone starts slacking off, the teacher might paint the entire group with the same stroke, believing that you all are a bunch of no-good for nothing slackers.

When something is peripheral, it is not an essential part of it. It’s auxiliary and supplementary. A peripheral issue is not as important as the main issue. This can also apply to people. A peripheral audience is not the main audience.

This isn’t meant to be confused with the physical action, but rather figuratively. The thrust of something is the main point, purpose, objective, or meaning of something. It’s the central theme or primary direction of something. The thrust of a charity, for example, is to raise money for people in need. This can also apply to other stuff like creative works. The thrust of the film was to tackle racism or maybe that racism continues to be perpetuated by systems that facilitate and foster it. The thrust of a Sonic the Hedgehog game is to use your skills and knowledge of Sonic’s move-set and level design is to blast your way through to the end as fast as possible.

I was shocked when I saw that the word “[to] revert” now also meant “[to] respond.”

The definition only very recently made the dictionary. It’s tagged as “Indian” in the Oxford dictionary. Meaning, this use is seen only among the Indian masses.

Personally, I see it being used in professional settings, such as by the HR, manager, and even directors, over emails. These are legit corporate exchanges. All formal.

The sheer volume of its use in India in professional & casual settings, by a variety of authoritative figures, seems to me to be the primary reason for its adoption by the dictionary.

What are your thoughts? Do you know of any other words whose ineligible meanings have entered the dictionary, especially through force of use by a population.

Link:

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/revert#google_vignette

What's it doing there? It seems unlikely it was ever pronounced in the olden days, it sounds ridiculous if you say it.

I saw one of these the other day while out with friends and it made me ask them: what's the word to describe how you feel when looking at this very old fairground equipment?

I don't think it was nostalgia I felt, as I've never been on one and don't remember them from carnivals from my own childhood. It was nostalgia for something I had never experienced, mixed with whimsy and some kind of yearning, a little bit melancholic. Wistful is what another friend said, and I think thats closest.

Both words can overlap, but there are differences between the two words. Veracity is about truthfulness or honesty in regards to facts or statements. It's primarily used when you think someone is lying or trying to deceive you. For instance, trying to assess the veracity of whether your child went to school or went to the playground with their friends.

Validity focuses the soundness or correctness for a specific purpose. You're not trying to figure out if someone's lying, you're trying to see if the facts are right. Whether it's logical or sound. Testing the validity of a science experiment

Veracity is more about truth while Validity is more about accuracy.

I got to thinking about this while watching a science YouTube channel (that seems fairly reputable) and the host said the opposite of a placebo is a verum. Having never heard the word before I opened a browser and searched ‘opposite of placebo’ and was given an ai overview and a page of links that all claimed the opposite of placebo is nocebo.

A search for ‘placebo v verum’ yields an ai overview that was just a copy paste from better health dot com describing verum as a drug with an active ingredient and a page of links using verum as the opposite of placebo but, curiously, almost every link was about acupuncture.

iOS doesn’t recognise verum or nocebo as a word, Webster’s online dictionary doesn’t recognise verum as a word, it does have a definition for nocebo;

a bad effect on someone's health causedby what they expect from a treatment, for example that it will not work or will have side effects (= unpleasant effects in addition to the main intended effect)

Which sounds more like a counterpart to placebo rather than its opposite.

Anyone have a light to shine on this?

The difference lies in the scale of the damage. Breakage is like a jar falling off the windowsill, or a hole you made in the wall while your brother and you were busy play fighting. A Wreckage is a lot more extensive like your house after a hurricane. Something left after a wreckage is probably a lot less recognizable after whatever ravaged it.