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  1. What is the meaning of "it insists upon itself" when referring the ...

    Sep 9, 2024 · The point of the comment rather than the literal meaning is they're drowning and he's critiquing films. Drowning is serious as the water insists upon itself, and he's sharing …

  2. How did the word "beaver" come to be associated with vagina?

    From " Why King George of England May Have to Lose His Beard: How the Game of 'Beaver' Which All England Is Playing Is So Threatening the Proper Reverence for the Throne That …

  3. Why is "Garden Leave" so called? - English Language & Usage …

    Jan 10, 2013 · In Australian usage the term is "gardening leave" which makes clearer that the person (often a senior executive with major responsibilities) now has nothing to do but …

  4. Reason for different pronunciations of "lieutenant"

    Dec 6, 2014 · While Americans (and possibly others) pronounce this as "loo-tenant", folks from the UK pronounce it as "lef-tenant". Why?

  5. Origin of the phrase, "There's more than one way to skin a cat."

    Jun 30, 2011 · I couldn't find any use of the phrase earlier than the 1840 Money Diggers reference, but I did find some background to which the saying might refer. Apparently the …

  6. When should the word "English" be capitalized?

    I am often confused how the word "English" should be written in phrases such as "English language", because I have seen both variants: capitalized and starting with lowercase letter. …

  7. Why is it called hypochondria instead of hyperchondria?

    Aug 18, 2020 · If hyper essentially means excessive and hypo means the opposite then how does this word make and sense? It seems like some people decided to improperly make a word out …

  8. Where does the use of "why" as an interjection come from?

    Mar 18, 2011 · "why" can be compared to an old Latin form qui, an ablative form, meaning how. Today "why" is used as a question word to ask the reason or purpose of something.

  9. Where does the exclamation "F***ing Hell" originate?

    Jan 4, 2017 · As we all know, the underworld cannot fornicate as it is not a living being (probably). Where then, did the natural-feeling pairing of swear-words "Fucking hell" come from?

  10. Origin of fag (meaning a cigarette in British English)

    Dec 1, 2015 · This appears to be speculative, and doesn't necessarily explain why this definition fell into common usage to indicate a cigarette. I'm looking for something more concrete …