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- pronunciation - Is forte pronounced fort or for-tay? - English . . .
Summary: The confusion may come from 'forte' as used in music for strong or loud, which is definitely pronounced 'for tay' = ˈfɔr teɪ In French, the same letters are pronounced 'fort' = fɔrt But those languages are not English, and English has its own rules, inspired by the originals but with no compunction to remain faithful, at least here with the French borrowing
- Where does the phrase hold down the fort come from?
I agree the original should be 'hold the fort' and 'hold down…' looks like an aberration Is it too much to speculate that 'hold down…' could have come from a land-lubbers variation on something like 'make all secure and batten down the hatches!" where the security is against the weather, not a human enemy?
- What is the origin of the term ginger for red-headed people?
I'd like to know the etymology of the word "ginger" in reference to red-headed people In particular, if "ginger" in this context is related to the plant root used in cooking, I'd like to know how
- Words that have same spelling, different meaning, and different number . . .
The closest definition I could find is that of the heteronym: A heteronym (also known as a heterophone) is a word that has a different pronunciation and meaning from another word but the same spelling These are homographs that are not homophones Heteronyms don't necessarily have a different amount of syllables, but these are included Other examples of heteronyms are present, produce, lead
- Differences between propensity, predilection and proclivity
0 They're essentially synonymous: Proclivity is 'leaning to', propensity is 'nearness to' and predilection is 'preference for' Worry about something more significant like the misuse of the words irony and disinterest or the mispronunciation of the the words route and forte
- Is forth and back more proper than back and forth?
"Back and forth" is the more correct idiom, because, well, that's the idiom There's nothing to stop you from saying "forth and back" — a little voice is repeating the subtitle to The Hobbit, which is There and Back Again, to me — but you won't be using the English idiom, you'll merely be speaking words
- What is the subtle difference between and so on and and so forth?
Your editor thought that and so forth was somehow more appropriate to the style of whatever the publication was While it is debatable whether the editor was right about that, the fact that and so on fitted well the style of Vonegut's prose, is not dispostive of whether it fits well the style of some different text
- What is the meaning of pur sang? - English Language Usage Stack . . .
6 It's a French expression meaning pure-blooded (the literal translation) or thoroughbred In the example, he's saying that it's a quintessential example of being argumentative I'm not aware of a famous literary usage, but French literature is not my forte
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