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Neologisms are often formed by combining existing words (see compound noun and adjective) or by giving words new and unique suffixes or prefixes. [10] Neologisms can also be formed by blending words, for example, "brunch" is a blend of the words "breakfast" and "lunch", or through abbreviation or acronym, by intentionally rhyming with existing words or simply through playing with sounds.
Beyond the veil [ 2] The mysterious place after death. Neutral. Originally used to refer to the 'veil' that hides the innermost sanctuary of the Temple in Jerusalem. Sometimes refers to just a mysterious place. Big sleep [ 2] To die or be killed. Euphemistic. Could be in reference to Raymond Chandler's 'The Big Sleep'.
This is a list of euphemisms for death and dying in the English language. A euphemism is a common word or phrase intended to soften the harshness of a literal meaning. For example, most English speakers would understand the phrase "kick the bucket" to mean "to die," as well as to actually kick a bucket. Furthermore, they would understand when ...
Tautology (language) In literary criticism and rhetoric, a tautology is a statement that repeats an idea, using near-synonymous morphemes, words or phrases, effectively "saying the same thing twice". [ 1][ 2] Tautology and pleonasm are not consistently differentiated in literature. [ 3] Like pleonasm, tautology is often considered a fault of ...
In English -speaking countries, the common verbal response to another person's sneeze is " [God] bless you ", or, less commonly in the United States and Canada, "Gesundheit", the German word for health (and the response to sneezing in German-speaking countries). There are several proposed bless-you origins for use in the context of sneezing.
Eggcorn. An eggcorn is the alteration of a phrase through the mishearing or reinterpretation of one or more of its elements, [ 1] creating a new phrase having a different meaning from the original but which still makes sense and is plausible when used in the same context. [ 2] Thus, an eggcorn is an unexpectedly fitting or creative malapropism.
Phonaesthetics (also spelled phonesthetics in North America) is the study of beauty and pleasantness associated with the sounds of certain words or parts of words. The term was first used in this sense, perhaps by J. R. R. Tolkien, [1] during the mid-20th century and derives from Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ) 'voice, sound' and ...
We've listed the most commonly mispronounced words and sayings in the English language. While you may think you're a syntax expert, you'd be surprised how many of these you've actually been saying ...