Is this the correct pronunciation of heinous in any English-speaking . . . Those are two allophones of the same phoneme, so exactly which gets used phonetically will not change which word one hears said This is a perfectly standard pronunciation of heinous according to the OED because it uses the FACE vowel In other words, heinous should rhyme with greyness and anus, ɴᴏᴛ with dryness and sinus Quoth the OED
Difference between hideous, odious and obnoxious [closed] I wonder about the difference between 'hideous', 'odious' and 'obnoxious' All three of them share the following definition at oxforddictionaries com Extremely unpleasant While I know that 'hideo
What is the origin of the phrase Gag me with a spoon? How does a phrase such as "Gag me with a spoon" originate? I understand the sentiment as a real concept nbsp;— gagging oneself with a spoon causes a choking sensation without actually constricting
Where did the phrase youre welcome come from? The first references to welcome are found in Beowolf By 1300, “welcome” was being used more loosely to describe something acceptable, pleasurable, freely permitted, or cordially invited
What is the origin of the phrase beyond the pale? From World Wide Words: Pale is an old name for a pointed piece of wood driven into the ground and — by an obvious extension — to a barrier made of such stakes, a palisade or fence
What does “soft bigotry of low expectations” mean? The difference comes in when you're talking about how this form of racism is applied The bigotry is considered soft because it is used to establish the subject of the bigotry as a protected or oppressed class This in turn can then be used to justify things like affirmative action or the actions of said protected class no matter how heinous
Why do British people pronounce “Ibiza” as “Ibitha”? 1) and 2) As @mgb pointed out, the British are rather notorious for pronouncing foreign words in their own way, and the rest of the world be damned Even on the BBC World Service, which is produced for foreign consumption, you will regularly hear heinous offenses committed against the Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Russian languages
ethnonyms - Is Eskimo a universally offensive term? - English . . . As another example of how similar terms can be offensive in some places, but neutral in others: I believe the term "oriental", as applied to a person or their origin, may be considered offensive in North America (with the preferred term being "Asian"); whereas in the UK it is merely a geographical term with no negative connotation (referring specifically to the Far East - "Asia" is a big place!)
What is the word for an action that is considered to be frowned upon . . . I also like its variant, "not the done thing", or (usually ironically "not the Done Thing" ) I first saw the term in Arthur Rex, when Mordred is trying to foment a rebellion: he saw Camelot for the first time and hated it, because "It reeked of the Done Thing" (or something like that; I don't have my copy to hand )
What is the etymology of flabbergasted? - English Language Usage . . . Here’s the OED’s etymological note (lightly edited): First mentioned in 1772 as a new piece of fashionable slang; possibly of dialectal origin; Moor 1823 records it as a Suffolk word, and Jamieson, Supplement 1825, has flabrigast, 'to gasconade' [to boast extravagantly], flabrigastit 'worn out with exertion', as used in Perthshire