Wordwizard

"Windbag" is the closest noun I can think of, although it (and it's counterparts gasbag, blowhard, bloviator?) are more about someone who speaks at great length but really says little, of substance. There are a lot of humorous descriptions for the person you refer to, that follow the same format as ...

I've always pronounced the name of the musical instrument as "vee ola" but I've known two women with that name and both pronounced their names as "Vye ola".

I've never seen that before. I thought it looked a bit like candy floss so I Googled "pork floss"...Bang! From Wiki: Rousong (pronounced [ɻôusʊ́ŋ]; Chinese: 肉鬆; Cantonese Yale: yuk6 sung1), also known as meat wool, meat floss, pork floss, beef floss, abon, pork sung or yuk sung, is a dried meat prod...

Car salesmen (and other salespeople who work on commission, rather than salary) have a reputation for using "highpressure" sales tactics.They may exaggerate the quality of their product, make statements that are not entirely true, or use other unethical devices in order to make a sale.This was not t...

To "crash" a party or other event is to attend without an invitation...to just show up. There is an American tradition where the president of the USA invites a sports team, that has just won a major competition, to the White House for dinner. Trump has waffled a bit on whether or not he is going to ...

"Insomnia" is a medical condition in which a person habitually has difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. There are plenty of idioms for sleeping well but I can't think of too many that describe not sleeping well. You could say that you "didn't sleep a wink" or that you just "tossed and turned...

What does a (piece of) tail or a (piece of kit) resemble?

I think that "after" works in (a). It seems like an acceptable substitute for "later'. Example (b) sounds fine. That's probably how I'd expect most people to exress that idea. I think (c) is a swing and a miss.

Not always, Steve. I wouldn't respond to that question with "I'm still alive/breathing", unless there was some doubt about my health to start with. If I had just recovered from a serious illness or undergone a major surgery I might use that jokingly. Saying that you are alive or breathing as a respo...

The term "maintenance man' is often used around here, as is "property manager". I think "building super" (short for supervisor or superintendent) is commonly used in the US to describe that person.

Steven, you're always thankful...and you're always welcome.

This exchange happened at work today when one of my drivers came back from making his deliveries: “When I delivered to XXX they were all up in arms” “Oh, no. What now?” “Nothing. It’s all good” “Well, what were they up in arms about?” “They were just so happy that the order finally arrived.” “Good, ...

Soldier on, push through, stay the course, stick with it. These all apply, whether you reach your goal, or not. They describe continuing to try, even in the face of challenges or little chance of success.

I also thought bijou had something to do with theatre, perhaps even a French word for theatre. When I read the quote my first thought was of a Vaudeville or circus strongman...the kind one might see at the Bijou in the early 1900s. Somehow, I can imagine a guy named Victor Orban sporting a leotard a...

Erik_Kowal wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 23, 2019 4:40 am

Another term for the activity is illegal felling, though I don't recall ever seeing or hearing the term illegal feller.

I've known a few "fellers" who might be termed "illegal" but, you're right...they were always called something else.