adequate

en-adj

adequate (comparative more adequate, superlative most adequate)

more adequate (comparative)
most adequate (superlative)
adæquate (alternative archaic)

Learned borrowing from Latin adaequātus, perfect passive participle of adaequō (“to make equal to”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (verb-forming suffix)), further from ad (“to, towards, at”) + aequō (“to make equal, equalize”), from aequus (“equal”). Cognate with French adéquat.

powers adequate to a great work

an adequate definition

Proportion therefore your Clothes to your bodies, and let them be proper for your persons. […] Agreeableness […] ought to be exact, and adequate both to age, person and condition, avoiding extremities on both sides, being neither too much out, nor in the fashions.

1673, Hannah Woolley, “Of Habit, and the neatness and property thereof”, in The Gentlewomans Companion, London: Dorman Newman, page 61:

Her legal allowance was not adequate to her fortune, nor sufficient for her comfortable maintenance […]

1811, [Jane Austen], chapter 31, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:

1853, Thomas De Quincey, Autobiographic Sketches in Narrative and Miscellaneous Papers, Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, “Dublin,” p. 254,
[…] in those days, Ireland had no adequate champion; the Hoods and the Grattans were not up to the mark.

All day as I drove upon my round I turned over the case in my mind, and found no explanation which appeared to me to be adequate.

1903, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Empty House”, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes:

John was a perfectly adequate academic. A perfectly adequate academic but not a notable teacher.

2009, J. M. Coetzee, Summertime, New York: Viking, page 212:

Equal to or fulfilling some requirement.


ample

ample (comparative ampler, superlative amplest)

ampler (comparative)
amplest (superlative)

From late Middle English ample, from Middle French ample, from Latin amplus (“large”).

an ample story

Not contracted or brief; not concise; extended; diffusive


another

Jamaican Creole: anedda

From Middle English another. By surface analysis, an + other.

anoda (alternative Jamaica)
anotha (alternative)
anotha' (alternative)
anudda (alternative pronunciation-spelling)
anuddah (alternative pronunciation-spelling)
nother (alternative)

one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter

one man's trash is another man's treasure

one woman's trash is another woman's treasure

Yes, I'd like another slice of cake, thanks.

Thus the red damask curtains which now shut out the fog-laden, drizzling atmosphere of the Marylebone Road, had cost a mere song, and yet they might have been warranted to last another thirty years. A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor;[…].

1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter I, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0016:

Furthermore, this increase in risk is comparable to the risk of death from leukemia after long-term exposure to benzene, another solvent, which has the well-known property of causing this type of cancer.

2013 July-August, Philip J. Bushnell, “Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance”, in American Scientist:

One more further, in addition to the quantity by then; a second or additional one, similar in likeness or in effect.

آخَر

one more, in addition to a former number


plenty

en-noun

plenty (countable and uncountable, plural plenties)

From Middle English plentie, plentee, plente, from Anglo-Norman plenté, from Old French plenté, from Latin plenitatem, accusative of plenitas (“fullness”), from plenus (“complete, full”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós (“full”), from which English full also comes, via Proto-Germanic. Related to the Latin derivatives complete, deplete, replete.

We are lucky to live in a land of peace and plenty.

During this season of distress, the discouragements to marriage, and the difficulty of rearing a family are so great that population is at a stand. In the mean time the cheapness of labour, the plenty of labourers, and the necessity of an increased industry amongst them, encourage cultivators to employ more labour upon their land, to turn up fresh soil, and to manure and improve more completely what is already in tillage

1798, Thomas Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population:


plenty

→ Norwegian Bokmål: plenty

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: plenty

This office is plenty big enough for our needs.

For the likes of her, the down-at-heels support of Hoboken pier was plenty good enough.

1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 1:

She was plenty mad at him.

Seeing clichés mimicked this skillfully is plenty hilarious.

2014 June 26, A. A. Dowd, “Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler Spoof Rom-com Clichés in They Came Together”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2017-12-07:

(Canada, US, colloquial) Used as an intensifier, very.


plenty

en-adj

plenty (comparative more plenty, superlative most plenty)

more plenty (comparative)
most plenty (superlative)

if reasons were as plenty as blackberries

1597, Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part I, Act I, Scene IV:

There are, among the Irish, men of as much worth and honour as any among the English: nay, to speak the truth, generosity of spirit is rather more common among them. I have known some examples there, too, of good husbands; and I believe these are not very plenty in England.

1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:

Radishes are very plenty. Of cabbages a few heads of this year's crop have come to hand this week, and sold readily at quotations; […]

1836, The American Gardener's Magazine and Register, volume 2, page 279:


ever

→ German: ever

From Middle English ever, from Old English ǣfre, originally a phrase whose first element undoubtedly consists of Old English ā (“ever, always”) + in (“in”) + an element possibly from feorh (“life, existence”) (dative fēore). Compare Old English ā tō fēore (“ever in life”), Old English feorhlīf (“life”).
Sense 5 of the adverb was likely formed by association with never, which also carries the meaning of did not in colloquial Singaporean and Malaysian English. Also, compare Chinese 有 … 過 /有 … 过 (yǒu ... guò / jau⁵ ... gwo³, “has […] before”).

sl

euer (alternative obsolete)
e'er (alternative poetic)
ev'r (alternative poetic)
eva (alternative dialectal)
evah (alternative dialectal)
eva' (alternative dialectal)
evuh (alternative dialectal)
iver (alternative dialectal)
ivver (alternative dialectal)

nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people

nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American people

It was ever thus.

[…] the Lord Treasurer, who ever secretly feigned himself to be a Moderator and Mollifier of the Catholicks Afflictions […]

1592, George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax, An Advertisement […] concerning Seminary Priests:

Let us ever remember that our conception, our comprehension, our feeling of God must be ever imperfect, yet should be ever advancing. We must not make God: we must find Him and feel Him more and more.

1860, Florence Nightingale, Suggestions for Thought to the searchers after truth among the artizans of England., page 302:

“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron;[…]. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.

1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

The library staffs of the Karaton Surakarta's Sasana Pustaka, the Mangku- nagaran's Reksa Pustaka, and the Museum Radyapustaka were ever helpful and generous with their time.

1993, Nancy K. Florida, Javanese Literature in Surakarta Manuscripts: Introduction and manuscripts of the Karaton Surakarta, SEAP Publications, →ISBN, page 9:

As with the rest of macroeconomics, the issues have to be rethought in a way that makes the ever-imperfect knowledge of market participants and policymakers an integral part of the analysis.

2007, Roman Frydman, Michael D. Goldberg, Imperfect Knowledge Economics: Exchange Rates and Risk, Princeton University Press, →ISBN:

Kane picked up the ball 25 yards out with 18 minutes left before proving he is ever the opportunist by flashing a dipping swerving drive beyond the deceived Szczesny.

2021 September 8, Phil McNulty, “Poland 1-1 England”, in BBC Sport:

(formal or archaic) Always, frequently, forever.

We've only ever talked on the phone.

I scarcely ever see you anymore!.

If that ever happens, we’re in deep trouble.

This is one of the best movies ever.

He's back and better than ever.

I’ll stop your ever doing that again.

Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter III, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

He said the study provides clear evidence that AI technologies are growing at a faster rate than ever and will continue to do so.

2019 February 3, “UN Study: China, US, Japan Lead World AI Development”, in Voice of America, archived from the original on 2019-02-07:

but i ever ran 5mins using the 1400 cells and the type RR 23T motor...

2005 January 10, hellangel, “Tamiya Asiacup Qualifying 2005 (singapore)”, in rctech.net:

i ever walked from the south to MacRitchie Reservoir.....

2021 July 13, Lchlch, “What are your hobbies in sg?”, in HardwareZone Forums:

(Manglish, Singlish) Indicates experiential aspect, once; has or have (done something) before.


ever

This family empathy measure is highly related to ever use of birth control but not to any measure of continuous use.

1965, Reuben Hill, The family and population control: a Puerto Rican experiment in social change:

(epidemiology) Occurring at any time, occurring even but once during a timespan.


ever

"Ever place you look there's houses and more houses."

1989, Connie Jordan Green, The War at Home, page 16:

Queen Anne's lace ever place you look.

A sign at the entrance to the road going up Snake Hollow reads, “Snake Hollow is a wonderful place to be, Ever place you look there is a beautiful green tree. Snake Hollow makes you feel alive and free.” Lets keep it that way, for you and me.

2011, Michael Blair, Nub and Bow in History, page 27:

(dialectal and informal) Shortening of every


every

Sranan Tongo: ibri

Inherited from Middle English every, everich, eaver-euch, averiche, aver alche, ever ælche, from Old English ǣfre ǣlċ, ǣfre ǣġhwelċ (“each and every”). By surface analysis, ever + each or ever + which.

ev'ry (alternative poetic)
ivery (alternative obsolete)
euery (alternative obsolete)
e'ry (alternative colloquial)

at church every time the doors swing open

behind every great man there stands a woman

behind every successful man there stands a woman

even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then

even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every once in a while

every day of the week and twice on Sundays

every man is the architect of his own fortune

every miller draws water to his own mill

fall out of the ugly tree and hit every branch

you cannot put the same shoe on every foot

Every person in the room stood and cheered.

She watches my every move.

At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors.[…]In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.

1892, Walter Besant, chapter III, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:

Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.

2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:

All of a countable group (considered individually), without exception.


nanti

Borrowing from Sabir nanti, from Italian niente, from Latin ne gentem (“no person, no one”), nec entem, ne entem or ne inde.

nantee (alternative)
nanty (alternative)
nuntee (alternative)
nunty (alternative)

There was no clown for the pantomime, for he had disappointed us, and of course they couldn't get on without one; so, to keep the concern going, old Johnson, who know I was a good tumbler, came up to me, and said 'he had nanti vampo, and your nabs must fake it;' which means,—We have no clown, and you must do it.

1851, Henry Mayhew, “Our Street Folk”, in London Labour and the London Poor, volume 3, published 1861, The Canvas Clown, page 126:

She's with the trade your mother charvaed yesterday. Some omees have nanti taste!

2004, Paul Baker, Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang:

I can't see that over his heaving thews and bulging lallies!¶ Of course he's nanti riah, but with a basket like that, who cares about his eek?

2012 January 10, Karis, “Gareth's bright blue outfit”, in Big Brother Forum (Digital Spy):


much

head

much (comparative more, superlative most)

From Middle English muche (“much, great”), apocopated variant of muchel (“much, great”), from Old English myċel, miċel (“big, much”), from Proto-West Germanic *mikil, from Proto-Germanic *mikilaz (“great, many, much”), from Proto-Indo-European *meǵh₂- (“big, stour, great”). See also mickle, muckle.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots mickle, mukill, mekil, mikil (“big, large, great, much”), Middle Dutch mēkel (“great, many, much”), Middle High German michel ("great, many, much"; > German michel (“great, big, large”)), Norwegian Bokmål mye (“much”), Norwegian Nynorsk mykje (“much”), Swedish mycket (“much”), Danish meget (“much”), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌺𐌹𐌻𐍃 (mikils, “great, many”), Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas, “large, great”), Modern Greek μεγάλος (megálos, “large, great”).
Note that English much is not related to Spanish mucho, and their resemblance in both form and meaning is purely coincidental, as mucho derives from Latin multus and is not related to the Germanic forms. Instead, related to Spanish maño.

gloss

"great, many, much"; > German <i class="Latn mention" lang="de">michel</i> (“great, big, large”)

cog

They got so much things to say right now, they got so much things to say.

1977, Bob Marley, “So Much Things to Say”:

(now Caribbean, African-American, UK regional) many ( + plural countable noun).


each

From Middle English eche, elche, ilch, from Old English ǣlċ, contraction of ǣġhwelċ, from Proto-West Germanic *aiwgahwalīk (“each, every”). Compare Scots ilk, elk (“each, every”), Saterland Frisian älk (“each”), West Frisian elk, elts (“each”), Dutch elk (“each”), Low German elk, ellik (“each”), German Low German elk, elke (“each, every”), German jeglicher (“any”). By surface analysis, Old English ā + which.

surf

aich (alternative)
aitch (alternative)
eache (alternative)
eatch (alternative)
eatche (alternative)
ech (alternative)
eche (alternative)
eich (alternative)
etch (alternative)
eych (alternative)
eyche (alternative)
yeach (alternative)

Make sure you wash each bowl well.

The sun comes up each morning and sets each night.

Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.

2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34:

All; every; qualifying a singular noun, indicating all examples of the thing so named seen as individual or separate items (compare every).


either

From Middle English either, from Old English ǣġhwæþer, from *aiwon + *gahwaþera. Akin to Old Saxon eogihwethar, iahwethar (Low German jeed); Old Dutch *iogewether, *iowether, *iother (Dutch ieder); Old High German eogihwedar, iegihweder, ieweder (German jeder).

He made me two offers, but I did not accept either.

Hodgson may now have to bring in James Milner on the left and, on that basis, a certain amount of gloss was taken off a night on which Welbeck scored twice but barely celebrated either before leaving the pitch angrily complaining to the Slovakian referee.

2013 September 7, Daniel Taylor, “Danny Welbeck leads England's rout of Moldova but hit by Ukraine ban”, in The Guardian:

One or the other of two people or things.

Scarce a palm of ground could be gotten by either of the three.

a. 1627 (date written), Francis [Bacon], “Considerations Touching a Warre with Spaine. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany Works of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount S. Alban. […], London: […] I. Hauiland for Humphrey Robinson, […], published 1629, →OCLC:

And either vowd with all their power and wit, / To let not others honour be defaste […]

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

There have been three famous talkers in Great British, either of whom would illustrate what I say about dogmatists.

1872, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., The Poet at the Breakfast-Table:


either

I don't like him, and I don't like her either.

I know a cheap Spanish restaurant. It's not far from here, either.

But Richmond[…]appeared to lose himself in his own reflections. Some pickled crab, which he had not touched, had been removed with a damson pie; and his sister saw[…]that he had eaten no more than a spoonful of that either.

1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:

(conjunctive, after a negative) As well.


either

Either you eat your dinner or you go to your room.

You can have either potatoes or rice with that, but not both.

You'll be either early, late, or on time.

Either you'll finish your homework or you'll be grounded you home.

You can't be a table and a chair. You're either a Jew or a gentile.

2006 December 5, Jackie Mason, quotee, “Mason drops lawsuit vs. Jews for Jesus”, in USA Today:

Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language[…]his clerks[…]understood him very well. If he had written a love letter, or a farce, or a ballade, or a story, no one, either clerks, or friends, or compositors, would have understood anything but a word here and a word there.

1893, Walter Besant, “Prologue”, in The Ivory Gate:

Introduces the first of two (or occasionally more) options or possibilities, the second (or last) of which is introduced by “or”.


ma

(dialectal, informal) Alternative spelling of my.


how many

We've lost quite a few; I don't know exactly how many.

And I saw how many were destroying the simplicity, and betraying the truth.

1800, George Fox, A Journal Or Historical Account of the Life, Travels, Sufferings, Christian Exsperiences, and Labour of Love, in the work of the Ministry:

Biff then stated, “Take how many you want, they're $700 a piece."

2004, John P. Sutton, Thin White Lines, page 233:

I'll phone later and confirm how many I want.

2012, Charlie Gardner, Rotten Timbers, →ISBN, page 143:

The sticks are now going around, and take how many you want.

2016, L. James Dempsey, Blackfoot War Art: Pictographs of the Reservation Period, 1880–2000:


scant

en-adj

scant (comparative scanter, superlative scantest)

scanter (comparative)
scantest (superlative)

Adjective and determiner from Middle English scant, from Old Norse skamt, neuter of skammr (“short”), from Proto-Germanic *skammaz (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱem- (“mutilated, hornless”). Verb from Middle English scanten, from the adjective. Noun and adverb from Middle English scant, from the adjective.

der

a scant allowance of provisions or water; a scant pattern of cloth for a garment

His sermon was scant, in all, a quarter of an hour.

1824, John Watkins, Life of Hugh Latimer:

Another major defect of the current literature dealing with the nomenclature of hybrid forms of English is the scant attention paid to the question of frequency.

2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide, page 4:

The mainstream media hones in on bad news stories where UK railways are concerned, yet gives scant attention to the many items of good news emerging from the network.

2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Aylesbury (2009)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 61:

Not full, large, or plentiful; scarcely sufficient; scanty; meager.

a scant cup of sugar

(cooking, of a measurement) Slightly diminished; just short of the amount described.


scant

After his previous escapades, Mary had scant reason to believe John.

(as pronoun) The failure of this project has scant to do with me.

The summer I answered my first personals, I was a 19-year-old dyke living alone in a three-room bachelorette pad, scant blocks from Main Street, Waltham, Massachusetts.

1979 April 7, Pat M. Kuras, “Advertising for Love”, in Gay Community News, page 11:

[Minnesota Senator Steve] Daines isn’t the only example of right-wing politicians who wish to wield anti-Semitism as a convenient cudgel against their political enemies, with scant if any evidence. But Montana’s vanishingly small Jewish population makes it particularly clear that this strategy has little to do with flesh-and-blood Jews at all.

2019 July 17, Talia Lavin, “When Non-Jews Wield Anti-Semitism as Political Shield”, in GQ:


yo

Yo sandwich has only bacon in it. Want some ketchup on that?

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(colloquial) Pronunciation spelling of your.


one's

From Middle English ones, equivalent to one + -'s.

One tries one's best.


such

From Middle English such, swuch, swich, swilch, swulch, from Old English swelċ, from Proto-West Germanic *swalīk, from Proto-Germanic *swalīkaz (“so formed, so like”), equivalent to so + like. Cognate with Scots swilk, sic, sik (“such”), Saterland Frisian suk (“such”), West Frisian suk, sok (“such”), Low German sülk, sulk, suk (“such”), Dutch zulk (“such”), German solch (“such”), Danish slig (“like that, such”), Swedish slik (“such”), Icelandic slíkur (“such”). More at so, like.

inh

sich (alternative)
sech (alternative)
soch (alternative)
soche (alternative)

I’ve never seen such clouds in the sky before.

Really? Unfortunately, my mind refuses to bring any such memory forward.

I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town. I was completely mystified at such an unusual proceeding.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, […]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid,[…]—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter II, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine.

2013 June 1, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 5 (Technology Quarterly):

(demonstrative) Like this, that, these, those; used to make a comparison with something implied by context.

مِثْل

the above address or at such other address as may be provided

(particularly used in formal documents) Any.

Such hypocrisy!

Such bouncy children you have.

Why, I was absolutely spellbound. She sings with such passion!

(degree) Used as an intensifier roughly equivalent to very much (of), quite or rather.

(exclamative) Used with gradable noun phrases to form exclamations.

In rushed one and tells him such a knight / Is new arrived.

1595, Samuel Daniel, “(please specify the folio number)”, in The First Fowre Bookes of the Ciuile Wars between the Two Houses of Lancaster and Yorke, London: […] P[eter] Short for Simon Waterson, →OCLC:

To-day or to-morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, James 4:13:

(obsolete) A certain; representing the object as already particularized in terms which are not mentioned.


such

Such is life.

These oraculous proficients are day and night employed in deep searches for the direction of such as run astray after their lost goods : but at present they are more particularly serviceable to their country in foretelling the fate of such as have chances in the public lottery.

1804, Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, The Tatler, C. Whittingham, John Sharpe, page 315

'Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

Some are just no-good locals—drunks and such—who’d just as soon beg or steal as work.

2000, Terry Goodkind, Faith of the Fallen, →ISBN, page 238:

A person, a thing, people, or things like the one or ones already mentioned.


such

suches (plural)
sich (alternative)
sech (alternative)
soch (alternative)
soche (alternative)

But granted that Plato does not accept the this-such distinction, why saddle him with the view that all things are thises, rather than all suches or perhaps even neither?

1991, Frank A. Lewis, Substance and Predication in Aristotle:

(philosophy) Something being indicated that is similar to something else.


beaucoup

Borrowed from French beaucoup, early 20th century. Popularized by American GIs during the Vietnam War.

boku (alternative)
boocoo (alternative)
bookoo (alternative)
buku (alternative)


's

Contractions of various words ending in s.

What are you guys waiting for? Let’s go!

Wee'le part the time betweene's then: and in that
Ile no gaine-ſaying.

c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 277, column 2:

Contraction of us (found in the formula let’s which is used to form first-person plural imperatives).


hir

head

hir (third-person singular, gender-neutral, objective case, reflexive hirself)

en-pron

But once the disorientation had passed, hir forced hirself back to full consciousness--and worked quickly to establish hir position, and Ruskin's.

1988, Jeffrey Carver, From a Changeling Star, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, →OL, page 232:

I don't know what Scratch looks like in the real world, I met hir online.

1996 June, Caitlin Sullivan with Bornstein, Kate, Nearly Roadkill: an Infobahn erotic adventure, New York: Serpent's Tail, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, LCC PS3569.U3449 N43 1996, page 10:

Words like "freak" became attached to hir name, and I don't believe "brave" was ever a word the media associated with hir.

1997 December 18, Kate Bornstein, My Gender Workbook: How to Become a Real Man, a Real Woman, the Real You, or Something Else Entirely, London, New York: Routledge, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, LCC HQ1075.B69 1998, page 130:

T'Pau leveled a gaze at hir. "You are male and female ... and neither. 'It' is the proper word. We have no use for semantic games on Vulcan."

2000 August 29, Peter David, Renaissance (Star Trek New Frontier: Excalibur #10), Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, page 137:

(nonstandard) Them (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular object pronoun, coordinate with him and her.


ur

Expressing hesitation or inarticulacy; er, um.


couple

en-verb

couple (third-person singular simple present couples, present participle coupling, simple past and past participle coupled)

couples (present singular third-person)
coupling (participle present)
coupled (participle past)
coupled (past)
copel (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English couple, from Old French couple, from Latin cōpula. Doublet of copula.

I am just going to perform a very good office, it is to assist with the archbishop, in degrading a parson who couples all our beggars

1801, Jonathan Swift, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 14, page 59:

(transitive, dated) To join in wedlock; to marry.

On their wedding night they coupled nine times.

1987, Alan Norman Bold, Robert Giddings, Who was really who in fiction, Longman:

She had the brilliant inventor and craftsman Daedalus construct her an artificial cow, in which she hid and induced the bull to couple with her […]

2001, John Fisher, Geoff Garvey, The rough guide to Crete,, page 405:

(intransitive) To join in sexual intercourse; to copulate.


sufficient

en-adj

sufficient (comparative more sufficient, superlative most sufficient)

more sufficient (comparative)
most sufficient (superlative)
suff. (alternative)

From Old French sufisanz, soficient, from Latin sufficiēns, present participle of sufficiō.

sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof

This is a necessary condition but not a sufficient one.

Of a type or kind that suffices, that satisfies requirements or needs.

They felt sufficient to maintain their present prosperity and independence.

1842, Nathanael Emmons, Jacob Ide, Social and civil duties, page 456:

I have never yet felt adequate. I have never yet felt sufficient.

1983, John MacArthur, Spiritual Gifts, →ISBN, page 98:

Possessing adequate talents or accomplishments; of competent power or ability; qualified; fit.

...to take the best ways we can, to make it known to the Duke of York; for, till Sir J. Minnes be removed, and a sufficient man brought into W. Pen's place, when he is gone, it is impossible for this Office ever to support itself.

1668 December 23, Samuel Pepys, Diary of Samuel Pepys:

(archaic) Capable of meeting obligations; responsible.

riittävä

(archaic) capable of meeting obligations

I shall in this place only mention that qualification by wealth; the rather, being applyed to the deputies of towns and citties, where they use to say of a rich man, he is a very sufficient man : and the other sufficiencies and qualifications are mentioned on other occasions.

1766, Bulstrode Whitlocke, Charles Morton, Whitelockes Notes Uppon The Kings Writt For Choosing Members Of Parlement:

Some persons have been called, who have proved (it is true) that he was insufficient at that time, and could not pay more than 3 or 4,000l.; but the same witnesses give an account, that his ill circumstances were then known but to four or five persons of his acquaintance, and that by all other people, who had any knowledge of him at that time, he was looked upon to be very sufficient ; he had left off his business upon having raised an estate; he was of good reputation: he lived at Hackne in a house making a good appearance, with good furniture, and a great quanity of plate, till the last, till the time of his being put in prison, which was not till last year, that he surrendered himself in discharge of his bail.

1816, Thomas Bayly Howell, Thomas Jones Howell, A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treason and Other Crimes and Misdemeanors from the Earliest Period to the Year 1783:

The second in the Hong, Mowgua, has been a man of large property, but he is of more questionable property now ; I consider him still to be a very sufficient merchant.

1830, Great Britain Parliament House of Commons, Select Committee on the East India Company, Reports from the Select Committee[s] of the House of Commons Appointed to Enquire into the Present State of the Affairs of the East-India Company:

(obsolete) Having enough money to meet obligations and live comfortably.


mai

(anime, manga, fandom slang, Internet slang) Alternative form of my (used in the expressions mai waifu and mai husbando)


yer

Most likely from the intrusive R, between "yeah" (/jəː/) and a non-high vowel (/ə/, /ɪə/, /ɑː/, /ɔː/). For example, "Yeah-r-I know" (/jəɹ ʌɪ nəʊ/).

(UK, slang) Pronunciation spelling of yeah (“yes”).


yer

"Thet one in the Formosa Channel was tremenjus. The velocity of the wind tetched a ’undred and forty mile,—so it was computed at Taipei,— arfter which it blew the wind gedge away. Yer need a string to yer ’at in a breeze like thet!"

1916 April 13, Oswald Kendall, “The Romance of the Martin Connor”, in The Youth's Companion, volume 90, number 15, page 198, column 2:

'Still, yer got nice looks,' said Ella.

(UK, slang, uncommon) Pronunciation spelling of you (plural or singular).


yer

Yer a lotta nosey parkers.

1991, Kathleen Dayus, Where There's Life, London: Virago Press Ltd:

‘Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh,’ said Hagrid. ‘Harry – yer a wizard.’

1997 June 26, J. K. Rowling [pseudonym; Joanne Rowling], chapter IV, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Harry Potter; 1), London: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:

(UK, slang) Pronunciation spelling of you're (“you are”).


yer

'Make yer way down to the station,' he said.

1991, Thomas Hayden, The Killing Frost, London: Random Century Group:

‘Las’ time I saw you, you was only a baby,’ said the giant. ‘Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh’ve got yer mum’s eyes.’

Old Lady: 'HOLLER AT THAT FELLER IN THE CHEST DOWNSTAIRS. IF Y'NEED CARDS, HE'S YER MAIN MAN, HEH HEH!'

2019 December 10, Yacht Club Games, Shovel Knight: King of Cards, Nintendo 3DS, level/area: House of Joustus:

(UK, Southern US, dialectal) Pronunciation spelling of your.


youse

Have youse gentlemen finished talking?


quite a few

About a third, perhaps more, were killed in the war; of the survivors quite a few were wounded, some severely.

2016, Walter Laqueur, Worlds Ago: A Memoir of My Journeying Years:

An indefinite and somewhat large number.


various

General American, Mary–marry–merry merger

Borrowed from Middle French varieux, from Latin varius (“manifold, diverse, various, parti-colored, variegated, also changing, changeable, fickle, etc.”). By surface analysis, vary + -ous.

der

a various reading of a Biblical text

(dated) That varies or differs from others; variant; different.


neither

Alteration (after either) of nauther, from Middle English nawther, noþer, naðer (whence also Modern nor), from Old English nāwþer, contraction of nāhwæþer, corresponding to no + whether. Compare Latin neuter (“neither”). By surface analysis, not + either.

Neither definition seems correct.

She was neither learned nor intelligent, but she contrived to dress both herself and her daughter out of a meagre jointure, supplying with her clever fingers what her purse could not buy;[…].

1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:

Not one of two; not either; not one or the other.


numerous

en-adj

numerous (comparative more numerous, superlative most numerous)

more numerous (comparative)
most numerous (superlative)

From Middle English numerous from Latin numerōsus (“numerous, abundant; harmonious”), from numerus (“number”). Doublet of numerose. Analyzeable as numero- + -ous.

der

A numerous band of men and maidens escorts him by torchlight.

1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 10, page 263:

Consisting of a large number of individuals or parts.


multiple

From French multiple, itself from Late Latin multiplus.

Price-earnings ratio
price-earnings ratio


insufficient

en-adj

insufficient (comparative more insufficient, superlative most insufficient)

more insufficient (comparative)
most insufficient (superlative)

From Middle French insufficient, from Latin insufficiens. See also in- + sufficient.

Brother Coſroe, I find my ſelfe agreeu’d,
Yet inſufficient to expreſſe the ſame:
For it requires a great and thundering ſpeech: […]

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene i:

Not sufficient; lacking competent power or ability; unqualified, unequal, unfit.


whichever

From Middle English qwichever, whiche ever, whiche evere, which ever, which evere; equivalent to which + ever.

Whichever you pick, be content with it.

Irrespective of the one(s) that; no matter which one(s).


umpteen

From ump (“colloquial name for the dash "—" in Morse code”) + -teen. Unrelated to ump as in "umpire", simply a mnemonic rhyming aid.

suffix

She's taking umpteen friends with her to the party.

Does it continue to make sense to have umpteen definitions of the practice of law, umpteen UPL prohibitions, umpteen UPL investigation and prosecution procedures, and umpteen UPL sanctions? The current crazy quilt of regulation in this area makes it difficult for anyone to know (including lawyers) what is and is not permitted in a particular jurisdiction.

2001, American Bar Association, Symposium Issue of The Professional Lawyer:

He tries, "The few, the proud, the umpteen," and Shane says, "Umpteen? Pray tell me, good sir, who is this umpteen of which you speak?" and Joseph says, "Umpteen Dumpteen sat on a wall," and they both break up laughing.
 "It's like a bunch, isn't it? 'Umpteen'?" This from Sean Lanham, whose small round skull has inspired Coach Dale to name him Peahead.

2014, Kevin Brockmeier, A Few Seconds of Radiant Filmstrip: A Memoir of Seventh Grade:

(informal, often slightly derogatory) Relatively large but unspecified in number.


hella

Related to "a hell of a". Originally Northern California slang. Compare helluv, helluva.

I guess she seems hella stoned in her commercial.

I've been a Star Wars fan since I was hella young.

"And to the fella over there / With the hella good hair / Won't you come on over, baby / We can shake, shake, shake"

The storm got hella crazy and... and you said we would be safe at the lighthouse.

2016, Life Is Strange, spoken by Chloe Price (Ashly Burch), Square Enix, via Dontnod Entertainment:

(slang, potentially considered vulgar, chiefly regional US, African-American Vernacular and Internet slang) Intensifier, modifying adjectives; to a large degree; extremely; exceedingly.

potentially considered vulgar; African-American Vernacular and Internet slang; potentially considered vulgar; African-American Vernacular and Internet slang


fuck all

I've learned fuck all.

(Commonwealth, UK, Ireland, vulgar) Nothing at all or very little.


fuck all

If you can't do this then there's fuck all hope for you.

There was fuck all else he could have done.

There are fuck all decent pubs around here.


doze

Donald Duck: I'll give you $20 for those old license plates on your fence posts!
Other man: Hah? No chance! I bought dis house 'cause it has dis address! It's me lucky number! […] It was me prison number at Leavenworst and de winning number in de weekly parole lottery! I wudn't never sell doze plates!


nm

(metrology) Symbol for nanometer (nanometre), an SI unit of length equal to 10⁻⁹ meters (metres).


mickle

en-adj

mickle (comparative more mickle, superlative most mickle)

more mickle (comparative)
most mickle (superlative)

From Middle English mickle, michel, mikel, mochel, muchel, mukel (“much; many; large, tall; great”), from Old English miċel, myċel (“big, large; great; much”), from Proto-Germanic *mikilaz (“great, large; many, much”), from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s (“big, great”). The word is cognate with Faroese mikil (“large, great, much”), Icelandic mikill (“large in quantity or number; much; great”), Middle High German michel (“large, much”). Doublet of much and muckle.
For the adverb and noun forms, compare Middle English muchel (“extensively, greatly, much”, adverb) and Middle English muchel (“large amount”, noun).
The noun sense “a small amount” was due to the proverb many a little makes a mickle being incorrectly rendered as many a mickle makes a muckle, leading to mickle being thought to mean “a small quantity” and muckle to mean “a large quantity”, even though muckle is a variant of mickle and both mean “a large quantity”.

cog

Oh mickle is the powerfull grace that lies / In hearbes, plants, ſtones, and their true qualities: / For nought ſo vile, that vile on earth doth liue, / But to the earth ſome ſpeciall good doth giue: […]

c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Juliet. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, published 1597, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:

O Jupiter! whose ſtrength is mickle, / Was ever man in ſuch a pickle!

1772, [Thomas Bridges], “Homer’s Iliad. Book VIII.”, in A Burlesque Translation of Homer, London: Printed for S. Hooper, […], →OCLC, page 325:

In the Den of Kinraddie one such beast had its lair […] and at gloaming a shepherd would see it, with its great wings half-folded across the great belly of it and its head, like the head of a meikle cock, but with the ears of a lion, poked over a fir tree, watching.

1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon [pseudonym; James Leslie Mitchell], “Prelude: The Unfurrowed Field”, in Sunset Song: A Novel, London: Jarrolds, Limited, →OCLC; republished Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 2008, →ISBN, page 1:

(archaic, now chiefly Scotland and Northern England, especially Northumbria) (Very) great or large.


mickle

They ſay here, […] that ye deſired not the king and England to agree, becauſe it would rack the noblemen, […] I anſwered in your name that I was aſſured you had never ſpoken it. Mr. Archibald [Douglas] is the ſpeaker of it, who I aſſure your lordſhip has been a poiſon in this matter, for they lean very mickle to his opinion.

1586 January 12, the Master of Gray [i.e., Patrick Gray, 6th Lord Gray], “[Appendix to the Second Volume] To the Right Hon. My Lord Chancellor and Secretary to His Majesty, from the Master of Gray”, in William Robertson, The History of Scotland during the Reigns of Queen Mary and of King James VI. till His Accession to the Crown of England. […] In Two Volumes, 4th edition, volume II, London: Printed for A[ndrew] Millar, […], published 1761, →OCLC, page 445:

[…] I livd in a house by the Tower, which has not been repaird since Robert Consull of Gloucester repayrd the castle and wall; here I livd warm, but in my house on the hyll the ayre was mickle keen, […]

1778, Thomas Warton, “Section XXVI”, in The History of English Poetry, from the Close of the Eleventh to the Commencement of the Eighteenth Century, London: For, and sold by, J. Dodsley [et al.], →OCLC; republished as The History of English Poetry, from the Eleventh to the Seventeenth Century. […], London: Ward, Lock, and Co., […], 1875, →OCLC, page 424:

[…] I am without fenzeitnes of hart and ſpreit; and of gude reſſoun, thocht [though] my meritis were mickle greiter than of the maiſt profit that ever was, […]

1790, John Whitaker, chapter VI, in Mary Queen of Scots Vindicated. … In Three Volumes, 2nd enlarged and corrected edition, volume I, London: Printed for J[ohn] Murray, […], →OCLC, § IV, page 478:

That I wad wi' a' my heart; and mickle obliged to your honour for putting me in mind o' my bounden duty.

1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], chapter XIX, in Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 282:

(archaic, now chiefly Scotland) To a great extent.


mickle

en-noun

mickle (countable and uncountable, plural mickles)

Many a little makes a mickle.

Neurthelesse little or mickle, something or nothing, substaunce or shadow take all in good part, my meaning is by a fewe wordes to wynne credit to this works, not so much for mine owne Englishe Translation as for the singular commendation of them, challenged of dutie and desart.

1576, Iohannes Caius [i.e., John Caius], “To the Reader”, in Abraham Fleming, transl., Of Englishe Dogges, the Diuersities, the Names, the Natures, and the Properties. […], imprinted at London: By [John Charlewood for] Rychard Johnes, […], →OCLC; republished London: Printed by A. Bradley, […], 1880, →OCLC:

In a word, I muſt know what I may gaine, little or much: for the henne layes aſwell vpon one egge as many, and many littles make a mickle, and whilſt ſomething is gotten, nothing is loſt.

1620, [Miguel de Cervantes], “What Passed betwixt Don Quixote and His Squire, with Other Most Famous Accidents”, in Thomas Shelton, transl., The Second Part of the History of the Valorous and Witty Knight-errant, Don Quixote of the Mancha. […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Edward Blount, →OCLC, page 41:

Many of the great fortunes in this country have been built up of pence and halfpence—I might also say of farthings. The odd halfpenny and three-farthings that you see (if you look close) upon the ticketed article in the shop-window, forms one of the littles; and a profit of hundreds of pounds, or often thousands, at the end of the year, forms the mickle.

1874, P. B. Power, “Two-edged Proverbs: II.—‘Every Little Makes a Mickle.’”, in The Quiver: An Illustrated Magazine for Sunday and General Reading, volume IX, London, Paris: Cassell, Petter & Galpin, →OCLC, page 772, column 1:

(archaic, chiefly Scotland) A great amount.

While we boast of our farming, we must repeat again and again, the secret of our prosperity. It is a regular rotation of crops, making a little out of many articles, rather than attempting to make much of one; remembering the Scotch proverb, that "many a mickle makes a muckle"; […]

1831 December 3, “Improvements”, in Samuel Hazard, editor, Hazard’s Register of Pennsylvania: Devoted to the Preservation of Facts and Documents, and Every Kind of Useful Information Respecting the State of Pennsylvania, volume VIII, number 23 (issue 205 overall), Philadelphia, Pa.: Printed by Wm. F. Geddes, […], →OCLC, page 367, column 2:

(archaic, Scotland, originally erroneous) A small amount.


mickle

There was mickle melody at that Childës [Jesus Christ's] birth, / All that were in heaven's bliss, they made mickle mirth.

15th century, “O Jesu Parvule”, in Edith Rickert, compiler, Ancient English Christmas Carols: MCCCC to MDCC (The New Medieval Library), London: Chatto & Windus; New York, N.Y.: Duffield & Co., published 1910, →OCLC, part I (Carols of the Nativity), page 67:

Full many wounds in his corrupted fleſh / He did engraue, and muchell blood did ſpend, / Yet might not doe him die, but aie more freſh / And fierce he ſtill appeard, the more he did them threſh.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 32, page 503:

Hees forc't to trot with fardle at his backe, / From houſe to houſe, demaunding if they lacke / A poore yong man that's willing to take paine, / And mickle labour, though for little gaine.

1597–1598, T[homas] M[iddleton], “Satyre 2. Prodigall Zodon.”, in Micro-cynicon: Sixe Snarling Satyres. […], imprinted at London: By Thomas Creede, for Thomas Bushell, […], published 1599, →OCLC; republished as [Edward Vernon Utterson], editor, Micro-cynicon: Sixe Snarling Satyres, [Ryde, Isle of Wight?]: Reprinted at the Beldornie Press, by G. E. Palmer, for Edwd. V. Utterson, 1842, →OCLC:

Becauſe they did not faithfully believe, and hope that he / Could alwaies help and ſuccor them in their neceſſitie. / Wherefore he did command the clouds, forthwith they brake in ſunder, / And rain'd down Manna for them to eat, a food of mickle wonder.

1675, Thomas Sternhold, John Hopkins [et al.], “The Whole Book of Psalms: Collected into English Meeter”, in The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments: […], Oxford: At the Theater, →OCLC, Psalm lxxviij:22–24:

(archaic, now chiefly Scotland and Northern England, especially Northumbria) Much; a great quantity or amount of.


mickle

meikle (alternative)
michel (alternative)
muchell (alternative)

Seek mickle, and get ſomething; ſeek little, and get nothing.

1721, James Kelly, A Complete Collection of Scotish Proverbs Explained and Made Intelligible to the English Reader, London: Printed for William and John Innys, and John Osborn, →OCLC, paragraph 50, page 291:

(archaic, now chiefly Scotland) A great extent or large amount.


yr

Got yr card. Problem is: don't have yr address! Wd love to see you. Write w/number! xo Jeremy.

1985 December 7, “Albert in NYC (personal advertisement)”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 21, page 13:

On her street he reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone and typed: On yr St. U free? The answer came back: Door open.

2012, Zadie Smith, NW, London: Penguin Books, published 2013, →ISBN, page 136:


[T]o offset the massive cost of learning 101 ways to embellish spatchcock, perhaps the readers may need 101 ways to cook two-minute noodles.

1996, Samela Harris, “Introduction”, in On a Shoestring: Recipes from the House of the Raising Sons, Kent Town, Adelaide, S.A.: Wakefield Press, →ISBN, page vii:

one hundred and one
one hundred and one#English

(idiomatic) Alternative form of one hundred and one (“a great many; numerous”).


whatsoever

/ˌwɒtsəʊˈɛvə(ɹ)/

From Middle English whatsoever. By surface analysis, what + so + ever.

what-so-ever (alternative rare)
whatsomever (alternative archaic)
whatsoe're (alternative obsolete)

He gave me no answer whatsoever.

In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 1:

...my father's role as the ecclesiastical leader of our ward gave me no license whatsoever to expect obedience from my agemates?

2019, Dierdre Nicole Green, “'I'm the Bishop!' and other Reflections”, in A Place to Belong, Deseret Book, →ISBN, page 141:


ain

Bobby Shaftoe's bright and fair,
Combing down his yellow hair,
He's my ain for evermair,
Bonny Bobby Shaftoe.

1998, Jonathan Langley, Collins Bedtime Treasury of Nursery Rhymes and Tales, Bobby Shaftoe, page 86:


boku

Alternative spelling of beaucoup (lots, a large amount)


boku

en-adv

boku (comparative more boku, superlative most boku)

more boku (comparative)
most boku (superlative)

Alternative spelling of beaucoup (lots of)


boku

Alternative spelling of beaucoup (many many many)


a little

It's a little big, don't you think?


countless

There are countless stars in the sky.

He endured countless insults hurled at him before people finally respected him for his courage and his great ability as a baseball player.

2020, Pat Mann, 100 Life-Challenging Devotionals:

(of a count noun) A huge and uncountable number of; too many to count; innumerable.


too much

They call it a beach, but there isn't too much sand there.

(in negative constructions) Much; even a moderate amount.


too much

Oh, my dear, you really are too much.


too much

Too much, man! That was great!


everwhat

From ever + what. Formed similarly to the older words each, every and German irgendwas.

Everwhat Gawd does is fair even ef 'taint fair.

1906, May Beal, chapter 6, in The Rebel at Large:

From that fungus and everwhat else is in there.

2009, Cheryl Mullenax, Vile Things: Extreme Deviations of Horror (Fiction), Comet Press, →ISBN, page 16:

"You can ride everwhat three wheeler you want. Besides, it's goin' to be what it's goin' be."


hecka

A euphemism for hella, using heck, a euphemism for hell. Slang meaning “very” or “a lot of”

There are hecka bugs on the floor.


each and every

Do not leave without checking each and every door to make sure it is locked.

Each and every one of the employees attended, and everyone had a good time.

Each without exception; used for emphasis.


such-and-such

I am troubled by the rush of young researchers attempting to prove that females are not inferior to males in such-and-such an ability or such-and-such a trait, especially when it is by no means clear what difference it makes.


sike

She macks sike warke.

(Can we date this quote?), (Please provide the book title or journal name):


eir

Coined by Christine M. Elverson by removing "th" from their.

Eir sentences would sound smoother since ey wouldn’t clutter them with the old sexist pronouns. And if ey should trip up in the new usage, ey would only have emself to blame.

1975 August 23, Judie Black, “Ey has a word for it”, in Chicago Tribune, section 1, page 12:

A person whose habit is to stand and walk splay-footed may *think* eir feet are straight ahead, when they are actually pointed only slightly less out.

1996 December 22, Shirley Worth, “New To Yoga”, in alt.yoga (Usenet), message-ID <32BDCA0C.6C8@worth.org>:

If a mobile user is far from eir home area, ey will pay a long-distance fee for carriage of the call *from* eir home area, just as a caller would pay long-distance on a call *to* that area.

1997 November 25, Scott Robert Dawson, “Who Pays for Cellular Calls”, in alt.cellular (Usenet), message-ID <347acf56.333719@news.interlog.com>:

The adult worries much less; is cautious, sensible and knows how to protect emself and eir system from attack and error.

2004 March 31, Sue Thomas, Hello World : travels in virtuality, Raw Nerve Books, →ISBN, →OL, page 78:

And ultimately: I think my readers are mature enough that knowing eir assigned gender is not going to give them an “excuse” to misgender em.

2011 March 15, RJ Edwards, “#89: New Friend”, in Riot Nrrd, retrieved 2012-10-06:

“You idiot girl! Are you childsick?” She grabbed Asu’s wrist; Asu made no effort to twist away. “Sand and soil, tell me you’re not pregnant. Is it that—what’s eir name? Aeran? Have you lain with em? Tell me!”
[…]
Empre waded out to help them cross the last stretch. More people, a few hundred, perhaps, had gathered along the shore. One of them came running at Melu with a cry—she threw up her arms in defense. But it was Aeran, only Aeran. E seized Asu and clasped her close, eir eyes closed tightly as e sobbed eir relief.

2023, Aimee Ogden, “A Half-Remembered World”, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, vol. 145, no. 1-2, whole no. 768 (July/August 2023), pages 146-202

(rare, nonstandard) Belonging to em, gender-neutral third-person singular possessive adjective, equivalent to the singular their and coordinate with his and her.


wor

Likely ultimately a borrowing into Northumbrian Old English from Old Norse várr (“our”) (from the same Proto-Germanic root *unseraz that produced Standard English our). Compare Scots wir.

If ye gannin oot the neet ye betta tell wor Jimmy.


sech

(Southern US) Pronunciation spelling of such.


certaine

en-adj

certaine (comparative more certaine, superlative most certaine)

more certaine (comparative)
most certaine (superlative)


nobody's

That which belongs to nobody; the possessive case of nobody, used without a following noun.


ev'ry

Every used to be a trisyllabic word, and it was therefore at times necessary to replace the second e with an apostrophe to pronounce the word as two syllables for poetic reasons.

America! America! God mend thine ev’ry flaw; Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law!

1895, Katharine Lee Bates, "America the Beautiful", first published as "Pikes Peak", The Congregationalis, July 4th, 1895)

There’s a boy snail for ev’ry girl snail, There’s a boy quail for ev’ry girl quail/ There’s a boy mouse for ev’ry girl mouse, There’s a boy grouse for ev’ry girl grouse

1943, Cole Porter, “There Must Be Someone for Me”, in The Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter, published 1992, page 345:

Ev’ry night when ev’rybody has fun, here am I sitting all on my own.

1963, John Lennon, "It Won't Be Long", in Alan Aldridge, The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics (1991) p. 185


no

Inherited from Middle English no, noo, na, a reduced form of none, noon, nan (“none, not any”) used before consonants (compare a to an), from Old English nān (“none, not any”), from Proto-West Germanic *nain, from Proto-Germanic *nainaz (“not any”, literally “not one”), equivalent to ne (“not”) + a.
Cognate with Scots nae (“no, not any, none”), Old Frisian nān, nēn ("no, not any, none"), Saterland Frisian naan, neen (“no, not any, none”), North Frisian nian (“no, not any, none”), Old Dutch nēn ("no, not any, none"; > Dutch neen (“no”)), Old Norse neinn (“no, not any, none”). Compare also Old Saxon nigēn ("not any"; > Low German nen), Old Dutch nehēn (Middle Dutch negheen/negeen, Dutch geen), West Frisian gjin, Old High German nihein (> German kein). More at no, one.

gloss

"no, not any, none"; > Dutch <i class="Latn mention" lang="nl">neen</i> (“no”)

"not any"; > Low German <i class="Latn mention" lang="nds">nen</i>

nah (alternative)
nope (alternative)
nay (alternative)

тыйыла

both take -w infinitive, are placed at end of sentence

𣍐用得 /𫧃用得

bē-ēng-tit / bōe-ēng-tit / bōe-ēng-leh / bǒe-ēng-lit / bǒe-ēng-tit / bē-iōng-li / bǒe-ěng-tit / bē-ēng-chit / bōe-ēng-chit / bē-ēng-lit / bōe-ēng-lit / bē-ēng-eh / bōe-ēng-eh

ei

generally; followed by saa/voi and an infinitive

לא (lo) (followed by verb with prefix ל)

tilos

followed by the definite article a/az and a verbal noun, or following an infinitive

divieto di

followed by an infinitive or the corresponding noun

No honking from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. — Claxonarea este interzisă între orele 22 şi 6.

yasaktır

preceded by an infinitive or verbal noun

My mother's no fool.

Working nine to five every day is no life.

No geese have blue beaks.

Not (a); not properly, not really; not fully.


overmuch

From Middle English overmuche, overmuchel, from Old English ofermiċel, ofermyċel (“overmuch, excessive”), equivalent to over- + much. Compare overmany and overmore. Doublet of overmickle. Cognate with Scots over-mekill (“overmuch, excessive”), Old Norse ofrmikill (“overmuch, excessive”), Icelandic ofmikill (“overmuch, excessive”).

cog

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-overmuch.wav

[…]it is good to be applyed to womens breaſts, that grow ſore by the aboundance of milke comming into them: as alſo to repreſſe the overmuch bleeding of the hemorrhoids, to coole the Inflammations of the parts thereabouts, and to give eaſe of paines:[…].

1640, John Parkinson, “Symphitum majus. Great Comfrey.”, in Theatrum Botanicum: The Theater of Plants. Or, An Herball of a Large Extent: […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, →OCLC, page 524:

Our Palates like the Seaſoning and Cookery they are ſet to, and an over much Uſe of Salt, beſides that it occaſions thirſt, and over-much Drinking, has other ill Effects upon the Body.

1693, [John Locke], “§14”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC, page 13:


a few

She loves to sing karaoke, but there are a few songs that she refuses to cover.

After a dismal few months my life at long last changed for the better.

"I don't want to spoil any comparison you are going to make," said Jim, "but I was at Winchester and New College." ¶ "That will do," said Mackenzie. "I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve. Then I ran away and sold papers in the streets, and anything else that I could pick up a few coppers by—except steal.[…]"

1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], chapter II, in The Squire’s Daughter, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, published 1919, →OCLC:

A small number of (a set of countable items); more than one but not very many; especially, more than two but not very many (explained in usage note at several).


a whole nother

/ə ˈhəʊl ˌnʌðə/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-a whole nother.wav

/ə ˈhoʊl ˌnʌðəɹ/

Either from a + whole + nother (“different, other”), where nother is a variant of other, rebracketed from an other, or from whole + another, with whole having been inserted by tmesis. Compare also dialectal tother from Middle English þe toþer (“the other”).

"Will the fog be gone by to-morrow morning?" said Patty, disconsolately. "I don't know what we shall do if we have to be a whole 'nother day in the house and in the dark."

1887 October 29, [Mary Louisa] Molesworth, “The Mysterious Guide: A Story of a London Fog”, in [Charles Peters], editor, The Girl’s Own Paper, volume IX, number 409, London: “The Leisure Hour” Office, →OCLC, page 67, column 3:

It's a whole nother bunch of folks over beyond the trees 'cross the tracks.

1992, Thulani Davis, chapter 6, in 1959 […], New York, N.Y.: Grove Weidenfeld, Grove Press, →ISBN, page 282:

They say she look like she have a turtle shell on her back and the healing woman healed that. But that's a whole nother story.

1998, Gayl Jones, chapter 1, in The Healing, Boston, Mass.: Beacon Press, →ISBN, page 18:

The problem is when you physically try to impede my progress—then it moves up to a whole 'nother level that you probably can't handle me on. If it's just words, mean little things, I'm not [Joseph] Stalin, say what you want. Get in my way, it's a whole 'nother thing.

2004, Michael W. Dean, quoting Henry Rollins, “Interviews”, in $30 Music School, Boston, Mass.: Muska & Lipman, Course Technology, →ISBN, page 457:

The breeze taps my face with a robe-corner. A lazy blueness, from a whole nother age, is spread all above me.

2004, Margo Lanagan, “Rite of Spring”, in Black Juice, London: Gollancz, published 2007, →ISBN, page 195:

Executing it all well, with the feel, look and operation of a real luxury car, is a whole nother ball of wax.

2009 October 1, Don Chaikin, “Long-Term Test Cars: Azera, Sedon M35, Highlander Hybrid, Liberty Sport CRD, Cobalt SS”, in Jim Meigs, editor, Popular Mechanics, New York, N.Y.: The Hearst Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2013-10-01:

(usually US, informal) An intensified form of another: an entirely different; a whole other.


whatth

Thanksgiving is on the whatth of November this year?

(rare, nonstandard) Which ordinal number.


many a

There is many a true word spoken in jest.

Many a flower is born to blush unseen.

Know then that God, to the end He be not thought, / A powerless judge, here plagueth many a fault, / And many a fault leaves here unpunished, / That men may also His last judgment dread.

1608–1641, Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas, edited by Theron Wilber Haight, The Divine Weeks of Josuah Sylvester, Waukesha, Wis., USA: H. M. Youmans, published 1908, page 150:

If the 250,000 miners, which threaten to stop work, go out on strike there is likely to be many an idle mill beside the water courses and many a factory with silent spindles.

1908 April 11, “The Coal-Miners and the Wage-Scale”, in The Literary Digest, volume 36, number 15, page 507:

So this was my future home, I thought! Certainly it made a brave picture. I had seen similar ones fired-in on many a Heidelberg stein. Backed by towering hills,[…]a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.

1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

Many a crime has being committed in its name: there are some being committed now.

1914, David Lloyd George, The Great War, Toronto: Hodder and Stoughton, Limited, page 3:

Danny Boyle's T2 Trainspotting is everything I could reasonably have hoped for—scary, funny, desperately sad, with many a bold visual flourish.

2017 January 19, Peter Bradshaw, “T2 Trainspotting review—choose a sequel that doesn't disappoint”, in The Guardian:

Being one of a large number, each one of many; belonging to an aggregate or category, considered singly as one of a kind.

mnohý

being one of a large number, each one of many; belonging to an aggregate or category, considered singly as one of a kind

there's many a good tune played on an old fiddle

there's many a slip between the cup and the lip

there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip


alls

'cause alls it really does is make our love grow stronger


mah

Adventurer: 'AFTER YEARS OF ADVENTURING... I HAVE FINALLY ARRIVED AT THE STREETPASS ARENA. ONCE I REST MAH HOOFS, I'M GOING TO RECORD MY SECRET BATTLE TECHNIQUE.'

2014 June 26, Yacht Club Games, Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope, Nintendo 3DS, level/area: Streetpass Arena:

(African-American Vernacular, Southern US) Pronunciation spelling of my.


I's

From I + 's (contraction of is, has, and was).

I's going now.

(nonstandard, dialectal) Contraction of I is.

i's

eye dialect version of it's (it is), rather than I is, but is often written the same as I's because it is at the beginning of a sentence.


any and all

Used in legal documents for emphasis and exactness. For further etymology, see any and all.

1847 December 22, Abraham Lincoln, "Spot Resolutions" on Mexican War (resolutions offered in the United States House of Representatives), reproduced in 1907, Marion Mills Miller (editor), Life and Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume 3,
Resolved, By the House of Representatives, that the President of the United States be respectfully requested to inform this House—
[…] Whether that settlement is or is not isolated from any and all other settlements by the Gulf and the Rio Grande on the south and west, and by wide uninhabited regions on the north and east.

I, Howard P. Lovecraft of the city of Providence in the State of Rhode Island, being of sound mind and memory, make, execute and declare this instrument as my last will, hereby revoking any and all former wills by me at any time heretofore made.

1912 August 12, H. P. Lovecraft, Last Will and Testament of H.P. Lovecraft:

2009 February 24, Ron Paul, bill # H.R.1146, American Sovereignty Restoration Act,
As of the date of the enactment of this Act, the United States will end any and all participation in any and all conventions and/or agreements with the United Nations and any organ, specialized agency, commission, or other formally affiliated body of the United Nations. Any remaining functions of such conventions and/or agreements shall not be carried out.


whosever

Whosever sunglasses these are, they will have to pick them up tomorrow.

"And she is not wholesome, whosever word it was. She was there, hanging about him when he was so bad, before the worst came."

1866, Mark Twain, The Galaxy, W.C and F.P. Church, page 584:

(possessive) Of whomever; belonging or related to whichever person or persons; whoever's.


whosever

Whosever it is, it will be seized.

(possessive) That of whomever; that which belongs or is related to whatever person or persons; whoever's.


hys

Petti’s effort was motivated by hys desire to change a practice that hy recognized as discriminatory, and thus clearly contrary to CC’s values.

2014, Han Sayles, “Beyond Inclusivity: An investigation of CC’s new trans-inclusive healthcare”, in Cipher Magazine (Colorado College), archived from the original on 2020-11-18, page 8:

(LGBTQ, nonstandard) Gender-variant or gender-neutral spelling of his.


anoda

(Jamaica) Pronunciation spelling of another.


manie

I was glad than, and do reioice yet to remember, that my chance was so happie, to be there that day, in the companie of so manie wise & good men togither, as hardly than could haue beene piked out againe, out of all England beside.

1570, Roger Ascham, The Scholemaster, A Preface to the Reader:


a whole 'nother

"Will the fog be gone by to-morrow morning?" said Patty, disconsolately. "I don't know what we shall do if we have to be a whole 'nother day in the house and in the dark."

The problem is when you physically try to impede my progress—then it moves up to a whole 'nother level that you probably can't handle me on. If it's just words, mean little things, I'm not [Joseph] Stalin, say what you want. Get in my way, it's a whole 'nother thing.


sorra

'Sorra a friend I have - sorra a friend, Masther Richard; and I did not spake to the priest this year or more, and I darn't go near him,' said the poor Palmerstown lass that was once so merry.

1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:

Sorra a bite she ates but she drinks the mixture with it.

1879, Chambers's Journal, volume 56, number 2, page 589:

(Scotland, Ireland, dialect) nary (a); no; not one


enuff

How much is enuff rope?

2007, Glenda Crosling, Glenda Marian Crosling, Elizabeth Thomas, Margaret Heagney, “Case 2”, in Improving Student Retention in Higher Education (Education), Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 38:

The double spelling of enough/enuff signals the poem's double talking, …

2009, Samaro Kamboureli, Scandalous Bodies: Diasporic Literature in English Canada, Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press, →ISBN, page 157:

… Those were easy enuff to fix.

2015, LT Wolf, The World King (fiction), →ISBN:

(informal) Simplified variant of enough.


them thar

(US, dialectal, Appalachia) Them there, meaning those.


wich

Droitwich was then clearly more important than any of the Cheshire wiches; indeed the two most northerly of them were reported in 1086 to be "utterly waste", while Nantwich farm was worth only £10 a year.

(Can we date this quote?), Edward Hughes, Studies in Administration and Finance 1558-1825, Manchester University Press, page 21:

A wich town, particularly one of several former salt mining towns in Cheshire with a name ending -wich.


any old

any ol' (alternative)
any ole (alternative)

You don't need special tools for this; any old hard surface will do.

This wasn't just any old fan, but the president of his local fan club.

I don't do the things that you do
I don't go the places that you go
I don't say the bad things that you say
But I love you any way, Dara
I love you any ole way, Dara
I love you any way, Dara

1966, Otis Redding (with Steve Cropper), The Soul Album, "Any Ole Way" lyrics

(idiomatic, informal) Any, absolutely any, any typical, a run-of-the-mill.


one and the same

Possibly a calque of Latin unus et idem.

It's almost as if there's one electron in two places at one and the same time.

(idiomatic) The selfsame. Used to emphasize the identity or equivalence of two things.


thatt

In the begynnynge was that worde / ãd that worde was with god : and god was thatt worde.

1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, John j:[1], folio cxix, recto:


whosesoever

If Beals obtained merely the possession, by fraud practiced upon the plaintiff, with fraudulent intent to deprive it thereof, and to appropriate the machine to his own use, and, immediately upon getting possession of it, did in fact fraudulently appropriate it to his own use, these acts constituted a larceny of the machine, and plaintiff could retake it, in whosesoëver possession it might be.

1880, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Wisconsin, with Tables of the Cases and Principal Matters, volume XLIX, Chicago: Callaghan & Company, pages 317–318:


thir

Howbeit the Caledonians with great preparation, and by rumor, as of things unknown much greater, taking Armes, and of thir own accord begining Warr by the aſſault of ſundry Caſtles, ſent back ſome of thir fear to the Romans themſelves: and there were of the Commanders, who cloaking thir fear under ſhew of ſage advice, counſel’d the General to retreat back on this ſide Bodotria.

1670, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in The History of Britain, that Part Especially now Call’d England. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for James Allestry, […] , →OCLC, page 72:


several

en-adj

several (comparative more several, superlative most several)

more several (comparative)
most several (superlative)
severall (alternative)

From Anglo-Norman several, from Medieval Latin sēparālis, from Latin sēpar (“separate”). By surface analysis, sever + -al. Not related to severe.

[…]for several virtues
 Have I lik'd several women; never any
 With so full soul but some defect in her
 Did quarrel with the noblest grace she ow'd,
 And put it to the foil[…].

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

habits and faculties, several, and to be distinguished

1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Simulation and Dissimulation”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:

Four several armies to the field are led.

1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC, (please specify the page number):

Hence arose a dispute between the learned men, in which each delivered the reasons of their several opinions.

1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:

In the midſt of all this buſtle, I was ſtruck with the appearance of a large bevy of beauties and women of the firſt fashion, who with all the perfect confidence of good breeding, inſhrined themſelves in the ſeveral temples dedicated to the Cyprian Venus[.]

1755, Adam Fitz-Adam, The World, number CXXI, London, page 789:


several

Several cars were in the parking lot.

They had many journals. I subscribed to several.

Several of the members were absent.

The favourable reception the Orrery has met with from Perſons of the firſt diſtinction, and from Gentlemen and Ladies in general, has induced me to add to it ſeveral new improvements in order to give it a degree of Perfection; and diſtinguiſh it from others ; which by Piracy, or Imitation, may be introduced to the Public.

1784, William Jones, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, &c., preface

Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside, a narrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house.

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 14, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

Several people were killed and around 150 injured after a high-speed train hit a car on a level crossing and derailed tonight.

The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.

2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:

Consisting of a number more than one (especially, more than two) but not very many.

بَعْض

consisting of a number more than two, but not very many


several

severals (plural)
severall (alternative)

(archaic) A woman's loose outer garment, capable of being worn as a shawl, or in other forms.


they's

They's gonna have breakfas' now.

(dialect) Contraction of they (third-person pronoun) is.

They's a house on the end of the street.

(dialect) Contraction of they (=there) is.


they's

(African-American Vernacular) Synonym of their.


hes

The idea was hes not mine.

(nonstandard, uncommon) Alternative form of his when pronounced as he's; that that belongs to him.


enow

From Middle English ynowe, strong plural and weak form of ynogh (“enough”); see enough for more.

How irksome, how wearying, to be doomed always to the society of those who are like people speaking different languages! It resembles travelling through the East, with a few phrases of lingua franca—just enough for the ordinary purposes of life—enow of words to communicate a want, but not to communicate a thought!

1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, pages 83–84:


xyr

Telepathy would require that you share the other person's knowledge of xyr own mind, which in turn requires recognizing that xe is actually aware of what xe's thinking, which is incompatible with psychiatry.

1993 September 14, Jim Sinclair, “Re: Jim and Steve's snoring discussion”, in bit.listserv.autism (Usenet), message-ID <AUTISM%93091417074261@SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU>:

Now full ownership in the modern sense... implies four rights of the owner: 1. The right to decide what xe does with xyr property; 2. the right to decide what others do with xyr property; […]

1999 April 28, Dagmar Alpen, “Re: Think of a small tribe of people...”, in talk.politics.libertarian (Usenet), message-ID <7g74qb$8sq$1@rzsun02.rrz.uni-hamburg.de>:

There's no central authority, and each server administrator owns xyr own server sets xyr own policy. Each server administrator sets xyr own policy for honouring cancel messages, too.

2010 November 5, Kevin G. Rhoads, “Re: Spam in the group.”, in openwatcom.users.fortran (Usenet), message-ID <4CD469A3.3985E10C@alum.mit.edu>:

This is xyr book.

(nonstandard, possessive) Belonging to xe, their (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular possessive adjective, coordinate with his and her.


anny

However seeks dhe anallogy (or natural rule) ov anny tung, must dherfore find it at home; nor wil dhe seeker seek in vain.

1813, James Elphinston (quoted), chapter 5, in The New Art of Memory, 2nd edition, page 121:

Ye can't get out o' this for anny less.

1870, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), Goldsmith's Friend Abroad Again:

I wuz buckin’ i’ the brewus an’ I should n’t a knaowed ye wuz thur, anny moer’n th’ little gurl…

1897, Hamilton Kingsford, Vigornian Monologues: A Series of Papers in Illustration of the Dialect of Worcestershire, page 18:

I kin lick anny man in the gang."

1916, Peggy Edmund, Harold W. Williams, compilers, Toaster's Handbook:

[…] And Missis Moriarty looked at him, and she didn't say anny more, But she wrapped her head in her ould black shawl, and she quietly wint away.

1916, Robert W. Service, Rhymes of a Red Cross Man:


muh

Evidently popularized circa early 2010s by memes on 4chan, but usage online is first attested in c. 2003.

muh free software

muh constitution

muh freedom

(Internet slang, often derogatory) Pronunciation spelling of my.


more and more

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-more and more.wav

The wound hurt more and more as we walked on.

His colour sicken'd more and more,
He faded into age;
And then his enemies began
To show their deadly rage.

A third is wroth: ‘Is this an hour
For private sorrow’s barren song,
When more and more the people throng
The chairs and thrones of civil power?’

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXI”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 35:

(manner) In a manner that progressively increases.

越來越 /越来越

in a manner that progressively increases


yure

I've heard of yure old lot.

1891, Kate Sanborn, Adopting An Abandoned Farm:

But as soone as you can come to yure loving own girl--ROBINA."

1919, Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews, Joy in the Morning:


suche

Now if ye felt your belly in ſuche caſe, that ye muſt be fayne al daye to tende it with warme clothes, oꝛ els ye were not able to abide the payne, would ye recken your belly ſicke oꝛ whole? I wene ye would recken your belly not in good quart.

c. 1522 (date written), Thomas More, “A Treatyce (Vnfynyshed) vppon These Wordes of Holye Scrypture, Memorare Nouissima, & Ineternum non Peccabis, Remember the Last Thynges, and Thou shalt Neuer Synne. […]”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The Workes of Sir Thomas More Knyght, […], London: […] Iohn Cawod, Iohn Waly, and Richarde Tottell, published 30 April 1557, →OCLC, book I, page 80, column 1:


eny

FREE--and that the schulehouses war a d--d sight thicker than the bugs in Miles Privett's beds! and thet's saying a heap, for ef eny on you kin sleep in his house, excep' he takes to the soft side of the floor, I'm d--d.

1862, Various, Continental Monthly, Vol. II. July, 1862. No. 1.:

Ther stranger pays fur eny bow they make, for any smile they give.

Why, he kin sing eny song and do ent cut-up antik eny of 'em kin.

1912, Al. G. Field, Watch Yourself Go By:

"Does de white folks in youah neighborhood keep eny chickens, Br'er Rastus?"


severall

I beleeve also, that he proves the fortunate man, whose manner of proceeding meets with the quality of the time; and so likewise he unfortunate from whose course of proceeding the times differ: for we see that men, in the things that induce them to the end, (which every one propounds to himselfe, as glory and riches) proceed therein diversly; some with respects, others more bold, and rashly; one with violence, and th'other with cunning; the one with patience, th'other with its contrary; and every one of severall wayes may attaine thereto; we see also two very respective and wary men, the one come to his purpose, and th'other not; and in like maner two equally prosper, taking divers course; the one being wary the other head-strong; which proceeds from nothing else, but from the quality of the times, which agree, or not, with their proceedings.

1560, Peter Whitehorne, Machiavelli, Volume I:

Take to every quart of honey a gallon of fair spring water, boil it well with nutmeg and ginger bruised a little, in the boiling scum it well, and being boil'd set it a cooling in severall vessels that it may stand thin, then the next day put it in the vessel, and let it stand a week or two, then draw it in bottles.

Now whether it had beane better for Captaine Smith, to haue concluded with any of those severall proiects, to haue abandoned the Countrey, with some ten or twelue of them, who were called the better sort, and haue left Master Hunt our Preacher, Master Anthony Gosnoll, a most honest, worthy, and industrious Gentleman, Master Thomas Wotton and some 27 others of his Countrymen to the fury of the Salvages, famine, and all manner of mischiefes, and inconveniences, (for they were but fortie in all to keepe possession of this large Country;) or starue himselfe with them for company, for want of lodging: or but adventuring abroad to make them provision, or by his opposition to preserve the action, and saue all their liues; I leaue to the censure of all honest men to consider.

1733, Various, Great Epochs in American History, Vol. II:


fewscore

Cathedral close, lawn green as a race-horse run,
Along the foot of the buttresses,
A fewscore unregulated graves.

1967, Denis Devlin, Brian Coffey, The Heavenly Foreigner, page 19:

(rare) A few score: on the order of a small multiple of twenty.


sitch

They stops you on the sly in the streets, and tells you to call at their house at sitch a hour of the day, and when you goes there they smuggles you quietly into some room by yourselves, and then sets to work Jewing away as hard as they can, prizing up their own things, and downcrying yourn.

1864, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor:


not a little

He is not a little saddened at the departure of the Dodgers. He's thinking of moving from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.


not a little

Not a little ink has been spilled on this issue.


less and less

Over the years, there has been less and less oil available.


co's

Whether or not an individual changes co’s location on the sexual landscape, the sexual landscape itself might change, [...]

1996, Brett Beemyn, Mickey Elianon, Queer studies: a lesbian, gay, bisexual, & transgender anthology, page 70:

A youngster of my own introduction had been rejected by an object of preadolescent craving and had killed coself by leaping at the ceiling of co’s quarters.

2004 April 1, Pieira dos Lobos, “Fern's Story two”, in alt.magick.serious (Usenet):

(nonstandard) Belonging to co. Gender-neutral possessive adjective, grammatically equivalent to the gendered his and her and the singular their.


ary

A modification of e'er a, for ever a. Compare nary.


thilk

thylke (alternative)
thick (alternative)
thuck (alternative)
thik (alternative)

From Middle English thilke, equivalent to a blend of the + ilk.

I loue thilke laſſe, (alas why do I loue:) / And am forlorne, (alas why am I lorne:) / Shee deignes not my good will, but doth reproue, / And of my rurall muſick holdeth ſcorne.

1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Ianuarie. Aegloga Prima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Iohn Wolfe for Iohn Harrison the yonger, […], →OCLC, folio 2, recto:

(now archaic, regional) That same; this; that.


your guys's

tlb

(chiefly Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial, chiefly proscribed)

2000, Linkin Park Web Interview http://www.pushmeaway.com/linkinwebint.html
I know that in your guys's official bio from Warner that it says you would tour with anyone because your music touches so many genres.

“I don’t believe that a seven-year term of office for our president should be of any particular concern to you, Mr. Kelly.”
“Well, it is, but that is your guys’s problem.[”]

2005, Megan, Age 14, in Weight Loss Success Stories http://www.blubberbuster.com/board/success_37.html
I still have about 30 lbs to lose, which I would love to lose in 3 months..and after reading all your guys's stories I have gained even more motivation.

2006, Tony Kapel, A Letter to the Parents of http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1411685172&id=_ThYMEfjATgC&pg=PA263&lpg=PA263&vq=your+guys%27s&dq=%22your+guys%27s%22&sig=IJ9Q8OivUhTnAasdJNFyGTc9Www
“Man your guys’s room is bigger then mine — man you got a balcony — I don’t have a balcony.”


whath

Macleane explains himself very well when he says that “Whath part?” would express quota pars, if we could coin an interrogative adjective after the analogy of the seventh part, eighth, etc.

1884, Eldredge & Brother, Selections from the Satires of Juvenal: To which is Added the Fifth Satire of Persius, page 144:


whath

It'sometimes^([sic]) amusing, sometimes, well, just majestic, especially King George the whath, E. Rex's father.

1996 September 4, Jim Farrell, “Blue eyes cryin' in the rain”, in bit.listserv.words-l (Usenet):


yonders

I see a horse on yonders plain Whose body's been but lately slain.

1940, The University of Missouri Studies - Volume 15, Issue 1, page 120:

Had me a cat, the cat pleased me, I fed my cat in yonders tree, cat went fiddle-i-fee.

1954, Ralph Steele Boggs, El folklore en los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica, page 91:

As I went over yonders hill As ever rose free merly and time And there I met a young lady whose name was Elian Who used to be the true lover of mine.

1975, New York Folklore - Volumes 1-4, page 185:


yonders

en-adv

yonders (comparative more yonders, superlative most yonders)

more yonders (comparative)
most yonders (superlative)

Oh my good Lord, yonders foule Murthers done.

1630, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice:

“No,” said Mrs Moss, “but he's only in the potato-field yonders."

1860, George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss:

He pinted one man to rule yonders, and another man to rule yonders.

1887, The Cosmopolitan - Volume 2, page 304:


xir

in the recent past, there was an impeachment trial of a judge where every juror was told to secretly choose xir own standard.

1999 January 3, Matthew Daly, soc.singles.moderated (Usenet):

This causes Cici to hide parts of xir identity to protect from these stereotypes.

2019 October 30, Debbie Luxon, “Myth-busting asexuality: Being asexual in Cambridgeshire”, in Cambridgeshire Live:

The soft blue sky had the feel of a good omen. In Xir old age, the god moved slower every year; lingering in the shallows long after the last fish had been swallowed up by nets. Sometimes Xe stood still for days, in sight of the shore, as if Xe had not quite decided whether to beach Xemself for good. Let Xem only survive long enough to spawn a new god! Else Xir helpless people would be godless ans stranded in the haunted dryland where the dead cities slept. Where less kindly deities roamed.

2023, Aimee Ogden, “A Half-Remembered World”, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, vol. 145, no. 1-2, whole no. 768 (July/August 2023), pages 146-202


zir

For quotations using this term, see Citations:zir.

A large clay jug for storing water, common in Egypt and the Sudan since ancient times.


99 percent

We are the 99 percent!

Feminists for the 99 percent do not operate in isolation from other movements of resistance and rebellion.

2019, Cinzia Arruzza, Nancy Fraser, Tithi Bhattacharya, Feminism for the 99 Percent, →ISBN, page 54:

(collective) Those who are not part of the ultrarich.


muchee

"Make muchee noisee," he said, indicating the fleeing musicians with his thumb.

1947, Garrett Putnam Serviss, Edison's Conquest of Mars:

My think 'm dlinkee too muchee, too muchee vahine, maybe play cart, losee too muchee flanc.

1921, Frederick O'Brien, Mystic Isles of the South Seas.:

After the usual greetings Dam Li remarked:-- "Hon'lable officer lookee too muchee sad."

1919, Various, Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 156, Jan. 15, 1919:

I understood him to say that it would require "too muchee words" to render in our prosaic tongue the amount of poetic imagery concentrated in the expressions "Chih-Yuen," or "Kwang-Kai."

1898, James Allan, Under the Dragon Flag:

"Pleece he nevir too muchee quick," returned the man, coolly.


many another

(poetic) many other, most other (followed by singular noun)


almost all

Rational numbers are a countable set, so almost all numbers are irrational.

(mathematics) All, except for a negligible set, i.e. finite, countable or of measure zero.


some old

some ol' (alternative)
some ole (alternative)

Don't worry, I'll find some old way to do it.

But I don't want you to promise anything – you're a decent old sort, and you'd be sure to make it up to me some old way or other.

I ain't got but one old rusty dime. / …
Oh, I'll have a new dollar some old day,
And I'll throw this old rusty dime away.

1930s, "Chilly Winds" (U.S. folk song), collected in John A. Lomax et al., Our Singing Country (1941), p. 294

I've been workin' out in the rain
Tied to the dirty old ball and chain
Oh dear mother I'll come home some old day

1936 (recorded 1957), Foggy Mountain Boys (Flatt and Scruggs, as "Certain and Stacey"), on Foggy Mountain Jamboree, "Some Old Day" lyrics

So why don't someone here just spike his drink
Why don't you do him in some old way
Supposed to be a funeral

1970, Gram Parsons in The Flying Burrito Brothers, "$1000 Wedding" lyrics

[The con man] will get good folks
 Because they will just try to help folks in some ole way!

2011, Wilbur Thornton, Intoxicating Winds, page 519:

(US, idiomatic, informal) Some, some unspecified or yet-undetermined one (especially for emphasis).


any ole

I don't do the things that you do
I don't go the places that you go
I don't say the bad things that you say
But I love you any way, Dara
I love you any ole way, Dara
I love you any way, Dara

1966, Otis Redding (with Steve Cropper), The Soul Album, "Any Ole Way" lyrics


this, that, and the other

en-noun

this, that, and the other pl (plural only)

pl (canonical)
this, that, or the other (alternative)
this, that, and the third (alternative)
this, that, and the other thing (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-this, that, and the other.wav

A knowing old sheet-anchor-man, an unprincipled fellow, putting this, that, and the other together, ferrets out the mystery; [...]

1850, Herman Melville, “Smuggling in a Man-of-War”, in White Jacket; or, The World in a Man-of-War, volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 285:

Very much admired, indeed, the young woman was. What with her dress; what with the air and sun; what with being made so much of; what with this, that, and the other; her merits really attracted general notice.

1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, “Intelligence”, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 473:

Anyway, we were sitting here doing this, that, and the other, and she said she positively was not going to do the other any more with Carstairs sneering at her while she did it.

1943, Norbert Davis, Sally's in the Alley:

"There's such an onslaught of people wanting information, people wanting this, that and the other," she says.

2001 November 12, Andrea Sachs, “Out Of Africa”, in Time:

A wide range of actions, circumstances, characteristics, topics, or other items.


this, that, or the other

this, that, and the other
this, that, and the other#English

Alternative form of this, that, and the other.


anotha'

(slang, African-American Vernacular) Pronunciation spelling of another.


this here

these here (plural)
this 'ere (alternative)
this ere (alternative)

Well, the receipt should have reached this here party on the Thursday morning, as it were, — I posted it on the Wednesday night […]

I’ve just run down from Ulster County to look at the town, bein’ that the hayin’s over with. Gosh! but it’s a whopper. I thought Poughkeepsie was some punkins; but this here town is five times as big.

1910, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], “The Poet and the Peasant”, in Strictly Business:


that there

Five persons went to the house after the milkman was gone, and that there Arab party was safe inside, […]


some kind of

a mediocre; a bare minimum; (denoting that something only barely fits a certain category, or is very mediocre in it)


too many

Audio

I think you served me a couple too many shrimp on my plate.

Nowadays most children get far too many toys.

Even if only a single child ends up hurt, that would be one too many.


better part of

It will take the better part of a century to develop this technology.

Alma, we quickly learn, is a hard-nosed pragmatist, even something of an academic crank, and she has no expectation of actually developing any real relationship with this handsome computer staying in her apartment for the better part of a month.

2021 September 16, A. A. Dowd, “Dan Stevens as a dashing robot lover? That computes”, in AV Club:


e'ry

We gon' get e'ry one of 'em.

And we 'bout it e'ry day, e'ry day like we sitting on a bench.

(colloquial) Alternative spelling of every.


Thy

Honorific alternative letter-case form of thy, sometimes used when referring to God or another important figure who is understood from context.


ebery

And ebery time a lazy nigger stops to take a nap, / De grass keeps on a-growin' for to smudder up his crap.

Pronunciation spelling of every, representing a caricature of Black English.


yo'

(African-American Vernacular) Alternative spelling of yo (non-rhotic with dough-door merger pronunciation of your)


whatevuh

(nonstandard) Alternative spelling of whatever.


one or two

I have one or two things that I need to do.


hundredsome

Approximately one hundred; a hundred odd.


thousandsome

(rare) Approximately one thousand; a thousand odd.


best part of

The huge square box, parquet-floored and high-ceilinged, had been arranged to display a suite of bedroom furniture designed and made in the halcyon days of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, when modish taste was just due to go clean out of fashion for the best part of the next hundred years.

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:


bookoo

From French beaucoup, respelled approximately phonetically.


bookoo

Some people say lawyers have one of the best jobs on the market and make bookoos of money […]


a good many

The government has enacted a good many reforms.


a good few

The government has enacted a good few important reforms.


muchell

Full many wounds in his corrupted fleſh / He did engraue, and muchell blood did ſpend, / Yet might not doe him die, but aie more freſh / And fierce he ſtill appeard, the more he did them threſh.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 32, page 503:

(archaic, now chiefly Scotland and Northern England, especially Northumbria) Alternative form of mickle.


yizzer

yisser (alternative)
yousser (alternative)

Come in for yizzer tea.

(Ireland, especially Dublin) Your (plural).


yisser

(Ireland, especially Dublin) Alternative form of yizzer.


thet

Would ye believe thet?

1882, James Jackson, Tom Terror, the Outlaw:

(nonstandard) Pronunciation spelling of that, representing dialectal English.


this'n

(slang, West Country, US regional) this one.


that'n

(slang, West Country, US regional) that one.


infinitely many

(mathematics) Having a quantity or cardinality that is infinite or unbounded.


couple three

So he brought in a full quart of whiskey, poured part of it out, left a couple, three inches left in the bottle.

1976, Mendocino County Remembered: An Oral History, Mendocino County Historical Society:

I figure we might make it to the bed--if you're set on being traditional--in a couple, three hours.

One day not met, yet, nor even on that street alone has been sighted, then a couple three days later after the fullness of fades, they go.

Then why don't you let me take the paper over for a couple-three days and ask Avis to finish the job?

General Chalmers is camped a couple-three miles in back of us.

Cops picked her up at the Greyhound station a couple-three winters ago, shivering, hungry, dirty as a gutter rat.

(colloquial, US) Two or three or a similarly small number of.


various and sundry

many and various
many and various#English

(chiefly US) Synonym of many and various.


many and varied

The answers have been many and varied, but the quest has always been there.

1962, Harry R. Klocker, Thomism and Modern Thought, page 2: