dat

Pronuctiation spelling of that,
representing dialects with th-stopping. Compare Dutch dat, Low German dat, and German das.

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(dialectal, nonstandard, African-American Vernacular, MLE, Ireland, foreign accents, or humorous) Pronunciation spelling of that.

African-American Vernacular; foreign accents; African-American Vernacular; foreign accents


dat

Dey vanished...but it wasn't too long ago dat dey did. Dey oughta still be nearby.

2004, Intelligent Systems, translated by Nintendo of America, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Nintendo, GameCube, level/area: Rogueport:


whatever

From Middle English whatever. By surface analysis, what + ever.

Near-synonyms: meh, so what

So you broke it? Whatever! Get a grip.

Go brush your teeth. – Whatever!

"... between you and Irene." "Iris." "Whatever."

1983 December 19, “The Looks of Love”, in Newhart, season 2, episode 9:

"... now it's Violet." "Iris." "Whatever."

"It's not silk, it's muslin." "Whatever."

1991 January 10, Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, page 66:

Yeah, whatever you old dried up fat hog.

1998 June 3, “Conjoined Fetus Lady”, in South Park, season 2, episode 5:

whatever you say
whatever you say#English

(colloquial) A holophrastic expression used to dismiss something that the speaker doesn't care about, doesn't think important, or doesn't want to consider or discuss any further. Sometimes conceived as an ellipsis of whatever you say, implying feigned deference: whatever you say [apparently must be true].

طُز

indicating the speaker does not care what someone says


zero

en-noun

zero (countable and uncountable, plural zeros or zeroes)

pole

antonym(s) of “value of a function's variables at zero”

From Spanish zero (now cero), Middle French zero (modern French zéro), and their etymon Italian zero, from Medieval Latin zephirum, from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “nothing, cipher”), itself calqued from (semantic loan) Sanskrit शून्य (śūnya, “void, nothingness”). Doublet of cipher and chiffre.

der

The visit to Townsville was filled with nostalgia for me. I remembered very well staying there on June 8, 1942. I shared a room with a brave and friendly officer, Colonel Francis Stevens. Early the next morning we flew to Port Moresby in New Guinea, and from there we took off in separate planes. Colonel Stevens never returned from that flight; his plane was shot down by a Japanese Zero.

1971, Lyndon Johnson, “The New Age of Regionalism”, in The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 361:

(military, usually capitalized) A Mitsubishi A6M Zero, a long range fighter aircraft operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service from 1940 to 1945.


zero

(meteorology) Of a cloud ceiling, limiting vision to 50 feet (15 meters) or less.

nolla

meteorology: of a cloud ceiling: limiting vision to 50 feet (15 meters) or less


one

PIE word
 *h₁óynos
From Middle English oon, on, oan, an, from Old English ān (“one”), from Proto-West Germanic *ain, from Proto-Germanic *ainaz (“one”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos (“single, one”).
Cognate with Scots ae, ane, wan, yin (“one”); North Frisian ån (“one”); Saterland Frisian aan (“one”); West Frisian ien (“one”); Dutch een, één (“one”); German Low German een; German ein, eins (“one”); Danish en (“one”); Swedish en (“one”); Norwegian Nynorsk ein (“one”), Icelandic einn (“one”); Latin ūnus (“one”) (Old Latin oinos); Russian оди́н (odín), Spanish uno. Doublet of a, an, and Uno.
The use as an indefinite personal pronoun may have been influenced by unrelated French on, although the Germanic languages widely use cognates for the same sense (usually in non-subject function, but also in subject function, e.g. Luxembourgish een).
Verb form from Middle English onen.

inh

wone (alternative obsolete)
I (alternative)

One day the prince set forth to kill the dragon that had brought terror to his father’s kingdom for centuries.

One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.

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


few

head

few (comparative fewer or less, superlative fewest or least)

fewer (comparative)
less (comparative)
fewest (superlative)
least (superlative)

From Middle English fewe, from Old English fēaw (“few”), from Proto-West Germanic *fau, from Proto-Germanic *fawaz (“few”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, small”).
Cognate with Old Saxon fā (“few”), Old High German fao, fō (“few, little”), Old Norse fár (“few”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍃 (faus, “few”). Also related with Latin paucus (“little, few”) and pauper (“poor”), from which latter English poor and pauper; see these.

der

you've got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette

Very few did she have not to go there, did she?

I was expecting a big crowd at the party, but very few people (=almost none) turned up.

Your men are valiant but their number few,
And cannot terrifie his mightie hoſt, […]

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 III, scene iii:

Already we're seeing fewer cache misses by avoiding creating cache entries for the idle task and expect to see even fewer with changes to the TLB reload code to uncache the page tables.

1999, Proceedings of the Third Symposium on Operating Systems:

However, the above passage could have been written more efficiently — if Strunkian concision, using the fewest words possible, is understood as the measure of verbal efficiency.

2020, Victoria Rosner, Machines for Living: Modernism and Domestic Life, page 62:

(used alone) Not many; a small (in comparison with another number stated or implied) but somewhat indefinite number of.


most

From Middle English most, moste, from Old English mǣst, māst, from Proto-Germanic *maistaz, *maist. Cognate with Scots mast, maist (“most”), Saterland Frisian maast (“most”), West Frisian meast (“most”), Dutch meest (“most”), German meist (“most”), Danish and Swedish mest (“most”), Icelandic mestur (“most”).

PATTY:They announced this year's nominees for student council. And guess who's up for vice-president? Me! Isn't that the most to say the least?

1978 September 14, Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey, Bronte Woodard, directed by Randal Kleiser, Grease (film), spoken by Patty Simcox (Susan Buckner):


most

en-noun

most (usually uncountable, plural mosts)

mosts (plural)
moste (alternative obsolete)

The most I can offer for the house is $150,000.

Most of the penguins were friendly and curious.

Most of the rice was spoiled.

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

1892, Walter Besant, “The Select Circle”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 46:

The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen.[…]The second note, the high alarum, not so familiar and always important since it indicates the paramount sin in Man's private calendar, took most of them by surprise although they had been well prepared.

1963, Margery Allingham, “Eye Witness”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 249:

Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.

2013 August 16, John Vidal, “Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 10, page 8:

(countable, uncountable) The greater part.

Along with their massive size will come other “mosts”: they will likely be the longest living, the best educated, the wealthiest and the most wired/ wireless.

2001, George Barna, Real Teens: A Contemporary Snapshot of Youth Culture, →ISBN, page 15:

Virginia had a number of "mosts” that made it appealing, if not representative of all Confederate states: the most citizens among the Southern states; the most slaves; the most men under arms; the most famous Southern generals; the most fighting within its borders; the most divided by the war (what other Southern state lost a quarter of its territory and saw a new state created out of that former territory?); and the most damaged by the war.

2002, John Gregory Selby, Virginians at War: The Civil War Experiences of Seven Young Confederates, →ISBN, page xvii:

The record of Elvis' achievement is truly remarkable; his list of “firsts” and “mosts” is probably without parallel in music and entertainment history.

2007, Joe Moscheo, The Gospel Side of Elvis, →ISBN:


last

From Middle English laste, latst, syncopated variant of latest.

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-last.wav

the pitcher goes so often to the well that it is broken at last

Eyes Wide Shut was the last film to be directed by Stanley Kubrick.

Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.

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

Final, ultimate, coming after all others of its kind.

rear, rearmost, caboose, dernier, final, terminal, ultimate, lattermost;


it

head

it (subjective and objective it, reflexive and intensive itself, possessive determiner and pronoun its, plural subjective they, plural objective case them)

it (objective subjective)
itself (emphatic reflexive)
its (determiner possessive pronoun without-noun)
they (plural subjective)
them (objective plural)
hit (alternative)
i' (alternative)
itt (alternative)

From Middle English it, hit ( > dialectal English hit (“it”)), from Old English hit (“it”), from Proto-West Germanic *hit, from Proto-Germanic *hit (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (“this, here”). Cognate with West Frisian it (“it”), Saterland Frisian et, 't (“it”), Dutch het (“it”), Low German it (“it”), German es (“it”). Compare also Gothic 𐌹𐍄𐌰 (ita, “it”), Latin cis (“on this”), hic (“this”). More at he.

not used in Dyirbal (Dyirbal has no third-person pronoun)

(subject pronouns are usually omitted, or a demonstrative is used: medial, proximal, and distal demonstratives:) τοῦτο (toûto)

αὐτό

when referring to inanimate thing or neuter noun

impersonal pronoun, used without referent

It is easy to see how she would think that.

"I know now!" said I. "I have seen this in your face a long while."
"No; have you really, my dear?" said he. "What a Dame Durden it is to read a face!"

1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC:

It was felt that I'd be the right man for the job.

I find it odd that you would say that.

It is hard seeing you so sick.

He saw to it that everyone would vote for him.

It is not clear if the report was true.

She made it clear what she expected by the weekend, which made it a problem to juggle her and other customers' jobs at the same time.

syntactic expletive
syntactic expletive#English

The impersonal pronoun, used as a placeholder for a delayed subject, or less commonly, object; known as the dummy pronoun (according to some definitions), anticipatory it or, more formally in linguistics, a syntactic expletive. The delayed subject is commonly a to-infinitive, a gerund, or a noun clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction.


it

its (plural)
hit (alternative)
i' (alternative)
itt (alternative)

Let's play it at breaktime.


it

hit (alternative)
i' (alternative)
itt (alternative)

Going away for the weekend and feel the need to profile en route? This is the "it" bag.

2007 September, Vibe, volume 15, number 9, page 202:

With Hit Girl, Moretz is this year's It Girl, alternately sweet, savage and scary.

2010, David Germain, Hilarious ‘Kick-Ass’ delivers bloody fun, Associated Press:

These Italian made sneakers quickly became an it shoe and the trend is not going anywhere any time soon!

2021 October 4, Robert P, “Are Golden Goose Sneakers Worth It? My Honest Review Of Golden Goose Sneakers”, in Gold Talk Club, archived from the original on 2024-07-15:

(Our culture's “it”-novelist, Sally Rooney, is instead tellingly God-obsessed.)

2025 May 31, Tanjil Rashid, “Finding their religion”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 9:

(colloquial) Most fashionable, popular, or in vogue.


next

From Middle English nexte, nexste, nixte, from Old English nīehsta, nīehste, etc., inflected forms of nīehst (“nearest, next”), superlative form of nēah (“nigh”) (the comparative would become near), corresponding to Proto-Germanic *nēhwist (“nearest, closest”); equivalent to nigh + -est. Cognate with Saterland Frisian naist (“next”), Dutch naast (“next to”), German nächst (“next”), Danish næste (“next”), Swedish näst (“next”), Icelandic næst (“next”), Persian نزد (nazd, “near, with”).

inh

neest (alternative dialectal)
neist (alternative Scotland)
nex (alternative archaic)
nex' (alternative dialectal)

next friend

And if a man purchase land in fee simple and die without issue, he which is his next cousin collaterall of the whole blood, how farre so ever he be from him in degree, (de quel pluis long degree qu'il soit), may inherite and have the land ...

1628, Coke, On Littleton (10. a. 10. b. §2), quoted in 1890, John Bethell Uhle, Current Comment and Legal Miscellany, page 250

Thomas Humphrey Doleman died the 30th of August 1712, an infant, intestate and without issue; Lewis the next nephew died the 17th of April 1716, an infant about sixteen years old, having left his mother Mary Webb, ...

1793, William Peere Williams, Samuel Compton Cox, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the High Court of Chancery, and of Some Special Cases Adjudged in the Court of King's Bench [1695-1735]: De Term. S. Trin. 1731, page 602:

If it be a property, it is a new species, unknown to the civil law, the common law, and the statute law; there is no medium, it must be, if it goes to her next kin, because it is absolute property in her. There can be no distribution of personal property ...

1874, Thomas Sergeant, William Rawle, Reports of Cases Adjudged in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, page 23:

(chiefly law) Nearest in relationship. (See also next of kin.)

ngjitur

being closer to the present location than all other items


next

The party is next Tuesday; that is, not tomorrow, but eight days from now.

When you say next Thursday, do you mean Thursday this week or Thursday next week?

(of days of the week or months of the year) Closest in the future, or closest but one if the closest is very soon; of days, sometimes thought to specifically refer to the instance closest to seven days (one week) in the future.


next

pastaj

In a time, place or sequence closest or following

First we removed all the handles; next, we stripped off the old paint.

In a time, place, rank or sequence closest or following.

(conjunctive) So as to follow in time or sequence something previously mentioned.


your

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

non-rhotic, show–sure merger, African-American Vernacular

yaw (non-rhotic, paw–poor merger or dialectal)

From Middle English your, youre, ȝour, ȝoure, from Old English ēower, īower (“your”, plural), from Proto-West Germanic *iuwar, from Proto-Germanic *izweraz. Cognate with Saterland Frisian jou (“your”), Dutch jouw (“your”), German Low German jo, jos (“your”), German euer (“your”, plural), Danish jeres (“your”).

ur (alternative Internet informal)
ya (alternative informal)
yer (alternative informal)
yr (alternative informal)
yo (alternative)
yo' (alternative)
yur (alternative pronunciation-spelling)

don't count your chickens before they've hatched

you kiss your grandfather with that mouth

The following table shows a list of English personal pronoun

including archaic and dialectal forms. Dialectal and obsolete

archaic forms are in italics. 1 See Appendix:English third-person singular pronouns for attested neopronoun.

Not your average Tom, Dick and Harry.

Your Show of Shows

Your World with Neil Cavuto

Not Your Average Travel Guide

A determiner that conveys familiarity and mutual knowledge of the modified noun.


you

head

you (second person, singular or plural, nominative or objective, possessive determiner your, possessive pronoun yours, singular reflexive yourself, plural reflexive yourselves)

en-pron

your (determiner possessive)
yours (possessive pronoun without-noun)
yourself (reflexive singular)
yourselves (plural reflexive)
ye (alternative archaic dialectal nominative plural)
ya (alternative informal pronunciation-spelling)
yah (alternative informal pronunciation-spelling)
yer (alternative informal pronunciation-spelling)
yeh (alternative informal pronunciation-spelling)
y' (alternative informal pronunciation-spelling)
yo (alternative informal pronunciation-spelling)
yu (alternative informal pronunciation-spelling)
yuh (alternative informal pronunciation-spelling)
yoo (alternative pronunciation-spelling)
yew (alternative obsolete pronunciation-spelling)
-cha (alternative informal)
-ja (alternative informal)
u (alternative Internet informal)
yuo (alternative Internet ironic)
youe (alternative obsolete)
yow (alternative obsolete)
yowe (alternative obsolete)

Belizean Creole: yu

Bislama: yu

Cameroon Pidgin: you

Jamaican Creole: yuh

Nigerian Pidgin: yu

Sranan Tongo: yu

Tok Pisin: yu

Torres Strait Creole: yu

From Middle English you, yow, ȝow (object case of ye), from Old English ēow (“you”, dative case of ġē), from Proto-West Germanic *iwwi (“you”, dative case of *jiʀ), from Proto-Germanic *iwwiz (“you”, dative case of *jīz), the Western form of Proto-Germanic *izwiz (“you”, dative case of *jūz), from Proto-Indo-European *yúHs (“you”, plural).
Cognate with Scots you (“you”), Saterland Frisian jou (“you”), West Frisian jo (“you”), Low German jo, joe and oe (“you”), Dutch jou and u (“you”), German euch (“you”), Middle High German eu, iu (“you”, object pronoun), Latin vōs (“you”), Avestan 𐬬𐬋 (vō, “you”), Ashkun yë̃ (“you”), Kamkata-viri šo (“you”), Sanskrit यूयम् (yūyám, “you”).
See usage notes. Ye, you and your are cognate with Dutch jij/je, jou, jouw; Low German ji, jo/ju, jug and German ihr, euch and euer respectively. Ye is also cognate with Danish I and archaic Swedish I.

inh

dative case of <i class="Latn mention" lang="ang">ġē</i>

dative case of <i class="Latn mention" lang="gmw-pro">*jiʀ</i>

dative case of <i class="Latn mention" lang="gem-pro">*jīz</i>

dative case of <i class="Latn mention" lang="gem-pro">*jūz</i>

mo

object pronoun: the person being addressed

contigo (familiar, attached to the preposition "com")

(polite in Portugal, general in most of Brazil) você (polite in Portugal, general in most of Brazil, with or without prepositions)

a f (without prepositions) consigo (attached to the preposition "com"; only used with this meaning in Portugal)

y'all

subject pronoun: persons spoken/written to; plural

thee

object pronoun: person spoken/written to

:Category:English second person pronouns

I charge you, as ye woll have my love, that ye warne your kynnesmen that ye woll beare that day the slyve of golde uppon your helmet.

c. 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book VIII:

(object pronoun) The person spoken to or written to, as an object. (Replacing thee; originally as a mark of respect.)

You are all supposed to do as I tell you.

Are you excited? ― Yes, I am excited!

2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

(subject pronoun) The people spoken to or written to, as a subject. (Replacing ye.)

You are right, Fanny, to protest against such an office, but you need not be afraid.

1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter IX, in Mansfield Park: […], volume II, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 208:

(subject pronoun) The person spoken to or written to, as a subject. (Originally as a mark of respect.)

уара

subject pronoun: the person being addressed

(usually indicated by the suffix only) (informal) -sz

with the widespread use of kinship terms as pronouns

yer

subject pronoun: person spoken/written to

plus the alternative forms listed above and at Appendix:English personal pronouns

You get a lot of rude people in London.

It was one of those small-town dive bars you often read about.

You find a lot of 'life' in the city but much of it is an act people are putting on.

You get some terrible bullies in Spanish villages too , and they'll doubtless grow up to be complete oafs.

2018 October 4, Javier Marías, Berta Isla, Penguin UK, →ISBN:

You often hear about athletes having the jitters before a game, or having butterflies in their stomach.

2018 January 16, Rick Wolff, Secrets of Sports Psychology Revealed: Proven Techniques to Elevate Your Performance, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

(indefinite personal pronoun) A dummy pronoun used in certain constructions, usually with verbs of receiving (such as get or find) or sensing (such as see or hear), typically stating the existence or typicality of something.

julle

object pronoun: the group being addressed

(familiar in Portugal, archaic in Brazil) vos (without prepositions) convosco (attached to the preposition "com")

(after preposition "a":) (familiar in Spain, archaic in Latin America) vosotros m

шәара

subject pronoun: the group being addressed

(usually indicated by the suffix only) (informal) -tok

貴方達

(generic) (discourteous if used for a superior)

너희

generic, discourteous if used for a superior

vós

archaic or poetic outside rural northern Portugal

ye

object pronoun: persons spoken/written to


some

From Middle English som, sum, from Old English sum (“some, a certain one”), from Proto-West Germanic *sum, from Proto-Germanic *sumaz (“some, a certain one”), from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one, whole”).
Cognate Scots sum, some (“some”), North Frisian som, sam, säm (“some”), West Frisian sommige, somlike (“some”), dialectal Dutch som, saom (“some”), standard Dutch sommige (“some”), Low German somige (“some”), German dialectal summige (“some”), Danish somme (“some”), Swedish somlig (“some”), Norwegian sum, som (“some”), Icelandic sumur (“some”), Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌼𐍃 (sums, “one, someone”). More at same.

der

som (alternative)
som' (alternative)
sum (alternative)

I guess he must have weighed some 90 kilos.

Some 30,000 spectators witnessed the feat.

Some 4,000 acres of land were flooded.

Of a measurement: approximately, roughly.

حَوَالِي ، بَعض الشَّيء ، إلَى حَدٍ مَا


it's

it’s (canonical)
i's (alternative)
its (alternative)
it'sa (alternative)
't's (alternative)

Contraction of ‘it is’, ‘it has’ or 'it was'.

it’s too expensive; it’s coming right for us!; it's a free country

[...], guided not by his own Will, but by the Medick Science, which dictates, that it's recessary, beneficial, and convenient to alter, mix, and temper this medicine, and fit it to the Disposition, and Constitution of the Patient[.]

1743, Martin Marley, The Good Confessor, page 307:

The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about[…]and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention. Partly, this is a result of how online advertising has traditionally worked: advertisers pay for clicks, and a click is a click, however it's obtained.

2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 48:


its

Equivalent to it + -s (possessive marker). From the earlier form it's (it + -'s), which is now considered nonstandard. Began to displace his as the possessive of the neuter pronoun in the Middle English period; had fully displaced it by the 1700s.

The manner wherewith our Lawes assay to moderate the foolish and vaine expences of table-cheare and apparell, seemeth contrarie to it's end.

1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 43, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

since I have been at the Pains to write it, if he consents to it's being published I will follow my Friend's Advice, and chiefly yours.

1751, G. Burnett, translated by Thomas More, Utopia:

That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land. (originally "of it own accord" in the 1611 first edition)

1763, Authorized King James Version of the Bible, Oxford Standard Text, Leviticus 25:5

They descended the hill, crossed the bridge, and drove to the door; and, while examining the nearer aspect of the house, all her apprehensions of meeting its owner returned.

The Chinese government is at war with its own people.

1989 June 5, Jasper Becker, John Gittings, The Guardian:

свой

when referring to the subject of the sentence


its

… both Houses have resolved to rob the North of a good friend of its and yours.

1645, Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton, Letter to Ferdinando Fairfax, 6 February 1645

EBay Canada argued in court that the data sought by tax collectors was not its to give.

2007 October 1, Ian Austen, “Canadian Court Opens Up eBay Data to Tax Agency”, in New York Times:

...the Board of Trade of Chicago can at least feel that it has played its part manfully and patriotically, and that no act of its has stood in the way of National victory.

1917, Charles Henry Taylor, History of the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, volume 2, page 1259:


this

From Middle English this, from Old English þis (neuter demonstrative), from North Sea Germanic base *þa- "that", from Proto-Germanic *þat, from Proto-Indo-European *tód, extended form of demonstrative base *to-; + North-West Germanic definitive suffix -s, from Proto-Indo-European *só (“this, that”).
Cognate with Scots this (“this”), Saterland Frisian dusse (“this”), West Frisian dizze (“this”), German dies, dieses (“this”), Old Gutnish þissi (“this”).

èç-n

followed by adverb "ci" or "cial" or "vola" after noun

forget to take one's medication this morning

Hey, you know what's got two thumbs and really likes brownies? This guy!

1999, “Garage Sale”, in That '70s Show, season 2, episode 1, spoken by Michael Kelso (Ashton Kutcher):

I am no longer your little naïve toy. I am a woman. All woman. And this woman is tired of your crap.

2005, Anita Foster Lovely, Betrayals, Philadelphia, P.A.: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 165:

"You'll find another way. This girl is done." Hayden let his gun fall to the ground. "You can shoot me if you want. It's your call."

2010, Stephen Jay Schwartz, Beat, New York, N.Y.: Forge Books, →ISBN, page 333:

The (thing) here (used in indicating something or someone nearby).

(colloquial, with stress on this) Referring to oneself.


my

From Middle English mi, my, apocopated form of min, myn, from Old English mīn (“my, mine”), from Proto-West Germanic *mīn, from Proto-Germanic *mīnaz (“my, mine”, pron.) (possessive of *ek (“I”)), from Proto-Indo-European *méynos (“my; mine”).
Cognate with West Frisian myn (“my”), Afrikaans my (“my”), Dutch mijn (“my”), German mein (“my”), Swedish min (“my”). More at me.

inh

ma (alternative)
mah (alternative)
me (alternative)
muh (alternative)
I's (alternative)

don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining

don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining

my very educated mother just served us nine pizzas

my very excellent mother just served us nine pizzas

I can't find my book.

First-person singular possessive determiner. See Appendix:Possessive#English.

My seat at the restaurant was uncomfortable.

Don't you know my name?

I recognised him because he had attended my school.

My parents won't let me go out tonight.

From what conſummate vertue I have choſe / This perfect Man, by merit call'd my Son,

1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 10, lines 165-166:

I have to take my books back to the library soon.


his

From Middle English his, from Old English his (“his; its”), from Proto-Germanic *hes (“of this”), genitive of Proto-Germanic *hiz (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (“this”). Cognate with Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic hans (“his”). More at he; see also its.

Ahab his mark

Sejanus his Fall

(archaic) Used as a genitive marker in place of ’s after a noun, especially a masculine noun ending in -s, to express the possessive case.


her

From Middle English here, hir, hire, from Old English hire (“her”), from Proto-Germanic *hezōi (dative and genitive singular of *hijō).
Cognate with North Frisian hör, Saterland Frisian hier, hiere (“her”), West Frisian har (“her”), Dutch haar (“her”), German Low German hör (“her”), German ihr (“her”).

dative and genitive singular of <i class="Latn mention" lang="gem-pro">*hijō</i>

possessive concord + -khe class 1 (most common)

This is her book

Prodigal in everything, summer spreads her blessings with lavish unconcern, and waving her magic wand across the landscape of the world, she bids the sons of men to enter in [...]

1928, The Journal of the American Dental Association, page 765:

Her crew knew that deep in her heart beat engines fit and able to push her blunt old nose ahead at a sweet fourteen knots, come Hell or high water.

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

On top of the circle she wrote her name, Louise, just above where the 12 on a clock would be.

2001, Betsy Gould Hearne, Wishes, Kisses, and Pigs, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 78:

On 24 April Nelson rejoined his ship, her battle damage repaired […]

2010, Andrew Lambert, Nelson: Britannia's God of War, Faber & Faber, →ISBN:

Belonging to her (belonging to that female person or animal, or in poetic or old-fashioned language that ship, city, season, etc).

Begin by having students choose a short poem to memorize; they will enjoy searching the library for a poem that appeals to them. If a student wishes to memorize her poem and share it aloud with the rest of the class, suggest a buddy system.

2017, David Yellin, Essentials of Integrating the Language Arts, page 115:

Belonging to a person of unspecified gender (to counterbalance the traditional "his" in this sense).


her

Give it to her (after preposition)

He wrote her a letter (indirect object)

He treated her for a cold (direct object)

Him and her went for a walk (with a conjunction; proscribed)

Her's a bosting wench! (as a subject wihout a conjunction; dialectal)

"Then what became of her?"
"Her? Which ‘her’? The park is full of ‘hers’."
"The lady with the green feathers in her hat. A big Gainsborough hat. I am quite sure it was Miss Hartuff."

February 1896, Ground-swells, by Jeannette H. Walworth, published in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine; page 183

I means to goo to th' mop, 'er sez, fur I waants a chahinge.[…]'T wuz to w:Muckley mop 'er went.

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

“I’ll bet ’er wor a toe-rag,” said Morel, following up his joke. ¶ “Don’t you be so cheeky about a queen,” said Annie.

1913, D. H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, Penguin Lawrence Edition, Penguin, published 1994, →ISBN, page 213:

"It's all right," he was shouting. "Come out, Mrs. Beaver. Come out, Sons and Daughters of Adam and Eve. It's all right! It isn't her!" This was bad grammar of course, but that is how beavers talk when they are excited; I mean, in Narnia—in our world they usually don't talk at all.

1950, C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:

Every day I had to watch as him and her went off for long walks together, and each night I had to go to my lonely, cold bed with the thought that they were sharing the same one […]

2013, James Tully, The Crimes of Charlotte Brontë:

"What's 'er say?" 'Er said: "Am yow a Yam Yam?", Ah said "Ar bab, I am!".

2019, “Am Yow A Yam Yam”performed by Johnny Cole:

The form of she used after a preposition, as the object of a verb, or (colloquial) as a subject with a conjunction; that woman, that ship, etc, or (dialect) as a subject without a conjunction.

(After preposition that governs the accusative) eam

(After preposition that governs the dative) ei

(After preposition that governs the ablative) ea

ci

indirect object with an imperative verb; attached to the end of the verb and becoming -[c]ci- when used along with a direct object


our

head

our (first-person plural possessive determiner)

ow stripped-by-parse_pron_post_template_fn or Homophone: are

From Middle English oure, from Old English ūre, ūser (“our”), from Proto-Germanic *unseraz (“of us, our”), from Proto-Indo-European *n̥-s-ero- (“our”). Cognate with Scots oor (“our”), West Frisian ús (“our”), Low German uns (“our”), Dutch onze (“our”), German unser, unsere (“our”) Danish vor (“our”), Norwegian vår (“our”), and more distantly Latin noster.

unsere (accusative feminine singular; accusative all plurals)

ἡμῶν (hēmôn) (genitive case of personal pronoun)

tā māua

singular dominant exclusive referring to two people

tō māua

singular subordinate exclusive referring to two people

tā tāua

singular dominant inclusive referring to two people

tō tāua

singular subordinate inclusive referring to two people

tā mātau/mātou

singular dominant inclusive referring to three or more people

tō mātau/mātou

singular subordinate inclusive referring to three or more people

tā māua

plural dominant exclusive referring to two people

ō māua

plural subordinate exclusive referring to two people

ā mātau/mātou

plural dominant exclusive referring to three or more people

ō mātau/mātau

plural subordinate exclusive referring to three or more people

ā tātau/tātou

plural dominant inclusive referring to three or more people

ō tātau/tātau

plural subordinate inclusive referring to three or more people

I'm going to see our Terry for tea.

(Northern England, Scotland) Used before a person's name to indicate that the person is in one's family, or is a very close friend.


their

From Old Norse þeirra. Replaced native Old English heora.

thair (alternative archaic)
theire (alternative archaic)
theyr (alternative archaic)
theyre (alternative archaic)
thir (alternative archaic)


all

From Middle English all, from Old English eall, from Proto-West Germanic *all, from Proto-Germanic *allaz, of uncertain origin but perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- (“beyond, other”). Cognate with West Frisian al (“all”), Dutch al (“all”), Scots a' (“all”), German all (“all”), Swedish all (“all”), Norwegian all (“all”), Icelandic allur (“all”), Welsh holl (“all”), Irish uile (“all”), Lithuanian aliái (“all, each, every”).
The dialectal sense “all gone” is a calque of German alle. The use in who all, where all etc. also has equivalents in German (see alles).

der

The store is open all day and all night.

I’ve been working on this all year.

Throughout the whole of (a stated period of time; generally used with units of a day or longer).

ամբողջ

throughout the whole of (a stated period of time)


any

From Middle English any, eny, ony, ani, aniȝ, eniȝ, æniȝ, from Old English ǣniġ (“any”), from Proto-West Germanic *ainīg, *ainag, from Proto-Germanic *ainagaz, from Proto-Germanic *ainaz (“one”), equivalent to one + -y.
Cognate to Saterland Frisian eenich (“some”), West Frisian iennich (“only”), Dutch enig (“any, some”), Afrikaans enig (“any”), German Low German enig (“some”), German einig (“some”), Italian unico (“unique”), French unique (“unique”). Piecewise doublet of unique.

If you get any taller, you'll start having to duck through doorways!

That doesn't bother me any. (chiefly US usage)

You don't seem to be any the worse after such a tragic experience.

I will not remain here any longer.

I wasn't any too easy in my mind.

1934, Rex Stout, Fer-de-Lance, Bantam, published 1992, →ISBN, page 58:

'That wouldn't surprise me any.'

1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 104:


any

Near-synonym: some

Do you have any biscuits?

Do you have any food?

Do you think there's any point to/in trying to explain?

It won't do you any good.

"Give me your pen." — "I don't have any pen."

No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew xi:27:

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:

Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

(chiefly in the negative or interrogative, chiefly with plural or uncountable nouns) One at all; at least one; at least one kind of; some; a positive quantity of.

Choose any item you want.

Any person may apply.

Press any key to continue.

The character '#' matches any digit 0–9.

Please bring some plates — any plates will do.

I'll drink any whiskey you've got.

This new-comer was a man who in any company would have seemed striking. In complexion fair, and with blue or gray eyes, he was tall as any Viking, as broad in the shoulder.

1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

[a-z]: A range of characters that matches any character in the specified range. For example, [a-z] matches any lowercase alphabetic character in the range a through z.

2006 February, Chuck White, Developing Killer Web Apps with Dreamweaver MX and C#, Wiley, page 269:

Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.

2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

A/an, each or some, no matter its/their identity or nature.

They'll be arriving any day.

I expect the phone to ring at any moment.

(with time designations) An unspecified but imminent (second, minute, day etc.).


thick

en-adj

thick (comparative thicker, superlative thickest)

thicker (comparative)
thickest (superlative)

From Middle English thikke, from Old English þicce (“thick, dense”), from Proto-West Germanic *þikkwī, from Proto-Germanic *þekuz (“thick”), from Proto-Indo-European *tégus (“thick”).
Cognates
Cognate with Danish tyk (“thick”), Dutch dik (“thick”), Faroese tjúkkur (“thick”), German dick (“thick”), Icelandic þykkur (“thick”), Norwegian Bokmål tykk (“thick”), Norwegian Nynorsk tjukk (“thick”), Saterland Frisian tjuk (“thick”), Swedish tjock (“thick”). Related to Old Irish tiug (“thick”) and Welsh tew (“thick”).

The room was thick with reporters.


what

From Middle English what, from Old English hwæt (“what”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Germanic *hwat (“what”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷód (“what”), neuter form of *kʷós (“who”).
Cognate with Scots what, whit (“what”), North Frisian wat (“what”), Saterland Frisian wat (“what”), West Frisian wat (“what”), Dutch wat (“what”), Low German wat (“what”), German was (“what”), Danish hvad (“what”), Norwegian Bokmål hva (“what”), Swedish vad (“what”), Norwegian Nynorsk kva (“what”), Icelandic hvað (“what”), Latin quod (“what, which”).

This shows what beauty there is in nature.

You know what nonsense she talks.

I found out what a liar he is.

Emphasises that something is noteworthy or remarkable in quality or degree, in either a good or bad way; may be used in combination with certain other determiners, especially 'a', less often 'some'.

What nonsense!

Wow! What a speech.

What beautiful children you have.

With what passion she sings!

Little Red Riding Hood, traditional folk tale
“Oh Granny, what big eyes you have,” said Little Red Riding Hood.

(exclamative) Used to form exclamations indicating that something is remarkable, in either a good or bad way.


other

From Middle English other, from Old English ōþer (“other, second”), from Proto-West Germanic *ą̄þar, *anþar, from Proto-Germanic *anþeraz (“other, second”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂énteros (“other”).
Cognate with Scots uther, ither (“other”), Old Frisian ōther, ("other"; > North Frisian üđer, ööder, ouder), Old Saxon ōthar (“other”), Old High German ander (“other”), Old Norse annarr, ǫðr-, aðr- (“other, second”), Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌸𐌰𐍂 (anþar, “other”), Old Prussian anters, antars (“other, second”), Lithuanian antroks (“other”, pronoun), Latvian otrs, otrais (“second”), Macedonian втор (vtor, “second”), Albanian ndërroj (“to change, switch, alternate”), Sanskrit अन्तर (ántara, “different”).
French autre, Spanish otro, Portuguese outro, etc., all from Latin alter, are false cognates. A true cognate would be Latin anterior.

cog

give with one hand and take away with the other

laugh out of the other side of one's mouth

the apples on the other side of the wall are the sweetest

the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence

the grass is always greener on the other side of the road

it is inherent, rather, in the revolutionary attempt of the West to externalize the idea of a source of meaning wholly other than what is embodied in human conventions and hierarchies.

2001 Fall, Ralph C. Hancock, “The Modern Revolution and the Collapse of Moral Analogy: Tocqueville and Guizot.”, in Perspectives on Political Science, volume 30, number 4, page 213:


that

those (plural)
'at (alternative)
't (alternative contraction pronunciation-spelling)
dat (alternative)
thet (alternative)
yt (alternative abbreviation obsolete)
yᵗ (alternative abbreviation obsolete)
yͭ (alternative abbreviation obsolete)
yt. (alternative abbreviation obsolete)

From Middle English that, from Old English þæt (“the, that”, neuter definite article and relative pronoun), from Proto-West Germanic *þat, from Proto-Germanic *þat. Cognate to Scots that, Saterland Frisian dät, West Frisian dat, Dutch dat, Low German dat and datt, German dass and das, Danish det, Swedish det, Icelandic það, Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌰 (þata). Further from Proto-Indo-European *tód; compare Ancient Greek τό (tó), Sanskrit तद् (tád), Waigali ta, Lithuanian tai̇̃, Polish to.

tuo

when pointed to or indicated by the speaker

se (when not pointed to or indicated by the speaker, for closer objects, in relative clauses or referring to what was said before)

is that what the kids are calling it these days

that accounts for the milk in the coconut

that and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee

that's for me to know and you to find out

that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger

that which has been seen cannot be unseen

you kiss your grandfather with that mouth

the place that [= where or to which] I went last year

the last time that [= when] I went to Europe

(relative, colloquial) Used in place of relative adverbs such as where or when; often omitted.


that

thats (plural)
'at (alternative)
't (alternative contraction pronunciation-spelling)
dat (alternative)
thet (alternative)
yt (alternative abbreviation obsolete)
yᵗ (alternative abbreviation obsolete)
yͭ (alternative abbreviation obsolete)
yt. (alternative abbreviation obsolete)

As such, they do not have the ontological weight of "Being" and "Not-being," but serve simply as an explanatory vocabulary necessary to describe our world of thises and thats.

1998, David L. Hall, Roger T. Ames, Thinking from the Han, page 247:

(philosophy) Something being indicated that is there; one of those.


mine

mine (plural)
myne (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English min, myn, from Old English mīn, from Proto-West Germanic *mīn, from Proto-Germanic *mīnaz, from Proto-Indo-European *méynos.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian mien, West Frisian myn, Dutch mijn, Low German mien, German mein, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian min, Icelandic mín.

The following table shows a list of English personal pronoun

including archaic and dialectal forms. Dialectal and obsolete

archaic forms are in italics. 1 See Appendix:English third-person singular pronouns for attested neopronoun.

The house itself is mine, but the land is not.

These books are mine.

Ah, but how beautiful (my baby boy) is! And he is mine, mine for ever. Even if he hates me he will be mine. He cannot help it, he is made out of me; I am his father.

1905, E. M. Forster, Where Angels Fear to Tread, chapter 7

That or those belonging to me.
Used predicatively.

(Attic Greek, possessive adjective with article in appropriate gender and number) ὁ ἐμός (ho emós)


both

From Middle English bothe, boþe, from Old English bā þā (“both the; both those”) and possibly reinforced by Old Norse báðir, from Proto-Germanic *bai. Cognate with Saterland Frisian bee (“both”), West Frisian beide (“both”), Dutch beide (“both”), German beide (“both”), Swedish både, båda, Danish både, Norwegian både, Icelandic báðir. Replaced Middle English bō, from Old English bā, a form of Old English bēġen. Is a remnant of the Indo-European dual grammatical number.

Both (the/my) children are such dolls.

Which one do you need? ―I need both of them.

Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 21:27:

He will not bear the loss of his rank, because he can bear the loss of his estate; but he will bear both, because he is prepared for both.

1717, Viscount Bolingbroke, Reflexions upon Exile:

Each of the two; one and the other; referring to two individuals or items.

find one's ass with both hands and a flashlight


enough

Sranan Tongo: nofo

From Middle English ynogh, from Old English ġenōg (“enough”), from Proto-Germanic *ganōgaz (“enough”) (compare Scots eneuch, West Frisian genôch, Dutch genoeg, German genug, Low German (ge)noog, Danish nok, Swedish nog, Icelandic nógur), from *ganuganą 'to suffice' (compare Old English ġeneah), or from *ga- + an unattested *nōgaz, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₂nó(n)ḱe (“he has reached, attained”), perfective of *h₂neḱ- (“to reach”) (compare Old Irish tánaic (“he arrived”), Latin nancisci (“to get”), Albanian kënaq (“to please, satisfy”).).

der

enow (alternative)
anough (alternative)
aneuch (alternative)
eneuch (alternative)
eneugh (alternative)
'nough (alternative)
enuff (alternative)

(no equivalent determiner—in this sense, an adjective or verb phrase is used instead) Adjectives: འདང་ངེས་ཀྱི ('dang nges kyi)

Adjectives (in the negative only—i.e. "not enough"): ཉུང་དྲགས (nyung drags) (the positive མང་དྲགས (mang drags) means "too much", rather than "enough")

I've already had enough coffee today.

Sufficient; all that is required, needed, or appropriate.

Used before a noun in the manner of words like some, a bit of, and so on.


us

head

us (personal pronoun; the objective case of we)

en-pron

-'s (alternative)
uz (alternative Northumbria)
is (alternative Northumbria)
iz (alternative Northumbria)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *n̥smé
Proto-Germanic *uns
Old English ūs
Middle English us
English us
From Middle English us, from Old English ūs (“us”, dative personal pronoun), from Proto-Germanic *uns (“us”), from Proto-Indo-European *ne-, *nō-, *n-ge-, *n̥smé (“us”). The compensatory lengthening was lost in Middle English due to the word being unstressed when used. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uus (“us”), West Frisian us, ús (“us”), Low German uns, us (“us”), Dutch ons (“us”), German uns (“us”), Danish os (“us”), Latin nōs (“we, us”).

inh

my very educated mother just served us nachos

my very educated mother just served us nine pizzas

my very educated mother just served us nine pumpkins

my very educated mother just served us noodles

my very excellent mother just served us nine pizzas

Who's there? — Us. (or) — It's us.

Who's going to go? — Us. We'll go.

We, used in the same circumstances where "me" would be used instead of "I", e.g. for the pronoun in isolation or as the complement of the copula:

It's not true that the rest of Europe hates us.

I went to watch my favourite team play Real Madrid, but they thrashed us 5-0.

Any entity that the speaker is a part of or identifies with, such as place of employment or education, nation, region, language, etc.

Give us a look at your paper.

Fetch us a cold beer from the fridge, would you.

She's turned the weans against us!

(talking to oneself) Now then ... let me see ... I hope I'm doing this right ... if we just connect these two wires together ... if it gives us a shock then ... Ow!

(Commonwealth, colloquial, chiefly with certain verbs such as give, get, fetch, etc.) Me.

Look at us while you’re speaking to us.

Could you do that for us?


us

It's not good enough for us teachers.

Designates the speaker(s)/writer(s) as constituting or belonging to the stated category of people (objective case).

Us gays and lesbians in here got a reason to be bitching about the conditions.

1988 February 7, Mike Riegle, quoting John Royal, “Why Does GCN Have A Prisoner Project?”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 29, page 10:

(proscribed) Designates the speaker(s)/writer(s) as constituting or belonging to the stated category of people (subjective case).


we

head

we (first-person plural personal pronoun nominative case, objective case us, possessive determiner our, possessive pronoun ours, reflexive ourselves, reflexive singular ourself)

en-pron

us (objective)
our (determiner possessive)
ours (possessive pronoun without-noun)
ourselves (reflexive)
ourself (reflexive singular)

Jamaican Creole: wi

Sranan Tongo: wi

From Middle English we, from Old English wē (“we”), from Proto-West Germanic *wiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *wīz, *wiz (“we”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéy (“we (plural)”). Cognate with Scots wee, we (“we”), North Frisian we (“we”), West Frisian wy (“we”), Low German wi (“we”), Dutch we, wij (“we”), German wir (“we”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian vi (“we”), Icelandic vér, við (“we”), Avestan 𐬬𐬀𐬉𐬨 (vaēm), Sanskrit वयम् (vayám).

awp

generic we (the speaker and at least one other person, regardless of whether it's the person being addressed)

我們 /我们

generic in most dialects, but exclusive in some

(usually indicated by the suffix only) -unk

kita

inclusive we (the speaker and the person(s) being addressed, and possibly others)

the devil we know is better than the devil we don't know

the real treasure is the friends we made along the way

we have always been at war with Eastasia

what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive

what tangled webs we weave when first we practice to deceive

We are here to arrest you.

It’s time to overcome queasiness and restraint. We, the liberal and progressive people of the world, are at war with the far right to save the earth.

2017 February 20, Paul Mason, “Climate scepticism is a far-right badge of honour – even in sweltering Australia”, in the Guardian:

Two or more people including or consisting of the speaker(s)/writer(s).

Excluding the person(s) being addressed. (This is the exclusive we.)

kami

exclusive we (the speaker and at least one other person, but excluding the person(s) being addressed)

We need to have a talk, you and me.

Including the person(s) being addressed. (This is the inclusive we.)

Hey guys, in this video I'll show you how I make my upside-down sponge cake. First we take 200 g of butter and we whisk in 200 g of sugar. Next, we ...

All Vice President [Mike] Pence has to do is send it back to the states to recertify and we become president and you are the happiest people.

2021 January 6, 3:38:03 from the start, in Rally on Electoral College Vote Certification (television broadcast), spoken by Donald Trump, Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN):

[Today is] not a day to think about fishing so we will get back to working on the shelter. [cut in video] Cool, so I guess the best analogy for this, then, is that we've basically framed the house, and now we get to shingle.

2021 June 24, “Far from Home” (3:07 from the start), in Alone, season 9, episode 4 (televison production), spoken by Theresa Emmerich Kamper, via HISTORY Channel:

The elephant in the room, you know, we had a stroke back in May.

2022 October 25, 32:11 from the start, Vote 2022, in Joseph Camp, director, PBS NewsHour (television production), spoken by John Fetterman, via Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), archived from the original on 2022-10-25:

Used to connect to or include readers or listeners.

(colloquial) Used to imply connection between the speaker's experiences or activities and a group of listeners. (Compare the plural of modesty.)

Now then ... let me see ... I hope I'm doing this right ... if we just connect these two wires together ...

(colloquial) Used when talking to oneself to refer to oneself.


he

head

he (third-person singular, masculine, nominative case, oblique him, reflexive himself, possessive his)

en-pron

him (oblique)
himself (reflexive)
his (possessive)
hee (alternative obsolete)
hée (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English he, from Old English hē, from Proto-West Germanic *hiʀ, from Proto-Germanic *hiz (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱís (“this”).
Cognate with Scots he (“he”), North Frisian he, hi (“he”), Saterland Frisian hie (“he”), West Frisian hy (“he”), Dutch hij, ie (“he”), German Low German he (“he”), Middle High German her (“he”) Central Franconian hä (“he”), Gothic *𐌷𐌹𐍃 (*his, “this”).

JUPITER is the largest of all the Planets, his Orbit lies between the Orbits of the Earth and Mars, and at the cast Distance of 426 Millions of Miles from the Sun, he goes round him in 11 Years, 314 Days and 12 Hours; […]

1770, A Mathematical Miscellany in Four Parts, 3rd edition, page 125:

He [= the ship Bismarck] was made to rule the waves across the seven seas […]

A genderless object regarded as masculine, such as certain stars or planets (e.g. Sun, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter) or certain ships.

not used in Dyirbal (Dyirbal has no third-person pronoun)

(subject pronouns are often omitted, or a demonstrative is used: medial, proximal, distal) οὗτος (hoûtos)

(usually indicated by the zero suffix only) -∅

ó

regular pronoun, gender-neutral, non-honorific


she

head

she (third-person singular, feminine, nominative case, oblique and possessive her, possessive hers, reflexive herself)

en-pron

her (oblique possessive)
hers (possessive)
herself (reflexive)
shoo (alternative)
hoo (alternative)
shee (alternative)

Inherited from Middle English sche, scho, hyo, ȝho (“she”), whence also Yorkshire dialectal shoo (“she”), Scots she, sho (“she”).
Probably from Old English hēo (whence dialectal English hoo), with an irregular change in stress from hēo to heō /hjoː/, then a development from /hj-/ to /ç/ to /ʃ-/, similar to the derivation of Shetland from Old Norse Hjaltland. In this case, she is from Proto-West Germanic *hiju, from Proto-Germanic *hijō f (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (“this, here”), and is cognate with Saterland Frisian jo, ju, West Frisian hja, North Frisian jü, Danish hun, Swedish hon; more at he.
A derivation from Old English sēo (“the or that", occasionally "she”) is also possible, though less likely. In that case, sēo would have undergone a change in stress from sēo to seō /sjoː/, then a change from /sj-/ to /ʃ-/, similar to the derivation of sure from Old French seur. It would then be cognate to Dutch zij and German sie.
Neither etymology would be expected to yield the modern vocalism in /iː/ (the expected form would be shoo, which is in fact found dialectally). It may be due to influence from he, but both hēo and sēo also have rare variants (hīe and sīe) that may give modern English /iː/.

cog

es (in reference to some neuter common nouns like Mädchen)

(subject pronouns usually omitted, or a demonstrative is used: medial, proximal, and distal:) αὕτη f (haútē)

Optimal experience is thus something that we make happen. For a child, it could be placing with trembling fingers the last block on a tower she has built, higher than any she has built so far; for a swimmer, it could be trying to beat his own record; for a violinist, mastering an intricate musical passage.

(personal, nonstandard) A person whose gender is unknown or irrelevant (used in a work, along with or in place of he, as an indefinite pronoun).


they

head

they (third-person, nominative case, usually plural, sometimes singular, objective case them, possessive their, possessive noun theirs, reflexive themselves, or reflexive singular themself)

en-pron

them (objective)
their (possessive)
theirs (noun possessive)
themselves (reflexive)
themself (reflexive singular)
They (alternative honorific)
dey (alternative)
thay (alternative archaic)
theye (alternative archaic)
thaay (alternative)
theye (alternative)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *tóy
Proto-Germanic *þai
Proto-Norse *ᚦᚨᛁᛉ (*þaiʀ)
Old Norse þeirbor.
Middle English þei
English they From Middle English þei, borrowed in the 1200s from Old Norse þeir, plural of the demonstrative sá which acted as a plural pronoun. Displaced native Middle English he from Old English hīe — which vowel changes had left indistinct from he (“he”) — by the 1400s, being readily incorporated alongside native words beginning with the same sound (the, that, this). Used as a singular pronoun since 1300, e.g. in the 1325 Cursor Mundi.
The Norse term (whence also Icelandic þeir (“they”), Faroese teir (“they”), Danish de (“they”), Swedish de (“they”), Norwegian Nynorsk dei (“they”)) is from Proto-Germanic *þai (“those”) (from Proto-Indo-European *to- (“that”)), whence also Old English þā (“those”) (whence obsolete English tho), Scots thae, thai, thay (“they; those”).
(American linguist John McWhorter rejects this and suggests that they, them, and their are native English instead, from Old English þā, þām, þāra.)
The origin of the determiner they (“the, those”) is unclear. The OED, English Dialect Dictionary and Middle English Dictionary define it and its Middle English predecessor thei as a demonstrative determiner or adjective meaning "those" or "the". This could be a continuation of the use of the English pronoun they's Old Norse etymon þeir as a demonstrative meaning "those", but the OED and EDD say it is limited to southern, especially southwestern, England, specifically outside the region of Norse contact.

etymon

it doesn't matter what they say about you as long as they spell your name right

other attested third-person singular pronouns

They say it’s a good place to live.

They didn’t have computers in the old days.

They don't make 'em like they used to.

Always get a second source, they tell us in investigative lexicography;[…]

1986 February 16, William Safire, “On Language; Moon Of My Delight”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2015-05-24, Section 6 / Magazine, page 10:

I am beautiful, no matter what they say

2002, Linda Perry, “Beautiful”, in Stripped, performed by Christina Aguilera:

Hurtling through the air that evening in seat 10C, I read the US House committee’s Max investigation, a disruptor of illusions. Like many fliers, I’d long ago made my bargain with risk. I’d taken comfort in statistics, summoned faith in the engineers and assembly workers, the pilots, the system. I’d shunted away the knowledge—paralyzing, if you let it in—that stepping on an airplane is an extraordinary act of trust. Deep in the report, I reached the part about a senior manager at Boeing’s factory in Renton, a guy named Ed Pierson, who seemingly knew what we all know when we soothe ourselves by thinking, They wouldn’t let it fly if it weren’t safe. We’re all relying on someone to be the “they.”

2025 March 11, Lauren Smiley, “The Worst 7 Years in Boeing’s History—and the Man Who Won’t Stop Fighting for Answers. Fatal crashes. A door blowout. Grounded planes. Inside the citizen-led, obsessive campaign to hold Boeing accountable and prevent the next disaster”, in Wired:

(indefinite pronoun, vague meaning) People; some people; people in general; someone, excluding the speaker.


me

There don't seem much to say just now. / (Yer what? Then don't, yer ruddy cow! / And give us back me cigarette!)

a. 1918, Wilfred Owen, “The Letter”, in Douglas Kerr, editor, The Works of Wilfred Owen, page 54:

I want me money back!

1994, John Hodge, Shallow Grave, spoken by Alex Law (Ewan McGregor):

Get off me cheese! Get off! Get off!

"What have I ever done to prove me worth, or where I could at least say as I'd made a difference?"

2016, Alan Moore, Jerusalem, Liveright, page 99:

(UK regional, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) Alternative form of my.


them

head

them (third-person, personal pronoun, objective case of they)

of they (objective)
dem (alternative nonstandard)

From Middle English þem, from Old Norse þeim.

ata

third personal plural pronoun used after a preposition or as the object of a verb

nich (genitive, locative after preposition)

jimi (instrumental) nimi (instrumental after preposition)

(indirect object, colloquial; enclitic, becomes glie when used with a direct object) gli

wọ́n

following a complex verb or monosyllabic verb ending in a low- or mid-tone

wọn

following a monosyllabic verb ending in a high tone

hänet

third-person singular pronoun of indeterminate gender

häneltä

she", of which the ones listed are the most frequently used

The following table shows a list of English personal pronoun

including archaic and dialectal forms. Dialectal and obsolete

archaic forms are in italics. 1 See Appendix:English third-person singular pronouns for attested neopronoun.

She treated them for a cold.

(in the plural) Those ones.
Used as the direct object of a verb.

She wrote them a letter.

(in the plural) Those ones.
Used as the indirect object of a verb.

Give it to them.

(in the plural) Those ones.
Used as the object of a preposition.


who

who (singular or plural, nominative case, objective whom, who, possessive whose)

whom (objective)
who (objective)
whose (possessive)

From Middle English who, hwo, huo, wha, hwoa, hwa, from Old English hwā (dative hwām, genitive hwæs), from Proto-West Germanic *hwaʀ, from Proto-Germanic *hwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷos, *kʷís.
The sound change /hw/ > /h/ (without a corresponding change in spelling) was due to wh-cluster reduction after an irregular change of /ɑː/ to /oː/ in Middle English (instead of the expected /ɔː/) and further to /uː/ regularly in Early Modern English. A similar change occurred in two. Compare how, which underwent wh-reduction earlier (in Old English), and thus is spelt with h.
Compare Scots wha, West Frisian wa, Dutch wie, Low German we, German wer, Swedish vem, Danish hvem, Norwegian Bokmål hvem, Norwegian Nynorsk kven, Icelandic hver.

誰 /谁

sûi, chûi, chūi, cho̍ah, chiâ, chôa, tiâng, siáng, siâng

啥物人

siáⁿ-mih-lâng, siáⁿ-mí-lâng, sáng-n̂g, siàng-n̂g

Who are the Miami Heat?

(informal, especially non-US) Also used with names of collective nouns that are groups of people, especially singularly-named musical groups or sports teams.


whose

From Middle English whos, from Old English hwæs, from Proto-Germanic *hwes, genitive case of *hwaz (“who”) *hwat (“what”).


which

From Middle English which, hwic, wilche, hwilch, whilk, hwilc, from Old English hwelċ (“which”), from Proto-Germanic *hwilīkaz (“what kind”, literally “like what”), derived from *hwaz, equivalent to who + like. Cognates include Scots whilk (“which”), West Frisian hokker (“which”), Dutch welk (“which”), Low German welk (“which”), German welcher (“which”), Danish hvilken (“which”), Swedish vilken (“which”), Norwegian hvilken (“which”), Icelandic hvílíkur (“which”).

inh

whiche (alternative obsolete)
wich (alternative Jamaica)

I dropped a saucepan, which knocked over the eggs, which went all over the kitchen floor.

I found my camera, which I thought I'd lost, under the bed.

I entered the room, at the far end of which was a small table.

Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.[…]A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes.

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:

There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.

1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter II, 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 0091:

Many genes with reproductive roles also have antibacterial and immune functions, which indicate that the threat of microbial attack on the sperm or egg may be a major influence on rapid evolution during reproduction.

2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:

non-restrictive relative clause
non-restrictive relative clause#English

(relative) In a non-restrictive relative clause, referring to something previously mentioned.

She had a young child, which cried incessantly.

(chiefly archaic) Used of people (now generally who, whom, that; which remains possible with words also referred to by it such as baby, child).

The front door was open, which concerned me.

He had to leave, which was very difficult.

She saved my life, for which I am eternally grateful.

Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.

2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

This is the letter which I received.

This is the letter in which he explains his decision.

Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us...

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 1:1:

restrictive relative clause
restrictive relative clause#English

(relative, sometimes proscribed, see usage notes) In a restrictive relative clause, referring to a noun previously mentioned.

The men which acompanyed him on his waye stode amased, for they herde a voyce, butt sawe no man.

1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts:


buku

Alternative spelling of beaucoup (lots, a large amount)


buku

en-adverb

buku (comparative more buku, superlative most buku)

more buku (comparative)
most buku (superlative)

Alternative spelling of beaucoup (lots of)


buku

Alternative spelling of beaucoup (many many many)


whether

From Middle English whether, whather, from Old English hweþer, hwæþer, from Proto-West Germanic *hwaþar, from Proto-Germanic *hwaþeraz, comparative form of *hwaz (“who”). Cognate with German weder (“neither”), Swedish var, Icelandic hvor (“each of two, which of two”).

cog

He chose the correct answer, but whether by luck or by skill I don't know.

I can't decide whether to get divorced now or wait.

As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish,[…]. My servant is, so far as I am concerned, welcome to as many votes as he can get.[…]I do not suppose that it matters much in reality whether laws are made by dukes or cornerboys, but I like, as far as possible, to associate with gentlemen in private life.

1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC:

The incident immediately revived the debate about goal-line technology, with a final decision on whether it is introduced expected to be taken in Zurich on 5 July.

2012 June 19, Phil McNulty, “England 1–0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport:

Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. The machine gun is so much more lethal than the bow and arrow that comparisons are meaningless. One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates have fallen over the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished.

2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

Indicates doubt between possibilities (usually with correlative or).

Whether we'll be on time I'm unsure.

Do you know whether he's coming?

Without a correlative, introduces a simple indirect question.

ли

placed after the first word in the sentence or phrase

He's coming, whether you like it or not.

I'll enjoy playing with my friends again, whether we win or lose.

Whether or not you're successful, you can be sure you did your best.

The years have gone by and still we know not whether or no Mallory and Irvine reached the summit. But the will to climb Mount Everest is still alive.

1931 April, Francis Younghusband, “Preface”, in The Epic of Mount Everest, London: Edward Arnold & Co., →OCLC, →OL, page 5:

Introduces a disjunctive adverbial clause qualifying the main clause (with correlative or).

是否

introducing adverbial clause; no matter whether or not

whether ys it easyer to saye to the sicke of the palsey, thy synnes ar forgeven the: or to saye, aryse, take uppe thy beed and walke?

1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Mark ij:[9]:

Whether hadst thou rather be a Faulconbridge, [...] Or the reputed sonne of Cordelion?

c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

(obsolete) Introduces a direct question between alternatives (often with correlative or).


there

From Middle English there, ther, thare, thar, thore, from Old English þēr, þǣr, þār (“there; at that place”), from Proto-West Germanic *þār, from Proto-Germanic *þar (“at that place; there”), from Proto-Indo-European *tó-r (“there”), from demonstrative pronominal base *to- (“the, that”) + adverbial suffix *-r.
Cognate with Scots thar, thair (“there”), North Frisian dear, deer, där (“there”), Saterland Frisian deer (“there”), West Frisian dêr (“there”), Dutch daar (“there”), Low German dar (“there”), German da, dar- (“there”), Danish der (“there”), Norwegian der (“there”), Swedish där (“there”), Icelandic þar (“in that place, there”).

inh

dar (alternative)
der (alternative)
dere (alternative)
thur (alternative)
thar (alternative)
dey (alternative)
thare (alternative)

duman

far from both the speaker and the listener

diyan

away from the speaker, but close to the listener

tuolla

the place, which is pointed at, which is more distant or less accurately confined

tuossa

the place, which is pointed at, which is less distant or more accurately confined

siellä

the place, which is not pointed at, which is more distant or less accurately confined

siinä

the place, which is not pointed at, which is less distant or more accurately confined

allí

further, more specific, somewhat like "in/right there"

allá

further, less specific, somewhat like "over there"

Your dog's been a-chasin' those there chickens.

(location) In or at a place or location (stated, implied or otherwise indicated) that is perceived to be away from, or at a relative distance from, the speaker (compare here).

(dialect) After certain determiners, especially 'them', 'that' and 'those', used to emphasise demonstrative sense; see also them there.


thine

From Middle English thyn, þyn, from Old English þīn, from Proto-West Germanic *þīn, from Proto-Germanic *þīnaz. Cognate to German dein, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian din, Faroese tín and Icelandic þinn.

Thine oxe shall be slaine before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine asse shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shal not be restored to thee: thy sheepe shall bee giuen vnto thine enemies, and thou shalt haue none to rescue them.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 28:31:

Thine alabaster cities gleam / Undimmed by human tears!

1895, “America the Beautiful”, Katharine Lee Bates (lyrics), Samuel A. Ward (music):

(archaic, Early Modern) Second-person singular prevocalic possessive determiner (preconsonantal form: thy).


y'all

head

y'all (second-person plural nominative or objective, possessive determiner y'all's, possessive pronoun y'all's, reflexive y'allselves)

en-pron

y'all's (determiner possessive)
y'all's (possessive pronoun without-noun)
y'allselves (reflexive)
ya’ll (alternative)
yall (alternative)
yo'll (alternative)
yoll (alternative)
you-all (alternative)
you all (alternative)

Contraction of you all, and/or from Scots ye aw. Attested since at least 1631.
Compare Dutch jullie (originally jij lui (literally “you people”)) for a similar development of a new plural pronoun out of Proto-Germanic *jīz that originally was already plural.

Hey y'all!

(chiefly Southern US, African-American Vernacular, in greetings) Everyone; everybody.


said

From Middle English seide (preterite) and seid, iseid (past participle), from Old English sǣde, sæġde (preterite) and ġesæġd (past participle), equivalent to say + -ed.

saide (alternative obsolete)
sayde (alternative obsolete)
seyde (alternative obsolete)
sayed (alternative nonstandard)
sed (alternative pronunciation-spelling)

The said party has denied the charges.

How nicely we could manage without the said railway, now the great hobby of our Teviotdale lairds, if we could by any process of conjuration waft to Abbotsford some of the coal and lime from Lochore...

1951 February, Michael Robbins, “Sir Walter Scott and Two Early Railway Schemes”, in Railway Magazine, page 90, words written by Scott:


said

Said party has denied the charges.


certain

en-adj

certain (comparative more certain or certainer, superlative most certain or certainest)

more certain (comparative)
certainer (comparative)
most certain (superlative)
certainest (superlative)
certaine (alternative obsolete)
certayne (alternative archaic)
certeine (alternative archaic)

From Middle English certeyn, certein, certain, borrowed from Old French certain, from a Vulgar Latin unattested form *certānus, extended form of Latin certus (“fixed, resolved, certain”), of the same origin as cretus, past participle of cernere (“to separate, perceive, decide”). Displaced native Middle English wis, iwis (“certain, sure”) (from Old English ġewiss (“certain, sure”)) and alternative Middle English spelling sertane (“some, certain”).

بَعْض

not specifically named, indeterminate, indefinite

Now that more experiments have been run, the theory is certain and the argument is settled.

[…]the dreame is certaine, and the interpretation thereof ſure.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Daniel 2:45, column 1:

Not to be doubted or denied; established as a fact.

[ser] cierto

Every wine has a certain distinctive character which sets it apart from all others.

Each morning, she would see a certain man rush past her window on his way to work.

And it came to paſſe, when he was in a certaine citie[…]

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 5:12, column 1:

About everything that he wrote, serious or sportive, there was a certain natural grace and decorum[…]

1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “[Contributions to the Encyclopædia Britannica.] Oliver Goldsmith.”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC, page 365:

Particular and definite, but unspecified or unnamed; used to introduce someone or something without going into further detail.

I would have been here on time, but a certain someone lost the car keys!

(euphemistic, preceded by "a") Used to denote that the speaker is referring to a specific person or thing that they do not want to name directly, implying that the listener should infer the identity of the referent.

certa

in reference to a specific person or thing that the speaker does not want to name directly

Looking inside the cover, they learned that the book had once belonged to a certain R. Jones.

About 140 years ago, for example, a certain Hsü Kuang-ming established an ancestral estate in Wanluan consisting of ten hectares. The trust was specifically set aside to provide for his own worship after death, and access to its profits was to be enjoyed only by his descendants.

1972, Burton Pasternak, “Kinship”, in Kinship & Community in Two Chinese Villages, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 75–76:

(preceded by "a", of a person) Named but not previously mentioned.


certain

certaine (alternative obsolete)
certayne (alternative archaic)
certeine (alternative archaic)

She mentioned a series of contracts, of which certain are not cited.

[…]certaine of the Jewes banded together[…]

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 23:12, column 2:

(with of) Unnamed or undescribed members (of).


From Middle English none, noon, non (“not one”), from Old English nān (“not one, not any, none”), from Proto-West Germanic *nain, from Proto-Germanic *nainaz (“none, nought, nothing”), equivalent to ne (“not”) + one. (Regarding the different phonological development of only and one, see the note in one.)
Cognate with Scots nane (“none”), Saterland Frisian naan, neen (“no, not any, none”), West Frisian neen & gjin (“no, none”), Dutch neen & geen (“no, none”), Low German nēn, neen, keen (“no, none, no one”), German nein & kein (“no, none”), Latin nōn (“not”).

inh

(relevant negative verb + man (+ann/idir)) can be used

(relevant negative verb + relevant noun (+ann/idir)) can be used

there are none so blind as those who will not see

there's none so blind as those who will not see

None of those people is my father.

Not any of a given number or group.
No one, nobody.

None of those people are my parents. None shall pass.

Alas, none of these people were writing the reviews.

2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, page 253:

Not any of a given number or group.
No person.

None of those is a good example. None are even acceptable.

None of this meat tastes right.


Thou shalt have none other gods but me.

the foles toke their lampes, but toke none oyle with them.

1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew:

None lasses were in the dunces' row. If one had been there people would have looked at her and felt sorry but not boys.

2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin, published 2009, page 138:

(archaic outside Scotland, West Country) Not any; no (usually used only before a vowel or h):


He was none too pleased with the delays in the program that was supposed to be his legacy.

We could hear none too well from the back.


many

head

many (comparative more, superlative most)

more (comparative)
most (superlative)
manie (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English many, mani, moni, from Old English maniġ, moniġ, maneġ (“many”), from Proto-West Germanic *manag, from Proto-Germanic *managaz (“some, much, many”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots mony (“many”), North Frisian manag, manig, mäning (“many”), Saterland Frisian monig, moonich (“many”), West Frisian mannich, mennich (“some, many”), Dutch menig (“many”), Low German männig (“many”), German manch, mannig- (“many, some”), Old Norse mangr, Norwegian mang, Swedish mången, Danish mangen, French maint (“many”), Russian мно́гий (mnógij), Serbo-Croatian and Polish mnogi, Czech mnohý, Scottish Gaelic minig
The noun is from Middle English manye, *menye, from Old English manigeo, menigu (“company, multitude, host”), from Proto-West Germanic *managu, *managī, from Proto-Germanic *managō, *managį̄ (“multitude”), from the same root as the determiner. Cognate with Middle Low German menige, menie, menje (“multitude”), Russian много (mnogo), Serbo-Croatian mnogo.

inh

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

Not many such people enjoyed playing chess.

There are very many different ways to cook a meal.

Thou shalt be a father of many nations.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 17:4:

I did it in a moment of conceit and folly—one of my many such moments—one of my many such hours—years.

1864–65, Charles Dickens, chapter 15, in Our Mutual Friend:

Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.

2013 July 6, “The rise of smart beta”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8843, page 68:

before a countable noun: A large, indefinite number of.

We don't need this many bananas. Put some back.

There may be as many as ten million species of insect.

I don't have as many friends as my sister does.

before a countable noun: (in combinations such as 'as many', 'so many', 'this many') Used to indicate, demonstrate or compare the number of people or things.


many

Many are called, but few are chosen.

Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us...

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 1:1:

By some paradoxical evolution rancour and intolerance have been established in the vanguard of primitive Christianity. Mrs. Spoker, in common with many of the stricter disciples of righteousness, was as inclement in demeanour as she was cadaverous in aspect.

1921, Ben Travers, chapter 4, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

The big houses, and there are a good many of them, lie for the most part in what may be called by courtesy the valleys. You catch a glimpse of them sometimes at a little distance from the [railway] line, which seems to have shown some ingenuity in avoiding them,[…].

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

A large, indefinite number of people or things.

ብዙ

an indefinite large number of people or things


many

manies (plural rare)
manie (alternative obsolete)

Democracy must balance the rights of the few against the will of the many.

A multitude; a great aggregate; a mass of people; the generality; the common herd.

I know that my mother cried a many of times from decisions I made.

2005, Florence Dyer, A Mother's Cry!: Touches the Very Heart of God, page 22:


q

head

q (lower case, upper case Q, plural qs or q's)

The seventeenth letter of the English alphabet, called cue and written in the Latin script.


q

The ordinal number seventeenth, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called cue and written in the Latin script.


q

(athletics) Abbreviation of non-automatic qualification, indicating an athlete who qualifies to the next round either by time as a fastest loser (in track events) or by position without achieving the qualifying target (in field events).


q

175 mg/m² q 3 wks

(medicine) Each, every (with a time interval).


r

r (lower case, upper case R, plural rs or r's)

Old English lower case letter r, from 7th century replacement by Latin lower case r of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc letter ᚱ.

The eighteenth letter of the English alphabet, called ar and written in the Latin script.


r

The ordinal number eighteenth, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called ar and written in the Latin script.


yon

From Middle English yon, from Old English ġeon, from Proto-Germanic *jainaz. Cognate with German jener.

As soon as old Andrew came home, his wife and he, as was natural, instantly began to converse on the events of the preceding night; and in the course of their conversation Andrew said, "Gudeness be about us' Jean, was not yon an awfu' speech o' our bairn's to young Jock Allanson last night?"

(dated or dialectal) That one or those over there.


yonder

From Middle English yonder, yondre, ȝondre, ȝendre, from Old English ġeonre (“thither; yonder”, adverb), equivalent to yond (from ġeond, from Proto-Germanic *jainaz) + -er, as in hither, thither.
Cognate with Scots ȝondir (“yonder”), Saterland Frisian tjunder (“over there, yonder”), Dutch ginder (“over there; yonder”), Middle Low German ginder, gender (“over there”), German jenseits (“on the other side, beyond”), Gothic 𐌾𐌰𐌹𐌽𐌳𐍂𐌴 (jaindrē, “thither”).

cog

See who yonder is.

c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], line 149:

"A fine man, that Dunwody, yonder," commented the young captain, as they parted, and as he turned to his prisoner. "We'll see him on in Washington some day. He is strengthening his forces now against Mr. Benton out there."

1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

Whose doublewide is that over yonder?

(archaic or dialect especially Cumbria, Southern US) At or in a distant but indicated place.

allá

less specific, somwhat like "over yonder"

allí

more specific, somewhat like "in/right yonder"

As for me and the childe, we wyl go yonder.

They headed on over yonder.

(archaic or dialect) Synonym of thither: to a distant but indicated place.


yonder

en-adjective

yonder (comparative more yonder, superlative most yonder)

more yonder (comparative)
most yonder (superlative)
younder (alternative)

"You have all necessary proofs in your possession, though you may not be aware of their existence," replied Arden; "will you allow me to open yonder box?"

1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 163:

(archaic or dialect) The farther, the more distant of two choices.


yonder

The yonder is Queen Niobe.

(archaic or dialect, as a pronoun) One who or which is over yonder, usually distant but within sight.


yonder

Off we go in to the wild blue yonder,
Climbing high into the sun...

1939, Robert MacArthur Crawford, Army Air Corps::

(literary) The vast distance, particularly the sky or trackless forest.


Borrowed from Latin nīl, a contraction of nihil, nihilum (“nothing”). See
nihilism, nihility.

But after two or three hours and nil results, you have to accept that the trail is cold and you can't justify that level of manpower.

1982, Gavin Lyall, Conduct of Major Maxim, Hodder & Stoughton Ltd:


ea

From Middle English ee, ea, æ, from Old English ēa (“river”), from Proto-West Germanic *ahu (“waters, river”), from Proto-Germanic *ahwō (“waters, river”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekʷeh₂ (“water, flowing water”). Doublet of aqua.
Cognates
Cognate with North Frisian ia (“river”), Saterland Frisian Äi (“river”), West Frisian ie (“water, stream”), Dutch a (“water, stream”), German Ache (“water, stream, river, flood”), Danish å (“stream, creek”), Swedish å (“stream, creek”), Icelandic á (“stream, river”), Latin aqua (“water”).

cog

And they rowed away for Crowland, by many a mere and many an ea; through narrow reaches of clear brown glassy water; between the dark-green alders; between the pale-green reeds; where the coot clanked, and the bittern boomed, and the sedge-bird, not content with its own sweet song, mocked the song of all the birds around; and then out into the broad lagoons, where hung motionless, high overhead, hawk beyond hawk, buzzard beyond buzzard, kite beyond kite, as far as eye could see.

1866, Charles Kingsley, Hereward the Wake: Last of the English:

(UK dialect or archaic) A river or watercourse.


one hundred and one

As a result, we talked – about a hundred and one things.

1930, Sax Rohmer, The Day the World Ended, published 1969, page v. 46:

The company has one hundred and one reasons for keeping Negroes out. The union, too, has one hundred and one reasons.

1979, Charles Denby, Joel Denby, Indignant Heart: A Black Worker’s Journal, →ISBN, page 141:

[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:


not even one

Not even one digit on the lottery ticket matched!

And guess how many digits matched? Not even one!


wat

There are two wats near this village.

Angkor Wat

Having at last got past the crowd of boats, we advanced rapidly for two hours more, when we stopped at a wat, in order to give the men a rest.

1857, Sir John Bowring, The kingdom and people of Siam, volume 1, page 165:

Aside from its religious function in the community, the wat also performs a large variety of social functions.

1982, Carlo Caldarola, Religions and societies, Asia and the Middle East, page 379:

It would be a mistake, however, to emphasize the Hindu element in Cambodian Buddhism and Cambodian temples. At its greatest it is always a subordinate element and in most of the wats or temples it hardly appears at all, […]

1996, James Bissett Pratt, The Pilgrimage of Buddhism and a Buddhist Pilgrimage, page 194:

It is often possible to discern the motivation or importance of a wat by examining its name

1999, Steve Van Beek with Luca Invernizzi, The arts of Thailand, page 15:

The ubosoth is in a small enclosure just before the main entrance to the wat, on the right, which has fine gilded doors. The wat has a small museum.

2003, Joshua Eliot with Jane Bickersteth, Thailand handbook, page 268:

A Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia, especially those in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.


wat

In Ethiopia, a volcanic pepper and spice seasoning, berbere, is widely used, and the stews called wats are eaten with a spongy flat bread, injera.

[1987 July 29, Steven Barboza, “Culinary Delights of Africa Reflect a Continent's Diversity”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(cooking) A kind of stew or curry eaten in Ethiopia and Eritrea.


cos

Psychiatrists are trained to try to impose the responsibility for a patient’s problem on the patient coself, rather than on cos environment.

1973, Michael Glenn, Richard Kunnes, Repression or Revolution?: Therapy in the United States Today, Harper Colophon Books, →ISBN, page 53:

WHEREAS a child’s sexuality is just as much a part of cos whole person from birth as the blood that flows in cos veins, making cos sexual rights inherent and inalienable […]

1975, Valida Davila, “A Child’s Sexual Bill of Rights”, in Bernhardt J. Hurwood, editor, The Whole Sex Catalogue, New York, N.Y.: Pinnacle Books, published 1976, →ISBN, page 287:

Co absents coself from the Community for more than three weeks beyond the point of having made satisfactory arrangements with the Community with regard to cos absence.

1986, Ingrid Komar, Living the Dream: Twin Oaks Community 1979-1982, Louisa, Va.: Twin Oaks Community, →OCLC, page 355:

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


dis

In Norway the Dîsir appear to have been held in great veneration.

1851, Benjamin Thorpe, Northern Mythology, E Lumley, page 116:

A number of places in Norway and Sweden were also named after the Disir

1993, Hilda Ellis Davidson, The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe, Routledge, page 113:

Bard had prepared a feast for him, because a sacrifice was being made to the disir.

1997, ‘Egil's Saga’, translated by Bernard Scudder, The Sagas of Icelanders, Penguin, published 2001, page 67:

(Norse mythology) Any of a group of minor female deities in Scandinavian folklore.


more

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

non-rhotic, dough-door merger, African-American Vernacular

From Middle English more, from Old English māra (“more”), from Proto-West Germanic *maiʀō, from Proto-Germanic *maizô (“more”), from Proto-Indo-European *mē- (“many”).
Cognate with Scots mair (“more”), Saterland Frisian moor (“more”), West Frisian mear (“more”), Dutch meer (“more”), Low German mehr (“more”), German mehr (“more”), Danish mere (“more”), Swedish mera (“more”), Norwegian Bokmål mer (“more”), Norwegian Nynorsk meir (“more”), Icelandic meiri, meira (“more”).

mo (alternative)
mo' (alternative)
moar (alternative)

Than was there pees betwyxte thys erle and thys Aguaurs, and grete surete that the erle sholde never warre agaynste hym more.

1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum ii”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book XV, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC:

(now poetic) In negative constructions: any further, any longer; any more.

I was more better at English than you.

(now dialectal, humorous or proscribed) Used in addition to an inflected comparative form.


little

en-adj

little (comparative less or lesser or littler, superlative least or littlest)

less (comparative)
lesser (comparative)
littler (comparative)
least (superlative)
littlest (superlative)

→ Jamaican Creole: likl, likkle

From Middle English litel, from Old English lyttel, lȳtel, from Proto-West Germanic *lūtil, from Proto-Germanic *lūtilaz (“tending to stoop, crouched, little”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewd- (“to bend, bent, small”), equivalent to lout + -le. Cognate with Dutch luttel, regional German lütt and lützel, Saterland Frisian litje, West Frisian lyts, Low German lütt, lüttje. Related also to Old English lūtan (“to bow, bend low”); and perhaps to Old English lytiġ (“deceitful”), Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍄𐍃 (liuts, “deceitful”); compare also Icelandic lítill (“little”), Faroese lítil, Swedish liten, Danish liden, lille, Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌹𐌻𐍃 (leitils), which appear to have a different root vowel. More at lout.

der

a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds

a little from column A and a little from column B

Little Steel

smaller steel companies, as contrasted with Big Steel

Little Science

science performed by individuals or small teams, as contrasted with Big Science

(of an industry or other field, or institution(s) therein, often capitalized) Operating on a small scale.


little

en-noun

little (countable and uncountable, plural littles)

I go up for my Little tomorrow.

Ellipsis of little go (“type of examination”).


least

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-least.wav

From Middle English leste, lest, last, from Old English lǣst, a contraction of læsast, læsest, lærest (“least”), from Proto-Germanic *laisistaz (“smallest; least”), related to Old English læs (“less”). Cognate with Old Frisian leist, Old Saxon lēs. More at less.

inh

It was the least surprising thing.

Used for forming superlatives of adjectives, especially those that do not form the superlative by adding -est.


dem

Love tenderness is what the woman dem want

1956, “Give Her Love”, performed by Chin’s Calypso Sextet:

Chillin' wiv da man dem
Jammin' wiv da man dem
It's all good in the hood wiv da man dem

2009, Dizzee Rascal, Chillin' Wiv Da Man Dem:

I’ve got my peeps dem with me shouting pull up your socks,
Cos we just broke the law and now we're running from cops.

(Caribbean, Jamaica, MLE, slang) (clitic, suffix) A group of.


som

Kyrgyzstani som
Som (currency)
Uzbekistani sum

U cared to try som of my snax

(Can we date this quote?), Kimberly Kubus (K.Okkerstrøm), Airport Manager: