full stop

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) The punctuation mark "." (indicating the end of a sentence or marking an abbreviation).


full stop

We need more people to join IRC, full stop.

(colloquial) Used to emphasize the end of an important statement or point when speaking to show something is not up for discussion or debate.


dictator

dictators (plural)
dictatour (alternative)

desc

→ Pashto: ديکتاتور (diktātor), ډيکټاټور (ḍikṭaṭor)

→ Swahili: dikteta

→ Urdu: ڈِکْٹیٹَر (ḍikṭeṭar)

→ Urdu: ڈِکْٹیٹَر (ḍikṭeṭar)

From Latin dictātor (“a chief magistrate”), from dictō (“dictate, prescribe”), from dīcō (“say, speak”). By surface analysis, dictate + -or, literally “one who dictates”.

surf

(history) A magistrate without colleague in republican Ancient Rome, who held full executive authority for a term granted by the Senate, typically to conduct a war.


quote

en-verb

quote (third-person singular simple present quotes, present participle quoting, simple past and past participle quoted)

quotes (present singular third-person)
quoting (participle present)
quoted (participle past)
quoted (past)

From Middle English quoten, coten (“to mark (a book) with chapter numbers or marginal references”), from Old French coter, from Medieval Latin quotāre (“to distinguish by numbers, number chapters”), itself from Latin quotus (“which, what number (in sequence)”), from quot (“how many”) and related to quis (“who”). The sense developed via “to give as a reference, to cite as an authority” to “to copy out exact words” (since 1680); the business sense “to state the price of a commodity” (1866) revives the etymological meaning. The noun, in the sense of “quotation,” is attested from 1885; see also usage note, below.

der

(commerce, transitive) To name the current price, notably of a financial security.


quotation mark

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-quotation mark.wav

Either of a pair of quotation marks used to denote a quotation in writing. In North America, South Africa and Australia, they may look “like this” (called inverted commas) or "like this" (straight quotes). In the United Kingdom and Ireland, they usually look ‘like this’ or 'like this'.


punctuation

en-noun

punctuation (countable and uncountable, plural punctuations)

Borrowed from Medieval Latin punctuātiō (“a marking with points, a writing, agreement”), from punctuō (“to mark with points, settle”). Morphologically, punctuate + -ion.

bor

an extensive list of such marks at Thesaurus:punctuation mark

Different languages have different rules for punctuation.

A set of symbols and marks which are used to clarify meaning in text by separating strings of words into clauses, phrases and sentences; examples include commas, hyphens, and stops (periods).


dictation

en-noun

dictation (countable and uncountable, plural dictations)

From Late Latin dictātiō, noun of action from dictātus, the perfect passive participle of dictō.

Since I learned shorthand, I can take dictation at eighty words a minute.

(countable, uncountable) Dictating, the process of speaking for someone else to write down the words.

إِمْلَاء

We had reading and geography and Canadian history and dictation today.

1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables:

(countable, uncountable) An activity in school where the teacher reads a passage aloud and the students write it down.

إِمْلَاء

an activity in school where the teacher reads a passage aloud and the students write it down


dictate

Borrowed from Latin dictātus, perfect passive participle of dictō (“pronounce or declare repeatedly; dictate”), frequentative of dīcō (“say, speak”).

I must obey the dictates of my conscience.


dictate

en-verb

dictate (third-person singular simple present dictates, present participle dictating, simple past and past participle dictated)

dictates (present singular third-person)
dictating (participle present)
dictated (participle past)
dictated (past)

Trademark Owners will nevertheless try to dictate how their marks are to be represented, but dictionary publishers with spine can resist such pressure.

2001, Sydney I. Landau, Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 409:

She is dictating a letter to a stenographer.

The French teacher dictated a passage from Victor Hugo.

To speak in order for someone to write down the words.

أَمْلَى

to speak in order for someone to write down the words

He had offered, and been refused! There was that in her own nature, which sympathised with the pride, for such she held to be the motive, dictating the refusal.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Return to Courtenaye Hall”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 151:

Geology dictates the approximate location of the tunnel.

1961 December, “The Channel Tunnel—a realistic proposal”, in Trains Illustrated, page 723:

I didn't lay this bar, or the restaurant for that matter, out on paper. The design was dictated by the materials.

1977 August 20, David Holland, quoting Tony Bosco, “Tony Bosco”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 7, page 19:


inverted comma

From the appearance of an inverted comma.
In lead type, an opening quote is not a separate casting. It is the result of rotating a comma 180°, inverting the comma. It is used singly or as double quotes.
Similarly, the closing quotation mark is the apostrophe. Also used singly or as double quotes.

The paſſage quoted in the text is at the latter part of the following letter, and is put between inverted commas.

1789, Frederick II, King of Prussia, Correspondence. Letters between Frederic II. and M. de Voltaire. Translated from the French by Thomas Holcroft. 1789: Vol 8:

Some of the papers, with questionable taste, present Mrs. [Alice Roosevelt] Longworth to their readers as the American “Princess.” There is nothing in her ways, bearing, or appearance to warrant the epithet which I give, as printed, in inverted commas.

1906 July 11, Truth: A Weekly Journal, volume LX, number 1541, London: “Truth” Buildings, […], published 1907, page 88, column 1:

The following paradigm will serve to illustrate what we mean by this term:
 (37) (a) ‘Will I get a degree?ʼ John wondered
 (37) (b) John wondered whether he would get a degree
 (37) (c) John wondered would he get a degree
 The italicised sequence in (37) (a) is said to be an instance of direct speech: John's exact words are recorded verbatim, and are bounded in the spelling by a question mark and inverted commas; points to note here include the use of the present tense Auxiliary will, the inversion of the Auxiliary, and the use of the first person pronoun I to represent the speaker.

1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 6, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 299:

(Commonwealth) A type of paired quotation mark: ‘ or “ (beginning the quoted material) and ’ or ” (ending it).


transcribe

transcribe (third-person singular simple present transcribes, present participle transcribing, simple past and past participle transcribed)

transcribes (present singular third-person)
transcribing (participle present)
transcribed (participle past)
transcribed (past)

Learned borrowing from Latin trānscrībere (“to write again in another place, transcribe, copy”).

lbor

The doctor made several recordings today which she will transcribe into medical reports tomorrow.

(dictation) To make such a conversion from live or recorded speech to text.

արտագրել

dictation: to make such conversion from speech to text


transcriber

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

A person who transcribes; a transcriptionist.


transcription

en-noun

transcription (countable and uncountable, plural transcriptions)

From Middle French transcription, or directly from Latin transcriptiōnem, from trānscrībō (“transcribe”).

While the sounds of the language [English] undergo constant change and growth, the writing system is rarely reviewed or adapted to recent changes in speech. Consequently, there is a patent need for a transcription in linguistic research and dictionaries.

1977, Ali M. Al Kasimi, Linguistics and Bilingual Dictionaries, Brill Archive, →ISBN, page 37:

Something that has been transcribed, including:

(linguistics) A representation of speech sounds as phonetic symbols.


unquote

en-verb

unquote (third-person singular simple present unquotes, present participle unquoting, simple past and past participle unquoted)

unquotes (present singular third-person)
unquoting (participle present)
unquoted (participle past)
unquoted (past)

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

From un- + quote; possibly an eggcorn of end quote.

(transitive, computing) To convert (a quoted expression) back to its original form.


quote unquote

quote ... unquote (canonical)
quote-unquote (alternative)

From quote + unquote, a spoken equivalent of air quotes, used to express satire, sarcasm, irony or euphemism, analogous to scare quotes in print.

Adam Smith claimed that a capitalist is, quote, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention, unquote.

So you quote love unquote me / Well, stranger things have come to be

2004, “I Don't Believe You”, performed by The Magnetic Fields:

quotation marks
Wikipedia:Quotation mark

Used in spoken language to delimit a quotation in the same function as quotation marks.


chevron

chevrons (plural)
cheveron (alternative)

From Middle English cheveroun, from Old French chevron, the mark so called because it looks like rafters of a shallow roof, from Vulgar Latin *capriō, from Latin caper (“goat”), the likely connection between goats and rafters being the animal's horns.

An angle bracket, either used as a typographic or a scientific symbol.


guillemet

/ˈɡɪl.əˌmɛt/

From French guillemet, diminutive form of the name Guillaume (“William”), named after French typecutter Guillaume Le Bé (1525–1598) who supposedly invented the marks.

named-after

Guillemets, however, proved popular and remain the key method of indicating quotations in French, Arabic, Italian, Greek and many other languages.

2021, Claire Cock-Starkey, Hyphens & Hashtags, Bodleian Library, page 49:

Either of the punctuation marks « or », used in several languages to indicate passages of speech. Similar to typical quotation marks used in the English language, such as “ and ”.


dictaphone

Early 20th century, originally a trademarked name for a type of dictation machine, presumably from dictate and -phone.


dictation machine

en-noun

dictation machine (plural dictation machines)

A sound recording device most commonly used to record speech for later playback or to be typed into print.


dot dot dot

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

Let me read this part of the note for the court reporter: "Either meet my demands or dot dot dot.".

IF I WAS JOE MILLIONAIRE, DOT DOT DOT******
I would have picked Eric from celebrity mole, lol.

2003 February 17, :-O< 8@:-O.:-O, “**IF I WAS JOE MILLIONAIRE, DOT DOT DOT******”, in alt.tv.real-world (Usenet), message-ID <fe835v0d383qv7bnsnpdda4jhlt0rqkv7o@4ax.com>:

[the original text is stylized across multiple lines]
I need water, food, "shelter", emotions AND... dot-dot-DOT a reason.

2006 June 13, turtoni, “I require your attention, because... dot-dot-DOT”, in alt.philosophy (Usenet), message-ID <GNWdnXo89tZ5zhPZnZ2dnUVZ_q2dnZ2d@comcast.com>:

Morty: What the Hell?
Rick: Out of the frying pan, dot, dot, dot, huh, Morty?

2013, "Lawnmower Dog", season 1, episode 2 of Rick and Morty [Rick and Morty survived being killed inside Mr. Goldenfold and found their house crowded with robot-armored dogs.]

(colloquial) As if adding an ellipsis in the middle of speech, indicates a pause, an omission or an unfinished thought.


microcassette

An extremely small tape for use with a tape player, cassette player, or dictation machine.


minicassette

A small cassette for use with a tape player, cassette player, or dictation machine.


end quote

Used in speech to indicate the end of a quotation.


end of quote

(singular only) Used in speech to indicate the end of a quotation.


readback

Deverbal from read back, as in read that back to me, please.

OK, now let's do a readback before you send this off.

The judge ordered a readback of a portion of the testimony.

(dictation, stenography) The reading aloud by a transcriptionist, court reporter, or stenographer of draft correspondence or of testimony previously taken down in dictation, usually at the request of the presiding judge or parties involved in a deposition (courtroom contexts) or of the manager dictating the correspondence (business contexts).