whatever

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

Good heavens! Whatever time is it?!

(interrogative) What ever; emphatic form of 'what'.

Whatever choice you make, there will be consequences.

I will stick with you, whatever fate befalls us.

Regardless of the ... that; for any ... that.

أَيّ

regardless of the … that; for any … that

Whatever doubts I had were quickly dispelled.

Write down whatever thoughts come into your mind.

So may whatever tempest mars
Mid-ocean, spare thee, sacred bark;
And balmy drops in summer dark
Slide from the bosom of the stars.

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XVII, page 28:

Whatever utility the work may have outside of its stated boundaries will be largely because of such a nonprovincial approach.

1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page viii:

In an expression that reflects the pathos of a person without memory of a recent past, Milner quotes H.M. as saying, "Every day is alone in itself, whatever enjoyment I've had, and whatever sorrow I've had Right now, I'm wondering. Have I done or said anything amiss? That's what worries me. It's like waking from a dream; I just don't remember."

1997, Warren S. Brown, Nancey C. Murphy, H. Newton Malony, Whatever Happened to the Soul?:, page 115:

Any ... that; of no matter what type or kind that.

He must be stopped, whatever the cost.


dat

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

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


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

No sooner has a [synthetic] drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one. These “legal highs” are sold for the few months it takes the authorities to identify and ban them, and then the cycle begins again.

2013 August 10, “A new prescription”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:

There are a few cars (=some, but a relatively small number) in the street.

Quite a few people (=a significant number) were pleasantly surprised.

I think he's had a few drinks. [This usage is likely ironic.]

(preceded by another determiner) An indefinite, but usually small, number of.

There are very few people who understand quantum theory.

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.

Tonight: A few clouds. Increasing cloudiness overnight.

NOAA definition of the term "few clouds": An official sky cover classification for aviation weather observations, descriptive of a sky cover of 1/8 to 2/8. This is applied only when obscuring phenomena aloft are present--that is, not when obscuring phenomena are surface-based, such as fog.

(meteorology, of clouds) Obscuring one to two oktas (eighths) of the sky.

selkeä (see: pilvisyys)

meteorology: obscuring 1-2 eighths of the sky

(meteorology, of rainfall with regard to a location) (US?) Having a 10 percent chance of measurable precipitation (0.01 inch); used interchangeably with isolated.


are

From the phonetic similarity between our and are in many English dialects (both /ɑː(ɹ)/).


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”).

The teams competed to see who could collect (the) most money.

The team with the most points wins.

superlative degree of many: the comparatively largest number of (construed with the definite article)

ամենաշատ

superlative of many: comparatively largest number of

Most bakers and dairy farmers have to get up early.

Winning was not important for most participants.

superlative degree of many: the majority of; more than half of (construed without the definite article)


last

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

We went there last year.

I was last to go; you're next.

The (one) immediately before the present.

It's Wednesday, and the party was last Tuesday; that is, not yesterday, but eight days ago.

When you say last Monday, do you mean the Monday just gone, or the one before that?

(of days of the week or months of the year) Closest in the past, or closest but one if the closest was very recent; of days, sometimes thought to specifically refer to the instance closest to seven days (one week) ago, or the most recent instance before seven days (one week) ago.


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”).

you kiss your grandfather with that mouth

Let’s meet tomorrow at your convenience.

Is this your cat?

Belonging to you; of you; related to you (singular; one owner).

ـك

-ak, -uk(a), etc: pronunciation differs according to case and level of language formality

uw

used both formally and informally in Flemish Dutch

чамайг

owner is same age as/younger than speaker

của bạn (replace bạn with the appropriate word or kinship term: ông, bà, anh, cô, chị, mày, em)

Then Ieſus ſaid vnto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 6:7, column 1:

Belonging to you; of you; related to you (plural; more owners).

tā kōrua

singular dominant referring to two people

tō kōrua

singular subordinate referring to two people

ō kōrua

plural subordinate referring to two people

tā koutou

singular dominant referring to three or more people

ā koutou

plural dominant referring to three or more people

tō koutou

singular subordinate referring to three or more people

ō koutou

plural subordinate referring to three or more people

của các bạn (replace bạn with the appropriate word or kinship term: ông, bà, anh, cô, chị, mày, em)

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.

Your man just bought a new car.

Have you seen what your one over there is doing?

(Ireland) That; the specified (usually used with a human referent)


it's

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:

Behold the balanc’d Scales suspended stand,
Neither a jot inclin’d to either hand:
But place the smallest grain of weight in one,
Straight the fraternal equipoise is gone;
The loaded scale, preponderant, downward flies,
Drags down the chain, and makes it’s [sic] partner rise.

1767, George Canning, “Anti-Lucretius”, in Poems, London: for the author, page 281:

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection Laws[.]

1787, “Article I”, in United States Constitution:

The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, & such principal stream of it, as, by it’s course & communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

1803, President Thomas Jefferson, Instructions to Captain Meriwether Lewis:

It’s tendency would be to raise and refine her mind—and it must be saving her from the danger of degradation.

1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter IV, in Emma: […], volume III, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, page 60:

Article V.
The Boundary line between the two Republics shall commence in the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, opposite the mouth of the Rio Grande, otherwise called Rio Bravo del Norte, or opposite the mouth of it’s deepest branch, if it should have more than one branch emptying directly into the sea; from thence up the middle of that river, following the deepest channel, where it has more than one, to the point where it strikes the southern boundary of New Mexico; thence, westwardly, along the whole southern boundary of New Mexico (which runs north of the town called Paso) to it’s western termination; thence, northward, along the western line of New Mexico, until it intersects the first branch of the river Gila; (or if it should not intersect any branch of that river, then, to the point on the said line nearest to such branch, and thence in a direct line to the same;) thence down the middle of the said branch and of the said river, until it empties into the Rio Colorado; thence, across the Rio Colorado, following the division line between Upper and Lower California, to the Pacific Ocean.

1848, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Guadalupe_Hidalgo_(original)):

The mouth of the cave was up the hillside—an opening shaped like a letter A. It’s massive oaken door stood unbarred.

1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXIX, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 219:


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.

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


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

Next week would be a good time to meet.

I'll know better next time.

Denotes the one immediately following the current or most recent one.

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.


their

From Old Norse þeirra. Replaced native Old English heora.

them

personal pronouns, subject and object case

they will meet tomorrow at their convenience

this is probably their cat

For all things, even Celestial Luminaries, much more atmospheric meteors, have their rise, their culmination, their decline.

1831, Thomas Carlyle, “Symbols”, in Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdröckh. […], London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, 3rd book, page 155:

For Liverpool, their season will now be regarded as a relative disappointment after failure to add the FA Cup to the Carling Cup and not mounting a challenge to reach the Champions League places.

2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport:

Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.

2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

Belonging to, from, of, or relating to, them (plural).

jich

referring to three or more people or things

possessive concord + -bo class 2 (usually for people)

There's not a man I meet but doth salute me
As if I were their well-acquainted friend […]

c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], line 1172:

Place the casualty on their back with feet and legs raised—this is called the shock position. [emphasis in original] Once the casualty is positioned, cover them to preserve body heat, but do not overheat.

2006, St. John Ambulance, First on the Scene: Student Reference Guide, →ISBN, Lesson 2, page 3:

I prefer to think that birds have a sufficiently developed sense of humour to enjoy the spectacle of a human being hunched beneath a bush kissing the back of their hand.

1980, Bill Oddie, Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book, page 112:

‘I mean ... if somebody made a mistake,’ Harry went on, ‘and let something slip, I know they didn’t mean to do it. It’s not their fault,’ he repeated, again a little louder than he would usually have spoken.

2007, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, (quoted edition: London: Bloomsbury, 2008, →ISBN, page 93):

The only object ... showing the signature of N₂ in their spectra is Sedna.

2021, Stern, Moore, Grundy, Young & Binzel, editor, The Pluto System after New Horizons, page 38:

Belonging to someone (one person, singular), or occasionally to something.

ria

belonging to someone of unspecified gender (singular)


our

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 (“our”), Danish vor (“our”), Norwegian vår (“our”), and more distantly Latin noster.

Paying no attention to Lizzy, Mrs. Gibson began calling out our names in alphabetical order.

2008, Mike Knudson, Steve Wilkinson, Raymond and Graham Rule the School:

As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels.

2013 July-August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist:

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

Thirdly, I continue to attempt to interdigitate the taxa in our flora with taxa of the remainder of the world.

1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page viii:

Of, from, or belonging to the nation, region, or language of the speaker.

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.


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.

With that he put his ſpurres vnto his ſteed,
 With ſpeare in reſt, and toward him did fare,
 Like ſhaft out of a bow preuenting ſpeed.

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IIII, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 41:

No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.

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, page 46:

In his first televised address since the siege in Abidjan began this week, Ouattara said he would focus on returning the country to normal to ease the plight of civilians.

2011 April 8, Xan Rice, “Ivory Coast: 100 more bodies found as ethnic tensions rise”, in The Guardian:

possessive concord + -khe class 1 (most common)

On the contrary, those other passions, commonly denominated selfish, both produce different sentiments in each individual, according to his particular situation […]

1751, David Hume, “(please specify the page)”, in An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:

It is our conviction that piecemeal critiques of nontheisms will not suffice. The theist must enter the arena with a positive and comprehensive case of his own.

2003, Norman L. Geisler, Winfried Corduan, Philosophy of Religion: Second Edition, page 9:

(sometimes dated) Belonging to a person of unspecified gender.

In ſo moche that if any verbe be of the thyꝛde coniugation
 I ſet out all his rotes and tenſes[…]

1530 July 18, Iohan Palſgrave, “The Introduction”, in Leſclarciſſement de la langue francoyſe […] , London: Richard Pynſon, Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, page 32; reprinted as Lesclarcissement de la langue françoyse, Genève: Slatkine Reprints, 1972:

My ſtomacke could not well reach ſo farre: it is very much troubled to come to an end of that which it takes for his neede.

1603, Michel de Montaigne, “Of Drunkennesse”, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC, page 200:

Yee are the ſalt of the earth: But if the ſalt haue loſt his ſauour, wherewith ſhall it bee ſalted?

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 5:13, column 1:

(obsolete) Its; belonging to it. (Now only when implying personification.)

Ahab his mark for Ahab's 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.


zero

From French zéro, from Italian zero, from Medieval Latin zephirum, from Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr, “nothing, cipher”), itself calqued from Sanskrit शून्य (śūnya, “void, nothingness”). Doublet of cipher and chiffre.

der

She showed zero respect.

You have to salute Gerrard's bravery in accepting the challenge of trying to turn Rangers around given that he has zero experience in senior management. Immortality beckons if he does it.

2018 May 4, Tom English, “Steven Gerrard: A 'seriously clever or recklessly stupid' Rangers appointment”, in BBC Sport:


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

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.


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.

Near-synonym: some

Do you have any biscuits?

Do you have any food?

I haven't got any money.

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.).


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

Coordinate term: one

Near-synonym: any

Some people like camping.

Many people, especially some evangelical Christians, have been less than optimistic about the Potter influence.

2006, Charles H Lippy, Faith in America [Three Volumes] [3 Volumes]: Changes, Challenges, New Directions, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 73:

Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.

2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes.

2013 July-August, Sarah Glaz, “Ode to Prime Numbers”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:

(stressed form) A nonzero, unspecified proportion of (a bounded set of countable things): at least two.

Coordinate term: one

Near-synonym: any

Would you like some grapes?

The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track.[…]Their example was followed by others at a time when the master of Mohair was superintending in person the docking of some two-year-olds, and equally invisible.

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, pages 58–59:

In the autumn there was a row at some cement works about the unskilled labour men. A union had just been started for them and all but a few joined. One of these blacklegs was laid for by a picket and knocked out of time.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XLIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 364:

A nonzero, unspecified quantity or number of (an unbounded set of countable things).

Near-synonym: any

Would you like some water?

After some persuasion, he finally agreed.

It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, jump upon a tram, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVI, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, pages 130–131:

An unspecified amount of (something uncountable).

I've just met some guy who said he knew you.

The sequence S converges to zero for some initial value v.

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:

Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet. Perhaps we assume that our name, address and search preferences will be viewed by some unseen pair of corporate eyes, probably not human, and don't mind that much.

2013 June 14, Jonathan Freedland, “Obama's once hip brand is now tainted”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 18:

(stressed form) A certain, an unspecified or unknown.

He had edited the paper for some years.

He stopped working some time ago.

We drove back to the office with some concern on my part at the prospect of so large a case. Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.

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, page 15:

(stressed form) A considerable quantity or number of.

She has worked at the company for some thirty years now. (31 and two months, to be exact.)

There were only some three or four cars in the lot at the time.

What other natural experiments might we have to test climate sensitivity? Another one that happens every year is the change in seasons. Winter predictably follows summer, being some fifteen degrees colder in the Northern Hemisphere and five degrees colder than summer in the Southern Hemisphere. The reason the Southern Hemisphere has a smaller seasonal cycle is because it has much more ocean than land,[…]

2003, Richard N. Cooper, Richard Layard, What the Future Holds: Insights from Social Science, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 129:

the local police, who, with the investigator, reportedly placed a compass near the two signs that had rattled and found a deviation of some fifteen degrees. Placed next to the Renault in which they had come, the compass showed a deviation of only four degrees, but there was no deviation at all near the sign that had not rattled.

2023, J. Allen Hynek, The UFO Experience: Evidence Behind Close Encounters, Project Blue Book, and the Search for Answers, Red Wheel/Weiser, →ISBN, page 142:

(stressed form) Approximately, about (with a number).

She has worked at the company for some five years now! How remarkable!

He is some acrobat!

That was some speech you gave!


it

Received Pronunciation, General American, GenAus

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.

That which groweth of it owne accord of thy haruest, thou ſhalt not reape, neither gather the grapes of thy Uine vndreſſed: for it is a yeere of reſt vnto the land.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 25:5:


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

see for numerical forms in other scripts

There was one box of biscuits available.

He is one hell of a guy.

Used for emphasis in place of a
Being a preeminent example.

The town records from 1843 showed the overnight incarceration of one “A. Lincoln”.

Being an unknown person with the specified name; see also "a certain".

un

being an unknown person with the specified name


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>

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).


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.

Both 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


you're

your (unstressed form, also sometimes stressed form)

You're ignorance is like a cry of help from the dark - I am multi-tongued and speak five variations of Spanish.

2004 October 26, Digital Eclipse, Grand Theft Auto Advance, Rockstar Games, Inc., Game Boy Advance, scene: School's Out, level/area: Aspatria:


mine

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.

[…] Flesh and blood, / You, brother mine, that entertain'd ambition, / […]

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

Used attributively after the noun it modifies.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord: / […]

1862 February, Julia Ward Howe, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”, in The Atlantic Monthly, volume IX, number LII, page 10:

1930 Winter, Packard Motor Car Company, The Packard Magazine, Volume 9, Number 2, page 6,
Mine host, it seemed, did favors for everybody...

(archaic) My; belonging to me.
Used attributively before a vowel.


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.

cog

Other people would do it differently.

The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.

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, page 58:

“[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like
 Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer. […]”

1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

“By the way,” Jessamy went on, “what’s your other name? You never told me.” “Stubbs,” said Billy, “William Stubbs!”.

1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 98:

[Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.

2013 July 20, “Out of the gloom”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

Not the one or ones previously referred to.


thick

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”).


them

From Middle English þem, from Old Norse þeim.

Gimme two of them yellow ones.

How would you like a scrummage, Andy, with them Scotchmen that stole your mother's chickens this morning?

1835, John Pendleton Kennedy, Horse Shoe Robinson: A Tale of the Tory Ascendency:

The world 'as got me snouted jist a treat; / Crool Forchin's dirty left 'as smote me soul. / An' all them joys o' life I 'eld so sweet / Is up the pole.

1915, C.J. Dennis, The Songs of the Sentimental Bloke, published 1916, page 13:

"I say it's a shame, Silas Linden, the way them children is treated."

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

America you don’t really want to go to war.
America it's them bad Russians.
Them Russians them Russians and them Chinamen. And them Russians.

1956, Allen Ginsberg, “America”, in Howl and Other Poems (Pocket Poets Series), City Lights Books, →OCLC, page 33:

"[…] Them two wild horses ain't fit to ride, and I been wonderin' how I was goin' to get you out of this place before them Spanish maybe circle back and finish the job."

2005, Elmer Kelton, Sons of Texas, Tor/Forge, page 111:


us

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 while being used. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uus (“us”), West Frisian us, ús (“us”), Low German us (“us”), Dutch ons (“us”), German uns (“us”), Danish os (“us”), Latin nōs (“we, us”).

inh

It's not good enough for us teachers.

The speakers/writers, or the speaker/writer and at least one other person.


whose

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

kinek (a/az) …-a/-e/-ja/-je/-i/-ai/-ei/-jai/-jei? (only in adjectival/determiner's position; for the predicative/pronoun's position, see the other sense below)

a (indirect relative followed by resumptive possessive pronoun)

Whose wallet is this?

(interrogative) Of whom, belonging to whom; which person's or people's.

This is the man whose dog caused the accident. (= This man's dog caused the accident.)

Venus, whose sister Serena is, won the latest championship.

Pat and Lou, whose house we visited last year

The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite.[…]Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival?

1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

We saw several houses whose rooves were falling off. (= The rooves were falling off several houses that we saw.)

(relative) Of which, belonging to which.


buku

Alternative spelling of beaucoup (many many many)


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 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

(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.

There is food enough for us all.

How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare!

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 15:17:

But it wasn’t ransom enough.
His captors accepted it all,
But didn’t let go of the king.

1936, Robert Frost, “The Vindictives”, in A Further Range:


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

This classroom is where I learned to read and write.

Right, boys, as much fun as this night has been, this girl is tired, so I'm gonna hit the hay.

2017, Samantha Towle, Breaking Hollywood, London: Headline Eternal, →ISBN, page 205:

"As far as I can tell, there's been no journalistic interest in these basic issues of why Wikipedia editors make the decisions they do, and how they give effect to them, despite the fact the announcement of the ban was basically worldwide news," wrote Reddit user ronsmith7. Well, ronsmith7, today is your lucky day because this journalist is interested in those issues.

2021 July 1, Stephen Harrison, “Wikipedia's War on the Daily Mail”, in Slate, archived from the original on 2023-06-04:

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

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. Its your call."

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

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

They give the appearance of knowing what they're doing. It's this appearance that lets them get away with so much.

The known (thing) (used in indicating something or someone just mentioned).

When asked what he wanted for his birthday, he gave this reply: “[…]”

The known (thing) (used in indicating something or someone about to be mentioned).

I met this woman the other day who's allergic to wheat. I didn't even know that was possible!

There's just this nervous mannerism that Bob has with his hands, and it drives me crazy.

(informal) A known (thing) (used in first mentioning a person or thing that the speaker does not think is known to the audience). Compare with "a certain ...".

eräs

known (thing) that the speaker does not think is known to the audience

Coordinate term: next

It's cold this morning.

I plan to go to London this Friday.

(of a time reference) Designates the current or next instance.

nå til

concerning coming week, weekend or season


you

From Middle English you, yow, ȝow (object case of ye), from Old English ēow (“you”, dative case of ġē), from Proto-Germanic *iwwiz (“you”, dative case of *jīz), Western form of *izwiz (“you”, dative case of *jūz), from Proto-Indo-European *yūs (“you”, plural), *yū́.
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”), Middle High German eu, iu (“you”, object pronoun), Latin vōs (“you”), Avestan 𐬬𐬋 (vō, “you”), Ashkun yë̃́ (“you”), Kamkata-viri šó (“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>

der

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

Have you gentlemen come to see the lady who fell backwards off a bus?

The individual or group spoken or written to.

ti

the individual or group spoken/written to

Sie (grammatically pl, semantically sg and pl)

вы

may be omitted, depending on where it is placed

You idiot!

'You genius!' I shouted in Aretta's ear. 'You absolute genius! Why didn't you tell us you were so good?'

2015, Judi Curtin, Only Eva, The O'Brien Press, →ISBN:

Used before epithets, describing the person being addressed, for emphasis.

вы

often omitted, making the epithet more insulting


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

But to whether side fortune would have been partial could not be determined.

a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:

Whilst thus the case in doubtfull ballance hong,
Vnsure to whether side it would incline,

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

In the morning sowe thy seede, and in the euening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 11:6:

In vies of favours whether party gains...

[1633], George Herbert, “The Pearl”, in [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC:


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

Which song shall we play?

They couldn't decide which song to play.

Which one is bigger?

Show me which one is bigger.

(interrogative) What, of those mentioned or implied.

أَيّ

(interrogative) what, of those mentioned or implied

Take which one you want.

You may go which way you please.

After glaring upon the smoking philosopher, who took his misfortunes with such positive nonchalance, he growled out an oath in German, which language is particularly adapted for growling in; then, raising his hand, he dealt him a blow on his pipe, which sent it, like a rocket, into the midst of the players.

1860, Alfred Henry Forrester, Fairy footsteps, or, Lessons from legends, with illustr., by Alfred Crowquill, page 166 (Google Books view)

Whitaker’s blog post, housed on a website called Minutes Before Six, goes on to make references to Albert Camus’ 1947 classic, The Plague, dips into a Camus-inspired existential ramble and returns to an attempt to convey the detail of Prieto’s being essentially “noble,” which fact, he admits, will be lost in translation to anyone unfamiliar with death row units.

2015 January 21, Texas Public Radio, “Voices From Death Row: A Prisoner Writes An Ode To ‘Living Dyingly’”, in Texas Public Radio:

All the phones come in plastic bodies that have been given a brushed-metal finish and carry 64-bit processors from Intel, which fact they proudly announce with an Intel Inside logo on the back.

2015 May 2, Adarsh Matham, “Battle of the Smartphones”, in The New Indian Express:

He once owned a painting of the house, which painting would later be stolen.

Yesterday, I met three men with long beards, which men I remember vividly.

For several seconds he sat in silence, during which time the tea and sandwiches arrived.

I'm thinking of getting a new car, in which case I'd get a red one.

(relative, formal outside certain phrases) Designates the one(s) previously mentioned.

որ

(relative) designating the one(s) mentioned


they

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”).
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

They rooks as you see … only coom a few year agoo.

1878, Louis John Jennings, Field Paths and Green Lanes, quoting an old East Sussex man

Darn'd if they Cockney Chaps can zee there worn't nort but lie in him.

1883, Judy, or the London serio-comic journal, volume 33, Harvard University:

page 21: "But you spile [spoil] they gals - they won't be for no good, they won't."
page 30: "'Twas all about they rewks [rooks]," he sobbed.
page 54: "mucking the place up with they weeds"

1895, Under the Chilterns: A Story of English Village Life:

"Bodies and souls," she cried, "if I didn't reckon to have hidden they boots safe from un in the stick-rick." "Off wi' they tight-wasted shoes o' yours, Martha."

1901, Gwendoline Keats (of Devon), Tales of Dunstáble Weir, page 55

Forty quid a fuckin ticket. No shy they British Rail cunts, ah kin fuckin tell ye.

1994 [1993], Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting, London: Minerva, →ISBN, page 114:

(now Southern England dialect or nonstandard) The, those.

MARY ELLEN is a different case from the others. She has five children and, she claims: "I don't know who they father is. I ain't never kept track. They is always another one. You know, I can catch me a guy[.]"

1974, Arthur Hippler, Hunter's Point: a black ghetto in America, page 88:

But all they kids be listenin' to me religiously / So I'm signin' CDs while police fingerprint me

I got bitches askin' me about the code for the Wi-Fi / So they can talk about they timeline / And show me pictures of they friends

2015, “Energy”, in If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, performed by Drake:

He guessed one of the well-off people living in these houses must have took a shine to Cody and decided how he'd look good stuck up on they roof.

2016, Alan Moore, Jerusalem, Liveright, published 2016, page 175:

(US dialects, including African-American Vernacular) Their.


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

All contestants must register at the scorer’s table.

All flesh is originally grass.

All my friends like classical music.

Beautie alone is a ſoveraigne remedy againſt feare,griefe,and all melancholy fits; a charm,as Peter de la Seine and many other writers affirme,a banquet it ſelfe;he gives inſtance in diſcontented Menelaus that was ſo often freed by Helenas faire face: and ʰTully, 3 Tusc. cites Epicurus as a chiefe patron of this Tenent.

1638, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy. […], 5th edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [Robert Young, Miles Flesher, and Leonard Lichfield and William Turner] for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 2, member 6, subsection iv, page 298:

In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass. In this way all respectable burgesses, down to fifty years ago, spent their evenings.

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

Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path[…]. It twisted and turned,[…]and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn. And, back of the lawn, was a big, old-fashioned house, with piazzas stretching in front of it, and all blazing with lights.

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

On the one hand, we had a scenario where, effectively, the American admiral just went "You know what, all the destroyers attack", at which point they mowed through the Japanese destroyers like a Grim Reaper through a harvest of very, very dead gorn, especially with the Brooklyns in support.

2019 March 6, Drachinifel, 25:58 from the start, in The Battle of Samar (Alternate History) - Bring on the Battleships!, archived from the original on 2022-07-04:

Every individual or anything of the given class, with no exceptions (the noun or noun phrase denoting the class must be plural or uncountable).

The store is open all day and all night. (= through the whole of the day and the whole of the night.)

I’ve been working on this all year. (= from the beginning of the year until now.)

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)

He's all talk; he never puts his ideas into practice.

I was born to speak all mirth and no matter.

1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

without all remedy

c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:


she

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

(African-American Vernacular) Synonym of her


y'all

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.

Have y'all ladies finished eating?

I need y'all help for a minute.

(especially African-American Vernacular) Your pl; y'all's


that

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 Saterland Frisian dät, West Frisian dat, Dutch dat, Low German dat, 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 taĩ, Polish to.

inh

That book is a good read. This one isn't.

That battle was in 1450.

That cat of yours is evil.

The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 110:

She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creation, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry.

1921, Ben Travers, “Westward Ho!”, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC, part I (“Come He Will”), page 8:

‘No. I only opened the door a foot and put my head in. The street lamps shine into that room. I could see him. He was all right. Sleeping like a great grampus. Poor, poor chap.’

1963, Margery Allingham, “Eye Witness”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 242:

The gym is across from the lounge. It’s next to the mailroom. Go that way. — Thanks, Pete! — No, Anna! Not that way! Go that way!
Audio (US): (file)

2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

The (thing, person, idea, etc) indicated or understood from context, especially if more remote physically, temporally or mentally than one designated as "this", or if expressing distinction.

idto

far from both the speaker and the listener

iyan

near the person spoken to, but away from the speaker

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)


thy

From Middle English þi, apocopated variant of þin, from Old English þīn, from Proto-West Germanic *þīn, from Proto-Germanic *þīnaz, from Proto-Indo-European *téynos (“thy; thine”), from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂ (“thou”). See thou.

(archaic, dialectal, literary) Possessive form of thou: that which belongs to thee; which belongs to you (singular).

ـك

-ak, -uk(a), etc. pronunciation differs according to case or level of language formality, 'ismak - "your name""


he

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”).

(African-American Vernacular) Synonym of his


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) Singular second person prevocalic possessive determiner (preconsonantal form: thy).


we

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).

We Canadians like to think of ourselves as different.

The speakers/writers, or the speaker/writer and at least one other person.


who

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, *kʷis.
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.

Who phone just rang?

(interrogative, dialect, African-American Vernacular) whose

he who digs a pit for others falls in himself

he who sups with the devil should have a long spoon

let he who is without sin cast the first stone

let him who is without sin cast the first stone

people who live in glass houses should not throw stones

people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones

send it up the flagpole and see who salutes

the Lord helps those who help themselves

there are none so blind as those who will not see

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

those who live in glass houses should not throw stones

those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones

those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those doing it

who are you and what have you done with someone

who keeps company with the wolf will learn to howl

with friends like these who needs enemies

with friends like those who needs enemies


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.

Said party has denied the charges.


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


what

wot (all only in British, Australian, New Zealand, New York City accents with the wine–whine merger)

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 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”).

What colour are you going to use?

What time is it?

What kind of car is that?

(interrogative) Which, especially which of an open-ended set of possibilities.

I wonder what colour he is going to use.

I know what colour I am going to use.

That depends on what answer is received.

He seems to have lost what sense he had.

What money I earn is soon spent.

(relative) Any ... that; all ... that; whatever.

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.


certain

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”).

der

Certain people are good at running.

One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly-appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.”

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 26:

Having been determined but not specified.

مُحَدَّد

having been determined but not specified


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 *-r̥.
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

behind every great man there stands a woman

behind every successful man there stands a woman

there ain't no such thing as a free lunch

there are more horses' asses than horses

there is a place and time for everything

there is a time and a place for everything

there is a time and place for everything

there is no replacement for displacement

there is something rotten in the state of Denmark

there may be snow on the mountaintop but there's fire in the valley

there may be snow on the rooftop but there is fire in the furnace


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 (“none, no one”), German nein & kein (“no, none”), Latin nōn (“not”).

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):


q

Alternative form: Q

175 mg/m² q 3 wks ― 175 mg/m² every three weeks

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


r

From are and our, pronounced like the name of the letter r.

This was supposed 2 be a SURPRISE, but the girls got it out of me. ☺ I wanted all of us 2 spend Xmas 2gether. By all, I mean r horses 2. Sooo . . . B, C, G, Z, & D, you have guests waiting @ BC. Zane, Valentino, Scout, Nero, & Polo r there! Now we can ride r horses when we r not volunteering & spend Xmas w them. ☺

2013, Jessica Burkhart, Home for Christmas (Canterwood Crest; Super Special), New York, NY: Aladdin M!X, →ISBN, page 44:

(Internet slang, text messaging) Abbreviation of our.


yon

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

He went to climb yon hill.

Read thy lot in yon celestial sign.

1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

"[…] Yet first let me close yonder shutters; the slanting rain is beating through the sash. I will bar up." "Are you mad? Know you not that yon iron bar is a swift conductor? Desist."

1856, Herman Melville, The Lightning Rod Man:

"Do my eyes deceive me, or is yon object a Puddin'?" he cried.

1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 158:

His head... his head... his face... it wisnae there. Nae black curly hair, nae eyes - I've never seen eyes sae blue as Joe's. Irises blue as yon sky. Blown tae smithereens... his gorgeous, bonny head, no there.

2012 Spring, Gerda Stevenson, “Federer versus Murray”, in Salmagundi:

(dated or dialectal) Distant, but within sight; (that thing) just over there.


many

head

many (comparative more, superlative most)

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:

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:

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:

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.

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

'so many'; 'this many'; 'so many'; 'this many'


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

Yonder lass, who be she?

But ſoft, what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the Eaſt, and Iuliet is the Sunne[…]

c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

Fire, the Sword, and Plagueǃ They may all be found in the yonder city; on my head alone may they fallǃ

1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter II, in The Last Man. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:

"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:

I wish I were on yonder hill
and there I’d sit and I’d cry my fill,
and ev’ry tear would turn a mill,
And a blessing walk with you, my love

2006, Cécile Corbel (lyrics and music), “Siúil a Ruin”, in Songbook 1, performed by Cécile Corbel, Brittany: Keltia Musique:

(archaic or dialect, as an adjective) Who or which is over yonder, usually distant but within sight.

The yonder is Queen Niobe.

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


yous

What are yous kids doin?

“Heh, yous kids want a game?” “Dunno, suppose so.” “Dar and I versus yous; that's fair.” “Short kicks Ern, we hang on to the ball and let them do the chasing.” “You watch me take the marks Dar; them blokes won't know what hit them.”

2015 June 1, Geoffrey Hope Gibson, Matriarch: An Australian Novel of Love and Wa, Loving Healing Press, →ISBN, page 68:

(dialect) The group spoken or written to.


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

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:


hm

tlb

(Philippines, Internet slang, colloquial)

I am selling this shirt.
Hm?
₱50 only.


not even one

Not even one digit on the lottery ticket matched!

And guess how many digits matched? Not even one!


wat

Variation of what, used for humorous effect.

(informal, Internet, text messaging) Alternative spelling of what


dis

Representing a colloquial or dialectal pronunciation with th-stopping of this.


fewest

On Sundays, the fewest cars use this street.

superlative degree of few; the smallest number.


fewer

Fewer women wear hats these days.

There are fewer tigers than there were a hundred years ago.

This hypothesis goes by many names, including group resistence, the threshold effect, and the gender paradox. Because the hypothesis holds such wide appeal, it is worth revisiting the logic behind it. The hypothesis is built on the factual observation that fewer females than males act antisocially.

2001 September 27, Terrie E. Moffitt, Avshalom Caspi, Michael Rutter, Phil A. Silva, Sex Differences in Antisocial Behaviour: Conduct Disorder, Delinquency, and Violence in the Dunedin Longitudinal Study, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 151:

comparative degree of few; a smaller number.


least

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

He earns the least money in his family. Of all the sisters, she has the least patience. I can only afford to pay the least of the bills. I'm giving (the) least of all towards her present.

The least water we could find there was 4 fathoms, which bears from the point S.E., and is distant 1½ mile.

1857, Edmund March Blunt, The American Coast Pilot: Containing Directions for the Principal Harbors, E. & G.W. Blunt, page 135:

To have demolished and rebuilt the walls, would have been a very costly expedient, and as the least of two evils, the painter's brush was resorted to; here and there however, above some of the windows, the black wreathings of the smoke are still discernible through the white covering.

“Well,” I says, “I cal'late a body could get used to Tophet if he stayed there long enough.” ¶ She flared up; the least mite of a slam at Doctor Wool was enough to set her going.

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

Charles had not been employed above six months at Darracott Place, but he was not such a whopstraw as to make the least noise in the performance of his duties when his lordship was out of humour.

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

Comparison of the four bogie designs shows that the Rugby-built A.E.I. bogie has the least number of components and a minimum of metallic wearing surfaces.

1960 December, “The first hundred 25 kV a.c. electric locomotives for B.R.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 727:

Light does not need to know in advance which is the path of least time because it takes all paths from its source to its destination.

2004, Jim Baggott, Beyond Measure: Modern Physics, Philosophy, and the Meaning of Quantum Theory, Oxford University Press, page 48:

The most little; the smallest amount or quantity of something.


dem

What are dem fings doing ’ere?

Nonstandard form of them. (in the sense of "those")

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.


less

Adverb From Middle English les, lesse, leasse, lasse, from Old English lǣs (“smaller, less”), from Proto-Germanic *laisiz, from Proto-Indo-European *leys- (“to shrink, grow thin, be gentle”). Cognate with Old Frisian lēs (“less”), Old Saxon lēs (“less”). According to Kroonen (2013), from a northern Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *leh₂is- or *leh₃is-, which he connects to Lithuanian liesas (“lean”).
Determiner and preposition from Middle English lees, lesse, leasse, lasse, from Old English lǣssa (“less”), from Proto-Germanic *laisizan-, from Proto-Germanic *laisiz (“smaller, lesser, fewer, lower”) (see above). Cognate with Old Frisian lessa (“less”).
Verb from Middle English lessen, from the determiner.
Noun from Middle English lesse, from the determiner.

der

Those Rattels are somewhat like the chape of a Rapier, but lesse, which they take from the taile of a snake.

1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, Kupperman, published 1988, page 141:

We are likewise ready to maintain with the hazard of all that is near and dear to us, that six is less than seven in all times and all places […].

It is also easy to see that the straight line, representing the locus of centres of buoyancy for a rectangular section, must lie at a less inclination to the base (i.e., to the horizontal) than a line representing the locus of such centres for a parabolic section […]

1885, Edward James Reed, A Treatise on the Stability of Ships:

(Now chiefly of numbers or dimensions) comparative form of little: more little; of inferior size, degree or extent; smaller, lesser.

little

No less than eight pints of beer.

I have less tea than coffee.

You have even less sense than an inanimate object.

Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.

2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7:

There are less people here now.

Now there are three less green bottles hanging on the wall.

... on his land he will have less manure, less corn, and less people; ...

1681, John Houghton, A Collection For the Improvement of Husbandry and Trade, page 263:

This is not a happy situation as far as the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes is concerned because it means less jobs for the union's members here at home.

1952 September 7, Thomas M Pryor, New York Times:

No less than four standard-bearers went before them, carrying huge crimson banners emblazoned with the golden lion.

1999, George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam, published 2011, page 555:

Although my hosts, G S Aviation, can teach you to fly in Wiltshire, an intensive week at their French airfield means less problems with the weather, cheap but good living, and complete removal from any distractions.

2003 December 16, Timandra Harkness, The Guardian:

(proscribed) Fewer; a smaller number of.


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”).

have got more chins than a Chinese phone book

have got more chins than a Chinese phonebook

have more chins than a Chinese phonebook

have more chins than a Chinese phone book

more than someone has had cooked dinners

one hair of a woman can draw more than a hundred pair of oxen

there are more horses' asses than horses

there's more than one way to cook an egg

there's more than one way to crack an egg

there's more than one way to peel an orange

you attract more flies with honey than vinegar

you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar

you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar

you catch more flies with honey than vinegar

you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar

you get more with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone

There are more ways to do this than I can count.

One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.

2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:

comparative degree of many: in greater number. (Used for a discrete quantity.)

many

There's more caffeine in my coffee than in the coffee you get in most places.

Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.

2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, pages 72–3:

comparative degree of much: in greater quantity, amount, or proportion. (Used for a continuous quantity.)

much

If you run out, there are more bandages in the first aid cupboard.

More people are arriving.

I want more soup.

I need more time.

He is more than the ten years he spent behind bars at our local prison, as he is a changed man and his past does not define him.


adequate

Latin adaequātus, past participle of adaequō (“to make equal to”); ad + aequō (“to make equal”), from aequus (“equal”).

We have adequate money for the journey.


som

Kyrgyzstani som
Som (currency)
Uzbekistani sum


ample

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

We have ample time to finish the task.

It is a large house with ample space for all of us.

A fully sufficient or abundant quantity of; enough or more than enough.

We don't need any more. We already have ample.

(as pronoun) A quantity (of something) that is fully sufficient; plenty.


another

Jamaican Creole: anedda

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

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

one man's trash is another man's treasure

one woman's trash is another woman's treasure

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

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

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

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

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

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

آخَر

one more, in addition to a former number

Do you know another way to do this job?

From another point of view, it was a place without a soul. The well-to-do had hearts of stone; the rich were brutally bumptious; the Press, the Municipality, all the public men, were ridiculously, vaingloriously self-satisfied.

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

But that is another story and will be told another time.

1983, Michael Ende, translated by Ralph Manheim, The Neverending Story, →ISBN, page 53:

In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.

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

One gold ingot is valued the same as another, but gemstones are valued individually.

Any or some other, similar in likeness or in effect, instead.


every

Sranan Tongo: ibri

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

at church every time the doors swing open

behind every great man there stands a woman

behind every successful man there stands a woman

even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then

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

every day of the week and twice on Sundays

every man is the architect of his own fortune

every miller draws water to his own mill

fall out of the ugly tree and hit every branch

you cannot put the same shoe on every foot

Every person in the room stood and cheered.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We stopped for refreshments every ten miles.

The alarm is going off every few minutes.

Every third bead was red, and the rest were blue. The sequence was thus red, blue, blue, red, blue, blue etc.

Decimation originally meant the execution of every tenth soldier in a unit; that is, ten per cent of soldiers were killed.

Denotes equal spacing at a stated interval, or a proportion corresponding to such a spacing.

We wish you every happiness in the future.

I have every confidence in him.

There is every reason why we should not go.

The police will make every effort to trace the missing girl.

(with certain nouns) Denotes an abundance of something.


nanti

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

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

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

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

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

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

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