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  1. Is "wot wot" or "what-what" an authentic British expression? If it's ...

    The correct (or at least original) spelling for the term is "wot". "What, what!" is a malaprop that results from, and perpetuates, a misinterpretation of the term's meaning. "Wot" is very old. It comes from an …

  2. idioms - Origin of "That's what she said"? - English Language & Usage ...

    That's what she said seems to be a simplification of the phrase said the actress to the bishop, used with similar implications. The phrase dates back to at least 1928, according to the Wikipedia article, as it …

  3. questions - "Which" vs. "what" — what's the difference and when …

    Most of the time one or the other feels better, but every so often, "which" vs. "what" trips me up. So, what's the exact difference and when should you use one or the other?

  4. What is the origin/formal definitions of the phrase "pros and cons ...

    The phrase "pros and cons" is often used to weigh the positive and negative effects that would result from taking a particular course of action. When trying to explain to someone else why only acti...

  5. Origin of "Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

    Jan 25, 2021 · The phrase has been used before, but the meme seems to have taken off in May 2009, according Google Insights. The blue line is "what do we have here", and the others are co-incident " [ …

  6. What do you call the process of combining two words to create a new …

    Nov 15, 2012 · In linguistics, a blend word is a word formed from parts of two or more other words. The process is called blending and the result is a blend word. A portmanteau word typically combines …

  7. What do we call the “rd” in “3ʳᵈ” and the “th” in “9ᵗʰ”?

    Aug 23, 2014 · Our numbers have a specific two-letter combination that tells us how the number sounds. For example 9th 3rd 301st What do we call these special sounds?

  8. grammaticality - "What time" vs "At what time" - English Language ...

    Jan 9, 2016 · If I want ask my classmate at what exact time did he come to class, which question is correct? I don't want to use "When". "At what time did you come here?" or "What time did you come …

  9. "What ever happened to" versus "Whatever happened to"?

    When ever is part of the word whatever it modifies "what" in a way that emphasizes its content-less nature as a placeholder pronoun: anything and everything could fill that void. Whatever it is when so …

  10. What is the origin of "stat"? - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

    May 17, 2011 · According to the OED, stat in this sense originated in pharmacology. The word stat would be written on a prescription to mean "immediately". The OED gives two citations for this: 1875 …