Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with lexicon

What modifies what?

cogneuro — Thu, 29 May 2008 04:38:06 -0800

I think that a thesaurus that was organized in terms of which adjectives typically go with which nouns would be really useful. Like, the adjectives that modify the verb "urge" (as in deep or unfulfilled, say). Same thing could be done for adverbs, e.g., ones that modify "talk" (relentlessly, incessantly, insightfully). I am aware of WordNet and many other on-line lexical databases like the BNC. I'm looking for something like a compiled list, based on actual usage, of what modifies what. thanks.

Smallest Number of Words To Be Deemed A Dictionary?

vanoakenfold — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:59:13 -0800

LogosFilter: Could a blog entry that contains two words and their definitions be consistent with the definition of a dictionary? In looking up with word dictionary, I most often find something along the lines of "a collection of words.." as far as quantity, but nothing further than that besides "a selection of words" or "a list of words" which to me would be at minimum, two. Is two of something a collection? How many of something must one have before it is deemed a collection?

I Before E, origin of Thee?

Chrischris — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 09:06:02 -0800

I before E except after C We all learned the rule, but where did it come from? The standard (though far from comprehensive) mnemonic I before E except after C (british version: "when the sound is ee it's i before e except after c ") is so embedded in our thinking as to be second nature to most English-literate folks. My question: what is the origin of this rule? Is there a citation for the first (written) recorded usage of this phrase?

Words for Women

seanyboy — Sat, 27 Mar 2004 04:39:18 -0800

Words for women. I’m trying to compose a huge list of descriptive words which are mainly applied to women. This is for a feminism project for a friend. Everything from chick, babe, angel, etc to dog, nag, mare, cow to lush, slut and slag. Can MeFites help me out by streaming words for about a minute, then postfixing it with age, nationality and sex. Don’t worry about repeating words other people have chosen. I’ll start with… Tart, babe, girl, lush, mare, hen, chick, whore, angel, pet, love, nag, slut, slag, cow, petal, flower, peach, babe, witch. English; 34; Male.