Is there a term for words that seem like they should be antonyms but are actually synonymous? For example: Caregiver & Caretaker. [more inside]
posted by Saxon Kane on May 17, 2009 - 17 answers

What are some eloquent ways to proclaim that someone is crazy? This is for good tidings for some good friends getting married. [more inside]
posted by captainsohler on Apr 2, 2009 - 23 answers

Is there an automated way to generate potential search terms for a given expression? [more inside]
posted by jmevius on Feb 6, 2009 - 9 answers

hi everyone i am curious of what one calls food that is in the process of being digested. or of nutrient being assimilated by something. as in when someone says "food for thought", what can that stuff be called? ...though, while id be curious about any manifestation of that idea, i'm particularly curious about figures of speech involving the food animation of the concept...
posted by plants on Sep 24, 2008 - 14 answers

Where can I find a good online database that gives me similar meanings instead of just synonyms? [more inside]
posted by any major dude on May 21, 2008 - 11 answers

I do this menial task at work at least once, and usually several times a day, which involves running my scripts and then sending out a mass email. The body of my email currently consists of the word 'Done'. I'd like as many ways as possible to say 'the task is completed' and be generally silly. [more inside]
posted by Mach5 on May 12, 2008 - 78 answers

I need a replacement word for the word clusterf#$k. [more inside]
posted by gummo on Apr 17, 2008 - 64 answers

Cheerful thin people are "perky," and cheerful fat people are "jolly." What are other synonyms that carry connotations of physical size? [more inside]
posted by HotPatatta on Nov 9, 2007 - 18 answers

Aerodrome/Airport, Vale/Valley: Today I ran into both these sets of words. The dictionary thinks that they are used interchangeably, but friends have gone to great lengths to give detailed (and entertainingly contradictory) distinctions between each member of these pairs. So now I ask the hivemind: How DO these words differ? When IS each more appropriate than the other?
posted by tabubilgirl on Oct 7, 2007 - 14 answers

A generic Kleenex is a "tissue," a generic Q-Tip is a "cotton swab." What is a generic PowerPoint presentation called? [more inside]
posted by lewistate on Aug 5, 2005 - 20 answers

I'm looking for quotes, proverbs or passages roughly synonymous with the saying "the more things change, the more they stay the same". English or non-English. Religious or secular. Your own or someone else's.
posted by Ritchie on May 18, 2005 - 26 answers

Is there any difference between a maze and a labarynth or are the two terms synonymous?
posted by Fupped Duck on Nov 15, 2004 - 12 answers