… Do we, Kat? I mean, pear-shaped we do say, yes, and the body shape is old (1815); the “things went wrong” meaning is much later, and may (may) be unrelated: Pear-shaped. But banana-shaped? I haven’t heard that. I have heard “flat as a pancake” instead, and pancakes aren’t fruit. Apple shaped? I haven’t heard […]
Originally Answered: Why do people like to watch The Bachelor? I’m sure I’ve seen this question somewhere else already, but I’m on my phone, so I won’t go hunting to merge. The Bachelor draws on a potent combination of factors, although the proportion of factors seems to differ by country. The Australian Bachelor and Bachelorette […]
You’re not hinting that my last name is unfortunate there, Michael, are you? 🙂 I haven’t suffered all that much for it. Certainly not as much as some respondents. If someone carries on about it, I inwardly (or maybe even not that inwardly) roll my eyes, and move on. I used to be nicknamed Nick […]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anapaest In Sodom, we know from the Torah,the sinful did dwell, and Gomorrah.When guests came to visit,they’d leer: “How exquisite!What to do to them? Oh! Let’s ask Quora!” Answered 2017-01-29 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/How-can-one-use-the-word-Quora-in-a-limerick/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]
http://vocaroo.com/ Poem #1 My favourite Esperanto sonnet—which actually dissolves the very form of the sonnet; see: What is your favorite phrase or line from a poem not in English? Mi, dezirante ĉerkon(kapitulaci,ekshipokrito laca,ĉi ŝakan ŝercon), pluportis mian serĉonĝis la palacode ĉi korpo kuraca,en kies riĉon mi kitelumaspli pace miajn ostojnol feton lulas la utero; kaj […]
My experience in studying Elec Eng at Melbourne as an undergrad was 25 years ago, so it would be monstrously unfair of me to answer this question. I’ll do it anyway. See how my bio says “former Sessional Lecturer at University of Melbourne”? That was in Linguistics, not Elec Eng. 🙂 That’s on me: I […]
Well, I’d read the children’s encyclopaedia Childcraft when I was 6. And I was pretty proud of my reading capabilities. Childcraft had an age-appropriate elucidation of the reproductive system. And I duly read that. Somehow, this came up on a visit with my uncle George (God rest him) and aunt Hariklia. (She goes by Iris […]
Originally Answered: Why are Americans so bad at Geography? I responded to Nick Nicholas’ answer to What do you think when you hear the words, “United States”? with a map, to undo such questions. I got the ball rolling, with all the questions listed in the answer wiki under How many Central and South American […]
In fact. And other such parenthetical elaborates. I like to construct arguments in my prose, and in fact is my wood glue… Answered 2017-01-22 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/What-words-do-you-overuse/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]
As a lecturer, 120: first year linguistics. As a conference presenter: maybe 300, on a plenary panel. After the first 20, it’s just numbers. 🙂 Answered 2017-01-22 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/What-is-the-most-people-that-you-have-spoken-to/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]