a list of words that are only ever used in one phrase and one phrase only

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Oh, I didn't know the English term for the concept of "booby prize", thanks for enlightening me.

Tuomas, Thursday, 26 May 2016 08:19 (ten years ago)

Also, I guess the term "boob tube" is still used in the US, or is it?

Tuomas, Thursday, 26 May 2016 08:20 (ten years ago)

(Meaning television, not the piece of clothing.)

Tuomas, Thursday, 26 May 2016 08:21 (ten years ago)

No it's not. And there's no piece of clothing called boob tube.

Josefa, Thursday, 26 May 2016 08:27 (ten years ago)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tube_top

A tube top, colloquially known in the U.K. as a boob tube, is a shoulderless, sleeveless women's garment that wraps around the upper torso.

Tuomas, Thursday, 26 May 2016 08:35 (ten years ago)

Ah OK, well in America we don't have that term

Josefa, Thursday, 26 May 2016 08:38 (ten years ago)

huh I always thought it was an Americanism

reader, if you love him so much why don't you marry him? (DJ Mencap), Thursday, 26 May 2016 08:50 (ten years ago)

much of a "muchness"

japanese mage (LocalGarda), Thursday, 26 May 2016 08:50 (ten years ago)

Finland... UK... USA... do we even speak the same language?

Larry 'Leg' Smith (Tom D.), Thursday, 26 May 2016 08:51 (ten years ago)

"Boob tube" in America means TV, yes, but only someone over age 60 would use that term in that way. We say "tube top" for the garment.

Josefa, Thursday, 26 May 2016 08:52 (ten years ago)

... but only someone over age 60 would wear one.

Larry 'Leg' Smith (Tom D.), Thursday, 26 May 2016 08:53 (ten years ago)

You should come to Brooklyn

Josefa, Thursday, 26 May 2016 08:55 (ten years ago)

The high water mark of "boob tube" was probably the 70s, so "over age 60" is a little exaggerated, but it's not a current hip hep and happening phrase. It is definitely generally understandable still. "The tube" for tv is probably a little more in use, but then again tvs aren't as in use as they used to be.

Three Word Username, Thursday, 26 May 2016 10:05 (ten years ago)

Genuinely surprising that there's no porn streaming site called BoobTube.

Eyeball Kicks, Thursday, 26 May 2016 11:18 (ten years ago)

"Boob Tube"? You don't mean "Goggle Box" ?

Mark G, Thursday, 26 May 2016 11:40 (ten years ago)

Wit in "To wit"

Larry 'Leg' Smith (Tom D.), Thursday, 26 May 2016 11:45 (ten years ago)

two years pass...

Raring in 'Raring to go'?

Alan Alba (Tom D.), Thursday, 12 July 2018 17:58 (seven years ago)

six months pass...

I don't think I even quoted it secondhand. Actually, my students want Maduro gone, and I've seen the strange-bedfellows approach b/w the Trump administration and the parents of the students who have no butter or meat.

― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 10 February 2019 01:04 (forty-eight minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq7LM4rOcV4

Wee boats wobble but they don't fall down (Tom D.), Sunday, 10 February 2019 01:54 (seven years ago)

druthers

ɪmˈpəʊzɪŋ (darraghmac), Sunday, 10 February 2019 03:08 (seven years ago)

seems like the word 'fraught' is accompanied by 'with danger' at least 95% of the time. partly to be perverse, I like to dislodge it from danger and use it in other contexts.

A is for (Aimless), Sunday, 10 February 2019 04:23 (seven years ago)

i rarely use fraught in the "with danger" context. I use it as a replacement for "problematic" which has semantically shifted in recent years.

sarahell, Sunday, 10 February 2019 05:08 (seven years ago)

Only pools are limpid.
― weather1ngda1eson (Brian)

only green is limpid

the scientology of mountains (rushomancy), Sunday, 10 February 2019 12:16 (seven years ago)

just read this wonderful malapropism:

"These guys covered the gamete with Rock N’ Roll, Blues, R&B and splendid jams."

which reminds me that mature haploid cells aside, the gamut is only ever run.

the scientology of mountains (rushomancy), Sunday, 10 February 2019 15:20 (seven years ago)

three months pass...

Damsel in distress.

Ned Caligari (Tom D.), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 07:08 (seven years ago)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damselfly

specific goats my way (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 08:10 (seven years ago)

one year passes...

Swingeing cuts.

Boring blighters bloaters (Tom D.), Thursday, 19 November 2020 12:08 (five years ago)

three months pass...

The ides of march.

visiting, Monday, 1 March 2021 16:00 (five years ago)

two months pass...

bandy around

I was born anxious, here's how to do it. (ledge), Friday, 7 May 2021 09:35 (five years ago)

bandy about

bobo honkin' slobo babe (sic), Friday, 7 May 2021 09:56 (five years ago)

bandy words with

Number None, Friday, 7 May 2021 09:59 (five years ago)

'about' - same thing
'words with' - i'll allow it.

I was born anxious, here's how to do it. (ledge), Friday, 7 May 2021 10:08 (five years ago)

slake

One Of The Bad Guys (Tracer Hand), Friday, 7 May 2021 11:55 (five years ago)

bandy-legged

bobo honkin' slobo babe (sic), Friday, 7 May 2021 12:14 (five years ago)

lol, just watched an episode of Survivor where someone was called a "bandy-legged troll" last night

Bobo Honk, real name, no gimmicks (Doctor Casino), Friday, 7 May 2021 12:34 (five years ago)

fun thread, btw!

Bobo Honk, real name, no gimmicks (Doctor Casino), Friday, 7 May 2021 12:39 (five years ago)

For a second I considered that "wreak" was only used with "havoc." On reconsidering I think you can also wreak vengeance.

Triumph of the Willa Cather (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 7 May 2021 12:44 (five years ago)

"And that's Bent Coppers."

the pinefox, Friday, 7 May 2021 13:00 (five years ago)

"score" in the numerical sense is pretty rare outside of "Four score and seven years ago" but occasionally I guess you see people writing "scores of ___."

longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Friday, 7 May 2021 15:27 (five years ago)

I think "wrought" is only used in two phrases, each with a somewhat different sense of "wrought" -- "What hath god wrought" and "wrought iron"

longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Friday, 7 May 2021 15:30 (five years ago)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Well_Wrought_Urn

the pinefox, Friday, 7 May 2021 15:35 (five years ago)

all that glisters is not gold

sharpening the contraindications (Aimless), Friday, 7 May 2021 16:43 (five years ago)

Been a long time since I heard "doth" without "protest too much."

Triumph of the Willa Cather (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 7 May 2021 16:52 (five years ago)

Figgy

Andy the Grasshopper, Friday, 7 May 2021 16:53 (five years ago)

would "overwrought" count for "wrought" ?

Bobo Honk, real name, no gimmicks (Doctor Casino), Friday, 7 May 2021 17:34 (five years ago)

the wrought’s set in

One Of The Bad Guys (Tracer Hand), Friday, 7 May 2021 17:43 (five years ago)

wrought you like a hurricane

Andy the Grasshopper, Friday, 7 May 2021 17:46 (five years ago)

seems like the only time anyone is wroth anymore, it's that they've been waxing wroth

sharpening the contraindications (Aimless), Friday, 7 May 2021 17:48 (five years ago)

This is a story of Johnny Wroughten

Triumph of the Willa Cather (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 7 May 2021 17:49 (five years ago)

Xp

Triumph of the Willa Cather (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 7 May 2021 17:49 (five years ago)

Nook and cranny. Nooks can exist on their own but there's never a cranny without a nook.

BrianB, Thursday, 13 May 2021 13:27 (five years ago)


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