Access over 20 million homework & study documents

Case study Based on WordNet

Content type
User Generated
Type
Study Guide
Rating
Showing Page:
1/6
(See also FAULTFINDING.)
blue-pencil To delete or excise, alter or abridge; to mark for
correction or improvement. Used of written matter
exclusively, blue-pencil derives from the blue pencil used by
many editors to make manuscript changes and comments.
damn with faint praise To praise in such restrained or
indifferent terms as to render the praise worthless; to condemn
by using words which, at best, express mediocrity. Its first use
was probably by Alexander Pope in his 1735 Epistle to Dr.
Arbuthnot:
Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer.
peanut gallery See INSIGNIFICANCE.
pot shot A random, offhand criticism or condemnation; a
censorious remark shot from the hip, lacking forethought and
direction. Webster’s Third cites C. H. Page’s reference to
subjects which require serious discussion, not verbal potshots.
Pot shot originally referred to the indiscriminate, haphazard
nature of shots taken at game with the simple intention of
providing a meal, i.e., filling the pot. By transference, the term
acquired the sense of a shot taken at a defenseless person or
thing at close range from an advantageous position.
slings and arrows Barbed attacks, stinging criticism; any
suffering or affliction, usually intentionally directed or inflicted.
The words come from the famous soliloquy in which Hamlet
contemplates suicide:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. (III, i)
As commonly used, the expression often retains the suffer of the
original phrase, but usually completes the thought by
substituting another object for outrageous fortune, as in the
following:
En route to the United States the enterprise has suffered the
slings and arrows of detractors as diverse as George Meany and
Joseph Papp. (Roland Gelatt, in Saturday Review, February,
1979)
?Page tools
Printe
r
friend
ly
Cite /
link
Email
Feedba
ck
Add
definiti
on
Advertisement (Bad banner?
Please let us know)
Related Ads
W
WW
Goo
gle
com
Lit
eratu
re

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
Showing Page:
2/6
stop-watch critic A hidebound formalist, whose focus is so
riveted on traditional criteria or irrelevant minutiae that he fails
to attend to or even see the true and total object of his concern.
Laurence Sterne gave us the term in Tristram Shandy.
“And how did Garrick speak the soliloquy last night?” “Oh,
against all the rule, my lord, most ungrammatically. Betwixt the
substantive and the adjective, which should agree together in
number, case, and gender, he made a breach, thusstopping as
if the point wanted settling; and betwixt the nominative case,
which, your lordship knows, should govern the verb, he
suspended his voice in the epilogue a dozen times, three seconds
and three-fifths by a stop-watch, my lord, each time.”
“Admirable grammarian! But in suspending his voice was the
sense suspended likewise? Did no expression of attitude or
countenance fill up the chasm? Was the eye silent? Did you
narrowly look?” “I looked only at the stop-watch, my lord.”
“Excellent observer!”
Picturesque
Expressions: A
Thematic Dictionary,
1st Edition. © 1980
The Gale Group, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun
1.
criticism - disapproval expressed
by pointing out faults or
shortcomings; "the senator
received severe criticism from his
opponent"
unfavorable judgment
attack - strong criticism; "he
published an unexpected attack
on my work"
disapproval - the expression of disapproval
brickbat - blunt criticism
carping, faultfinding - persistent petty and unjustified
criticism
flack, flak, attack, blast, fire - intense adverse
criticism; "Clinton directed his fire at the Republican
Party"; "the government has come under attack";
"don't give me any flak"
thrust - verbal criticism; "he enlivened his editorials
Go
ogle
Sear
ch
Def
initio
n
Lit
erary
Theo
ry
?My Word List
Add current page to the
list
?Charity
Feed a
hungry
child -
donate to
school feeding program

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
Showing Page:
3/6

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
End of Preview - Want to read all 6 pages?
Access Now
Unformatted Attachment Preview
 (See also FAULTFINDING.) blue-pencil To delete or excise, alter or abridge; to mark for correction or improvement. Used of written matter exclusively, blue-pencil derives from the blue pencil used by many editors to make manuscript changes and comments. damn with faint praise To praise in such restrained or indifferent terms as to render the praise worthless; to condemn by using words which, at best, express mediocrity. Its first use was probably by Alexander Pope in his 1735 Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot: Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer. peanut gallery See INSIGNIFICANCE. pot shot A random, offhand criticism or condemnation; a censorious remark shot from the hip, lacking forethought and direction. Webster’s Third cites C. H. Page’s reference to subjects which require serious discussion, not verbal potshots. Pot shot originally referred to the indiscriminate, haphazard nature of shots taken at game with the simple intention of providing a meal, i.e., filling the pot. By transference, the term acquired the sense of a shot taken at a defenseless person or thing at close range from an advantageous position. slings and arrows Barbed attacks, stinging criticism; any suffering or affliction, usually intentionally directed or inflicted. The words come from the famous soliloquy in which Hamlet contemplates suicide: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And by o ...
Purchase document to see full attachment
User generated content is uploaded by users for the purposes of learning and should be used following Studypool's honor code & terms of service.

Anonymous
Very useful material for studying!

Studypool
4.7
Trustpilot
4.5
Sitejabber
4.4

Similar Documents