For the birds is an idiom describing something as useless, meaningless, or only believed by the gullible. It is often used with the modifier strictly. The phrase was coined in the US military during World War II. The original phrase included a swear word, talking about birds pecking at horse manure for …
Access, as a noun, has been established since the fourteenth century. It means the ability or permission to enter or go through an area or communicate with a person. One would gain access or have access to something. As a verb, however, access has only been around since the 1960s. It has almost the same meaning …
If need be is an idiom which means if the need manifests. It became an idiom when conditional phrases (beginning with if) stopped requiring the subjunctive. Now we say “if it is right”, not “if it be right”. It is used most often as a modifying phrase and does not require commas …
Hope can be a verb or a noun. As a verb, it means to desire or believe something to be true or to come to pass. As a noun it is the feeling of desiring or believing something to be true or to come to pass. The noun form may be …
A nib is something small that comes to a point. Originally it was the tip of a quill pen, and now is commonly used to describe the metal piece at the end of an ink-well pen or the tip of any writing instrument. It may also mean a bird’s beak or bill. In …
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To renege is to go back on a promise, to make a denial, or revoke something. It is pronounced many different ways. The first syllable may have the long or short e sound. And the (nege) syllable can be /nehg/, /nahg/, or /nig/. A person who reneges is a reneger. It is also used sometimes in board …
Salient is an adjective meaning extremely necessary or stands out from the rest. It is also a synonym for jumping and rocketing upwards. Lastly, it is sometimes a noun used for an object that juts out from the rest of the environment, especially if it is part of military defenses. A …
Braggadocio is the kind of talking someone does when they are attempting to appear cocky or boastful. It is also a synonym for braggart, which is the name for a bragger, or someone who is boastful and usually loud about it. The plural for braggadocio is braggadocios. This is only to be used when …