DrKrettin
Registered Senior Member
If helps if you spell it diplomatic masterstroke before trying google
Help with English
- Thread starter Saint
- Start date
If helps if you spell it diplomatic masterstroke before trying google
I believe the phrase comes from artistry (as master painter for example) doing something with a very high level of skill, but can also be used to describe cunning.
So the 'Diplomatic masterstroke (all one word) in this case is describing Trump as cleverly using the fact that China does not want America to gain any further foothold in Korea and so has essentially forced China to deal with Korea or risk America gaining further influence in the Area.
Fraggle Rocker
Staff member
It is more commonly written as a single word, but "master stroke" is acceptable. The essence of its meaning is "an extremely skillful or effective action." Preventing a war would be a classic example of a masterstoke.
I'm sure you've asked this one before.
A whipsaw is a long saw that is typically used by two people, one at each end.
For something to whipsaw means to be subject to opposing pressures - and fluctuate back and forth between the two.
If you're talking about a man of advancing years then no, this would just be "old man" - a man who is old. In English we generally don't join the adjective to the noun.
In this context, the hop across the pond means the transatlantic flight (from New York to London).
"hop" because the trajectory of the flight resembles the trajectory of a hop.
"pond" is an ironic expression referring to the Atlantic ocean.
It's also an example of British understatement (crossing the Atlantic from UK to USA is actually a huge trip), you may also want to look up 'our friends across the pond' which almost always refers to people in UK/USA or vice versa.
Edit: Just in case 'British Understatement' adds any confusion:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_understatement
Last edited:
Fraggle Rocker
Staff member
No. To stonewall an activity means to block it so well that it cannot be completed. To use the word "stonewall" is simply a reference to the strength of a stone wall. It is very difficult to break a barricade made of stone.
The original word was "Watergate," the name of a hotel in Washington, D.C., where the Democratic Party officers were planning their strategy to win the 1964 presidential election. Richard Nixon was the Republican President, and he hired several criminals to break into the party's office. Obviously, if he had access to the opposition party's documents, it would be much easier for him to win the election.
This was not a successful strategy, and before long almost everyone in the world knew that he had broken the law. He managed to win the election anyway, but he never overcame the disgust that a large percentage of the American people identified with him.
He ultimately had to resign from the office. He fired his own vice-president (Spiro Agnew) and appointed a new one, Gerald Ford. He knew that if he were prosecuted, he would probably spend many years in prison. He made a deal with Ford: He agreed to resign, as long as Ford agreed not to prosecute him.
This was one of the darkest hours for the American people, but Ford managed to salvage our honor, and for this reason he is still remembered as a pretty good President.
This occurred during the Vietnam War, probably the most unpopular war our people had ever seen. Many soldiers simply deserted their posts and went back home. Many young men emigrated to Canada, in order to avoid being drafted into the military. Both of these tactics were illegal, and Nixon would have thrown tens of thousands of American into prison. Ford, on the other hand, believed that it was time for Americans to unite. So he told the deserters in the military, and the young men in Canada, that they were all welcome to come back home and would not be prosecuted.
In retrospect, he was actually one of our better Presidents.
Back on topic, today, any large-scale operation that doesn't seem to be completely legal (much less popular!) is called something-Gate.
So, today, we have Russiagate, which refers to President Trump getting assistance from the Russian government in order to win the presidential election.
DrKrettin
Registered Senior Member
Those rich enough could bride their way out by having a deferment. IF I've got my facts right, Trump had five deferments, which must have cost daddy a fortune.
According to the creator, the LIN is pronounced as though you were saying LINT - just without the T. And the UX is pronounced as in SUCKS - without the S.
DrKrettin
Registered Senior Member
If he (she?) wants it pronounced like that, it would be polite to spell it LINNUX. I keep telling foreigners (the Spanish baffled with pronunciation) that English spelling has some rules, even though often broken. So if you want a short I in a two syllable word, you double the consonant. There are plenty of exceptions, especially when the consonant is V, but why add to them?
The spelling comes from the name of the software engineer that wrote it - Linus Benedict Torvalds - substituting the "s" with "x" to denote the similarity to Unix.
Fraggle Rocker
Staff member
As a man who had a deferment, I can assure you that it's not easy. I have a poorly reconstructed clavicle ("collarbone") after a motorcycle accident, that interferes with certain kinds of motion. When the M.D. at the draft board took a look at it, he told me to leave the building immediately, on the elevator, so I wouldn't accidentally fall down the stairs and break it again--at which point it would have been HIS fault!
In English, perhaps. But the creator is not English, but Finnish-American, Linus Torvalds. He pronounces his first name Linnus, but it is spelt Linus. Linux is pronounced linnux but spelt Linux.
English is not the only language to use the Roman alphabet, and we do not have exclusive right to the pronunciation of a word written in it, especially when the word is not English (or American).
Sure, we don't pronounce Paris in the manner the French do, and it abhors me the way some English people try to pronounce Budapest with an "h" (i.e. "Budapesht") in an effort to make it sound like the way the Hungarians pronounce it, but then happily pronounce the "s" in Paris etc. But Linux is effectively a brand-name, and has been trademarked in the US, and the pronunciation has been clarified as previously detailed.
That said, I'm sure many people do pronounce it LIE-NUX but it is not the official pronunciation.
Not quite, but close.
Probate is the process whereby the will of the deceased is accepted by the courts as a valid legal document that expresses the last will of that person. Until then the estate can not be touched. Probate is the first part of the overall process of settling the deceased's estate.
Probate is the process whereby the will of the deceased is accepted by the courts as a valid legal document that expresses the last will of that person. Until then the estate can not be touched. Probate is the first part of the overall process of settling the deceased's estate.