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etymology - Clean as a whistle — why is a whistle considered . . . clean as a whistle Completely, entirely, thoroughly, as in He chopped off the branch, clean as a whistle The allusion in this simile is unclear It my have been a replacement for the 18th-century clear as a whistle, which alluded to the pure, clean sound of a whistle (it has few overtones) However, it was adopted to describe something
What did James Baldwin mean by as clean as a bone? You want to write a sentence as clean as a bone That is the goal Given the context, I am not going to criticise him - I think he had it right The bone is the bone and nothing more - it is stripped of everything else, save for its strength A search for "as clean as a bone" also brings up a song and a book of that title
Is the idiom as neat as a pin an American phrase? Earliest confirmed occurrences of 'as neat as a [new] pin' Although (as noted in John Mack's answer) the OED identifies a 1787 instance from the Columbian Magazine—a U S publication—as the first occurrence in print of the phrase, "neat as a new pin, searches of the Google Books and Hathi Trust databases yield instances from 1765 and 1771—one from a London magazine and one from a book
Why do we use catch for describing a contracted illness Stack Exchange Network Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers
How did the word beaver come to be associated with vagina? Jonathon Green's sources (as cited in Brian Hooper's answer) notwithstanding, the limerick that appears in Immortalia: An Anthology of American Ballads, Sailors' Songs, Cowboy Songs, College Songs, Parodies, Limericks, and Other Humorous Verses and Doggerel (1927) runs as follows:
Clean vs Clear - English Language Usage Stack Exchange Clean, as adjective, means: Free from dirt, marks, or stain (the room was spotlessly clean) Morally uncontaminated; pure; innocent (clean living) Free from irregularities; having a smooth edge or surface (a clean fracture of the leg) Clear, as adjective, means:
Describe the whistle one makes when surprised He gave a low long whistle of surprise Oxford Learner's Dictionary You could say long or prolonged whistle, as in "let out a prolonged whistle of admiration " prolonged adjective Continuing for a long time or longer than usual; lengthy OED Here's an example in a book about golf One of the caddies gave a prolonged whistle of surprise and
History of Clean-Slate phrase - English Language Usage Stack Exchange In modern parlance both meanings live on In particular the term clean slate has seen a recent uptick due to its use as an engineering term A "Clean Slate Design" or "Clean Slate Initiative" such as Boeing's 787 and Project Yellowstone, respectively, imply throwing away old engineering assumptions and designs These terms are quite popular in
More clear vs Clearer: when to use more instead of -er? The question really ought to be whether to say "clearer" or "more clearly " That's the confusing one I believe it is correct to say that "I see more clearly now that I've wiped my windshield", and incorrect to say "I see clearer now that I've wiped my windshield "