Single-context Words: A Study of a Quirk of the English Language by Ian Yearsley

Author:Ian Yearsley [Yearsley, Ian]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Paragon Publishing
Published: 2020-09-30T00:00:00+00:00

Pronouns

There do not appear to be any pronouns which are single-context words.

Adjectives

An adjective is a descriptive word applied to a noun, e.g. a black cat or a wooden table.

addled [… brain]

The adjective ‘addled’ is almost always used in the phrase ‘addled brain’ to mean ‘muddled’ or ‘having lost the ability to think clearly’. It can, however, also be used to describe a rotten egg. The short-lived and non-functioning Parliament of 1614 was called ‘the Addled Parliament’. The verb ‘to addle’ has several variations and meanings.

aforethought [malice …]

The word ‘aforethought’, meaning ‘entertained in the mind beforehand’ or ‘premeditated’, is most used in the legal phrase ‘malice aforethought’ to refer to a premeditated crime.

akimbo [arms/legs …]

Originally meaning ‘with hands on hips and elbows turned outwards’, the word ‘akimbo’ has also been adopted for use with legs. It is therefore usually found in two phrases – ‘arms akimbo’ (which is tautological) and ‘legs akimbo’.

bare-faced [… cheek]

The word ‘bare-faced’ (which is also available unhyphenated) originates from a physical description of a man without a beard. Its usage has expanded from that origin to mean ‘without a mask’ or ‘undisguised’, in both the literal and figurative senses. Although it can still be applied in such contexts, it is almost exclusively used now in the tautological phrase ‘bare-faced cheek’ to mean ‘so undisguised that the person concerned does not care if they are behaving wrongly’.

bare-knuckle [… fight]

The word ‘bare-knuckle’ is used solely in the context of a bare-knuckle fight – a fight without (boxing) gloves. It can be used figuratively as well as literally.

bated [with … breath]

Although it has other archaic meanings as a verb, the word ‘bated’ in its adjectival form is used exclusively in the phrase ‘with bated breath’ to mean ‘with breathing subdued or restrained under awe, terror or some other emotion’. It has associations with the word ‘beat’ in the latter’s meaning of ‘beat down’ or ‘put an end to’.

beady [… eye(s)]

The word ‘beady’ means ‘like a bead’. It is used exclusively in the context of ‘beady eye(s)’ (singular or plural). It can be used literally, but it is more likely to crop up in speech in a figurative sense to imply that a person is keeping a close watch on something or someone. It is frequently used as a warning, as in, for example, ‘I’ve got my beady eye on you’, to mean ‘I’m watching you, so you’d better not misbehave’.

beholden [… to]

The word ‘beholden’, meaning ‘under personal or moral obligation’, is usually followed by ‘to’, for example in the phrase ‘she knew she would be beholden to him forever’.

bereft [… of]

‘Bereft’ is an adjective meaning ‘forcibly deprived’. It derives from the word ‘bereave’, as in ‘bereavement’, and is almost always followed by ‘of’, as for example in the sentence ‘he was bereft of confidence as he had been lied to before’.

blithering [… idiot]

Deriving from the verb ‘to blither’, which means ‘to talk nonsense’, the word ‘blithering’ is used only in the phrase ‘blithering idiot’ to describe a person who talks nonsense.

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