Wiktionary:Idioms that survived RFD: difference between revisions
→Rocking chair test: It's a "rocking chair", not a "rocky chair". |
add a few. |
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Terms that are not understood in a different dialect although all constituents are understood. |
Terms that are not understood in a different dialect although all constituents are understood. |
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*[[telephone box]] (?) |
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(No terms have passed under this test.) |
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=== Egyptian pyramid test === |
=== Egyptian pyramid test === |
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* [[Egyptian pyramid]] |
* [[Egyptian pyramid]] |
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* [[prime number]] |
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=== Fried egg test === |
=== Fried egg test === |
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(No terms have passed under this test.) |
(No terms have passed under this test.) |
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=== If your dictionaries jumped off a cliff test === |
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Terms that have entries in other dictionaries, especially specialized ones. |
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*[[technological unemployment]] |
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== Unidentified == |
== Unidentified == |
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* [[empty space]] |
* [[empty space]] |
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* [[just ducky]] |
* [[just ducky]] |
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* [[way cool]]<!-- don't these two fall under the "in between test" above?--> |
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* [[way cool]] |
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== Failed entries == |
== Failed entries == |
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* [[scream like Rain Man]] = [[scream]] + [[like]] + [[Rain Man]] |
* [[scream like Rain Man]] = [[scream]] + [[like]] + [[Rain Man]] |
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== See also == |
== See also == |
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Revision as of 02:31, 7 September 2007
About
This is a list of generally multiple-word entries whose meanings may appear to be sum-of-parts but have survived the RFD process specifically because they are identified as idiomatic.
Note: Please do not add a term to this list unless there was discussion during RFD that concluded in keeping it, initially doubting the necessity of including the term but arriving at a consensus of idiomaticity.
Tests of idiomaticity
Where possible the list is partitioned by test, in each case listing under the most applicable test for idiomatic status. Tests can be used as guides during RFD, but they are not hardfast rules and are subject to interpretation, and thereafter change.
Tests are proposed by contributors as a way to rationalize how and why some terms are idiomatic when others are not. Besides original basis on the Pauley List, these tests are derived from the list of terms that survived RFD, not the other way around.
These tests are considered inclusive and incomplete, meaning that each needs to be narrowly written so as not to include any non-idiomatic terms.
Fancy dress test
Terms that are not understood in a different dialect although all constituents are understood.
- telephone box (?)
Egyptian pyramid test
Terms which do not have the most general meaning attributable, for which specific restrictions to the meaning of constituents are made.
Fried egg test
Terms that imply certain social knowledge that could not be derived from any of the constituents, nor from their combination.
Prior knowledge test
Terms that have a specific technical meaning in a certain field.
Never mind test
Terms that are used to structure conversation.
(No terms have passed under this test.)
In between test
Terms that are tightly bound, in which a pause cannot be inserted, or for which concatenation seems natural, if not standard.
(No terms have passed under this test.)
Easier said test
Terms whose final constituents are omitted, implying conventional knowledge.
(No terms have passed under this test.)
Rocking chair test
Terms signified as logical units by unusual patterns of stress or intonation.
(No terms have passed under this test.)
"Mind was crossed" test
Terms that cannot be rewritten in certain grammatical frames.
(No terms have passed under this test.)
Once upon a time test
Terms that are irregular or archaic syntactically.
(No terms have passed under this test.)
If your dictionaries jumped off a cliff test
Terms that have entries in other dictionaries, especially specialized ones.
Unidentified
The following terms have passed RFD but have not been or cannot be identified under any of the above tests.
Failed entries
For comparison, this is a list of entries that failed RFD because they are not idiomatic.