phrases - 'Third wheel' or 'fifth wheel'? - English Language & Usage ...
A Google Books search confirms Ammer's assertion that the original allusion is to an unnecessary wheel added to a four-wheeled vehicle. In Google Books search results for the phrases "like a/the fifth …
How common is it for "windmill" to be pronounced rhyming with …
Oct 4, 2023 · Coincidentally, however, I heard Michal Douglas' character Steve Keller in the TV series The Streets of San Francisco pronounce "windmill" to rhyme with "wheel" as well. That leads me to …
word choice - What’s the difference between "tire" and "tyre ...
Feb 16, 2016 · It is a question of regional usage but according to The Grammarist tire is used mainly in the US and Canada: Tire and tyre both mean a covering for a wheel, usually made of rubber. Tire is …
etymology - Origin of the term "fifth-wheel"? - English Language ...
Nov 29, 2016 · I think the term fifth wheel is a term for something superfluous, akin to an extra wheel on a four-wheeled carriage. The Wikipedia claim about the fifth wheel referring to the the fifth-wheel …
Spined or Spinned (Spin) [duplicate] - English Language & Usage Stack ...
May 9, 2020 · Roulette wheel spins. That is I made it spin (sorry don't know how to say this) Was the wheel spinned or spined? How do I say what happened to the wheel once I spin it?
Opposite of "Squeaky wheel gets the grease" - slang
May 29, 2019 · The squeaky wheel gets the grease is an American proverb used to convey the idea that the most noticeable (or loudest) problems are the ones most likely to get attention.
lyrics - What does "dire is the horseman's wheel" mean? - English ...
Mar 10, 2020 · Dire is the horseman’s wheel, Shivering the ranks of steel— Still victor in battle-field, Scotland the Brave! Anonymous (James Hyslop). ‘ Scottish National Melody ’. In The Edinburgh …
What is a wheal? - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
OED has wheal n.3 Etymology: < Cornish huel. local. A mine. 1830 Eng. & For. Mining Gloss. Wheal is an Anglicisation of the Cornish word. It's interesting that Wiktionary's earliest citation appears to …
idioms - What does the phrase: ''Let's throw a little wrench in his ...
Jan 4, 2015 · The expression is most likely a variation of the idiom to put/throw a spanner in the works It describes the act of sabotaging or hindering a plan or project. The origin is rather obvious in this …
SIMILE HELP: Gripping the wheel tightly like [closed]
Sep 28, 2014 · I need an expression to be a simile to gripping the wheel of a car tightly.