Published on
11 September 2022
by
Eoghan Ryan.
Revised on
3 October 2023.
Touch base is an expression meaning ‘make contact’ or ‘reconnect’. It’s used to describe the act of briefly communicating with someone or something (e.g., a team).
The expression is thought to have originated in the sport of baseball. It’s most often used in a business context, but it can also be used in informal contexts to mean the same thing. It’s rarely used in formal or academic writing.
Examples: ‘Touch base’ in a sentenceShira has to touch base with the investors before she can agree to the new plan.
I should touch base with David to find out how he’s doing.
Don’t forget to touch base with the team before the launch.
Published on
10 September 2022
by
Eoghan Ryan.
Revised on
20 October 2022.
Misnomer is a noun that refers to a wrong, misleading, or inappropriate use of a name or designation. It’s also used to refer to the misleading name or designation itself.
Examples: Misnomer in a sentenceIt’s a misnomer to call it ‘tennis elbow’. I got it playing golf.
It’s a bit of a misnomer to call nachos ‘fine dining’.
‘Stand-up comedy’ turned out to be a misnomer for the show we went to see. I didn’t laugh once.
In legal contexts, misnomer has a similar meaning. It’s used to refer to the use of an incorrect name in a legal document and to the legal processes related to this offense (e.g., ‘law of misnomer’).
Published on
7 September 2022
by
Eoghan Ryan.
Revised on
6 February 2023.
Bear with me is an expression meaning ‘be patient with me’. It’s typically used along with a conjunction (e.g., ‘as’ or ‘while’) to explain why you’re asking for patience. It can also be used by itself when the reason is already known.
Examples: ‘Bear with me’ in a sentenceBear with me while I try to fix the coffee machine.
Our operating system is down at the moment. Can you bear with me as I fill out the form manually?
Our restaurant is very busy this evening; please bear with me while I try to find you a table.
Examples: Copacetic in a sentenceI’d expected the trip to be pretty stressful, but it was all copacetic.
Game night was fun and copacetic until Wayne got angry because his team was losing.
Don’t worry about your exams. Things will be copacetic – you’ve worked hard.
While copacetic is the standard spelling, some variants include copasetic and copesetic. Since the word doesn’t have a clear origin (it’s believed to have originated as slang in the southern US), dictionaries tend to accept these variant spellings as valid.
Scribbr’s free Grammar Checker can help ensure you use words like ‘copacetic’ correctly in your writing.
Published on
5 September 2022
by
Eoghan Ryan.
Revised on
20 October 2022.
Presumptuous is an adjective meaning ‘excessively bold or forward’. It’s used to describe someone behaving in an entitled or overfamiliar way and therefore coming across as rude or arrogant. It can also mean ‘characterised by presumption’ or ‘likely to presume’.
Examples: ‘Presumptuous’ in a sentenceIt was presumptuous of Jane to borrow Dan’s car without asking him.
Marco made a presumptuous remark when he said he should have won employee of the month.
It’s presumptuous to believe we are alone in the universe.
Karla is not presumptuous; she’s usually quite unassuming.
Published on
5 September 2022
by
Eoghan Ryan.
Revised on
2 December 2022.
Verbiage is a noun referring to excessive or technical use of words. It usually has a negative connotation.
It’s also used in a more neutral sense to refer generally to the manner or style of written or spoken words. This usage is more common in US English than UK English.
Examples: ‘Verbiage’ in a sentenceThe first draft of Jim’s speech was full of verbiage, so he rewrote it.
The verbiage of the book hid the fact that it was not very original.
I couldn’t understand the contract because it was full of technical verbiage.
Boolean operators are words and symbols, such as AND or NOT, that let you expand or narrow your search parameters when using a database or search engine. When you search using these operators, it is known as a Boolean search.
You can use Boolean operators such as AND, OR, and NOT alongside keywords to create a Boolean string that will refine your search to find the most relevant results and sources.
The types of sources you need will depend on the stage you are at in the research process, but all sources that you use should be credible, up to date, and relevant to your research topic.
There are three main places to look for sources to use in your research:
A tertiary source, also called a reference work, is a source that gives an overview of information gathered from primary and secondary sources but does not provide original interpretations or analysis. Examples include:
Dictionaries
Encyclopaedias
Databases
Bibliographies
These sources compile information from a wide variety of sources. They may also list, summarise, and index sources that provide original data or direct evidence (primary sources) and sources that describe or interpret this evidence (secondary sources).
Tertiary sources are useful for finding background information on your research topic, like key terms or the names of important scholars. But they are usually not cited directly in academic writing.
