Gerhard’s Reviews > Dictionary of Fine Distinctions: Nuances, Niceties and Subtle Shades of Meaning > Status Update
Gerhard
is 36% done
Yet at the same time, the onset of labor-saving machinery led many of these communities to shrink (rather than defer) those dinners, leading to a peculiar reversal in which dinner became smaller than supper, though many have stopped calling it dinner and conceded to the newfangled language of lunch.
— Jan 17, 2026 02:43PM
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Gerhard’s Previous Updates
Gerhard
is 84% done
What ultimately differentiates a kink from a fetish is simply whether it’s desired for arousal or required for arousal.
— Jan 17, 2026 03:08PM
Gerhard
is 76% done
I cannot think of a single sarcastic statement that I would not also call ironic, suggesting (at least to me) that sarcasm is more a weaponized subcategory of irony than anything distinct.
— Jan 17, 2026 03:06PM
Gerhard
is 59% done
Despite the humble meanings of trattoria and osteria, wily restaurateurs will often borrow these terms for their exotic twang, then charge you through the nose for it. Same goes for bistro, which originally denoted a smaller, more casual version of the French restaurant.
— Jan 17, 2026 02:59PM
Gerhard
is 43% done
People often say that they looked it up in the OED when they probably just mean the ODE—unless, of course, they own all twenty volumes of the OED and plan to tell you how the word (which may be obsolete) has been used in every century since it was first recorded.
— Jan 17, 2026 02:49PM
Gerhard
is 20% done
Incidentally, given that all adages are old, or at least are supposed to be, the phrase old adage is considered by many usage experts to be redundant.
— Jan 17, 2026 02:30PM
Gerhard
is 16% done
One is about who you are and are not, the other about what you do or don’t do: I feel ashamed of my puny muscles—and guilty for not going to the gym.
— Jan 17, 2026 02:27PM
Gerhard
is 13% done
That’s why an immoral act sounds graver than an unethical one: One may get you fired, but the other could land you in hell.
— Jan 17, 2026 02:25PM
Gerhard
is 10% done
It is estimated that the “surface web” makes up about 4 percent of the total content on the internet, while 90 percent is the deep web and 6 percent the dark web, though estimates vary.
— Jan 17, 2026 02:22PM
Gerhard
is 5% done
Do moral dilemmas differ from ethical ones? If we make an assumption, do we presume it as well? What about strategy and tactics? Proverbs and adages?
— Jan 17, 2026 02:19PM
