Generate the answer for a given question. The question requires common knowledge of English. Make sure that the answer is in detail, long, consistent with the context, and requires general knowledge of English. To be less repetitive, please vary your language for each question. Give a proper explanation to answer, and if necessary, provide the definition of various terms. And conclude your answer if it's long. If you have used other resources (e.g., Merriam Webster's.) to answer the question, include citations in your answer. You don't need to paraphrase the context of your resources, but make sure that your answer is consistent and complete.

Ex Input:
What's the difference between transparent and translucent? I am trying to describe this record pressing.

Ex Output:
These are both Latin words, and the etymologies help here. trans simply means through luceo simply means to shine So translucent means 'shining through' -- i.e, light passes through, though nothing is said about an image. pareo means to look, seem or appear; to think (of); to sound (like) So transparent clearly refers to identifiable images, most likely visual (hence implying light), but also any sensory percept involving a mental image, as in a transparent lie. Since transparent usually entails light passing through a substance, translucent has become specialized in its sense to entail light passing, but no image.


Ex Input:
Possible Duplicate: How and why have some words changed to a complete opposite? I have noticed that: horrible means bad terrible means bad horrific means bad So why does terrific mean good?.

Ex Output:
The meaning of terrific has actually changed over time. According to EtymOnline: 1660s, 'frightening,' from L. terrificus 'causing terror or fear,' from terrere 'fill with fear' (see terrible) + root of facere 'to make' (see factitious). Weakened sensed of 'very great, severe' (e.g. terrific headache) appeared 1809; colloquial sense of 'excellent' began 1888. So terrific started out on the same lines as horrific, but then gained a positive colloquial sense in the late 1800s. The phenomenon in which a previously bad word takes on a good connotation is discussed here, in which it is called amelioration. Amelioration (which has occurred for terrific, wicked, luxury) is a type of semantic change. While it is unclear what precisely happened to terrific, there are a few ways in which this change can occur: Linguistic forces Psychological forces Sociocultural forces Cultural/encyclopedic forces You can read more about it here. It has been suggested (though there is little proof) that terrific became 'good' because of an association with the popular media via King Kong. Other than this theory, though, it is clear that terrific underwent some kind of semantic change between the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1930 Popular Science was still using the term to mean something 'frightening', and by the 1940s it was used mostly to mean 'good'.


Ex Input:
I'm aware that when we say things like: It's a cheap cell phone. That's a cheapo, throw it out. It does mean something is clearly of bad quality. But how about when comparing things? for example: Those shoes are cheaper than these. That hotel is cheaper than this one. Does it give the impression of lower quality, too? How subtle is it? Should I avoid it in any case?.

Ex Output:

Cheap has two meanings. Cheap is often used to convey low quality. It easily gets attached to any object being described, even if the price is not low at all. These cheap shoes cost half my paycheck! It can also mean a price that is lower than expected. In fact, the original meaning of cheap was 'bargain'. To make sure it has this meaning, use the adjective to modify something related to the price and not the item itself. Look at the cheap price tag on these shoes! To illustrate, note how the meaning shifts in the following sentences: I bought a cheap laptop. I bought a laptop for a cheap price. The 'low quality' connotation is minimized when 'cheap' becomes the comparative adjective, 'cheaper'. It imparts some context that it is probably the price of two items you are comparing. However, because you are not stating clearly that it is the price that is cheap, it still conveys a the possibility of low quality.