Talk:rock
Plurals listed
Why does slang for money and vulgar slang for testicles have the plurals re-listed? If it's only used in the plural then the defs should be at rocks. Otherwise the plural of rock is already noted. Davilla 01:18, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
- Apparently only plural. Moved to rocks. Davilla 16:01, 24 April 2006 (UTC)
- Hey, come on - surely it's reasonable to expect to see the definitions under the singular form as well?? Few people look up plural forms. It's good to have them specified at the rocks page, but I think they should be here as well (this is also in keeping with all print dictionaries). Widsith 16:05, 24 April 2006 (UTC)
- My understanding is that they belong under the plural only. This is why the whole issue about language-specific see-alsos has arisen. I could be mistaken, but I'm only trying to follow current practice. You're welcome to ask someone who knows better than I. Davilla 16:34, 24 April 2006 (UTC)
- I don't think the vulgar terms are strictly plural, but they typically appear that way for obvious anotomical reasons. Specifically, I know I've heard forms of "to bust a nut" and I have no doubt that, while inflamatory, the question, "Did you get your rock off?" would be understood by the unfortunate victim of a ball-ectomy. Rodasmith 17:25, 24 April 2006 (UTC)
- Hmm, OK. I don't think I have the energy to take this to the Tea Room. But I think it's counter-intuitive at best. Widsith 16:45, 24 April 2006 (UTC)
Definitions
Just throwing my opinion out there, I think that the third definition should be switched with the first, as the third definition is the one most commonly used. Joey Felder 09:06, 18 August 2007 (UTC)
British/American English
I don't know how to word it, but maybe something could be put in about the slightly different meanings in British and American? In British English, when we say 'a rock' we tend to mean a larger object, something you could sit on. In American use, it seems to me that 'rock' is used for all sizes of stone. It's not a hard-and-fast thing, just a general observation which people might find interesting to know. Babooshka2002 11:23, 8 September 2011 (UTC)
- That’s true. I think BrE rock is closer to AmE boulder. AmE rock is probably like BrE stone. —Stephen (Talk) 11:53, 8 September 2011 (UTC)
- Further to this: we define rock as "a boulder or large stone", but the usex suggests a small one (thrown through a window) and we list "small" synonyms for it, e.g. pebble. Equinox ◑ 21:05, 25 June 2013 (UTC)
- Thanks for clearing this up. I'm an L2-speaker and it always sounds strange to me when I hear that someone "threw a rock". However, I think that while the use for small stones is specifically North American, it can be used for large ones there too. Question would be for me what if any difference Americans see between the words "stone" and "rock". 2.203.201.113 14:15, 14 January 2022 (UTC)
- @2.203.201.113: I read somewhere that, allegedly, the American use of "rock" to refer even to a small stone began in the Midwest (the Midwestern United States, that is to say). Perhaps even until the mid-20th century(?), the sense was not normal throughout the country. Tharthan (talk) 04:39, 16 January 2022 (UTC)
RFV discussion: March 2021
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Rfv-sense: distaff. Used by Chapman, apparently in his translation of the Odyssey, according to one glossary. It's clearly in one of Chapman's books, but I couldn't dig out the quote for rock that doesn't refer to the main definition. And that'll be all of Chapman quote requests done Oxlade2000 (talk) 11:48, 14 March 2021 (UTC)
cited. Kiwima (talk) 02:38, 16 March 2021 (UTC)
RFV-passed Kiwima (talk) 19:46, 23 March 2021 (UTC)
New def.
I believe that ROCK is also a slang term for methamphetamine. MisterSpellerMan (talk) 12:12, 28 November 2021 (UTC)