Phrase

In everyday speech, a phrase may be any group of words, often carrying a special idiomatic meaning; in this sense it is roughly synonymous with expression. In linguistic analysis, a phrase is a group of words (or possibly a single word) that functions as a constituent in the syntax of a sentence—a single unit within a grammatical hierarchy. A phrase appears within a clause, although it is also possible for a phrase to be a clause or to contain a clause within it.

Common and technical use

There is a difference between the common use of the term phrase and its technical use in linguistics. In common usage, a phrase is usually a group of words with some special idiomatic meaning or other significance, such as "all rights reserved", "economical with the truth", "kick the bucket", and the like. It may be a euphemism, a saying or proverb, a fixed expression, a figure of speech, etc.

In grammatical analysis, particularly in theories of syntax, a phrase is any group of words, or sometimes a single word, which plays a particular role within the grammatical structure of a sentence. It does not have to have any special meaning or significance, or even exist anywhere outside of the sentence being analyzed, but it must function there as a complete grammatical unit. For example, in the sentence Yesterday I saw an orange bird with a white neck, the words an orange bird with a white neck form what is called a noun phrase, or a determiner phrase in some theories, which functions as the object of the sentence.

Point (typography)

The point is the smallest whole unit of measure in typography. It is used for measuring font size, leading, and other minute items on a printed page. Different points have been used since the 18th century, with measures varying from 0.18 to 0.4 millimeters. Following the advent of desktop publishing in the 1980s and '90s, the importance of digital printing supplanted the letterpress printing systems around the world and established the DTP point as the de facto standard. This measures ¹⁄₇₂ of the international inch (about 0.353 mm) and, as with earlier American points, is considered ¹⁄₁₂ of a pica.

In metal type, the point size of the font described the height of the metal body on which the typeface's characters were cast. In digital type, letters of a font are designed around an imaginary space called an "em square". When a point size of a font is specified, the font is scaled so that its em square has a side length of that particular length in points. Although the letters of a font usually fit within the font's em square, there is not necessarily any size relationship between the two, so the point size does not necessarily correspond to any measurement of the size of the letters on the printed page.

Bourgeois (disambiguation)

Bourgeois is the adjectival form of the French bourgeoisie, a loosely defined designated group characterized by private wealth, an upper class social status, and its related culture.

Bourgeois may also refer to:

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