- Home
- Idioms
- letter
letter
letters after (one's) name
A series of abbreviations indicating the various levels of higher education or military honors one has received, thereby denoting a presumed level of intelligence, wisdom, or respectability. I hate hanging out with your PhD colleagues—it seems like they'll only take you seriously if you have letters after your name. Those letters after your name do not prove your worth to me; in my eyes, you're still just a fool.
have letters after (one's) name
To have a series of abbreviations listed after one's name indicating one's levels of higher education or military honors, thereby denoting a presumed level of intelligence, wisdom, or respectability. I hate hanging out with your PhD colleagues—it seems like they'll only take you seriously if you have letters after your name.
French letter
slang A condom. Primarily heard in UK. I have a date tonight, so I need to make sure I have a French letter in my wallet.
dead letter
1. A letter that is unable to be delivered to the recipient or returned to the sender. The post office must destroy a dead letter if it can't be delivered or returned after a certain period of time.
2. An existing law or agreement that is no longer obeyed or enforced. The state's Sunday law is a dead letter as many stores open and conduct business on that day.
Dear John letter
A letter sent, typically from a woman to a man, to end a romantic relationship. Mike was clearly upset when he received a Dear John letter from his girlfriend, Caroline. He thought their relationship was going well and didn't expect it to end so suddenly. Mail call was usually a happy time in the military barracks, except for the unlucky soldiers who got Dear John letters from their sweethearts back home.
four-letter word
1. One of a handful of words with four letters that are considered profanity. Jimmy was suspended from school after the teacher heard him shout a number of four-letter words at his classmates. The move received its rating solely due to its high amount of four-letter words.
2. By extension, a word that has a positive or neutral connotation but that is treated as if it were highly negative. Such words do not have to literally contain four letters. Young people today seem to think "school" is a four-letter word. All they want to do is sit around and play video games all day. To most voters, "taxes" is a four-letter word.
man of letters
A man who is well-versed in literature and related scholarly pursuits. As a man of letters, the professor could easily speak for hours on the works of Shakespeare.
woman of letters
A woman who is well-versed in literature and related scholarly pursuits. As a woman of letters, the professor could easily speak for hours on the works of Shakespeare.
poison-pen letter
A letter that contains malicious statements or accusations about the recipient or another party. Shortly after announcing his candidacy, he received an anonymous poison-pen letter attacking his platform.
red-letter day
A very important or significant day. My college graduation was a real red-letter day for my whole family.
bread-and-butter letter
a letter or note written to follow up on a visit; a thank-you note. When I got back from the sales meeting, I took two days to write bread-and-butter letters to the people I met. I got sort of a bread-and-butter letter from my nephew, who wants to visit me next summer.
dash a note off
and dash a letter offto write a note or letter quickly and send it off. I have to dash this letter off, then I will be with you. I'll dash off a note to her.
dead letter
1. a piece of mail that is returned to the post office as both undeliverable and unreturnable. At the end of the year, the post office usually has bushels of dead letters. Some of the dead letters are opened to see if there is an address inside.
2. an issue, law, or matter that is no longer important or that no longer has force or power. His point about the need for education reform is a dead letter. It is being done now. This point of law is a dead letter since the last Supreme Court ruling on this matter.
a Dear John letter
a letter a woman writes to her boyfriend telling him that she does not love him anymore. Bert got a Dear John letter today from Sally. He was devastated.
red-letter day
Fig. an important or significant day. (From the practice of printing holidays in red on the calendar.) Today was a red-letter day in our history. It was a red-letter day for our club.
to the letter
exactly as instructed; exactly as written. I didn't make an error. I followed your instruction to the letter. We didn't prepare the recipe to the letter, but the cake still turned out very well.
to the letter
completely or exactly I followed the instructions to the letter but I still couldn't put the fan together.
a dead letter
an agreement or a law which still exists but which people do not obey or which is not effective any more The ceasefire agreement was a dead letter as soon as it was signed since neither side had any intention of keeping to it.
a Dear John letter
(humorous) a letter that you send to a man telling him you want to end a romantic relationship with him I've always thought Dear John letters a cowardly way of ending a relationship.
a four-letter word
a short word that is extremely rude The player was suspended after using a variety of four-letter words in front of the umpire.
a French letter
(informal, old-fashioned) a thin rubber covering that a man can wear on his penis during sex to stop a woman becoming pregnant or to protect him or his partner against infectious diseases In those days, French letters were the only form of contraceptive we had.
the letter of the law
(formal) the exact words of a law and not its more important general meaning There is always the danger that a judge may follow the letter of the law rather than its spirit.
to the letter
(slightly formal) if you follow instructions or obey rules to the letter, you do exactly what you are told to do I followed the instructions to the letter but I still couldn't get it to work.
a man of letters
(formal) a man, usually a writer, who knows a lot about literature A distinguished statesman and man of letters, he was born just before the turn of the century.
a poison-pen letter
a letter that has no signature and says unpleasant things about the person it is sent to After he was convicted, his family received a number of poison-pen letters.
a red-letter day
a day that is very important or very special The day our daughter was born was a real red-letter day for us.
bread-and-butter letter
A thank-you letter from guest to host. For example, Mother always had to remind the children to send Grandma a bread-and-butter note. [c. 1900]
crank letter
Also, crank call. An irrational, fanatical, or hostile letter or telephone call. For example, The office was flooded with mail, including a lot of crank letters, or Harriet was upset enough by the crank calls to notify the police. This expression employs crank in the sense of "irrational person." The first term dates from the mid-1900s, the variant from the 1960s.
dead letter
1. An unclaimed or undelivered letter that is eventually destroyed or returned to the sender. For example, She moved without leaving a forwarding address, so her mail ended up in the dead letter office . [c. 1700]
2. A statute or directive that is still valid but in practice is not enforced. For example, The blue laws here are a dead letter; all the stores open on Sundays and holidays. [Second half of 1600s]
four-letter word
Any of several short English words that are generally regarded as vulgar or obscene. For example, No four-letter words are permitted in this classroom. This expression is applied mostly to words describing excretory or sexual functions. [First half of 1900s]
letter of the law
The precise wording rather than the spirit or intent. For example, Since it was the first time he'd broken the rules, the school decided to ignore the letter of the law and just give him a warning . [Late 1500s]
poison-pen letter
A letter, usually anonymous, that makes malicious statements about the recipient or a third party. For example, She told the police about the poison-pen letters, but they said they couldn't pursue the matter . [Early 1900s]
red-letter day
A special occasion, as in When Jack comes home from his tour of duty, that'll be a red-letter day. This term alludes to the practice of marking feast days and other holy days in red on church calendars, dating from the 1400s. [c. 1700]
to the letter
Precisely, as in If you follow the directions to the letter, you can't go wrong. Letter here refers to the exact terms of some statement. [c. 1800]
dead letter
1. n. a letter that cannot move through the post office because the addressee does not exist or because the address is wrong or illegible. (Standard English.) Every now and then they open the dead letters to see if they can figure out who they were meant for.
2. n. an issue that does not matter anymore. This contract is a dead letter. Forget it!
Dear John letter
n. a letter a woman writes to her boyfriend in the military service telling him that she does not love him anymore. Sally sends a Dear John letter about once a month.
red-letter day
n. an important day that might well be marked in red on the calendar. Today was a red-letter day in our history.
to the letter
To the last detail; exactly: followed instructions to the letter.
Common Names:
| Name | Gender | Pronounced | Usage |
|---|
| Gweneth | | - | Welsh |
| Waldemar | | vahl-DE-mahr (German, Polish) | German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish |
| Ashenden | | ['æʃndən] | |
| Nitza | | - | Hebrew |
| Zoie | | ZO-ee | English (Modern) |
| Gia | | - | Italian |