In an outbreak of an infectious disease, the term patient zero refers to the first known person to become infected with the disease.
On a related note, if you’re not sure if the word you need is patient or patience, “patient” is the adjective that often combines with “be” (e.g., “She was very patient and understanding”), while “patience” is the noun that often combines with “have” (e.g., “Do you think I have the patience to work with children?”).
Have you tried QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker? It can help you pick up errors in the use of commonly confused words such as “patient” and “patience.”
An “unsung hero” is a hero who does valuable, often challenging work without receiving recognition or praise for their contributions.
“Unsung heroes” make a significant impact but go largely unnoticed, with their efforts sometimes taken for granted.
An “unsung hero” could be a real person (e.g., Claudette Colvin, who preceded Rosa Parks in the Montgomery bus protests) or a fictional protagonist (e.g., Samwise Gamgee, who is mostly overshadowed by Frodo).
A QuillBot Grammar Check can make sure you’re using phrases like “unsung hero” correctly.
Island-hopping means going to a region with multiple islands and traveling from island to island, spending a relatively short time on each one (e.g., “Barbados is a popular gateway for island-hopping in the Caribbean”).
On a related note, if you’re not sure whether hoping or hopping is the word you need, “hoping” is the present participle of “hope,” while “hopping” is the present participle of “hop.”
Have you tried QuillBot’s free Paraphraser? You can use it to find alternative ways of expressing the concept of “island-hopping.”
The term dogfooding comes from the phrase eating your own dogfood, which refers to the practice of testing your own products before you release them to the public.
The term dogfooding is said to originate from a 1970s Alpo dog food commercial. The face of the commercial, actor Lorne Greene, claimed that he fed his own dogs Alpo. He tried to show confidence in the product by telling the audience it was good enough for him to use for his beloved pets.
The term was allegedly coined by Microsoft manager Paul Maritz when he sent an email with the heading “Eating your own dogfood” in which he motivated his team to use the company’s product.
In the tech industry, dogfooding refers to the practice of companies using their own products or software internally before releasing them to a wider audience.
The goal of dogfooding is to collect feedback from employees in order to fix bugs and enhance the product pre-release.
“Easy peasy” means “very easy” (e.g., “That math test was easy peasy”).
It’s a reduplicative (repetition of sounds) of the word easy. “Easy peasy” is an informal expression often used by or with children. A variation is “easy peasy lemon squeezy,” which further accentuates the expression’s rhyme.
A similar expression is piece of cake, though this isn’t as informal as “easy peasy.”
QuillBot’s free Paraphraser can help you decide in which contexts it’s appropriate to use expressions like these.
“I guess” is a synonym for the tentative expression “I suppose.”
Be careful not to confuse “suppose to” with supposed to; the phrase “be supposed to” (e.g., “You’re not supposed to do that!”) cannot be spelled “be suppose to.”
Have you tried QuillBot’s free Paraphraser to help you find the most appropriate synonym for “supposed” in your specific context?
