dictate
/ˈdɪkˌteɪt/, /dɪkˈteɪt/
nouna rule or law that is issued by someone of an authority
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Examples
1. End block spacers dictates the length of the press for the skis.
2. Portion markings dictate the overall classification of a document.
3. And so, your judgments on size dictate your judgments about distance.
4. Ocean currents dictate the Earth's climate.
5. and your thoughts dictate your vibration.
diktat
/dˈɪktæt/
nouna legally binding command or decision that is issued by someone of an authority
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Examples
1. And, obviously, the U.N. Has, at times, tried to make diktats about conflicts.
2. But the bank was not a passive absorber of governmental diktats.
3. But now we can see that the widest possible criminal prohibitions and the sanctions for enforcing them can be done effectively by ministerial diktat.
4. I don't believe that the Houthis necessarily will follow the Iranian diktat.
5. I don't know quite where this diktat comes from.
dos and don'ts
/dˈɑːs ænd dˈoʊnts/
phrasea set of rules that determine what one should or should not do in a particular situation
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Examples
1. And wetiquette is a set of dos and don’ts to keep things calm in the water.
2. There are so many resources on investment portfolios and the dos and don’ts in investing.
3. This not only makes the creature predictable - and gives you certain solid dos and don’ts if you want to avoid an encounter altogether - by analysing the predatory patterns of Siren Head, you can gather valuable information about some of its strengths and weaknesses.
4. Here’s a short list of dos and don’ts for you to remember when you’re far from home.
5. Cardio can be a bit tricky too: each exercise has its own do’s and don’ts, even running, so better do some research on proper form before beginning.
due
/ˈdju/, /ˈdu/
adjective(payment, debt, etc.) having to be paid immediately
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Examples
1. Member states paid their dues.
2. So maybe a couple more revisions on that homework are due?
3. And due process requires simply an equable forum.
4. So our compliments are due all around.
5. Two, just before 6291 was due in.
to enforce
/ɛnˈfɔɹs/
verbto ensure that a law or rule is followed
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Examples
1. The court enforces the law.
2. Enforcing those IP rights.
3. So federal judges will enforce Article I, section 10.
4. My wife enforces a policy of no devices during dinner.
5. Animal agriculture systematically enforces the opposite.
enforcement
/ɛnˈfɔɹsmənt/
nounthe action of making people obey a law or regulation
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Examples
1. Law enforcement flew drones over protests in Minneapolis and New York.
2. Cover financial enforcement.
3. Late Tuesday, a federal judge in Texas barred enforcement of the moratorium.
4. The problem-- the big problem in India is enforcement.
5. Law enforcement will collect representative samples for court.
etiquette
/ˈɛtəkət/
nouna set of conventional rules or formal manners, usually in the form of ethical code
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Examples
1. They teach etiquette, language, culture.
2. We took etiquette classes.
3. So what about Panama etiquette?
4. - Practice your etiquette.
5. Social etiquette often calls for extreme measures of self constriction.
exception
/ɪkˈsɛpʃən/
nouna person or thing that does not follow a general rule or is excluded from a class or group
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Examples
1. Other researchers have pointed out exceptions, though.
2. Imitation, and TikTok is no exception.
3. Exceptions apply to weekends and holidays.
4. So these two cases, the case of Tunisia and Israel, from that point of view are exceptions.
5. Civil law, especially civil procedure, man, the exceptions really preponderate over the general rule.
to feel honor-bound to
/fˈiːl ˈɑːnɚbˈaʊnd tuː/
phraseto feel or believe that it is one's moral obligation to do something
Examples
free-for-all
/ˈfɹifɔˌɹɔɫ/
nouna chaotic situation in which there is no rule or control
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Examples
1. While a pirate was a criminal who operated mostly on a free-for-all basis and attacked whatever ship caught his fancy, a privateer was more like a private contractor under the service of his government during wartime.
2. like I just said and every single week, this free-for-all calendar of hours would open up.
3. It's a free-for-all.
4. It was a free-for-all.
5. So in principle, it's free-for-all.
to have sb over a barrel
/ɡɛt ˌɛsbˈiː ˌoʊvɚɹ ɐ bˈæɹəl/
phraseto place someone in a situation in which they have no choice but to accept one's offer or request
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1. And he is going to have you over a barrel, charge you whatever he wants.
ground rule
/ɡɹˈaʊnd ɹˈuːl/
nouna set of basic rules or principles on which future behaviors or actions should be based
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Examples
1. The third step is setting some ground rules.
2. Okay, so, ground rules if you guys just need a refresher.
3. Sprinkles lays down the ground rules.
4. And the task force has ground rules.
5. Explicit ground rules that people follow.
guideline
/ˈɡaɪdˌɫaɪn/
nouna set of principles or instructions based on which a person should behave or act
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Examples
1. Here's a guideline.
2. We have guidelines.
3. The job descriptions in a company of this size are guidelines.
4. The rabbi offers some guidelines to the teachers.
5. People need those guidelines.
to have one's hands tied
/hæv wˈʌnz hˈændz tˈaɪd/
phraseto be unable to act, help, intervene, or assert one's free will, especially due to rules and restrictions
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Examples
1. And he was one of those guys that supported oralism and putting deaf kids in speech therapy, having their hands tied behind their back and, oh it's almost time?
2. So, users have their hands tied, and in response, many open software developers have sought to create better versions.
3. So my hands are tied, you know, just like hers.
4. Like now, like my hands are tied.
5. His hands are tied until he talks to Johnny's parents.
have to
/hˈæv tuː/
verbused to indicate an obligation or to emphasize the necessity of something happening
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1. A very strict officer was talking to some new soldiers whom he had to train.
2. You don't really have to fuss with it.
3. This adaptation has to do with a specialized enzyme: lactase.
4. And the court then has to make a determination.
5. He had an assignment he had to memorize.
illegitimacy
/ˌɪɫɪˈdʒɪtəməsi/
nounthe quality or state of not being approved or authorized by the law
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Examples
1. He talked about illegitimacy rates in Rome, Munich, Stockholm, Paris, Brussels, as being higher than Negroes in Washington DC, to call fundamentally into question the lie or the interpretation or the etiology at play.
2. And you could see speaking out against sexual harassment as part of your opposition to the illegitimacy, as it's understood, of this administration.
3. And so there was this real sense of illegitimacy and stigma and fear.
4. The daughter of Louis and Margaret Joan was the heir, as no proof of her illegitimacy was presented, yet Louis’ brother Philip had the support of the nobles, and the assembly declared that the women can’t rule France.
5. If you compare the Irish illegitimacy rate to white American women, which is in some sense the proper comparison group, the Irish rate's way higher, about 50% higher than the American rate.
illegitimate
/ˌɪɫɪˈdʒɪtəmɪt/
adjectivenot allowed by the law
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Examples
1. It's an illegitimate regime.
2. Are they really imposing illegitimate burdens on voters?
3. Are these unwritten doctrines illegitimate?
4. An illegitimate bee, aren't you, Benson? -
5. Sometimes, of course, it's completely illegitimate.
illegitimately
/ɪlədʒˈɪɾᵻmətli/
adverbin a manner disapproved or not allowed by custom
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Examples
1. For having a kid illegitimately.
2. I fear that our president is mixing up politics with national security and that he somehow believes, by acknowledging the Russian interference in our election, that will lead to people claiming that he was illegitimately elected.
3. And this is the idea that sometimes property is illegitimately acquired, either initially or as a result of an illegitimate transfer.
4. So suppose I own something which you illegitimately take from me, under what conditions and how do I reclaim possession of that object?
5. Moreover, says Nozick, if I come to possess something illegitimately and I transfer it to you-- even by legitimate means-- it retains its illegitimate status.
to impose
/ˌɪmˈpoʊz/
verbto force someone to do what they do not want
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Examples
1. In response, the government imposed a 70 percent tax on liquor.
2. Now, these conflicts impose a tremendous cost on any organization.
3. Last month, his government imposed an automatic enrollment rule on electricity providers.
4. The government is imposing a punishment on Mr. Mendez.
5. Student: Impose laws.
imposition
/ˌɪmpəˈzɪʃən/
nounthe action of establishing a new law or regulation
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Examples
1. It was not a right-wing imposition.
2. Reason consists in the imposition of a method for the conquest of nature.
3. In my people's case, this social construct is an imposition.
4. That is, the administrative state isn't an imposition on or a betrayal of that constitutional order.
5. New customs impositions were introduced, of course without parliamentary sanction.
in accordance with
/ɪn ɐkˈoːɹdəns wɪð/
phrasein a way that agrees with something
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Examples
1. Most systems are quality tested dozens of times a day in accordance with the Safe Drinking Water Act, and notwithstanding some recent tragic contaminations, it’s considered to be overwhelmingly safe.
2. So, in accordance with this plan, in 1859, Piedmont provoked Austria into declaring war and gained quick victories.
3. Right acts, therefore, are simply those that are in accordance with the natural law.
4. In accordance with his philosophy, and contrary to the practice of the time, Confucius dissuaded rulers from relying on harsh punishments and military power to govern their lands because he believed that a good ruler inspires others to spontaneously follow him by virtue of his ethical charisma.
5. In August 2019, a boat saved more than 100 migrants and asked to dock in Italy in accordance with maritime law.
in conformity with
/ɪn kənfˈoːɹmɪɾi wɪð/
phrasein agreement with
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Examples
1. It's not only a way of living it as a number, but it is a kind of active appropriation of the situation which is neither in conformity with Islamic patriarchal norms, nor in conformity with feminist secular norms.
2. They're able to choose their actions in conformity with God's will or in defiance of God's will.
3. The picture that they have is that justice is roughly acting in conformity with the regulations that society imposes upon us as considered to be meritorious, loosely speaking.
4. Glaucon's conclusion from this story is that those who practice justice, those who act in conformity with the moral code of their society, do so because they lack the power to do injustice.
5. When we think of ourselves as unobserved, it is difficult to act in conformity with moral codes.
infraction
/ˌɪnˈfɹækʃən/
nounthe act of breaking or not obeying a law, pact, agreement, etc.
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Examples
1. Detention officers watch closely for any infraction.
2. That's an infraction.
3. Not having enough infractions.
4. That's an infraction.
5. Hey, that makes three infractions.
to infringe
/ˌɪnˈfɹɪndʒ/
verbto go against a rule, law, term of agreement, etc.
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Examples
1. If they don't give that right, any copies made infringe on their copyright.
2. And so his rights on all three counts in this case are being infringed.
3. Women’s interests aren’t respected, the rights of homosexuals are infringed.
4. Does it infringe on constitutional liberties?
5. A selection of a song is only infringed if the two works substantially share the same combination of protectable elements.
infringement
/ˌɪnˈfɹɪndʒmənt/
nounan action that is against a law. regulation, or agreement
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Examples
1. We've seen infringement across lots of different areas.
2. But it's an infringement.
3. And is this still, in some way, copyright infringement?
4. And I get a copyright infringement notice?
5. It's copyright infringement.