Oxymoron?
2006-10-21 12:29:40 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
warplesnorkle, how is it possible to go nowhere - fast? you have a good idea i think of an oxymoron.
2006-10-21 12:49:38 · update #1
Fast as in "safe, secured".
7. resistant: acid-fast.
8. firmly fixed in place; not easily moved; securely attached.
9. held or caught firmly, so as to be unable to escape or be extricated: an animal fast in a trap.
10. firmly tied, as a knot.
11. closed and made secure, as a door, gate, or shutter.
12. such as to hold securely: to lay fast hold on a thing.
13. firm in adherence; loyal; devoted: fast friends.
14. permanent, lasting, or unchangeable: a fast color; a hard and fast rule.
2006-10-22 21:34:52 · answer #1 · answered by todaywiserthanyesterday 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Fast has more than one meaning. It can be the same as quick but it can also mean fixed or stable. As a verb it means to not eat.
'stand fast' therefore means to remain fixed in the same spot. No oxymoron there.
2006-10-21 23:01:38 · answer #2 · answered by fidget 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Stand fast means stay where you are. I don't know the exact origin of the phrase, but when I was in the Navy, if we were told to standfast, it meant "don't go anywhere" or "hang on a second".
2006-10-21 19:46:05 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
My guess is that it came from something like "stand as though fastened in place" - but since most of the occasions that call for saying something like that involve some urgency (like pirate ships lobbing cannonballs at you), it was shortened.
2006-10-21 22:11:18 · answer #4 · answered by Random Task 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Stand fast.
It means stand solidly - hold your nerve. It's actually my family's motto, on our coat of arms and everything. In full it's "Stand Fast, Craigellachie", in reference to a battle that was fought there.
2006-10-22 16:47:14 · answer #5 · answered by Elphaba 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
stand fast-to stand/hold still and steady.
The stand bit is obvious, and 'fast', in nautical terms, means 'steady/firmly'. e.g. you could tie a rope 'fast', and you would be tying it tightly
2006-10-23 03:46:04 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't get it at all
2006-10-21 19:36:48 · answer #7 · answered by Jenny A 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
similar to your question?!?!?!?!?! lol.
2006-10-21 19:36:56 · answer #8 · answered by buttercup 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋