ordinary vs special

Definitions

noun

1. the expected or commonplace condition or situation
2. (heraldry) any of several conventional figures used on shields
3. a judge of a probate court
4. an early bicycle with a very large front wheel and small back wheel
5. a clergyman appointed to prepare condemned prisoners for death

adjective

1. not exceptional in any way especially in quality or ability or size or degree
2. lacking special distinction, rank, or status; commonly encountered

Examples

You submit to subterfuge, you replace your ordinary parents by a little less ordinary, but still quite ordinary folks, Katrien and the commissaris.

The ordinary piki is shaped into loose rolls about 10 inches long and two inches in diameter, but the wedding piki is folded into flat pieces about 8 inches square.

And that culture was nowhere near moribund, but being kept alive, and by ordinary people as much as ‘elites’.

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Definitions

adjective

1. surpassing what is common or usual or expected
2. first and most important
3. for a special service or occasion
4. added to a regular schedule
5. having a specific function or scope

and more 2 ...

noun

1. a television production that features a particular person or work or topic
2. a special offering (usually temporary and at a reduced price) that is featured in advertising
3. a dish or meal given prominence in e.g. a restaurant

Examples

These observations will provide a valuable supplement to the simultaneous records of other expeditions, especially the British in McMurdo Sound and the German in Weddell Sea, above all as regards the hypsometer observations (for the determination of altitude) on sledge journeys.

When the new foods that came from the Americas - peppers, summer squash and especially tomatoes - took hold in the region, a number of closely related dishes were born, including what we call ratatouille - and a man from La Mancha calls pisto, an Ikarian Greek calls soufiko and a Turk calls turlu.

It is by these special touches that the author infuses the books with the spirit of humanity, without which a fantasy becomes an empty fancy.

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