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jodi commented on the word shell noun
Nouns used to create a concept, in a particular usage. Example using "problem" as a shell noun: "The problem was to safeguard the many civil radar sites round Britain from encroachment by property development."
Nouns commonly used as shell nous include: aim, case, fact, idea, news, problem, position, reason, situation, and thing.
Source:
https://www.thoughtco.com/shell-noun-definition-4105165
See also
Shmid, Hans-Jorg. "English Abstract Nouns as Conceptual Shells." From Corpus to Cognition. Berlin (2000): 44.
May 29, 2018