Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2009

Sorry, didn't realise that you were afflicted with a humour bypass.
As an aside, do you understand the consensus use of the word "spam"?

I'm not sure I agree with your point about the semicolon use in the
sample sentence above and since you didn't supply a cite, I don't know
your logic.

Here's the sentence again:

"Another tap came on the window; it was the Duke; he was not happy."

My logic is  as follows:

We know this is correct:

"Another tap came on the window; it was the Duke."

And if it is correct, why wouldn't this be correct:

"Another tap came on the window; it was the Duke; he was not happy."

Each clause has a subject and verb and each is related to the clause
that precedes it.

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Finally, Don. You won't keep a lot of friends red-penciling posts for
grammar errors -- especially when the word in question is accepted in
some circles:

alright
One entry found.

Main Entry:
    al·right Listen to the pronunciation of alright
Pronunciation:
    \(ˌ)ȯl-ˈrīt, ˈȯl-ˌ\
Function:
    adverb or adjective
Date:
    1887

usage The one-word spelling alright appeared some 75 years after all
right itself had reappeared from a 400-year-long absence. Since the
early 20th century some critics have insisted alright is wrong, but it
has its defenders and its users. It is less frequent than all right but
remains in common use especially in journalistic and business
publications. It is quite common in fictional dialogue, and is used
occasionally in other writing <the first two years of medical school
were alright — Gertrude Stein>.

[Since this thread addresses issues of usage, I feel entitled to
respond seriously to it.]

Not "straight away," please.  There's an adverb "straightaway" (no
space; no hyphen) that means "without hesistation or delay."  See, for
example, <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/straightaway>,.
The other two forms (straight-away; straight away) may be sanctioned
somewhere, but when you have a single, unhyphenated word that is
generally accepted, you should go with that.

The capital letter following the dash is unusual, but I'd say it fits
in the particular context, where the dash is followed by a change of
topic.  As it happens, that's the form used by court reporters in
transcripts when a witness breaks off one sentence and starts a new
one.

Is the character "Lady Hamilton" Lord Nelson's mistress, a deliberate
allusion to her, or just a coincidence?

A few moments thought in this direction might prove beneficial.

Alan Jones

AJ asked whether 18th century aristocrats used "My!" as
an expression of surprise and delight (as in context of
the OP's reported speech.)   (But the OP posted earlier
that he does not plan to correct anachronisms.)

Silver has long been used that way. I think there's story about 30
silver pieces.

What the hell are you talking about, you blockhead?

How about pound Sterling, shilling, groat, crown (all silver), bank
draft, jewels -- hell even coppers? For that matter, what about a French
livre or ecu? Not to mention a Spanish Real or Peso.

Is that enough for you, stupid?

See, Tony, there are some members of this newsgroup who actually ask
intelligent questions and give good advice -- but not you.

You conistently provide bad advice and ask questions so brain-numbing
stupid, it's a wonder you actually type them yourself.