Discussion Groups / English Usage / May 2009

...

Ta to you and Les, me old chinas.

--
Jerry Friedman

OK.  Or   "singes things".

You are probably right.  I was in the service a long time ago (1956-1959),
and then there were all sorts of Specialists.  I was an SP4, though.  I
wonder what happens to an SP4 when he puts in more years in service -- does
he never get promoted higher than an E4, or is he then no longer a
Specialist?

What you took was a battery of tests, given to all "new guys".  One of the
tests (GT) was an IQ test.  Its score was also acceptable for Mensa
membership applications.

I had my arm twisted to enter OCS, but I turned that down, as it required a
service time extension.  Later, on the strength of my scores, I was selected
to spend my last nine months in the Army as a Court Martial Assistant,
evaluating charges for their chances of resulting in a successful
prosecution.  The position was being vacated by someone leaving the service.
Those were my most interesting months in the Army, as they had some fringe
benefits (all the company commanders of the Group tried to curry favor with
me).

I think that the capitalised plural "Damages" refers to:

   Law. (Now always in pl.) The value, estimated in money, of something
   lost or withheld; the sum of money claimed or adjudged to be paid in
   compensation for loss or injury sustained. {OED}

Example from:
http://www.law-essays-uk.com/freeessays/the-doctrine.php
   ....
   The perception of compensation has a dual function: the satisfaction
   of obtaining justice against a defendant and the plaintiff being
   compensated to the value of their loss. Nonetheless, debate
   currently surrounds the issue of deducting collateral damages that
   might already have been paid to the plaintiff, the intention being
   that the plaintiff should be left in the position they were in
   before the liability occurred...

"Collateral Damages" may be the same as "Collateral Benefits":
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/cp0907.pdf

   Chapter 4 - Collateral benefits
   98.
   This chapter considers the situation where a claimant is potentially
   entitled to receive both damages and some form of ‘collateral
   benefit’. A collateral benefit is a payment or benefit in kind
   (other than the tort damages being claimed) which the tort victim
   would not have received but for the tort. This can include sick pay;
   accident insurance; disability pensions; voluntary and charitable
   payments;...

   ...Lord Reid made the following statement of principle about
   collateral benefits:
   100.Two questions can arise. First, what did the Plaintiff lose as a
   result of the accident? What are the sums which he would have
   received but for the accident but by reason of the accident he can
   no longer get? And secondly, what are the sums which he did in fact
   receive as a result of the accident but which he would not have
   received if there had been no accident? And then the question arises
   whether the latter sums must be deducted from the former in the
   assessment of damage…The common law has treated this matter as one
   depending on justice, reasonableness and public policy.