Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004

The following sentence has me perplexed. I'm not sure what the subject
is and proper use of the verb "is" or "are" should be.
Accessing public web and FTP sites are not methods of remote access.
Is "accessing" the subject or is the phrase "accessing public web and

I just phoned a hospital in England and was told by a recorded voice
that the extension I was trying to reach was "busy" -- which surprised
me because I thought the usual BrE term was "engaged."
The voice had a pleasant classless, regionless BrE accent. As far as I

Again, I have trouble with a phrase in a british book. This is a book of
self-help, and the chapter talks about how women sometimes give men a chance
because they believe that, although he is not exactly everything they want,
there is room for improvement.

BBC newsman to Tory shadow (Radio 4, January 15): "So where do you stand on
the tables themselves?"
Adrian

I have under my nose a list of idioms about  love, but I don't know
what they exactly mean.
"Tell her how much you enjoy sports, if you want to get to first base
with her."

I wrote two sentences below that I think mean the same thing. Could anyone
tell me if you think they are all right to use in casual conversation. I
would also appreciate suggestions of more idiomatic ways to express the idea.
"I've always wanted to see that film, but your ...

Food ingredients label: '"Contains less than 2% natural flavor".  That
means it contains 98% unnnatural flavor'.
Or does it?
s/ meirman    If you are emailing me please  

I was writing email to a friend and got stumped over this choice. Do
Nos 1 and 2 mean different things? If not, could you provide me with
some examples that explain when to use which?
Am I correct in understanding that No.3 is gramatically incorrect?

Hi. I am tried to choose either "a" or "the" before nouns in my writing.
Well... I am not still sure about them....
Let me give a example... If i want to say...
Though counting better durability of modern car, the weight of old age car

What is the correct form?
"I want to meet whoever bought the painting."
-or-
"I want to meet whomever bought the painting."

In the States, can we say 'four dollars twenty-nine cents' for $4.29
other than 'four dollars and twentry-nine cents' and 'four
twenty-nine'?

I would like to ask a native speaker whether or not adjectives "big"
and "large" are equivalent,  i.e.:
I have a large house    or  I have a big house  (I think the first
sentence would be better).

Hi what does "dead on" mean? I can't find it in dictionary.

   Lately I've frequently seen "anytime" as a single word.
I don't think I've seen this until within the last five years;
it seems compmletely new.  Is this used only by those people
(probably all under 25 or so) who make no distinction between

Is it (i) smoke free restaurant or (ii) smoking free restaurant?