Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004

Nicholas van Hoogstraten (once described by a British judge as "an
emissary of Beelzebub", I believe, which I'm now saving for my
tombstone) claimed yesterday in an interview on BBC News 24 that he'd
originated the word "scumbag" in the 1960s.  NSOED says it's US in

I'm reading a book related to Christianity, but I found I cannot
understand there. I have no idea about the phrase of 'the encroachment
of ashes' in the following passage. Can you explain it to me in
details? If possible, please send your reply to my email address,

  I am learning English and I have some problems with the following:
INSERT THE CORRECT TENSES!
Q: I have to check if anything ______ happen yet. (Is there ED missing –
happened)

Can anyone give me the correct versions of these below? Thanks:
"A woman named Christine, who we are informed is a leading
psychotherapist".
"A woman named Christine, whom we are informed is a leading

Could anyone please help me grasp the meaning of "Posts" in the following
sentences:
1. Where no decision has been taken by NOK on method of disposal of remains,
Posts provide documentation as for cremation.

A news item leads me to wonder. Would non-consummation be valid
grounds for an annulment if a couple had had sexual intercourse
*before* the marriage but not after?
Mike.

why does *spoon* mean *to pay court to* sometimes?
Is there any relations between *spoon* and *love*?
--
Wayne Wong

On the CAPITALIZED:
-----
[the heroine, speaking, fancies herself attending Evie Cottrell's, her
enemy's, imaginary burial]

Am I right that one would say "Its high running costs are a disadvantage",
but "A disadvantage is its high running costs"? I sometimes get confused
because in German you would say "Ein Nachteil sind (plural!) die hohen
Betriebskosten", even though the subject is singular.

It took me a while to find out what "muleskinner" means (mule driver)
but I don't seem to have found any reliable info on the etymology... can
anyone shed light?

Salman Rushdie published "Satanic Verses" in 1989, in which he deliberately
besmirched the name of Islam by an implied comparison of the eight wives of
Mohammed with eight prostitutes working in a fictional Middle Eastern
brothel. Western countries upheld his right to write this in ...

how do I spell canceled ?
canceled or cancelled ?
thnx

Part of the song "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" says
"All you will see is a girl you once knew,
although she's dressed up to the nines -
for sixes and sevens with you."

To spin
I spin     we spin
you spin   you spin
he spins

I'm surprised there hasn't been another outbreak of English-is-going-
to-hell-in-a-handbasket anguish in the media over this one (yet)...  
The latest draft entries to the OED (Nipkow disc-nuculoid, added online
December 11) includes the following: