Discussion Groups / English Usage / October 2006

If my caretaker {K} had told me at the very beginning something like,
"My name is K -- just the *letter* K, that is", I suppose that before
long I probably would have gotten used to the fact that she had a
one-letter name.  I really, really, really wish she had said this to

A restaurant review at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~tony_cooper213/hotdog1.html

In another thread here, there was constant reference to the fact that
certain words and phrases (usage of) were in common usage (or, words to
that effect).  There are many example of "common usage" of incorrect
words and phrases.  I'll try to point out two or three:

I need a help for speaking English. In fact, I am an international student.
However, I am not satisfied about my English speaking, so I need to speak
more. Therefore, I'd like to have sessions with a native speaker for 2 or 3
hours a week just talking (general conversation). It is ...

This is the topic of a English Competition tomorrow.I havn't got many
ideas so i need your help.

I'm hoping the experts here can settle a dispute. Is the following sentence
correctly punctuated? If not, please tell me the correct punctuation.
Thanks!
John is full of sh.t, anyway, so why even respond?

I'm a moron too. And anybody who disagrees with me is a moron.

"Spelling errors can give a bad impression to the public, so our system
has a spell checker built into the form."
Or is it...
"Spelling errors can give a bad impression to the public so our system

Note how the verb comes at the end here:
"The farther away the new abutment is located from the existing
abutment, the higher the construction costs for the new abutment and
the associated sheet piling become."

From an article by George Lakoff:
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/43642/
[DISCLAIMER: I'm not interested in the politics of the article, only
this paragraph. I put the link there as a citation, not a suggestion

I just thought I'd tell y'all that in North Carolina they have things
that, officially at least, are called "freeways".

My cat is black and white.
1. Is "black and white" an idiomatic phrase? In other words, if she
were 80% white, would she still be "black and white"?
2. Is it correct to say she has a checkered fur, even though the

_Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage_ says, under
"split infinitive"
   The consensus in the 20th century, however, seems to
   be that awkward avoidance of the split infinitive has

What's the main difference between a "roast dinner" and "a roast meat
with salad," in BrE?
Is it just in quantity and the presence of salad?:-)
Thank you.

Oftentimes we spend a lot of effort searching scant records for
information about the dead after they were long gone (or praising them
and expressing love when they can no longer hear it). I thought I'd
ask this while you're alive and well.