Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007

Could this "gave some letters" mean he **wrote (out)** some letters?
I know that one of the meanings of "give" is "bring forth."
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I went back into my office and gave some letters until lunch.

I send this here because at least some of the people who post at
alt.usage.english also post here.
Since 9th January (a day when Google groups was planning scheduled
maintenance) I have been unable to post to alt.usage.english, and

can anybody recommend me a website where i can learn chinese history?
thx

I'm Wojtek from Poland.What means word "baghdaddy".I saw this word on
t-shirts U.S. troops in Iraq.Could You help me?
Regards
Wojtek

I think I might need a word which may be used for calling something
particular if I don't know the exact name of it. For example:
"You open the door in your car and you see something small on the left"
We don't know the name of that little something and instead of "this

Copied from another newsgroup:
"If you think it's going to
get you on the David Letterman show as a comedian, you better get some
better material. After all, even your "material" is stolen from old

I was reading an article about why young people are no longer joining
service clubs anymore, and I was struck by the repeated word
"busy-ness". When I re-read the sentences, it was clear that "business"
would have been quite ambiguous, and yet I cannot think of another word

A few days ago there was a thread in which there was a discussion of "walking
holiday" and coach not football.
I can't remember what the subject was and have not been able to find the
thread again, and my news server seems to be working mornings only at the

We watched a programme this evening about late 1960s/early 1970s
music in California (CSN&Y/Mitchell/Taylor/Brown).
Two pronunciations leapt out at me:  "codified" with the first vowel
matching the fish ("codd-i-fied"); and "bucolic" with the first vowel

I know that this is an endless subject, so I hope you'll limit yourself
to my specific question.
Recently, the funnies page featured the following dialogue, which had me
stumbling (quoting from memory):

Hi. Recently on a television programme, I heard the line:'Did you watch
it yet?', said by one character to another,referring to a movie. Is
this idiomatic? Or even grammatical? If not,I should like to know
exactly what is wrong with it. I was under the impression that 'Have

Can anyone tell me of my grammarictal mistake? Also, Are the paragraphs
well structures, and I am able to express myself  effectively. ? I know
this is not exactly a homework thing.  I am trying to know my weakness
so I can work on them.

I was watching the cricket the other day, and it is the practice of the
producers during play to go to various parts of the crowd and take a
sample of the signs being held up. Naturally, the wittiest or most
telling signs get a run.

My family is a happy one.

Google Groups is back.  It looks like posts made
since the Jan 9 stoppage are searchable.
I do wonder what they did that took four days to fix.
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