Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007

There was a line in an episode of "Two and a Half Men" which I just
don't get language-wise.
Charly says to a rather strange (tall) woman "My weirdness bar for
chicks is pretty high but you are clearing it in street shoes".

In the cornstarch thread, in message
<1168637652.796763.127940@51g2000cwl.googlegroups.com>, Jerry Friedman
<jerry_friedman@yahoo.com> writes

What is/was this device called in English?  Can I still buy it
somewhere?  Thanks.
http://i11.tinypic.com/2e2jfwl.jpg

The shop is opened online, and I call it as 'e-shop'.
The shop is opened in the street, and I call  itas 'substantial shop'.
I wonder if the two names are right or wrong.

I had never had the experience of teaching English composition until I
was given this job of teaching English composition in an university
here in China.  Now I am teaching it 'my way'.  And my way is to teach
my students to re-write model essays in their own words.

"The" ain't got tha skillz, tha hype or tha thaness to compete with tha.

That proverb means something like " it is not what we know but WHO we know"

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061228/D8MA4B7O0.html
"Some of the ice shelf's disappearance was probably during times when
the planet was 36 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) to 37 degrees
Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius) warmer than it is today..."

If two people are talking, they are talking to each other (not one
another); three or more, they are talking to one another (not each
other).
Twins help each other; triplets help one another.

(After originally submitting this question, I could not find it when I
tried to access this on the alt.usage.english site.  Apologies offered
for a resubmission.)
Can you cite a reference resolving the precise meaning of _th year?

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Utilities/printer_preview.asp?idArticle=13104&R=11
1D93934
"...The Yale Edition of the Works of Samuel Johnson has been underway
since the mid-1950s, and after half a century is finally nearing
completion. ... One of the perennial debates among people ...

Is there no similar case of divergence/ convergence of high front
vowels and diphthongs? How about: the pre <r> e's in cereal, serious
and seer?

Is cornstarch the flour that gets thickened if we put it in hot water ?
What is the difference among flour/cornflour/cornstarch/wheat ?
Any other kinds of powder I miss for distinguishment ?
-------

On:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Ratzinger#Early_life_.281927.E2.80.
931951.29>
you can read the foolowing:

I have just heared the expression that sounded like "evil knievel",
sorry for any spelling mistakes. The thing is that when I spell it like
that google comes out with lots of link that do not seem to be of much
use in the context of a reply/expression I think I heared it used.