Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007

Does anyone know the origin of the UK English slang/dialect term "bob-on"?
(not sure if it's hyphenated or not, since I've never seen it written down
before).
I live in the north west of England in the county of Lancashire and first

Dear People :
Do some of you think/believe that "If I was you" (emphasis "was") is
also grammatically correct? I had a sort of argument with a forum
member regarding this grammatically intriguing topic. Would love to

can anybody tell the difference between "be able to"and "manage to".
many thanks

I've just finished reading a fantasy by Michele Hauf. Yet another book
that would have made a fine read if only it had been better written. No
matter. What interested me was two extremely strange language uses:
"Can you come that?" The context was of little help in the first

I don't know whether the three sentences below are right or not. Anyone can help me to correct them.
1)
The researchers found that rising from a lower chair needed to exhaust more physiological cost, but even rising might not be completed successfully.
2)

Deck the halls with boughs of holly
Is this kinda the only place where we see the word 'deck' used as
'decorate'?  Do you say 'deck' in this sense in your daily
conversations?

I was just wondering if  "pseudoscience" could aptly be applied to
Ptolemaic Astronomy?
Thanks
Jeff

Too often we are obliged to describe someone, usually an adolescent, as
a "know-it-all" or a "smart-a.s" or a "spoilt brat"
Unfortunately these are colloquailisms. How would you describe such
people in a more formal manner?

It's time once again for me to take an intermission of a few days.  I
expect to return in a bit more than a week, by which time it will be
2007.[1]  So to all of you who haven't kill-filed me (yet), a most
festive and enjoyable turn of the year, and best wishes for 2007

How many of you were first aware of the Clean Plate Club vs. the Clean
the Plate Club?
Lately, all I hear about is the first, and they describe it
positively.

- Comptable unique
- Cloture annuelle des comptes
- Liasse fiscale
Thanks

It is good for some people but it is bad for others.

Does anyone know why Defoe makes a reference to a _German_ executioner?
Excerpt from Robinson Crusoe:
He no sooner had it, but he runs to his enemy, and at
one blow cut off his head so cleverly, no executioner in Germany

Can someone help me? I have a question which has long baffled me about
the use of "the." It concerns the famous movie or story title of
"Beauty and the Beast" I wonder why it is not "The Beauty and the
Beast" so as to maintain of the uniformity of the wording just like

My husband just asked me what word means the opposite of "orphaned"
(he's not talking children - he is writing computer code).
He checked google, and got "parented" which sounds quite wrong to me. My
first shot was "adopted": "orphaned" means you lost your parents;