Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007

Let me ask a question about the meaning of phrases from a novel.
I believe Limbo Island would have developed a strong and specialized
market in attracting tourists who
are neither here nor there and would like to go somewhere in the middle

From nl.taal:
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Christophe A & J Morton J (1998)
"Is Dutch native English? Linguistic analysis by 2-month-olds"

Hi, experts on Australian slang,
What is a Nigel or nigel? According to Cassell's Dictionary of Slang it
stands for a "friendless male", derived from the "proper name Nigel seen as
quintessentially upper-class and vapid". Frankly, this entry is a bit

In Merriam Webster dictionaries I see in the Handbook of Style section
a punctuation mark called the "double hyphen." It is supposed to be
used when breaking a hyphenated word at the end of a line. I have never
seen this punctuation mark anywhere else. Are they for real? What's up

Can anyone offer an alternative idiom to "played it with a straight
bat" that would work for an American?
The question rose from a question I received yesterday from a US
writer that probably, but not certainly, rose from a misunderstanding.

and that suited Fred to a tee?
and that suited Fred to a T?
And why?
What, here, is a T, anway?

Could someone please explain how we arrived
at this name for a "critical point or time"
Thankyou.

hi, everyone, could you tell me the meaning of the following prase
"your mother wears army boots" ? When I read a novel, I meet it.As you
know, i am not a native english speaker.
thank you.

The Times had an article yeaterday saying the OED is looking for earlier
citations than they already have, for a numberof common expressions.  Article
at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2528660.html
They cite "mucky pup" only to 1984.  I am sure that my mother, who died in

In speaking of the brain, is it more correct to say "our brain" or "our
brains"? I have seen the former often.

so, why not "refuses" ?
cheers

I'm so excited!

My personal list of pronunciation traps set by the silent letters _d_
and _t_ is not yet long:
Christmas
Sandwich

"owned" seems to be very recent slang for "was defeated by."  Like,
"the nazis got owned by the Russians."  Where did this idiom come from?

Hi. What are 'round shoulders'? The context in which I saw this
expression - and I doubt that it will be required here - is that in one
of Agatha Christie's novels there is a rather arrogant young man who
accosts a girl with a marriage proposal,only to be told that the girl