Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007

Hi. Recently,on this site,a couple of native speakers said that
'However old she was,she won the race' was all right.My notion is that
when you use 'however' the verb part needs to contain 'may',i.e. you
should say 'However it may be' and not 'However it is'.Also I think

It bugs me when I hear or read "there are a lot of things..." meaning
"there are many things."
"There are many things..." is fine, because we are taking about
"things," of which there are many.

In the "stink" thread there was a hijacking on the matter of
pronouncing "either" and "neither."  Rather than follow such a
criminal sidetracking further, and because of the very interesting
pondian influences involved, I'm starting a new thread.  A couple of

"He is always chating up girls. He forgot that he is married" or
"He is always chating up girls. He forgot that he was married"
Which one is correct? Thanks

What does
"ripe-blown"
suggest to you here?
"Blown by the wind, as the flowers were ripe?"

Is this
"The how much?"
frequently used as a double-take(BrE)?
---

Showing now in Branscombe!

Is it a coincidence that my first sighting of Purl Gurl for months
coincides with Google Groups' interface redesign?  Probably, but it's
healthy to be a tad paranoid these days.  And yes, I know that GG is an
inferior method of consuming Usenet - it's just that our corporate

Is
"What are you thinking of?"
(frequently) used as an exclamation of surprise?
----------

Another question is as follows,
Some ____ ago, a friend of mine, who lives in the northern part of the
city, invited me to call on him.
a) moment     b) times   c) time    d) day

"[Xing Xu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences] added that '...we can
compare different models in computer or even in wind tunnel, which we
are planning to do.'"

Hi. Recently on one of the topics here, a couple of native speakers
said
that 'However old she was,she won the race' was okay. My notion
however is that  when you use 'however' ,the 'however' clause

What does exactly "peschard's people" mean? It is a program's title of bbc
world, but I can't find "peschard" in my dictionary...
Thanks a lot!
C.

I've been hooked, lately, on watching The Chaser's (Australia) via web
links like http://www.abc.net.au/tv/chaser/war/video/.  Suggested
first viewing is the "Baby Names" link on this page...audio
representation of Australian accents and evidence of deplorable

The government has also offered cash
incentives to girl-only families in the
countryside.
I think it means that the government has