Discussion Groups / English Usage / April 2007

Does "Pistols my pillow's service pay" mean "the pistols are always
under my pillow?
Also, would"'Tis meet my verse" mean "It is to meet my verse?"
(Perhaps: I am pain because of love and I have pain to find my verse?)

Excerpt from yesterday's newspaper:
Editorial: Do we really need Super-Duper Tuesday?
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
"Texas lawmakers want in on Super-Duper Tuesday. That's what some

NATO defines it: http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/natoterm/r/00948.html
'Directives issued by competent military authority which specify the
circumstances and limitations under which forces will initiate and/or
continue combat engagement with other forces encountered.'

Last night I came up with an interesting hypothesis about one of the
accent marks used by FitzGerald in the _Rubáiyát_.  In stanza V of the
1859 text, the opening word is "Irám", referring to an ancient garden
planted by King Shaddad:

"WHO agrees HIV circumcision plan:
"International experts have backed the use of male circumcision in the
prevention of HIV.

Dear
Don't know exactly How it works.......
I recently joined AGLOCO because of a friend recommended it to me. I
am now promoting it to you because I like the idea and I want you to

Hi again1
I have another rather simply question pertaininng differences between
english words.
Is there any difference between "lad" and "chap"?

After what seem like a long absence, I am suddenly and unexpectedly heading
to England this Sunday for a fortnight or so of baryton-related hijinks.
(No public performances are planned for this trip, so no shameless plugs
here.)

Would "sweeten" here mean "reduce the bad smell?"
Also, when do you think inversions such as "said he" started to show up
less in fiction? Was it during the 19th century?
------

What does the word bullshitting mean?

I have found that students whose native tongue is not English can make
great improvement in their oral ability by practising reading big and
long-sounding words.  Thus I would appreciate if anyone here could
point me to a link or print out paragraphs of some difficult and

Does this "goes off like a top" mean "goes very fast?"
Also, what is the "top", the top of a car/convertible?
--------
[At a concert]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,2039694,00.html
--> All the dictionaries in my house agree that aitch is
--> correct. One authority, bearing the mighty imprimaturs of
--> both Oxford University and the BBC, concedes that haitch is

Why is the {name|first word} of the drinking song "Libiamo" from _La
Traviata_ usually coupled with the word "Brindisi", which I understand
to be the name of an Italian city?
TIA

A current Wiki article dates the origin of the phrase, "fall guy," to
the 1920s; see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_guy
However, Safire in today's NYTimes Mag says Lighter's HDAS has a