Discussion Groups / English Usage / June 2007

Is it only women that use Lady as a derogatory term when
addressing another woman?

Sad news, hope the restoration can be achieved.

I'd like your feedback on the point raised in the following message
sent to me by a fellow English professor:
I notice you have a brief entry on your "Common Errors" web site for
"moreso," noting that it should be written as two words.

Have you ever used the term billingsgate to mean invective? I don't
know what the American equivalent would be, but some Philly-Italian
teens I overheard had some pretty foul speech (directed into their
cell phones).

THE "DON'T QUIT" POEM & POSITIVE GRAMMAR
By Hal Womack 3-dan
    For some years I have been campaigning for systematically replacing
negative grammar with positive. The former means simply any use of the

I am reading John McPhee's "Uncommon Carriers" and he
explains the difference between combustible and flammable
is that Glenlivet is combustible but Beefeater is flammable.

I have asked about the usage of "as/when", but I come aross another
sentence, with which I am uncertain which conjunction I need.
Later, when/as the city was in a desolate finiancial situation, the
construction of the cathedral had to be halted.

I have a question I'd like to ask.   Before I go any further, in full
disclosure I should add that english isn't my first language, and that
is why I may come across difficulty with some meanings.  I hope
someone can correct my understanding of a sentence.