Discussion Groups / English Usage / July 2007

Mum's cataract operation, originally scheduled for July 4 (a normal working
day over here, we have nothing to commemorate on that day) but was brought
forward to yesterday (Friday).
The operation was a success but it's too early yet to say whether her

I have, as may be exampled by my subject title, a tendency to be
verbose, which leads to
being sensitive about being verbose. The first step to getting help is
admitting I have a problem...;)

<
<           MEMORABLE MOMENTS IN MEDICINE
<
Ed Conrad in his doctor's office.

... from a strict provict (never been a convict).
Yes, I heard the old joke about congress being the oposite to progress, but
for the life of me I cannot seem to remember very many pro/con words that
are in fact opposites.

I work with some wonderful copy editors. Yet I want to encourage them
to stop doing what I did at the start of this sentence.  I can accept
"yet" as an alternative for "however," or "nevertheless" when it
follows a comma. What bugs me is when they edit my copy so that "yet"

Can anyone please give me a quick answer to this (English is not
my first language) ? How should I refer to my sister's son's
daughter in relation to me ?
(This child was crushed against a concrete wall by a light truck

See here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6683365.stm
McDonald's is getting its wig wet about the term "McJob" to describe
the kind of job a Media Studies graduate can expect, and is launching

An important message from the climate experts at Live Earth:
       Audience travel accounts for the vast majority of a concert's
       impact on our climate -- as much as 50%!
<http://liveearth.org/?p=100>

"Look, it's raining cats and dogs."
"Look, it rains cats and dogs."
Which of the sentences above is correct?

Is it possible to explain the following prices:
<http://www.rome-museum.com/tickets.htm>
Full                 € 12.50 - adults
Half price tickets   €  9.25 - juniors 18-25 years

I handed out pamphlets today to spead awareness of global warming.
I did what I did for a reason. The reason is that the truth needs to
be heard. I will not sit by remain silent any longer. For too long has
this government deceived us, for too long it has pulled a veil of lies

My last name is Perevodchikov (that's how it is written in my
International Passport). It is a Russian one. Coming to US, I have
experienced people having a big problem pronouncing it. It seems like
the PERE part and too many letters in the last name make it unreadable

Does anyone know what "étalie" means in this sentence?
       Je lis comme la démocratie Européenne et le rapprochement entre
       la construction communautaire et la citoyenneté encore très
       étalie dans le cadre national vous intéresse.

I'm a trained historian working as a translator, so I thought I had a
pretty good grasp of both ancient history and English. Until I came
across the BBC series Ancient Rome, that is. In part one, Seneca berates
Nero for spending way too much money on his building programme. In ...

(1)These days both husbands and wives have to work in order to keep up
with the expenses in the family.
(2)These days both husbands and wives have to work in order to keep up
with the expenses in families.