Discussion Groups / English Usage / September 2007

In today's Guardian there is an article about a boy who, after serious
brain injury, had a different accent - he had lost his Yorkshire accent
and had appeared to acquire a "posh" accent. The Guardian writes about
him having "lost his Yorkshire twang".

I hope you're all aficionados of Language Log, but just in case you aren't,
here's something tres amusant:
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004926.html
Adrian

Which linguistic fruit is apparently commoner in China than in Finland
or Turkey?
--
Michael Hamm

The first time, this plural-seeming noun takes a plural verb, but the
second and third times it takes a singular verb. Elsewhere, it occurs
attributively, so it's naturally singular in form. What is it?
--

" Make do" is said to mean to get along with the means available,
especially insufficient means. How could that definition applied to
the following example?
Dogs and Livestock wandered aimlessly, leaving soiled spots on the

Seven successive entries in the W3NID have the following definitions. Which
entries?
1st. complicated.
2d. dis.

What is a "July American"?
Context provided upon request, i.e. in case this is not a time-
honored, well known phrase.

The Cincinnati Bagels.

I see the UK Department of Health is advocating that doctors and other
medical personnel not wear neckties, long sleeves, or jewelry in the
hospital.  "Ties are rarely laundered but worn daily" said Health
Secretary Alan Johnson, who continued "They perform no beneficial

The online Encarta dic says that “dabster” is a UK regionalism:
http://tinyurl.com/yr2g2e
dabster
dab·ster (plural dab·sters)

I think a country could be referred by the pronoun "she ", but I am
not sure whether "she "in the following example refers to China or not
because the name of country China does not appear in the previous
sentences in the same chapter.

Any suggestions as to sites with historical data on China & prior
typhoons?

I want to describe a "machine" and am looking for the right word.
I want to say that the machine is able to carry high loads (up to
100kg) and turn and rotate them which I translated with "heavy duty"
but at the same time it has a ... well ... this is what I am looking

I am sure that deceptive is an adjective form of deceive, but it is
sometimes difficult.
Pei held the envelop. The smooth outer paper felt cool and deceptive
as to what it held. Lin might be alive if it weren't for this money.

Hi, I am looking for a very big ( greater than 150k non-repeating
entries) txt file.
Any help...highly appreciate.
Thanks