Discussion Groups / English Usage / October 2007

$100,000 Mistake on Fishermen's loan. Website  http://www.corporatebully.ca
Fighting the Royal Bank of Canada one customer at  a time.

I recently read an obituary in a British magazine of a man who
was one my professors. It began "Durward Cruickshank, formerly
Emeritus Professor...." The word "formerly" while precise seems
rather insensitive to me but I notice its use more and more as I

I saw this article on Anne Nicole at New Zealand Herald:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10473170
What does "rained out" stand for?
Thanks

One could start with Wiki, by Jove:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jove
[excerpt]
In Roman mythology, Jupiter (Iuppiter in Latin) held the same role as

Is there a good way to formulate a thesis quickly?
I was thinking that one could look at specific examples, then study them
carefully and think about what they can be generalized to. This would be
induction.  Is there any other way, Can you think of any other way or do

I like the idea of putting a personal and sincere message in greeting
cards, but I'm not particularly good at the task. The preprinted
messages in commercial greeting cards have good writing, but in a sense
they are "too good" and don't look like real words coming from me. I'm

"Toujours Tingo is a compilation of words and phrases that don't
exist in English.  For example:
Gwarlingo (Welsh): the rushing sound of a grandfather clock as it
limbers up to strike

It's hard to speak fluently on the radio; even professionals sometimes
stumble. A reporter on NPR's "Morning Edition" this morning said "The
Justice Department is trying to put some steps into place to try to
patch all these holes together. . . ."

Guys remember I was first one who posted question about sexual
relationship between Harry Potter & Dumbledore (The head master of
magical school). Also, I also asked if Dumbledore's brother was having
sex with sheeps...

What do you informally call a boyfriend who isn't really a boyfriend
[lover], just a male friend ?
I just listen to a radio broadcast from Egypt, partly translated into
Danish. The girls use the word 'boyfriend' even for boys that are just

Amazing Creativity on Ceiling
http://amanspace.blogspot.com/2007/10/amazing-creativity-on-ceiling.html

A Letter to the Editor in the Times (of London) today reports a
word coined many years ago by a friend of the writer.
 bolloquialism: the uninformed utterances of others.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article2758819.ece

Last Revised 2007-07-09 (9 July 2007)
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