Discussion Groups / English Usage / April 2008

Is "flies" (the plural) used in BrE for the closing at the front of
men's trousers, or we're dealing in this context with a pun, indicating
that he had exposed himself as in a theater show?
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ist there a distinction between rebels and insurgents recently often used in
the media coverage of the Iraqi war?
Thanks!
Micha

I'm wondering if the "it" in the following sentence is an error?
"At school they have "scarecrow monitors" whose job _it_ is to oversee
the filling of more buckets from under the drinking taps to water the
school vegetable patch."

In re "Marriage 19th century": My thanks to all those who sent in
replies to my query of Apr. 27.
Miss Martineau thought female education all the more necessary as, in
her day, "a multitude of women have to maintain themselves who would

Last Revised 2007-07-09 (9 July 2007)
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http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/french-theory-in-america-part-two/
great stuff

I have a punctuation/syntax question I'd like to ask.
I've noticed that usually when someone starts a new sentence with the
word, "however", they usually insert a comma after the word as in the
example below:

If someone want to correspond with me in english I will be glade.
I am from Poland and we can make language exchange. Polish and english.
I invite sb to join a discussion... I invite first of all english native
speakrs

He moved out.
He has move out.
He arrived.
He has arrived.

In the April 26, 2008 issue of his newsletter "World Wide Words,"
Michael Quinion reports that someone at the University of Missouri found
citations of 1874 and 1855 in which "ghoti" is said to spell "fish." As
he says, this puts to rest the possibility that G. B. Shaw invented the

I saw a sign today that advertised an opening for an "Experienced
entry-level IT" person.

I have a punctuation/syntax question I'd like to ask.
I've noticed that usually when someone starts a new sentence with the
word, "however", they usually insert a comma after the word as in the
example below:

Heard in the wild about 2 minutes ago:
"He really stepped up to the plate".
From a cricket commentator.

If a person fritters away their time,
is there some guilt involved?

Any idea what "legal-box" could have meant circa 1830?
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If he wished to slit my throat for my hat, shoes & legal-box, I would
already be dead.