Discussion Groups / English Usage / April 2008

Is there a particular time when afternoon bepomes evening or does it depend
on the twilight?

Browsing through http://www.ifreelance.com/ I came across these two
chaps:
http://www.ifreelance.com/provider/detail.aspx?providerid=41975
http://www.ifreelance.com/provider/detail.aspx?providerid=39492

A person asked me about my availablity next week. I answered him that
"I will be free all the days of next week". Is my anwser is idiomatic?
if you were I, what would you use?
Thanks

Hello members,
In "Household Education" (1848), Harriet Martineau writes "From a
variety of causes, there is less & less marriage among the middle
classes of our country...". I haven't been able to discover the causes

"Yibber" is used in Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas" seemingly as "rumours, idle
talk." It could well be "invented," or not.
I found it here:
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All the hoopla around Pennsylvania today led me to sniff around
Wikipedia, where I discovered the origin of the name Pittsburgh.
It claims that Pittsburgh was named after Sir William Pitt by a Scotsman
(John Forbes), so "some speculate the intended pronunciation was

What does it mean "when the brains passed out"?

Jitze has said in another thread that the right
definite article often eludes him in Dutch.
Well, Jitze's command of that language is way
beyond mine, so you can guess how hopeless I am

Just read on the BBC site that he's died.  (Aged 86;  decent
innings.)
As to whether this is relevant to AUE, well ISIHAC.

The article beginning on page 78 of the April/May 2008, edition of
"Scientific American Mind" begins with this sentence:
"Sex crimes evince such strong feelings of revulsion and repugnance that it
is perhaps not surprising that people misunderstand their nature"

"Overarching"
"The tools you need..."

What would be the reason for having "cherry" in this?
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Cherry Knock
When you knock on someone's door and run away so you mess with their

Re "shanks," can it be read as the "buttocks?"
I'd have thought it's the lower part of the leg.
----
1 a : the lower part of the leg: (1) : the part between the knee and the

"Blackberry" refers to a device that works only in the United States,
I believe. Since it is a manufacturer's name, would anyone in Europe
call a Nokia, for example, with several built-in office features,
including emailing and internet capabilities, a Blackberry?

Do you think "shruck" is just invented?
The meaning is probably "shake":
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O, I wished I could shruck that woman off my back ...