Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2008

None of the dictionary definitions I have for "sop" really applies here.
I think it means "dripping or oozing [not 'oozing through']" in the
context.
How about it?

Sorry to bother y'all again ...
Once more, translating a US english source, I stumble over the hour datum;
I assume the problem/answer is the same as last time, with a 12 hour lag;
I just need to confirm.

Is the "o" in "company" ever pronounced like the "o" in "copper" or
"economy"? Does it sound foreign if pronounced that way, or does it
just sound like a possible variant? Thanks

Why are so many people using the word "which" when THAT ought to have
been used? Has English Grammar changed so significantly without my
noticing it? Are new rules in place where everyone uses WHICH instead of
THAT?

The "he had ... done for himself"
does it mean
"he really served/pleased himself [perhaps ironical]"
or

I'm a bit surprised by the use of simple past and past perfect in:
'"But where," he asked, "was Timothy? Hadn't he come with them?"'
I'd have expected present (is, hasn't he come).
Is this super-politeness/detachment but pushing everything in the past?

Watching the BBC's "Pacific Abyss", I just noticed that the narrator
pronounces "algae" with /g/.  Merriam-Webster Online only gives the
/dZ/ pronunciation.  By contrast, Cambridge Advanced Learner's
Online only has /g/.  Is this a pondian difference?

Venus, Jupiter will 'shine' on Monday night
Slendor, crescent moon will illuminate two brightest planets
Image: Rendition of Dec. 1 night sky showing the moon, Venus and Jupiter
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27958792/

I found this definition:
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possessiveness:
excessive desire to possess or dominate

Wasn't able to find the meaning of "Quilpish."
Anyone?
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Behind him his cousin, the tall George, son of the fifth Forsyte, Roger,

'It's not an SAT test' is what Boopsie's saying in the first panel of today's
Doonesbury.
'An Sat'?  We have SAT - Standard Attainment Tests - in the UK but the acronym
is always pronounced 'sat' as in 'the cat ... on the mat'.  Is it S-A-T

Gentle readers,
My question is about the use of ellipsis.
(A wahine tries to jump into a volcano to appease the god, but
failed.)

In this phrase:
«“It is better to marry than to burn,” as St. Paul puts it.»
Does anyone know which St. Paul it refers to?
Wikipedia list several possibilities.

What does
"woodchip"
mean here, a certain pattern of painting?
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I’m currently reading  “Lost for Words” by John Humphrys and in
Chapter 13 “Can Words Change the World?” he sites the following as
having 3 grammar errors:
“Some people think that being tired is just a part of today’s hectic