Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2008

I hope the native speakers of English here can take a look at the
following sentence.
1. To write the book was begun by the author.
Does this sound right to you?

People here have told me that most dictionaries these days are
descriptivist and not prescriptivist, and for the most part, I haven't
found anything to contradict that.
But why is there an exception for socialism/socialist?

Just had some work done to my storage shed and some of the surrounding hardware,
and found an item in the workman's quote of potential interest here:  "rot iron
gate"...while there are some odd turns of phrase in the description of the rest
of the project, the rest of his spelling ...

I'm quite sure
"denying in your teeth"
means
"denying to your face."

The text goes:
"The Publishers will cause publication of the Publishers' edition of the
Work on or before the Date at their own risk and expense under the title
referred to in Schedule 1 or such other title as may have been first

This
"but a lot I know about motors"
must be self-deprecating.
Where should be the stress for that to be effective in speech? On "I"?

Do you think that in
"the elevens of sinews"
by using "elevens" Bellows just wanted some variation, from "tens?"
Or is there some idiom at play?

Is
"what can that lead to of the highest"
a bit strange to you?
I read it to mean

I'm confused by
"paid herself out ... into the mood."
Any ideas?
---

"Assaulted kissers"
seems to me
"people who were kissed against their wish," right?
-----

I've just noticed that three markets that we shop at from time to time
don't any of them have an apostrophe in their name where it seems like
there should be.  They're Ralphs, Vons, and Albertsons.  I'll bet
there are lots more.  

Greene's Slang has:
-----
bravo
hired killer

I wonder what
"at that"
means here:
-----

I initially thought "creaturely human nature"
to be something created by Bellows, but now I think it quite established
in religious texts.
True?

Obama is leading in five battleground states, but only within the
margins of error.
What is the probability that he will win at least one of them?
At least two?