Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2009

Hello!  I need your help making out what ***that trend*** and  ***the
effect*** refer to.
As to ***that trend**, I suppose that, because of "that", not "this",
***that trend *** refers to "decrease in over all ocean productivity"

How do you feel about these?
1) He still needs to work so hard after he (has) retired.
2) He still needs to work so hard after he is retired.
Thanks.

Has corkscrew ever been used as argot for a a kind of knife, or 'to
corkscrew' for to pierce with a knife, rapier, or blade? (Probably not,
since I can't find anything of the kind on Google.}  I was wondering if it
might be a criminal argot?

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Some of the American authors who did best in England were antislavery
writers, for the English apparently could not get enough works that
held their former colony up to shame. Frederick Douglass and William

Do we have a good alternative for:
"the more"
construction here?
What's specific about it? Do we really need the "the" article?

I recently received an e-mail from my Aunt containing an attachment
which I passed along to about 5 friends of mine.  In reply, one of my
friends, also my college roommate from a long time ago, stated "before
you send me this amazing stuff, please check it for spelling and

A learner asked this question(*1):
------
  Why are you laughing?
  a. He said me a funny story.

I've finally got around to reading the nearly-POTUS's remarkable book
"Dreams From My Father".  
I was somewhat taken aback that, in a passage relating to a particular
church in Chicago in the 1980s, he says "the bulk of its membership

Only in the ear of the beholder.
Ancient Welsh Castle .. Harlick
Title of a photo on the web.

From the Washington Post Weekly:
 A new unit, called the Transaction Development Group, did its part
 by taking advantage of gaps between securities regulation and tax
 laws in the United States as well as in other countries.

From the Guardian:
Word 'school' is out for new £4.7m Sheffield primary
Governors say term has negative connotations
...The headteacher of Sheffield's Watercliffe Meadow, Linda Kingdon,

Did we do this yet?
A character asks, "And she is ...?"
Is that punctuated correctly?
Or should it be:

The details of what is going on—the vole story, as it were—is a
fascinating one.
My question is that what does "as it were" mean here?
Thanks a lot for you help!

Christmas in Florida.  It's gray and overcast outside today, but
shirt-sleeve weather.  The golfers are out on the course that my house
faces, and some neighborhood kids are riding new bikes and skateboards
while dressed in tee shirts and shorts.  

Which is better:
What’s your favorite "version" of the song Wheel in the sky?
OR
What’s your favorite "rendition" of the song Wheel in the sky?