Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2009

Recently, HVC wrote:
"My reaction to the fiction you posted for review was that it was
impossible to read -- historically vapid, and compositionally dire ..."
-- HVC

Hello, I've been in the USA for a few years, where I had quite a few
arguments over "ocean" or "sea" being the broader* term to describe,
in lack of better term, any marine water mass. Any opinions?
*every sea is an ocean or every ocean is a sea.

I wrote before that the OED has no example of this adverb
after 1440.
Now I have found later uses of the word, thanks to Google Books
-- an outstanding tool for probes of this kind.

When I write my curriculum vitae, I want to describe the report of my
examintions.   There're three phrased coming to my mind:
recorde,
score,

Is it possible to reply just 'welcome' instead of 'your welcome' when
somebody's thanking you?

Is Crossword Bob a Functional Illiterate?
----------------------------------------->
"You fellows have way too much time on your hands."
-- EG

What are origins and meaning of the following phrase:
"Gentlemen: Yours to hand, and, In reply ....."
For usage see:
http://www.historycooperative.org/btw/Vol.3/html/388.html

I have problems telling the differences between these two idioms. They
were both found in the cloze test that I edited for my students. The
following text is for your reference.
William Shakespear's Romeo and Juliet is a tragic love story of a

Hello!  I would like to know the meaning of the expression
***problematic situations of greater or lesser intensity*** in the
following sentence.
We all seek out or create ***problematic situations of greater or

Maybe somebody else has thought of this before, but wouldn't it
be an interesting variant on this word game to guess the adverb
in a Tom Swifty or the verb in a Croak?
Here are two easy examples:

"You're just walking into deeper water, fella, and without a paddle."
-- Robert Lieblich
--->
Walking into deeper water ... without a paddle...?

The word "Gentile" was used by someone speaking on one of our regional radio
stations this morning (BBC Radio Ulster).
The topic was the situation in the Gaza Strip seen from a humanitarian point
of view. The speaker was an Anglican priest. His connection with the area is

I was pleased to note that the signs above the express lines in the
Safeway on Bainbridge Island, Washington read "15 items or fewer"
rather than the common "X items or less."
I'd be interested in knowing whether this is a corporate policy at all

Gannibal! (excerpt)
Lady Teasley was so sugary pretty little boys stared at her. Lady
Teasley played on her delicious looks by always dressing in taffeta,
lace, and jewelry that leaned toward precious stones of great color.