Discussion Groups / English Usage / March 2009

Hello, I have another little problem with MP. Have a bit of patience
with me, plz.
1) Judge I (EI): Oh, I've had a bitch of a morning in the high court!
I can't clearly cope with the sentence. Is it like he had a prostitute

Dear those who are "American",
I am considering a questionnaire to ask to 1500 American people.
The questionnaire is about "partial retirement" which means that an employee
works part time before he or she fully retires.

How are "medicine" and "remedy" connected with each other? Do "med" in
"medicine" and "remedy" refer the same thing?
I've read a suggestion that "medicine" shares a root with "mediate" (i.e
that medicine is that which mediates a person between sickness and

This week on AUE we've learned of pompatus and goaks,
Of money-making vehicles, of tops and gyrospokes.
The antonym for staple and the opposite of homo
Have ousted last week's flaky talk of Lux and Daz and Omo.

I am Chinese, and have little confusion about Adverbial Clause usage.
below is the example :
The prices are higher than WHAT they have been.
The prices are higher than they have been (high).

RSFCer infiltrates South Bend Tribune Headline Department
http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090330/SPORTS13/903
309968/1021/XML
http://tinyurl.com/d9sy65

I know that the plural of "life" is "lives" but A N Wilson (in "After the
Victorians") refers to "still lives". This just looks wrong to me, but I
can't put my finger on why.
Not being an artist, I rarely use the expression in the singular, let alone

What is "pink and blue"?
Say It's True
Pink And Blue
http://www.absolutelyrics.com/lyrics/view/lighthouse_family/ocean_drive/

"So, there is no obvious answer to the question of whether or not to
tie a nation's currency to some external standard."
Can I remove the "of" between question and whether?
Is that grammatically correct? My freind told it wouble

As far as I know, a wake comes after, not before. Is this an extension?
------
On that night an enormous freighter had plowed right through the fishing
grounds, throwing before it a wake large enough to knock even a big man

I do not understand the meaning of the word: "buck" in the last
sentence. Could you explain it and the associated context for me?
Thank.
President Barack Obama, who took office just under two months ago,

There were some horse like creatures, with a name that may have
started with "hou", which I can't remember. I think it may have been
onomatopoeic, intended to sound like a whinny. Google is not helping
me.

Hello. Is there any special difference between the terms proprietor
and owner?
Thank you
Kristina, CZ

At Google Books:
173 on "sandwiches in a paper bag"
27 on "sandwiches in a paper sack"
Any difference in meaning? The 2nd seems a bit strange to me, I

"So, there is no obvious answer to the question of whether or not to
tie a nation's currency to some external standard."
Can I remove the "of" between question and whether?
Is that grammatically correct? My friend told me it would