Discussion Groups / English Usage / May 2009

Is "what does the teacher recommend and the students do?" correct, if
the intended meaning is that the speaker wants to know what the single
thing is that the teacher recommends and the students do?

What is "on" adding in terms of meaning in the compounded phrasal verb
"drop on by?"
Thanks.
Marius Hancu

-----
I have done one braver thing
         Than all the Worthies did;
And yet a braver thence doth spring,

In
-----
[...]
O how feeble is man's power,

-----
Kill me as woman! Let me die
As a mere man; do you but try
Your passive valour, and you shall find then,

Today's newspaper carried a short blurb on the selection of Carol Ann
Duffy as Britain's poet laureate.  She is described as "Duffy, 53, a
lesbian single mother...".  
I don't know anything about Duffy or her work.  I'm not a poetry fan

This seems to be British usage.
In a British novel, I read about someone going to the store to buy tomatoes,
cucumbers, peppers, and salad... this would be what we Americans call
lettuce?

Any difference between:
"in his lap"
"on his lap"
(Google Books hits are comparable)?

Seen in the Guardian today:
[quote]
David Cameron was last night ­considering removing the Conservative whip
from some of the most senior party ­backbenchers in the wake of allegations

America is China. Seems the Newspeak these days
with Obama having sold America to China.
An opening paragraph from a news article,
     The H1N1 virus has spread to China killing

From http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090512/ap_on_go_ot/us_afghanistan_general
By LARA JAKES, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - The parents of slain Army Ranger and NFL star Pat Tillman
voiced concerns Tuesday that the general who played a role in

This seems to be Eton.
Does
'missed his "blue"'
mean

News-story description on Yahoo:
"The final pick of this year's NFL draft is used to getting slack for
his last name."
(His name is Ryan Succop, pronounced "suck-up".

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/816691?UserKey=
"The owner of an Inverness-shire activity centre has warned that people
"could get hurt" if paintball guns stolen from his premises get into the
wrong hands."

Or is it something else.
http://usera.ImageCave.com/irwell/poster.jpg