Discussion Groups / English Usage / June 2009

We have instructions from a doctor saying to take a medication
    "1 PO QOD."  
First cut, I assumed "QOD" stood for "quotidian," which means "every
day," but Google found a site where among many other medical

I notice that some in (Southern? American?) English usage the numeral "one"
(plural "some") are used in place of an indefinite article. I suppose
that "one" is not completely replacing "a(n)", but both are used with
distinctive functions.

Gale Storm died.  Anybody remember her? (My Little Margie)

My girlfriend asked me this question, and I'm having a little trouble
providing a solid answer: What is the correct usage of "turn on" as a
noun (as in, something that arouses you)? "Turn on" or "turn-on"?
Consistency with the verb form leads me to favour "turn on", but I

Let me ask you a question about the following cartoon.
http://www.halfthedeck.com/html/Messy-Bull.html
What looks like a cow  is saying, "Actually dear, I was raised in a
barn."

Wife's college put on a (somewhat reduced) version of Guys & Dolls last
week, and very enjoyable it was.  I am keen on musicals and I count this
amongst the top five;  they certainly didn't ruin it.
However, throughout the performance, and in the programme, the dice game

Please correct me, if i am wrong!
Thanks in advance,
ferdl

It was so fun.
It was so much fun.
Which is correct?

There is a Lear limerick that begins:
"There was an Old Man on some rocks,
 Who shut his wife up in a box."
 This was written maybe in the 1860s or the 1870s. Was "rocks" used then

Ian MacWhirter in the Glasgow Herald:
"Ten years ago this week, as we waited for the Queen formally to open
the Scottish Parliament, I was still in the throws of moving back from
London, where I'd been working in Westminster for over a decade."

Heard on the news tonight:  Michael Jackson's father said that Michael
would have been touched by the adoration shown by people over his
death.

I've picked up a new hobby-writing haiku. However, since English is
not my mother tongue, sometimes I have problems counting syllables in
a word. So here are my questions:
a) How many syllables in 'fire'? I pronounce it something along the

My father insisted that "under the circumstances" was incorrect usage
and "in the circumstances" was correct. He never said why and I never
asked him.
Anyone have an opinion about his opinion?

Context: TV shows.
Is this correct?
In AmE, 'Doctor Who' is the 'series,' and this year's set of episodes is
the new 'season.'

Which of the following sentences is correct English?
Most of her family lives in Britain
or
most of her family live in Britain?