Discussion Groups / English Usage / July 2009

"Look the business": appear to be the culprits?
"Snatch squads": arresting squads?
"Pick off": catch?
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Some of you are probably are sick and tired of hearing this from me --
but I really would like to know some decent books. I like mystery
novels, crimes novel, and few others.
Stuff I don't want in novels are sex, politics, and I would like

"cut him up": crossed with his car in front of him?
"pig stuck by Spurs":?, I'm not getting his, probably injured
The "Spurs," of course, are the "Tottenham Hotspurs" (fans).
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What does the infinitive "to reduce" mean in this sentence?
"Pyrotechnics are also used extensively in musical concerts and
television studios. Special chemicals are used to reduce smoke or
lingering sparks."

I can't find the recent thread about 'than I' v. 'than me,' but that
may be as well. It has probably sharpened my sensibilities, though,
so it's not surprising that I stumbled over this, posted a few
minutes ago in another group:

Pls "vote" and comment on each of:
1. "Seeing this picture calms him."
2.  "Seeing this picture, he calms down."
3.  "(On/Upon) seeing this picture, he calms down."

Ladies and Gentlemen:
What does it mean to describe a person as Mussolini?
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Must you write complete sentences each time, every time? Perish the

Below is the first half of an opening address given by a Chinese
scholar in English to a group of American visiting scholars at a
symposium held in China around 1980. There has been heated debate in
some Chinese forums about whether this address demonstrates the

I am confused about the usgage of the structure " wrap something up"
vs " wrap up something".
I often hear people say "wrap it up" but " wrap up the work", not
"wrap the work up". Am I correct?

In today's Independent on Sunday, a caption to a photograph of Aung San
Suu Kyi describes her as "defiant and dignant". I have never encountered
"dignant" before: have others? I can't find it in OED but the Urban
Dictionary has it.

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[Two rival British soccer gangs eyeing each other]
They clocked us coming the other way and took off. You could smell
sh.t over the petrol fumes, which is saying something in Hammersmith.

What does "out of trace" mean?

Is the male dancer (Kobborg) here wearing a "cravat?"
If not, what are the names used?
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Thanks.

On 20 July, 14:45, "WbbuoyantF...@gmail.com" <wbbuoyantf...@gmail.com>
wrote:
[snip pron spam]
Talking of lesbians, has anyone ever encountered the label 'WWHSWW'?

Ladies and Gentlemen:
I was reading a piece of news regarding search engines.
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Microsoft Corp. has finally roped Yahoo Inc. into an Internet search