Discussion Groups / English Usage / July 2009

M Dubuisson (a Frenchman) speaks a pretty formal English, but it seems
very correct.
There is no comma between "Well" and "may". Also, there's the
inversion "may you."

Wouldn't "during which" be preferable here to "while?" I mean, we're
talking about just the "letting the dog out" as being, probably, a
short event.
----

Now, "occasionally" means "now and then."
I've a difficulty figuring out what "to see something of Quiggin"
exactly means.
Doesn't "something of" mean the same "occasionally" in this context?

Does "ewe" usually refer to any female sheep in general
or more specific to a mother sheep? (I.e. it wouldn't
then be appropriate for "Chili" of German Children TV Channel,
who has a wild red wool-do, drives a stunt motorbike

What would be your first take about
"building up for my corporation?"
Is it perfectly natural, or do you think Powell puts in his mouth a
sentence which is a bit too "heavy/constructed" for the native English

I googled up the expression "Now you're talking like a man with a paper
a.shole" and got nowhere. No one seems to know what it means exactly, or
what the derivation is. I know that we sometimes call the looseleaf binder
hole reinforcement tapes paper a.sholes, because they are ...

I've heard the expression "old soul" used three times in the last couple
of days. Does it actually have any meaning, or is it, as I suspect, a
bit of New Age nonsense that doesn't mean anything at all?

Its interesting to read about Abraham Lincoln in well written english!
               http://surftofind.com/abelinc

Hi , Few days ago I attended an interview and right after that I sent
a Thank You note to the Managers I was interviewed with. And one of
the Managers responded with nice comments. One of the comments that he
made was

Does anyone know when the book BARRON'S TOEFL 13th edition will
finally FINALLY come out?
The 12th edition has been out since 2006 and i hope that ETS does not
slap on 2010 on the cover of the new Barrons book for 2010 and yet it

Like most people (I would hazard a guess) I say "sacreligious" - is this
through usage considered the 'correct' pronunciation?

The House of Commons Public Administration Committee yesterday heard
evidence on official language from David Crystal, Professor of
Linguistics, Bangor University, Matthew Parris, The Times, Marie Clair,
Plain English Campaign, and Simon Hoggart, The Guardian

No, this post isn't about chocolate.  Not yet at any rate.
I was quite surprised this morning to read in a newspaper column
someone being advised not to 'curry intimacy'.  The meaning was clear,
it fit well in the context, but I couldn't remember ever hearing of

Is "line regiment" an infantry regiment, in BrE?
---
He had begun his soldiering in a line regiment; later, with a view to
being slightly better paid, exchanging into the Army Service Corps.

When I came across the phrase "Till death do us apart" for the
second time within a few weeks I decided to check Google to see
how common it is. Of course, I didn't know that it was the title
of a romantic TV series and a Madonna song: