Discussion Groups / English Usage / September 2009

Am I right in assuming that the "was" is replaceable by "were" in the
following (there's already a "were" in there)? Presumably writer's
choice, to inject more informality and variety.
----

"Technically we're not on strike since we're not uniionized"
Since when does there have to be a union to for people to strike.

What do these fashion terms mean?
"dart-fitted front"
"fronts are faced and rolled"
"revers"

viewn
Do you use this "word"?
I've assembled a few examples from Google Groups and Books searches.
http://dadge.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/viewn/

http://www.google.com.au/
Ed

I thought the words came straight out of the French - chaise longue.
But everyone I hear, even a teacher-friend who knows some French,
calls it a chaise lounge.

Sometimes prescriptivism gets you to the right place:
"Based on mtDNA, S. pyrrholaemus is placed within S. erythrothorax
sensu lato, and consequently is only a species (rather than a
subspecies of S. erythrothorax) if at least some of the taxonomy

Here an excerpt from Steven Pinker's articel:
Words for sex can be even more touchy, because they not only evoke the
charged thoughts but implicate a sharing of these thoughts between two
people. The thoughts, moreover, are shared "on the record," each party

what does it mean, "legs up to her chin" ? it was used to described a
girl. does it mean "long legs"? couldn't find it anyware.
the other question is "drive-by", it was seen in "Desperate
housewives" when Bree said to her son :" he (referring to his gay

How do I understand the expression "be in alignment" in below
sentence?
"A company and B company are in alignment with respect to C issue."
In case that C issue is a work of implementing function of a device,

Re:
"The buffet was ennobled to the amorous and extravagant."
Does "to" here refer/lead to:
"ennobled in the direction of adding amorous and extravagant dishes"

Yet again, an announcement on TV has left me puzzled as to why the TV
people pronounce things differently from my pronunciation. Perhaps I
should stop watching TV.
I have been instructed to go to an address of the form

In:
---
She was one of those people who ARE infatuated with patent medicines
and all new-fangled methods of producing health or mending it.

Is "stand" in
"were bidden stand"
a noun?
Does the expression mean

There's a pet store near us, and on the wall it has a sign "Licenced to
sell animals".
That should be "licensed".
One has a licence, but one is licensed.