Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2010

In the following sentence, can anyone please teach me what does "for
example" function?  Does it serve to tell how firm the US corporate
earnings are? It seems not to me, judging from context, that's why I
am confused.  With great thanks.

"she ran scurrying into cupboards"
what is the exact grammatical equivalent of his?
Is it
"she was scurrying into cupboards"

Now, in AmE, which one would you choose:
"hadn't the least bit of control"
or
"didn't/did not have the least bit of control?"

Many years ago, the host of CBC radio's "Morningside" issued a 'challenge'
to his listeners to write a one-page lipogram in "e".    My entry is here:
http://www.justus.ca/writings/lipogram.htm
I was recently reading about Georges Perec's novel, La Disparitio, which is

When speaking, I often use the term, "How's come", such as in, "How's come
they left early?"  People here in Newfoundland think this is strange.  
Almost everyone here says, "How come"; without the "'s".  Is either form
preferred or are both equally bad with "why" being preferred ...

Ladies and Gentlemen:
What follows is a profile of Anish Kapoor's work of art, /Marsyas/:
-----------------------
Designed as a temporary installation to fill the vast central Turbine

While driving to work this morning in Baltimore, I saw the following
on the back window of an SUV:
Little Raven's Fan On Board
In case you don't know, the Ravens are our local football team and

I'm compiling a list of what some people may conceive to be obnoxious
but popular "buzz" words and phrases that made it into the popular
lexicon during the past ten years.  "Buzz" words/phrases in this case
are popular and cool, but contribute to the decline or corruption of

I've chanced to come upon a good way to clean my CRT screen, and I
feel it's my duty as a public-spirited citizen to pass the discovery
on to others.  See
http://www.raincitystory.com/flash/screenclean.swf

In the news, Pat Robertson suggested that the earthquake in Haiti
happened because the Haitians "swore a pact to the devil".
    Is this proper usage? I would have said "pact with". The only
results on Google for "pact to" are the quotes from the Robertson story,

"What's wrong?" I asked. "Besides everything."
(P. Cornwell)
Is this the same as "Besides everything else." ?
By just "everything", something wrong that has's been qeustioned by

Any difference, in AmE, between
"kept on reigniting"
and
"kept up reigniting?"

When did this phrase first appear? And does anyone use it without irony
nowadays?
Daniele

What's the meaning of one-man company?
Is it an individual company with no employee?
Or an antonym of 'corporate'? (one-man's company)

(Thanks to those who answered my question about a toddler's
accent last summer.)
He has now picked up the local accent from his peers. But
unfortunately he's also picked up their bad grammar and says