Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2010

In a sentence I read, "I understand in practice a department
may ...."  How would that be different from writing "I understand that
in practice a department may...."
Is one correct and the other wrong? In the first example is the “that”

Would you say that the orange in the paragraph below is also used?
That text was written by a native speaker of AmE.
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Uses for orange: Orange’s greatest claim to aromatherapy fame is its

Do people ""fall" in love in many languages?  I know this is the case
in Czech  and French whereas in German one only "comes" into love.
What  about other languages?

Which one expresses, in your opinion, a stronger feeling of
irritation?
1. - You are always loosing your keys.
2. - You are forever loosing your keys.

Recently I was told that "Your car is twice bigger than mine" is ill-
formed. It is better to say "Your car is twice the size of mine" or
"Your car is twice as big as mine"?
But is it proper to say "Your car is three times bigger than mine"? If

Do you recognize this
"They made dirt in the morning and me that afternoon?"
Approximate meaning?
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He(Father) told me it was for men of desperate fortunes on one hand,
or of aspiring superior fortunes on the other, who went abroad upon
adventures, to rise by enterprise, and make themselves famous in
undertakings of a nature out of the common road; that these things

You PC experts out there - can you help me out?
In the news is Harry Reid getting himself in trouble with a remark during
the Obama campaign. He supposedly said "Obama will probably be elected
because he was "a light-skinned African-American with no negro dialect,

   Please help me with the following questions.  Thank you very much!
1. With masonry exploding aruond him, he courageously fought for those
who had been lost ___ war.
   The correct answer is "to".  I would like to know if "at" is

Is this
"commenced to waiving"
instead of
"commenced to waive"

This seems dialect, doesn't it?
"where won't nobody"
---
Esther's just for the night, for the dark, where won't nobody see you

Which way of saying 2010 is gaining the most ground?

Big Bertha Thing outlandish
OUTLANDISH PARTICLE PERIODIC TABLE
By Tony Lance Dip.Math(Open) 19th December 2009
Update IX from http://www.tonylance.talktalk.net/structur.html

1. You are not skillful, like me.
2. You are not skillful, as I am.
Does any of the above ever mean:
"neither you nor I am skillful?"

An Australian tennis commentator has just used "turnup" as an
"unexpected change of events."
Is that common? I find:
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