Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2010

Our son recently returned from a visit to London (the real one), where
he swears that he heard railway announcers informing people that a
certain train would "alight at...."
I thought it was the passengers who alighted from a train or bus, which

I saw this sentence, "I was trying to get people to see the need for
fiscal restraint, encompassing not just taxes but more important,
spending.  Yet all anyone focused on was taxes."  In the last part, I
feel it strange to say "all anyone", what is the function of "anyone"

I would like to know whether 'past' in the following sentence is a
preposition or an adverb.
a) A negative person will curse their luck even in the face of good
fortune, because they cannot see 'past' the green grass on the other

1) I like a dog.
2) I like dogs.
I understand like this:
1) means: There is a certain dog I like.

Could anyone tell me  what does "I was ready with a pitch" mean?
In Alan Greenspan's book, I found this sentence, he talked with
Clinton, the president-elect, about the huge deficit, and when Clinton
asked him to assess the economic condition of the US.  Greenspan said

On NPR, All Things Considered, I think.
France expects to pass a law to make one spouse insulting the other,
too much, illegal...
Consistent verbal abuse is prevalent in French marriages.

1-I'm going to have dinner at 8pm
2-I'm having dinner at 8 pm
Suppose they mean both in the future. What is the distinction between
them? And in what context are you going to use them?

To AUE "members," especially the long-timers:
Jan Sand has sent me some of his new/recent poetry and has also given
his permission for it to appear on my Web Site/Home Page.
If you've read any of Jan's writing before, you know what to expect:

I tried it, but there's no heat in the very sod.
Mind, I was reusing my own steps (my Master is not available because of
the travel difficulties), and I suppose it's possible that I'm not a saint.

What is the noun for dismissive?
dismissiveness?
dismissivity?
dismission?

I heard an interesting pronunciation the other day, in a short radio
documentary about a Noel Coward revival in western Canada.  According
to the interviewee, a woman who was involved in a production of _Still
Life_ (I think that one; I was half-napping at the time), the

I was surprised to hear "banal" pronounced BANE-uhl. To me it's always
been buh-NAHL, and until I found BANE-uhl in the dictionary I thought it
was probably an error.
Does anyone here say BANE-uhl, or know where it's regarded as normal?

The burglar alarm had gone off at seven-sixteen and now it was barely
nine-thirty.
(P Cornwell)
My eyes blurred as I tried to drift off again at 3:00 A.M.

If a law is deemed "prescriptive" does that imply that someone or
something prescribed it?
Could the laws of physics be described as prescriptive?
Cheers,       jak

This
"'M I late?"
indicates only a contraction, or also a different pronunciation, as in
"M," as opposed of "am?"