Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2010

Both buildings are sprinkled and meet Baltimore County Fire Codes for
an Assisted Living Facility

Odd the topics that crop up round the dining table. We spent a large part
of Christmas dinner for twelve discussing the pronunciation of Elastoplast
(=AmE 'Band-Aid', I think). Any doubt as to how to say the word will
probably only arise among a small subset of English speakers, ...

This is not quite a language usage question, but since I still haven't
received
a reply from the alt.literature group I thought that maybe I would
have better

"lay up with him"
I'm not getting the BrE meaning here.
Was Sebastian using that sailor's sleeping accomodations for the
while?

Is this
"She's had her nose down"
a common idiom, inspired by hunting?
-----

Would you say that
"Chap I saw today ..."
flows better than
"A chap I saw today ..."

I'm more familiar with windows opening "on to" something.
Any possible reason for "into" here?
-----
It was a long, elaborate, symmetrical Adam room, with two bays of

"It seems a lap to me"
does it mean
"great/lucky find?"
BrE only?

1. "no time to reply; time for  a laugh"
Now, was there or wasn't there time _for a laugh_?
2. "apologized for not being there to welcome them"
This sounds to me (perhaps intentionally) ambiguous.

A little something by way of New Years greetings to all on AUE:
http://www.bankgatetutors.co.uk/in_the_bluegrass_winter.mp3
(I borrowed a mandoline over the holidays.  Next year I hope to borrow
a book on how to play it.)

I'm not quite getting
"I'm of age and not certified yet"
as I am not sure what "being certified" meant then.
-----

Is
"may I make so bold as to"
still used?
Very formal (or jokingly formal), I guess?

I'm not getting "not to speak to for any time."
Does it mean that the meeting with Julia at Ryders' wedding was
perfunctory, without speaking?
-----

Hi, native speakers of English,
here is a new query. When I read or hear about someone who has Indian blood
how do I know whether her/his ancestor came from India or America?
To put it another way: How do I specify that someone's ancestor came from

"concerned with"
is this still used in BrE
for
"(sexually) involved with?"