Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2010

Does
"swung easily over"
mean what in athletics would be called
"performed a side scissors jump?"

The usage of colon and semi-colon is a constant source of worry for
non-natives, I guess.
I found a text on the net that gives us an explanation on usage of
colon, using a quiz, as follows:

1)I have been in downtown.
2)I have been to downtown.
Both sentences show that I'm not in downtown now.
How different are they in what each means?

Of late I keep coming across the expression 'sh.t-eating grin' in AmE.
From the context I gather it means something like 'looking like the cat
that got the cream' but I am mightily puzzled. If I were eating sh.t I
don't think I'd be grinning - far from it. I know that 'sh.t' can ...

The NYPD/FDNY team is bivouacked at the airport in tents members
brought with them.   
I just like the verb.

I've noticed a tendency for English people, particularly the younger
ones, to pronounce words like "cook" sort of like "kerk". Has anyone
else noticed this, and does anyone know its origin? Are we having a
new "vowel shift"??

A sentence reads:
The property sold on July 11, and closed on September 19.
I think the above sentence should be:
The property was sold on July 11, and was closed on Sept. 19.  In

Could anyone tell me what "raining policy" is? I guess it means a
policy without new idea, but I am sure. With thanks.
Kevin

Have you ever heard:
"What is this all about with you?"
I assume it means:
"What's the matter/problem with you?"

Seen on BBC News website (see <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8463840.stm>):
-------
His private secretary, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, said: "Prince William was
delighted to be asked by the Queen to represent Her Majesty on this important

What's the meaning of
"to suck teeth?"
Is it to say
"ts, tsk?"

What accent Russel Crowe trying to pull here?
Nottinghamshire?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ApVBTX4eKc
--Iain

Hello to all,
while discussing the "n times bigger" subject I failed to find the
proper English term for a basic algebraic operation which we call
Aequivalenzumformung (literally: equivalence transformation) in German.

"Haint"
is this AAVE
for
"ghost, spirit"

1-There is no place like home
2-Home sweet home
Are they literally the same? When would you expect them to be heard,
in which contexts?