Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2010

I am reading a rather badly written book by Graham Farmelo, "The
Strangest Man--The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom," where
he writes about the goings on in Copenhagen, circa 1926. He makes this
statement, "In the evenings, most young physicists at the institute ...

Hello everybody (and everything)!
I have a question to native speakers of English (only): how much
strange do the above words sound to you?
I searched it in several dictionaries and it appears that both

"Hold him on either side," I direct Marino.
(The Last Precinct, by P.Cornwell)
context: "I" and Marino is working on a dead body on the autopsy
table.

Now
"Cavitating into unconsciousness"
this is a spectacular find,
but what's the intended meaning of it?

I see that WordSpy has a quotation from 2006, but I had never heard this
before it was used by an academic on BBC radio.  From context, it was
clear that he was talking about reducing industrial CO2 emmisions, but I
might have had problems guessing the word in isolation.

How can you criticize somebody who is so much more intelligent than
most?
http://surftofind.com/image

A news item this evening told me that Apple's iPad was the new solution
for menstrual flow. ( I gather that Apple has since come up with a less
embarrassing name, but my TV station hasn't yet received that news.)
There was not a single mention of the fact that other suppliers had

1. I'll finish the task by evening.
2. I'll finish the task by the evening.
Q1. Your preference?
Q2. Any pondial differences?

Are both 1 and 2 OK these days?
1. Einstein is a genius.
2. Einstein was a genius.
BTW, I think that:

Couldn't find a confirmation in slang dictionaries that
"raspberries" means "balls."
Is that common?
----

What does "trot in" suggest, say in contrast to "bring in?"
Fair/high speed in doing that?
----
"Before I met Chaz, he worked for a cosmetics company," she said. "He

Are there connotations between "thicker blood" and more courage?
----
For ten minutes the detective stood under a cold shower, a ritual
meant to thicken his blood in preparation for the return to Minnesota.

Does
"don't let this moron go soft on me"
mean
"don't let him become a softie right now when I need him?"

<quote>
Which of the following is true regarding a township?
.
B)    A township is a 6 miles square.

Which meaning of "cob" is considered here?
----
[The ocean's rough tonight]
"You hear all that noise?"