Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2010

"Doing dinner"
does it mean
"preparing dinner"
or

I wonder what's the exact meaning of "lit out for" here and its
connotations.
Seems to  be related to "moved to/left for."
----

Does HTF have a chance?
I Keep six honest serving-men:
   (They taught me all I knew)
Their names are What and Where and When

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-AXTx4PcKI>
Approximately 1 minute and 25 seconds into this, Alec Baldwin says:
"...just one week to regain your jobs, starting with tonight. Starting
with tonight's sit."

Jerome David Salinger passed away at 91.
Until now I didn't know what "JD" stands for.

"SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (KABC) -- The Menifee Union School District has
reached a compromise over the dictionaries that are available in its
classrooms.
Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionaries were pulled from fourth and

"Get with"
does it mean
"go on with/continue with"
or

Twice a week, or once every two weeks?  Even in context, you generally
can't decipher what is meant.  By the time you explain what you meant,
you've wasted more verbiage than you could have possibly saved by
using 'biweekly'.

Does anyone know how the verb "to mount" came to be used for the
actions needed to result in the presentation of a play?
Thank you in advance.
dorij

If, following University of Chicago style, I end a sentence by
saying ... to the tune of "O Tannenbaum" does the period come before
or after the closing quotation mark?

Do you think
"randomly"
is the right adverb here?
I am considering a different adverb and a different order:

According to online dictionaries, "preferrable" is not a word, but
"preferable" is.  Do a google search for:
   preferrable | preferable
and almost everyone uses "preferrable".  This intuitively seems better

the middle station of life was calculated for all kind of virtues and
all kind of enjoyments;
(The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe)
Question about "all kind of"

'below the picture lies a Latin inscription in a tiny fancy font: ...'
Or is it lays?

Could anyone please tell me what does "double down" mean, say,
President Obama doubles down on stimulus.  I checked dictionaries and
only found "double up".  With thanks.
Kevin in Hong Kong