Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2010

Headline of the year so far?
'Scant cant can't hide Bernard-Henri Levy's Kant embarrassment '
<http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/scant-cant-cant-hide-
bernard-henri-levys-kant-embarrassment/story-e6frg6so-1225828475924>

What's the word that describes a person who takes himself seriously?
Are there other such words?
Thanks.
Tom

Is "subtle nuances" redundant when referring to indirectly spoken
meanings?

"Twenty-five to fifty" is of course the length of the sentence,  but
what does "she dropped him for ... " exactly mean? Is it "charged?"
---
[Wolfe is a District Attorney]

Do you think we're talking about an "on to=onto" here?
"Our faltering few steps on
To white rest"
Also, does it indicate position ("on") or direction ("toward")?

First time I see "play-in game":
---
Canada, the gold-medal favorite, was expected to coast into the medal
round. But now, after nearly losing to Switzerland and being outplayed

Here's an interview with Patrica Cornwell.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN3GxOUPbms
Entirely her English is a little fast for me.
I hear that the interviewer asks about the belt she has on there.

Do you recognize "rolled in" as "nabbed/grabbed/arrested?"
What exactly is a
"cotton shirt, button cuffs?"
All the cuffs have buttons nowadays:-)

Sand Rail:
Sand rail is a new word for me.
It is a new type of dune buggy (no doors or windows).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandrail\

I can't make sense of "slim" in
"And of his race starvation slim"
----
A Cliff Dwelling

Marino: "Wolfman gives us pawns to knock off the board."
context:
Wolfman is a feronious criminal in prison.
And he is connected to a big underground orgination.

"Dropped to her haunches"
does it it
"crouched,"
just faster?

A letter of comment to a recent television news program was shown on the
screen and read aloud by the host. I was surprised at the written usage
of
"deep-seeded."

Belibeleaguered author Simon Singh is trying to get Britain's
political parties to include the reform of English libel laws in their
manifestos. He reckons this would be more likely if the Libel Reform
Campaign's petition

Hypo squozen decimal point:
I despise seeing (or rather not seeing) a decimal point
hidden within a number.  Is it 113 or 11.3?
Is it a decimal pointor a dot that is connected to