Discussion Groups / English Usage / June 2010

The word "shoestring" is commonly used to refer to a minimal budget
or similar resources, and (obFood) to describe thin-cut French fries.
But does anyone use it these days to refer to a piece of cord you
use to tie your shoes closed?  I certainly don't -- to me that's

»pithiatism   (noun) the treatment of certain disorders
     by persuading the patient that all is well«
   from the Concise Medical Dictionary from Oxford University Press:
http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2010/06/take_two_there_there.html

Is this a common idiom
"couple of bubbles off center?"
I assume it means out of whack, crazy to some extent, unbalanced.
Does "bubbles" show up in other idioms too?

The following two paragraphs are from NY times news analysis:
When President Obama decided last year to narrow the scope of
the nine-year war in Afghanistan and Pakistan, he and his aides
settled

According to my newspaper, today is "Elder Abuse Day".  I'm staying in
the house until "Stop Elder Abuse Day".

have one google bytes passed over the Internet yet.  I get a zillion
pages about search engine Google, yet no answer to my query.
So, a crazy word makes its way into our language for no apparent
reason, and then it gets bought out.

Can we use present tense in indirect speech. The grammar book says
that we should use past tense in indirect speech. I want to know
whether the following sentences are correct.
1. He said that the sun rises in the east.

A couple of hours ago, I tried searching for something at Google Books
as I often do, by adding the "date" command to the search field, in this
case "date:1900-1950".
To my dismay, the response had the message "date:1900-1950 was dropped

As an alternative to fart.
Heard on a movie last night starring  Michael Caine,
used to be common usage years ago.

Hello!  I asked about the meaning of the expression "one sample of a
third of the brands" in the following passage a few weeks ago.  This
time, I would like to know the meaning of the verb "note", which is
used in a participle form ***noting*** in the following passage.  I

Anyone listening to Obama, or any American, will always hear a lot of
English language errors. That infection has spread to the UK. I am
curious if people think this sentence is correct English, and what it
means:

"fairy": is it here
"as created by fairies"
or
"as inhabited by fairies?

"Red-roostered," is this blood-injected, as a rooster singing?
Also, would you feel more comfortable with a "to" in front of
"retain," or it doesn't matter, as the previous "to" is close enough?
---

What are the current rules about comma after this initial "Yet?"
I feel that in speech the pause after it could be either short or
long, depending on the stress one wants to place on the reservations
expressed by "Yet."

"Brazil scrapes past North Korea". What does "scrapes past" mean?
Thanks.