Discussion Groups / British English / August 2005

the young man and women who carry away our degrees are a very
attractive lot-in looks,in bodily fitness,in kindliness,energy,courage
and buoyancy.
so,what's the meaning of lot here?

what are the most common expresions with colours that people around you use
most often?
if I am asked I know those, I mean I recall them at once:
green fingers

Hello, I'm a guy learning English and I have some short audio samples
(about 10 sec each) with some words in it I can't catch exactly.
The files are located at http://xoomer.virgilio.it/deci75/
and the problematic parts should replace "????" :

"I've been known be attracted to a wide range of appearances. I'm more
concerned with chemistry and personality. "
wot is meaning of chemistry above? does that mean blood?

What expressions do you know concerning death? I mean: "die"
turn your toes up
from Polish: "smell flowers from bottom".....awkward a bit, help me.
kick the bucket

What are the most popular tongue twisters that an ordinary native speaker
knows for 100%?
Pawe³

what does done-went mean in the following sentence?
 our father decided what they wanted to do in life,which was very
often what their fathers has done-went to college or apprenticed
themselves,and persued the same career until retirement.

good wishes to you all.

"Life is the art of dreaming sufficient conclusions from insufficient
premises."
in the sentence above ,wot does the "dream.... from "mean?
means conclude?imagine?get? or ....

What is a pejorative word for die? Not a curse but carrying a load of
abhorrence?
Pawe³
Warsaw, Poland

'stimying', 'stymieing', 'stymying'
==================================
For the 'ing' form of the verb 'to stymie', OED2 gives only 'stimying',
used in a golfing context in 1857.

post it note 'type' program that I can use to keep me reminded of things I
should not forget when I am writing. I use word for all my word processing
and need something I can keep on top (if you know what I mean). I dont want
to use real post-it-notes for a number of reasons that ...

Yesterday I heard something which didn't sound right - a reference to
"iller" patients in a radio programme about hospital funding.  I would
have said "sicker" instead.  "Iller" and "illest" sound incorrect.
The forms "more/most ill" sound more acceptable but I would still

Pronunciation:
ballet    http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=5731&dict=CALD
beret    http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=7029&dict=CALD
bunch of flowers ...also but I forgot spelling

What are informal names for pound?
quid
...
Pawe³