Search found 8546 matches
- Fri Apr 16, 2021 4:45 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: Slippery
- Replies: 3
- Views: 140
Re: Slippery
I take the use of "slippery" in that exchange as signifying that A thinks Cuomo is a dishonourable person who will use his privilege, power and position to elude legal retribution for "[murdering B's] mother-in-law in a NY nursing home".
- Thu Apr 15, 2021 4:02 am
- Forum: No, wait. Don't tell me
- Topic: Letter from a farm kid
- Replies: 1
- Views: 96
Letter from a farm kid
Dear Ma and Pa, I am well. I hope you are too. Tell Walt and Elmer from me that the U.S. Army beats working for old man Doggett by a mile. They oughta join up quick before all of the places are taken. I was restless at first because you got to stay in bed till nearly 6 a.m., but I am getting so I li...
- Wed Apr 14, 2021 3:53 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: Whoop ass
- Replies: 7
- Views: 216
Re: Whoop ass
The photo appears to depict the interior of a transport aircraft full of troops who are being taken somewhere. The implication of the description (which appears to be from an American) is that these troops will be giving grief to someone at their destination. In this context, the "can" is the aircra...
- Mon Apr 12, 2021 6:17 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: Food ordinary
- Replies: 4
- Views: 174
Re: Food ordinary
The speaker has rather idiosyncratically elided some of the words that would normally form part of a description like this, rather as though they were speaking in bullet points: The place is expensive, the food is ordinary , but the place is wildly popular with locals. In other words, it's the spoke...
- Sun Apr 11, 2021 4:14 pm
- Forum: Word Origins and Meanings
- Topic: The Peter Principle
- Replies: 3
- Views: 270
Re: The Peter Principle
Thanks, Ken, for a useful summary describing an all-too-common phenomenon. You might also like to take a look at this description of Parkinson's Law, which states that "work expands to fill the time available for its completion". The book of the same name in which its propounder, C Northcote Parkins...
- Sat Apr 10, 2021 2:36 pm
- Forum: Addicts' Corner
- Topic: The Duke of Edinburgh
- Replies: 3
- Views: 301
- Sat Apr 10, 2021 1:10 pm
- Forum: Addicts' Corner
- Topic: The Duke of Edinburgh
- Replies: 3
- Views: 301
Re: The Duke of Edinburgh
It seems that I'm not alone in finding the coverage excessive: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/apr/10/bbc-flooded-with-complaints-over-prince-philip-coverage The story in The Guardian summarises just how much of the BBC's regular programming was pulled from the airwaves in order to accommodat...
- Sat Apr 10, 2021 12:58 am
- Forum: Addicts' Corner
- Topic: The Duke of Edinburgh
- Replies: 3
- Views: 301
Re: The Duke of Edinburgh
The other wordings that I've heard being used to decorate or obfuscate Prince Philip's racism are "forthright" and "He spoke his mind". I've been trying all day to get away from the Duke of Edinburgh, but every damn BBC broadcast channel has been given over to picking over his life in exhausting det...
- Sat Apr 10, 2021 12:33 am
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: whoever
- Replies: 3
- Views: 304
Re: whoever
I can't see anything wrong with Phil's answer.
- Thu Apr 08, 2021 6:45 am
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: emphasis
- Replies: 2
- Views: 187
Re: emphasis
Purely because of the apparent emphasis given to the temporal aspect in 2), I would tentatively link 1) with b) and 2) with a). But the context in which the utterance is embedded would be the chief guide to the intended meaning. As far as the emphasis is concerned, if the intention was to underscore...
- Mon Apr 05, 2021 7:22 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: neither
- Replies: 2
- Views: 247
Re: neither
The pairing of "neither / nor" to describe phenomena in two or more negative terms is a familiar one, e.g. The government's decision is neither fair nor sensible. The president was neither sharp, nor well-informed, nor given to acting in good faith. However, either word can be used to introduce a fo...
- Sun Apr 04, 2021 10:58 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: Juice
- Replies: 5
- Views: 352
Re: Juice
It's pretty common here in the UK... By which I mean that I've said it myself, especially when I was still using the phone I had before this one. 

- Sat Apr 03, 2021 3:06 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: more a technician
- Replies: 3
- Views: 343
Re: more a technician
8 ) is the best (and most obviously appropriate) formulation. 7) is understandable, though the mismatch in grammatical number is an issue. 9) strikes me as an unnatural utterance. A native speaker would surely speak of "the {best / most competent (etc.)} technician" rather than "the most technician"...
- Sat Apr 03, 2021 6:42 am
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: more a technician
- Replies: 3
- Views: 343
Re: more a technician
Not in my book. I think it works perfectly well in formal usage. In fact, I think it is the most businesslike of the usages for comparisons of this kind. The ranking from formal to informal goes 1), 2), 3). The formulations that don't work are 4) and 5). In the absence of supporting context, both (a...
- Wed Mar 31, 2021 1:35 am
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: altogether
- Replies: 4
- Views: 813