Michael West    951873 Sun, 04 Jul 04 04:09 AM "I've been trying unsuccesfully to come up with a better way of saying that. Along the way I rejected "bewore" and "was bewaren"." "I tried the same before reading your post. Every version that matched the meaning was too long; shorter versions were hopelessly clumsy or stupid." Did you try "was wary of"? Michael West

	R J Valentine    951877 Sun, 04 Jul 04 05:07 AM } }> "Alec" is not my Latvian name. I took it at naturalization. The }> people who mispronounced my name didn't even know that a Latvia }> existed. When I told them that I'm Latvian, they typically asked }> "What's that?" Now that the Warriors basketball team has drafted a }> Latvian player Andris Biedrins (diacritics on the last two }> letters omitted) maybe a few more people around here will get }> some vague ideas about Latvia's existence. } }> Geography is not a subject that the typical American is keen on. } } I didn't notice until today that, according to my newsreader, this } response of Skitt's was post No. 1,000,000 in AUE. } } Is this numbering common to all servers, or is it server-specific? I've been vaguely noticing the numbers since I switched from clark.net to smart.net when smart.net switched from their own news server (which had about six newsgroups and attracted about a tenth of the propagation) to SuperNews, which was at about 500,000 for alt.usage.english. Skitt's recent message quoted above has this number on U.S. SuperNews: Xref: sn-us alt.usage.english:974643 I was planning to mention it when it hit a million, but I guess there's no need now. Do other SuperNews users have the same number for Skitt's message? Prof. Eff? R. J. Valentine R J Valentine United States, American, Usages, Writing, Numbers

	Mark Brader    951878 Sun, 04 Jul 04 05:29 AM Maria Conlon: "That seems to be the norm here. Stand right, walk (or pass) left. Same for those conveyor walkways (the proper name of which escapes me right now, if indeed there is a "proper" name)." There's no single name that everyone agrees on. I personally use "moving walkway" if it's level, "moving ramp" if inclined. Some people say "horizontal escalator". I think some use "slidewalk", from science fiction. There is also "passenger conveyor", although that sounds like one of those expressions companies come up with in order to be able to use their trademark as an adjective. Otis's brand name for them is (or has been) "Travolator", and in Britain some people use that (often variously misspelled) as if it was a generic term. Mark Brader > "Nitwit ideas are for emergencies. The rest of the Toronto > time you go by the Book, which is mostly a collection (Email Removed) > of nitwit ideas that worked. Niven & Pournelle My text in this article is in the public domain. Mark Brader Articles, Adjectives, Expressions

	Areff    951922 Sun, 04 Jul 04 08:40 AM "Maria Conlon:" "That seems to be the norm here. Stand right, walk ... me right now, if indeed there is a "proper" name)." "There's no single name that everyone agrees on. I personally use "moving walkway" if it's level, "moving ramp" if inclined. Some people say "horizontal escalator". I think some use "slidewalk", from science fiction." I say "moving sidewalk", as do many others, apparently. Areff

	Wood Avens    951948 Sun, 04 Jul 04 10:38 AM "I tried the same before reading your post. Every version that matched the meaning was too long; shorter versions were hopelessly clumsy or stupid." "Did you try "was wary of"?" Nope. Never crossed my mind. Nice one, though. It doesn't (to me) convey absolutely and precisely what "bewared" would if it existed, but it's a lot closer than anything I'd thought of. Wood Avens spamtrap: remove the first two letters after the @ Wood Avens

	david56    951952 Sun, 04 Jul 04 10:40 AM Tony Cooper typed thus: "Standing in line to visit the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London, we saw a man walking parallel to ... wallet or a billfold. I can't. Neither man sounded Cockney, so it wasn't "Mind your hearse" or anything like that." "Wallet" or "purse" would be the most likely words. Purse, of course, is a UK/US False Friend. David == david56 Relationships, Friendships, Friends

	Wood Avens    951954 Sun, 04 Jul 04 10:49 AM "Did you try "was wary of"?" "Nope. Never crossed my mind. Nice one, though. It doesn't (to me) convey absolutely and precisely what "bewared" would if it existed, but it's a lot closer than anything I'd thought of." (Followiing up my own post) I found myself wondering why I don't see "was wary of" as an exact match for "bewared", seeing as how it looks like a literal past tense of "be ware of". After some consideration I concluded that it's because "beware" suggests to me that I need to be alert and watch out (for pickpockets, etc), whereas "be wary of" conveys to me a sense of "be nervous" which "beware" doesn't carry. Katy Jennison spamtrap: remove the first two letters after the @ Wood Avens Tenses, Past Tenses

	Maria Conlon    951955 Sun, 04 Jul 04 10:51 AM "I tried the same before reading your post. Every version thatmatched the meaning was too long; shorter versions were hopelessly clumsyor stupid." "Did you try "was wary of"?" No, not then, but yes, just now (and thank you). However, as a result of this experiment in substitution, I've realized that "bewared of" perfectly fits the style and rather humorous flavor of the piece, and I'm leaving well enough alone. And having left well enough alone, I'm hoping I can continue to follow that path. (Bets will not be taken.) Maria Conlon Maria Conlon

	Steve Hayes    951964 Sun, 04 Jul 04 11:52 AM "I've been in London since then, and I think it's always been "stand on the right" on escalators." "That seems to be the norm here. Stand right, walk (or pass) left. Same for those conveyor walkways (the proper name of which escapes me right now, if indeed there is a "proper" name)." Travelator. And yes, I notived that in the Moscow Metro there was a convention to stand to the right on escalators, and if anyone didn't they were likely to bet bumped into by people in a hurry. Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk Steve Hayes