RayH  +  552234 Thu, 07 Aug 08 07:32 PM New2grammar “strapless tank top” It is with great trepidation that I venture into this discussion and I do so only in the interest of complete accuracy. After much research and the viewing of many pictures (hey, someone has to do it ) I have determined that a "strapless tank top" is in fact a "tube top" and that all tank tops do in fact have, pretty much by definition, shoulder straps. http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all&q=%22tube+top%22&btnG=Search+Images http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all&q=%22tank+top%22&btnG=Search+Images RayH Joined on Sat, Mar 22 2008 Contributing Member 1,555 Native speaker of U. S. English. Not a grammar expert. Grammar

	Grammar Geek  +  552236 Thu, 07 Aug 08 07:35 PM An oxymoron contracticts itself. A tank top has sleeves. A sleeveless tank top is an oxymoron. As Ray was kind enough to research for us, your'e desribing a tube top. Which of the tenses would you have changed to present perfect? How would you have witten the sentence? Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,683 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random! Tenses, Present Perfect

	New2grammar  +  552238 Thu, 07 Aug 08 07:42 PM Thanks, RayH! I get it now. I thought a tube top revealed the tummy, thus the shape of a tube. http://www.worldofstock.com/slides/PMO2058.jpg Grammar Geek “you politely ignore it as though nothing had happened” I got it now. The reason you used "had happened" was that "as though" makes the following clause hyphothetical. Sorry for the confusion. Thanks, GG. New2grammar Grammar, Clauses