But why was the rapacious female identified as a 'vampire' ... the notion of vampire - Webster dates it as 1734.) Any chance that a silent movie with female vampires spawned a short-lived makeup\clothing style? Because the sense of

Is it just me, or do constructions of the form: ... Bob talking about me, who always likes to be early?" Yes, they do. I think, though, that it's just because they're a lot less common. This may be because we ... in the informality of

Is it just me, or do constructions of the form: "Peter, who is always punctual, was late this morning" "Jane, ... Bob talking about me, who am (??) always punctual?" "Is Bob talking about me, who always likes to be

It's not the custom, I know, of this group to publish book reviews. My excuse is that this isn't really a review of one specific book. It is, rather, a gripe about some disturbing trends in the publishing industry. As a result, there

A *lot* of musician slang is informal, changes shape, shifts meaning and has more than one meaning and has ... "bebop" for example there's no formal authority to define them. They mean what the speaker means them to mean. Whoa. First

Does anyone know the origin or the meaning of a Sweet 16 party? The phrase "sweet sixteen" is counter-factual, as almost any parent will testify. My own daughter was sweet, very sweet, up to the age of 14. As soon as it became noticeable

This illustrates a difference between US and UK custom. British chequebooks are attached to a small counterfoil (cheque stub) which ... are accompanied by a separate "check register" where the user writes the same information as would be

The counterfoil of a check is the part retained by ... counterfoils anymore? (I read the word in a 1950s book) This illustrates a difference between US and UK custom. British chequebooks are attached to a small counterfoil (cheque stub) which ...

Why should the "e" be silent? On the model of other words with "yle" like style and Carlyle. "Styleguide" isn't "sty-le-guide". At that point, I was speaking from the point of view of someone who only

Let's put aside that a better sentence construction would eliminate the problem. I think that fact should never be put aside. What guidance can you provide my friend to choose between that and which in sentences similar to those above? You may