"Hallowe'en Eve" flashed the huge strapline on a British television ... remember seeing this particular construction before; no doubt others have. Another outrage of American English foisted upon us. Takes two for a successful foist

"Hallowe'en Eve" flashed the huge strapline on a British television programme on Friday afternoon. And the presenters went on to talk about it entirely unselfconsciously. I can't remember seeing this particular construction

"Hallowe'en Eve" flashed the huge strapline on a British television programme on Friday afternoon. And the presenters went on to talk about it entirely unselfconsciously. I can't remember seeing this particular construction

Does "The only countries I've been to are the United ... been to are the United States and Canada" does not? Well, we can carry this on a little further. "Canada is the only one of the only countries I've been to that

"One of the few" implies a small number; "few" is ... it's *the one*. "One of the one" just doesn't work.) Does "The only countries I've been to are the United States and Canada" sound odd to

I was taught you don't hyphenate a compound noun in that construction. Sot it's real estate agent, because real estate is a compound noun. But so is so why go hyphenless and raise the possibility of an unreal one?

Um, one would hyphenate "high-school teacher", wouldn't one? I was taught you don't hyphenate a compound noun in that construction. Sot it's real estate agent, because real estate is a compound noun, but one takes a

on 01 Nov 2003: Dare I ask why you think it's sloppy? I assume that when people ask for advice about how to write or say something, they want formal advice, or advice for formal occasions. But why should you assume that? People often, when

We certainly have accepted constructions similar to "the only" the problem is probably just that this one is new. ... recently, but it does not look nearly so strange today. I predict that it will be accepted within twenty years. Or in

> > We would all find this acceptable "Canada is one of only three countries to ..." We certainly have accepted constructions similar to "the only" the problem is probably just that this one is new. It allows vagueness in