Best way to learn English is by mingling with English-speaking crowd. Never be shy even if you feel your grammar or vocabulary may not be right. Just go ahead and fire your dialogues! You will then learn automatically. Everyday would be a new

Steve Hayes wrote on 29 Nov 2004: Steve Hayes wrote on 29 Nov 2004: If you use ... etc. That is clear from the "and killing 88 people". In my understanding, you mainly decimate people, thought the metaphor can be extended to other

But I'm not aware of this "exclusively to police interrogations" usage. I still use it and hear it used to generally mean "unnecessarily detailed and long questioning". Much like "The Spanish Inquistion".

"Michael West" (Email Removed) wrote on 02 Mar 2004: I've wondered that myself. I doubt there's any good reason ... I'd guess it's just shorthand that leapt the corral fence. I don't teach students to use