Hi, The at construction is rather more vivid and tends to conjure up a stronger image (and some language purists prefer it as being closer to the usage in physical senses) while the to construction follows the analogy of more abstract verbs such

In English usage, at least, we have the option to insert a comma before the 'and' in a list without the 'etc.'. As in 'apples, pears, and plums'. This is called the "Oxford comma". Usually it is only inserted to

American Heritage has this to say about this ongoing triviality: Writers who use hopefully as a sentence adverb, as in Hopefully the measures will be adopted, should be aware that the usage is unacceptable to many critics, including a

I never use alright. I used to consider it incorrect for a long time. Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary more or less agrees with me: — Usage. The form ALRIGHT as a one-word spelling of the phrase ALL RIGHT in all of its senses

Hi, Razer. If I may answer in a humorous vein, one bad analogy ("the weakest form of argument") deserves another. To use the fact noun X has both a countable and non-countable use, as a proof that noun Y should also; is about as futile

Critical = "life-threatening" stable = "getting neither worse nor better" My understanding is presumably coloured by descriptions of the course of a feverish illness. As it progresses, the patient eventually reaches the crisis

Famous Russian Generals in English Language Analogies: Molotov and Potemkin Potemkin as in 'Potemkin Village' a false display for a head of state, to gain prestige.Potemkin was a general in the time of 'Kitty the Great'. * Other

That's about 1:4. I got different results, though: "didn't use to" site:.uk 566 "didn't used to" site:.uk 941 which is roughly 1:2. It's still groanworthy, though. Many, many webpages of UK origin do not have a

A couple of years ago, I noticed that the bottle of inexpensive, inoffensive Chardonnay on my table was burdened with ... that redundancy idiomatic in some dialects, on the analogy of "tuna fish"? Or is "fruit" winetasters'

Robert Lieblich wrote on 16 Jul 2004: If I'm not mistaken, Bob, you've led the way in our opposition to misplaced "that"s from your one-time dinner partner, señor C. We met for lunch, not dinner. As for leading the way in