Hi myid, and welcome to the forums. In general, is less than... can be She is not as as... (As an American, I say "not as X as" but I think in BrE it's "not so X as") She is less old than you think =

Yeah, OK, so they are unacceptably uninformed. No argument ... it's a bit arrogant on your part to do so. I don't think so, Coop. I can't see how any non-mentally-impaired contemporary American can be excused, on grounds of lack of

What is the name of the ending of a letter, e.g. "sincerely" or "yours truly?" I guess it would be the antonym of "salutation?" Complimentary close. Occasionally just "close" or the bureaucratic solecism

The earliest citation in American English seems to be 1909. Tagalog, according to Partridge. According to just about everyone else too. Here's a quote from one of the more detailed ones (turoturo.com): "The Tagalog word bundok:

No, you're right and I'm wrong. It is indeed in NSOED93. The dictionary I was thinking about came out a few years ago, a hefty one-volume dictionary. Was it the Oxford American Dictionary ? The hefty one-volume dictionary is the New Oxford

Wouldn't "jocular" describe the remark and "jocose" the person making it? I don't see any difference in the dictionary definitions. I got my initial impression from my desk dictionary (I don't naturally use either

"covert" as a part of the definition of terrorism is not naturally there. If you're talking about covert action, then why not use that phrase instead of terrorism? Because that might simplify this portmanteau too much for the purpose