http://www.englishforums.com/search/pro.htm?q=tag%3aSynonyms+tag%3aUnited+StatesSearch results for 'tag:Synonyms tag:United States' matching tags 'Synonyms' and 'United States'en-USXMOD (Build: 3715.30106)http://www.englishforums.com/English/DialectalVariationTests/mkghd/post.htm#1065597Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:13:51 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1065597kooyeenThanks for the answer CB! What is acceptable varies from person to person and therefore there can be no guidelines or standards that are always applicable. You are right. There are lots of regional variations that people never take into account, so when somebody says "in the US/UK this word is not used" it's hard to believe them. The problem is that I'm afraid in/on those tests you might be required to be consistent in the way you use English, that is, you might have to avoid mixing up typically British expressions or spellings with typically American alternatives. What a pain. Why can't I pretend that in "my dialect" cell phone and mobile are synonyms, and that when I'm (the) hospital I can drop...http://www.englishforums.com/English/AQuizWithAnswers/jpgdq/post.htm#827349Mon, 20 Jul 2009 08:13:13 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:827349mister micawber1. Depression was very common among hostel residents and people of no fixed ABODE. A. home B.domicile C.residence D.abode -- ALL of your answers are possible! You'll need to change A, B and C or start again with a different question. 2. The kingship was left in ABEYANCE for three years after the crown prince came of age. A. recess B.suspension C.waiting D.abeyance -- AOK 3. When the exhibit of his paintings opened, some critics cast ASPERSIONS on both his art and character. A.criticism B.disapproval C.aspersions D.abuse- - AOK, but you may get some complaints. 4. Everyone has thought in the ABSTRACT about war and then maybe worried about it....http://www.englishforums.com/English/OlderOldestElderEldest/jwrwl/post.htm#791157Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:13:13 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:791157alpheccastarsAll of them are correct. Here are some usage notes from the dictionary: Usage Note: The adjective elder is not a synonym for elderly. In comparisons between two persons, elder means "older" but not necessarily "old": My elder sister is sixteen; my younger, twelve. (Eldest is used when three or more persons are compared: He is the eldest of four brothers.) In other contexts elder does denote relatively advanced age but with the added component of respect for a person's achievement, as in an elder statesman. If age alone is to be expressed, one should use older or elderly rather than elder: A survey of older Americans; an elderly waiter. · Unlike elder and its related forms, the adjectives old, older, and oldest...http://www.englishforums.com/English/MetWith/2/jznvm/Post.htm#781147Tue, 16 Jun 2009 06:36:42 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:781147goodmanLiat. If you insist the sentence is correct, can you please educate me which one of the following definitions meets the grammatical requirement of the sentence in question? For the benefit of a slight doubt, I will invite other's opinions. But I will tell you which one supports my arguments along with the sentence examples I had posted, #3. If I were wrong by definition of the mainstream American English standard, I will eat whatever it is thrown my way. Mind you, it's "met with" which is a phrasal verb. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/meet v. met (m t) , meet·ing , meets v. tr. 1. To come upon by chance or arrangement. 2. To be present at the arrival of: met the train. 3. To be...http://www.englishforums.com/English/Administration/jvhhd/post.htm#773649Wed, 10 Jun 2009 03:34:23 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:773649cliveHi, Was this sentence written by a British person? I have some doubts, because in my experience the use of the word 'administration' as a synonym for 'government' is a feature of American English. For that reason. I'd say that neither 'Brown administration' or 'Brown's administration' is common. Best wishes, Clivehttp://www.englishforums.com/English/UseUsage/jcmrj/post.htm#767663Sat, 06 Jun 2009 09:34:29 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:767663abraxas25I always thought those words could be used synonymously as nouns (when 'usage' doesn't refer to a habit). From Dictionary.reference.com: Usage: The act, manner, or amount of using; use:  the usage of a technical term; an instrument that measures water usage.  Use: The manner of using; usage:  learned the proper use of power tools. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition According to  Wiktionary, the words are synonyms.http://www.englishforums.com/English/HowSupposedDifference/wkbvb/post.htm#718521Wed, 06 May 2009 14:47:57 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:718521philipAs Prof Dunc has indicated, they aren't all synonyms. Furthermore, I would suggest that antecedent is rarely used to refer to ancestors (it's more often a grammatical term). Precursor, forerunner, predecessor, progenitor usually do not suggest family ties , but just someone (something) that came before the current objcet. I use the American Heritage Dictionary of English: it is very good at offering uses as well as the definition.http://www.englishforums.com/English/ProvidedThat/wjldh/post.htm#717188Tue, 05 May 2009 20:21:53 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:717188goodmanHi, I have always used "provided " as the correct form. But after researching on line, I believe both are coorect. Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. provided, providing ( conjs. ) These two are synonyms, meaning “on condition (that)” or “if”: I will attend every session, providing that I can get transportation. Both are Standard. That is often omitted in Conversational and Informal contextshttp://www.englishforums.com/English/Q/wzpjh/post.htm#697365Tue, 14 Apr 2009 08:28:08 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:697365avangiI take "usage" as a particular standard or non-standard way of using something. It's a noun. "Practice" is almost a synonym. Breaking a raw egg into one's beer seems like a strange usage / practice. We say "the practice of X," but I don't think we say "the usage of X." "Practice" is also a verb, as is "use," but "usage" is only a noun. "Usage" is commonly used to describe a standard way of doing something in language. "In formal English, It aint no good is not an acceptable usage." As I said, "use" can be a verb. "I use my computer every day." "I use ain't when I'm speaking...http://www.englishforums.com/English/ThePrisonUniversityMetaphor-Review/6/hqbjw/Post.htm#663961Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:04:55 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:663961sprocketYank is a generic term that any foreigner could use to describe any American Not here (UK) it isn't. It can only apply to (any) citizen of the USA. Yankee is a specific term, used by Americans in the south-eastern part of the US It's also used here (UK) as a synonym for 'Yank', and has been at least since the 1940s and probably before. JShttp://www.englishforums.com/English/BooksReadingRecommendation-Request/4/hmwdb/Post.htm#646232Sat, 04 Aug 2007 07:13:55 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:646232richard maurerWhen I first read Catch-22, probably about 40 years ago, I ranked it as one of the best books I'd ever read. The film of the book was also good. (And from me, that's high praise. Usually I hate films based on books I've liked.) About two years ago I read the book again, and that time I found it pretty good, but not really laugh-inducing. Perhaps you had to read it in the right era. A factor in making the era right was that there was nothing like it in the decade before, just hundreds of stories about heroic efforts (1). Afterwards there were hundreds of books and movies treating the dark comedy insanities of war and bad leadership. When the book came out all that was a big surprise, which helps in the inducing of laughs. As...http://www.englishforums.com/English/OneMoreTime/jvcbz/post.htm#771983Fri, 20 Jul 2007 03:11:24 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:771983I apologize for posting this twice, but Google is being oogly. NFL star Michael Vicks indicted for participating in dog-fighting: Tonight *** suggested a link between pit bull fighting and hip hop. This is news to me, Ive been into hip hop (graffiti, rhyming, b- boying, and turntablism) since the late 70's. OReilly and the rest of the media use Hip Hop as a synonym for Rapping. Whatever. Im into Rap music as well, and I had no idea about these fighting dog farms. I knew Big Boi from Outcast had a huge pitbull farm in GA, but I figured since he let MTV film Cribs there, that he was stricktly breeding dogs for sale. Who knows. Mike Vick is a scumbag, hes not a rapper, hes not hip-hop. Just because someone is black, wears corn rows and...http://www.englishforums.com/English/CapitalisingCertainWords/hpdrm/post.htm#659234Sat, 05 May 2007 20:31:37 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:659234einde o'callaghanMarcus Fox schrieb: When should I use the appropriate capitalised or uncapitalised adjectives or nouns (for example) "Chinese" and "chinese"? Or is it not correct to use the uncapitalised form? I have seen in print books statements such as "Do you speak chinese?" All adjectives and nouns derived from countries, continents, regions and other geographical features are capitalised unless they have completely lost their geographical reference, So, for example, China and its derivatives are capitalised except in cases like "china" as a synonym for porcelain or crockery or "china clay" as a synonym for kaolin. The example you give is definitely incorrect. Regards, Einde O'Callaghanhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/StrangeAndWeird/hldjc/post.htm#639716Tue, 29 Aug 2006 20:42:18 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:639716danThey do have very similar usage in spoken English in this area (dialect) of the United States. However, "weird" would be considered more familiar and less formal in my opinion. Further, they both tend to have a certain degree of negativity associated with them. If you want lessen the degree of negativity, you would probably use "different" in this dialect. "Odd," a synonym, can be negative or less so depending on the intonation. All of this is my opinion. More formally, I'm sure the dictionary could offer more insight. Danhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/SayUtterBreatheSoundVoiceVocalize-Articulate/wjrpg/post.htm#712672Thu, 16 Mar 2006 18:33:00 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:712672alan brooksI've heard it declared that English is the only language ... Anyone own a thesaurus in a language other than English? Lots of language maybe all? have thesauri, but they may not have that word in a particular language, ... dictionary and thesaurus. But there are on-line thesauri for German, French, Russian, Spanish. Greek, Portuguese... I quit looking after that. Yeah, I found some online one, but they don't seem to have that many entries, or they were built for some particular, restricted purpose. I don't see anything that's as general-purpose as a standard English thesaurus. For instance, the French have one specifically to help the language institute determine possible French equivalents of foreign words. In other...http://www.englishforums.com/English/Noun/hwpqr/post.htm#628597Sat, 23 Jul 2005 01:22:00 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:628597credoquaabsurdumCaptain America to the rescue... "To rat someone out" is starting to become rather dated. "To squeal on someone" is indeed a synonym, but grassing and dobbing don't sound right to me. Now watch...they'll turn out to be British slang. The person who rats you out or squeals on you is a "rat" or a "squealer." If you "roll over" on someone, it means the same things. I have no idea what you call the person who does it. A much older synonym, which is almost quaint now, is to "fink on someone" and the person is a "fink." Informers are also called "stool pigeons" and "stoolies." The latter term is one of my personal favorites. You will most likely...http://www.englishforums.com/English/Bfta/3/nrwhg/Post.htm#1090243Thu, 17 Feb 2005 20:09:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1090243richard maurerAmong the 54 foreign language contenders announced this week by the American Academy is Lilya 4-Ever, a film that is mostly in Russian, was set in Russia and will be therefore be representing ... Sweden. This is a perfect example of what we in the US would call sarcasm. Is it called ironic in the UK? There is no overstatement, understatement, or other direct misrepresentation. Richard Maurer To reply, remove half Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.http://www.englishforums.com/English/DefinitionOfMakeOutWith/4/nrrrz/Post.htm#1085844Mon, 07 Feb 2005 06:23:44 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1085844richard maurerA few days ago, I told a girl that I wanted to make out with her. I hope that she did not take it to mean something different from what I meant. "Make out with" refers to (possibly deep) kissing, hugging, caressing, etc., right? It does not imply sexual intercourse, right? It appears that there is some sort of dialect difference here. Is this a case of two generations speaking different dialects? I would guess that this girl was born about 1984. In American popular culture, the term "making out" does not imply sexual intercourse. If you told me that you had "made out" with a girl last night, I would understand that you had done some serious kissing and, perhaps, some groping. Dictionaries seem to offer the...http://www.englishforums.com/English/AmericanEggs/6/mqwxc/Post.htm#1083699Tue, 01 Feb 2005 02:40:41 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1083699richard maurerCan anyone tell me why the eggs taste so odd here? I don't notice the difference between them and their cousins in Ireland unless I hard boil them, then the difference can't be missed. Holds for white ones, brown ones, free range ones and the other ones. Did you try boiling them in Irish water? Richard Maurer To reply, remove half Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.http://www.englishforums.com/English/LongOxfordBook/5/mqcnd/Post.htm#1082698Sat, 29 Jan 2005 22:38:30 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1082698richard maurerIn collegiate universities, like Oxford, Cambridge and Durham, the colleges are independent self-governing institutions, which usually provide tuition to their students, but the university conducts the examinations and awards the degrees, so you get an MA (Oxon) or (Cantab) or a BA (Dunelm). At Durham, I am an alumnus of both my college and of the university, and I get mail from both soliciting my contributions, and the university provides its alumni with a very good e-mail forwarding service. I don't know of any American university that has a structure like that of Oxford or Cambridge. There are some universities that have relatively loose affiliations with particular schools that might be seen to be part of the university (I'm...http://www.englishforums.com/English/Toilet/mqbzv/post.htm#1081475Thu, 27 Jan 2005 20:23:06 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1081475mike lyleOther AmE but not BrE terms I've seen in books: ... I don't know whether these are polite words or not. The head, on a ship, is the restroom, I believe; hence your finding the word used by formerly naval men ... cheek, for aladies' restroom. I personally think of 'bathroom' as a less polite synonym for 'restroom': I don't know why. "Let me show you the geography." I heard an American scholar describe how, as a young man, he'd called on C.S.Lewis. During the meeting, he'd asked Lewis for the bathroom. Whereupon Lewis disappeared, and some leg-crossing time later reappeared and led the visitor to a bathroom in which he had just run a nice hot bath, but in which there was no loo. Lewis...http://www.englishforums.com/English/PakiOffensive/7/mpqjv/Post.htm#1080935Wed, 26 Jan 2005 20:30:04 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1080935richard maurerJohn Dean wrote about Paki: I think the term is generally found offensive here in part because it is associated with terms like "paki bashing". And, perhaps ironically, because it is used indiscriminately of people from (or thought to be from) the sub-continent. I'm not sure who would be most offended here to be called a Paki - a Pakistani, a Bangladeshi, an Indian or a Briton of Asian origin. For the record, I find it an offensive term even though I'm white and I know many other white people who share the view. In my case, if asked to define my reasons, I would say "because of its connections with racist language and literature and because use of the term suggests the user has either chosen to be offensive or...http://www.englishforums.com/English/HoneInOn/2/mxphk/Post.htm#1077545Wed, 19 Jan 2005 14:49:31 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1077545richard maurerDavid wrote about "hone in on": I've heard it a few times (sometimes it's hard to be sure), but only seen it once in print, in an American book. Using "hone in on" as the search term in Google News got 84 hits. It does seem to be predominantly a US phenomenon, although there were one or two from the UK, Canada, Australia. Most of the US hits were quotes though. Richard Maurer To reply, remove half Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.http://www.englishforums.com/English/Funkmeister/2/mxhlz/Post.htm#1074286Tue, 11 Jan 2005 10:05:46 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1074286richard maurerNote too that "funky" (from which "funk" derived as a back-formation) followed the "bad -> good" semantic inversion common in 20th-century African-American slang. The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang dates the "good" sense of "funky" to 1939 (about 15 years before the earliest attestation of the musical sense): 1939 in A. Banks First Person 257: That'll be a funky fight. So by the time "funk(y)" began to be used in jazz in the '50s, the term had already developed positive connotations independent of the music so described. But does it mean any more than "That'll be a fight to be feared", which is an old meaning. The full quote is...http://www.englishforums.com/English/JohnDean/5/mxzlj/Post.htm#1074063Mon, 10 Jan 2005 22:40:34 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1074063richard maurerI'm still looking into this. I find that alluding to "pigs in a poke" goes back to Chaucer at least. Meanwhile, if the OED or anyplace else has dated citations of "poke" showing an American meaning of "sack" excluding the proverbial pigs or cats I'd really appreciate seeing them. I wonder if it's only coincidence that it resembles the European "poche" one (and instead was just a sack used to gather the plant). Poke (pocket) appears in Webster's 1828 dictionary, although illustrated with the proverbial pig. Americanisms also talks about the familiar Southern phrase feathers in a poke Americans can claim Skakespeare, yes? As you Like It Act II Good-morrow, fool, quoth I. No, sir,...http://www.englishforums.com/English/1200AmPm/33/mmckk/Post.htm#1068734Sat, 01 Jan 2005 01:14:05 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1068734richard maurerI remember seeing an American couple on tv asking questions about a strange item they'd found in a UK kitchen. Please tell me that these people were strange. You do have electric kettles in the US? Generally, no. Here is an idea of how rare they are (or were). During a holiday visit, the hosts used a kitchen contraption to heat tea water. I even used it myself for a second cup. It had the base unit, and the automatic turn off. Only now, days later, do I realize that it was an electric kettle. Yes, days later, even though I have read hundreds of aue electric kettle posts. (I still prefer my glass stovetop pot. How to you even see the scale in an electric kettle?) Richard Maurer To reply, remove half Sunnyvale, California of a homonym...http://www.englishforums.com/English/Gotten/7/hjhpp/Post.htm#632059Thu, 23 Dec 2004 09:53:21 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:632059matthew huntbachI don't think one can always just replace "gotten" with ... "translate" it as "We've got a great many letters today?". Yes, that would be quite normal in British English, where "got" can be a synonym for "received", though admittedly not very elegant. What seems to be happening is that the verb "to have" is losing its meaning of possession and is becoming a mere grammatical marker. In its place the verb "to get" is coming to be used to mean merely "possession" whereas previously it would have implied an actual act to obtain possession. So forms with "have" used as the only verb are getting replaced with "have got". So I'm...http://www.englishforums.com/English/Gotten/7/hjhpp/Post.htm#632042Thu, 23 Dec 2004 09:07:02 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:632042john hallIn all cases where USA English would use "gotten", the correct British English form is "got". I don't think one can always just replace "gotten" with "got" and preserve the original meaning. Consider "We've gotten a great many letters today". Would you "translate" it as "We've got a great many letters today?". Yes, that would be quite normal in British English, where "got" can be a synonym for "received", though admittedly not very elegant. John Hall "Do you have cornflakes in America?" "Well, actually, they're American." "So what brings you to Britain then if you have cornflakes already?" Bill Bryson:...http://www.englishforums.com/English/MrBlunkettsSingularThey/15/mmrzk/Post.htm#1063691Sat, 18 Dec 2004 11:40:38 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1063691richard maurerDonna Richoux wrote elsethread: Is that what you are saying is scary? That's not scary, that's simply a fact everyone was taught to salute the flag in the early 20th century that way, until the rise of Hitler. I'm sure the exact date could be located. Ben Zimmer wrote elsethread: But other sources suggest that the hand-forward stance was used for the *entire* pledge, and probably before 1937. Perhaps there were regional variations? We do know, as Mickwick noted elsethread, that the hand-forward stance was entirely omitted from the Flag Code of 1942, so presumably any local confusions as in New York would have been dispelled by then. We can see a picture here (maybe) of Southington, Connecticut. "School children pledging...http://www.englishforums.com/English/BluePlateSpecial/7/mlrkm/Post.htm#1061486Tue, 14 Dec 2004 04:28:21 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1061486roland hutchinsonThat's the sense in which Americans use it (whence the title of the TV series). The use of "Cheers!" for thanks is given as "late 20th century" in NSOED, and that confirms my feeling that it didn't exist in my younger days. A little more detail on that dating: The earliest citation in the OED (1993 additions, consulted online) is from the Times in 1976 and portrays the usage as well-established by that date: "By a remarkable transition from the pub to the sober world at large outside cheers has become the colloquial synonym in British English for ?thanks?." Roland Hutchinson              Will play viola da gamba for food. NB mail to my.spamtrap (at) verizon.net is heavily filtered to remove...http://www.englishforums.com/English/BluePlateSpecial/7/mlrkm/Post.htm#1061304Mon, 13 Dec 2004 20:26:41 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1061304alan jonesI grew up using 'cheers' as a sort of general toast after a round of drinks had been bought, That's the sense in which Americans use it (whence the title of the TV series). but its use as a synonym to 'thanks' is quite wide. The use of "Cheers!" for thanks is given as "late 20th century" in NSOED, and that confirms my feeling that it didn't exist in my younger days. It still jars on me, even after decades of hearing it from my pupils, and "Cheers!" as a toast (NSOED say it's early 20th century) is only a little better. I'm more likely to say "Your health!" or "Prosit!", pompous though either may be. Alan Joneshttp://www.englishforums.com/English/BluePlateSpecial/7/mlrkm/Post.htm#1061276Mon, 13 Dec 2004 18:22:47 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1061276roland hutchinsonThanks! ObAUE (what, in THIS thread?): Would there be subtle ... American, I mean.) How about "Ta (very much)". Northern, innit? 'Ta very much' will do very nicely, and is used in the Midlands, too. Well, I confess that about all I know about the Midlands is that you get there from London by following the signs that say in large, friendly letters "THE NORTH", Actually, the furthest north I've ever been in Britain (or in the world, come to think of it) is Telford, though I own a viola da gamba that came to me via Bradford nearly 30 years ago, and I have a friend in Cheshire whom I keep threatening to visit. I have a vague notion that to get to either of those places, one continues to proceed northward by...http://www.englishforums.com/English/MilliardObsoleteOrNot/5/mkcdh/Post.htm#1061044Mon, 13 Dec 2004 00:09:40 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1061044richard maurerThis one is more fun. 'Supercede' was standard according to Noah Webster. That was Noah Webster in a circa 1800 edition of The American Spelling Book . By 1828 he had changed to 'supersede' for use in his famous 1828 dictionary. Richard Maurer To reply, remove half Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.http://www.englishforums.com/English/BluePlateSpecial/6/mlrkm/Post.htm#1061038Sun, 12 Dec 2004 23:53:31 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1061038robin bignallThe original one is on Chiswick High Road, near to Sainsbury's. Thanks! ObAUE (what, in THIS thread?): Would there be subtle semantic or registral nuances if I had said "Cheers!" instead. (Well, subtle to an American, I mean.) How about "Ta (very much)". Northern, innit? 'Ta very much' will do very nicely, and is used in the Midlands, too. I grew up using 'cheers' as a sort of general toast after a round of drinks had been bought, but its use as a synonym to 'thanks' is quite wide. The last time I visited Kleftiko was in 2000 for the wedding reception of my second marriage. Michael, the owner, provided starter nibbles, kleftiko, and all the red wine we could drink for about ten UKP per...http://www.englishforums.com/English/LanguageAmericanPolitical-News/2/mldcp/Post.htm#1057418Sat, 04 Dec 2004 23:11:01 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1057418richard maurerArcadian Rises raised: The compromise I suggested is that Creationism be taught in a descriptive manner, like the history of music or Kant's categorical imperative. One cannot deny the impact of Creationism on various civilizations. I wonder what the Creationists want to teach alongside Evolution. It seems like there is only 10 minutes of material: Some religionists believe that the universe was created all at once (within a week (1)) about 6,000 years ago. All of the plants and animals were created then, and humans were created separately. All of this was revealed in old stories that the religionists believe to be true because they were seen in the same collections as other stories they believe. Fossils were also embedded in rocks,...http://www.englishforums.com/English/TonyCooperFloridaAndLeeds/2/mlrpz/Post.htm#1056746Fri, 03 Dec 2004 02:44:52 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1056746richard maurerDavid Bieber, alias Nathan Coleman, from Lee County, Florida, was today found guilty of the murder of the policeman Ian Broadhurst in Leeds on Boxing Day (1)2003. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, with no parole. Bieber was on the Wanted list of the Sheriff's Dept of Lee County, to face charges of murder in Florida. I imagine that the Americans are far more blasé about murders of policeman than we are here in Britain, where it is an extremely rare but newsworthy event. For this reason, Bieber's conviction was given a long time on prime time television news this evening, with even more time being allocated to it for the local television news programme. I would be interested to know how much coverage there has been on the...http://www.englishforums.com/English/IsThisSentenceCorrect/3/mkzvw/Post.htm#1053150Wed, 24 Nov 2004 03:24:38 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1053150maria conlonI gave you a suggestion: Indulging your fantasies is not a crime. Or, milder, Living your fantasies is not a crime. Or even Fantasy indulgence is not a crime. I think I'd avoid the word "indulge." (But I think the OP has already got his solution.) American Heritage: TRANSITIVE VERB:1. To yield to the desires and whims of, especially to an excessive degree; humor. 2a. To yield to; gratify: indulge a craving for chocolate. b. To allow (oneself) unrestrained gratification: indulged herself with idle daydreams. See synonyms at pamper. 3. Roman Catholic Church To grant an ecclesiastical indulgence or dispensation to. INTRANSITIVE VERB:1. To indulge oneself: eyed the desserts but didn't indulge. 2. To engage or take part,...http://www.englishforums.com/English/BbcInMonochrome/6/mjkzj/Post.htm#1051435Fri, 19 Nov 2004 23:38:33 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1051435raymond s. wiseCharles Riggs filted: Not only suggest, I'd say, but require. It's that hyphen that requires it...here's what I gather: "Irish-American" - born an American citizen to parents whose ancestry is ... - of mixed Irish and American heritage...may also be usedof a company or other organization with ties to both countries.. The problem with this reasoning is that it conflicts with actual usage as far as the term "African-American" is concerned. Do a Google search for "is an african american he" in order to exclude examples of "African American" used as an adjective, and you will see that a large percentage of the hits use a hyphen but don't appear to refer to someone whose parents came...http://www.englishforums.com/English/FlauntFloutRedux/2/mwmwv/Post.htm#1045277Sat, 06 Nov 2004 21:45:08 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1045277raymond s. wiseGarner's Modern Eng Usage says that some dictionaries "have thrown ... 10 dictionaries and none of them treat them as synonyms. garner is just being (typically) hyperbolic here. i don't think there's any dictionary that lists them as synonyms. but a ... causes garner to excoriate MWDEU: dammit, they should be stamping it out, not sympathetically explaining why people use it! arnold While MWCD11 does not formally list "flout" and "flaunt" as synonyms, the definitions it gives for a transitive sense of each verb appears to show them to be de facto synonyms: For "flout": "to treat with contemptuous disregard : SCORN " For "flaunt": "to treat contemptuously " The...http://www.englishforums.com/English/OffOf/4/mwkwg/Post.htm#1045211Sat, 06 Nov 2004 19:58:42 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1045211raymond s. wiseThe following comes from the *Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage,* ... are several brands of Standard English in the world (end quote) I do occasionally use "brand" in this way, but only, I think, with quotation marks. It can be quite useful, ... it in a faintly jocular mood. The usage is not recorded in OED1 or the 1933 Supplement. What's the history? *The Century Dictionary,* an American dictionary of 1895, has the following under the entry for the noun "brand": From www.century-dictionary.com (quote) *3.* A mark made by burning with a hot iron, as upon a cask, to indicate the manufacturer or the quality of the contents, etc., or upon an animal as a means of identification ; a trade- mark ; hence, a mark...http://www.englishforums.com/English/FlauntFloutRedux/mwmwv/post.htm#1045193Sat, 06 Nov 2004 19:34:36 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1045193mike lyleOn 06 Nov 2004, howard richler wrote Garner's Modern Eng Usage says that some dictionaries "have thrown ... 10 dictionaries and none of them treat them as synonyms. Collins makes a usage note that flaunt is "sometimes wronglyused" for flout , but in my book acknowledging that they're used thatway doesn't constitute listing them as synonyms. COD9 says "should not be confused with". MW Online, though, has not only caved in but even written to justify the solecism, with only the warning "If you use it, however, you should be aware that many people will consider it a mistake." So it seems that American dictionaries may be the culprits. (Cue linguistics Brahmin saying it doesn't matter if...http://www.englishforums.com/English/KudosToKerry/13/mwzlk/Post.htm#1045146Sat, 06 Nov 2004 18:22:35 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1045146mike lyleBut who are the 'Crats to complain if the 'Licans don't complain. It would have to be 'Lics for symmetry, right? How about "'Can"? The 'Can Senator"; "You 'Can voters." In this era of indoor plumbing in at least fifty percent of American rural households, though, it might be taken as positive, a synonym of "be able"; which would hoist me with my own petard or fougasse. Back to "'Lics", I guess. Mike (only trying to help).http://www.englishforums.com/English/HaveGot/mhgxv/post.htm#1041455Sun, 31 Oct 2004 01:42:11 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1041455mark barrattWhat is the function of "got" when used to show possession with "have"? Is it a past participle? An interesting question. There's a school of thought in the study of the English verb that deprecates the term "past participle" and prefers "third form", and I think that this example is a nice illustration of how "past participle" can be misleading. The sentence "I've got a car" is, on the face of it, a present perfect simple construction: the subject is followed by the inflected present form of the auxiliary verb 'have', then the past participle of the main verb 'get'. Syntactically, then, we have a present perfect, but how about semantically? All of the...http://www.englishforums.com/English/WhoVsWhom/2/mhjpr/Post.htm#1041117Fri, 29 Oct 2004 19:36:19 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1041117skitt?? I've never heard of American fries, and I'm American. Or do they only exist in Canada? I don't understand \\P.'s remark, but "American fries" seems to be a regional (Upper Midwestern) synonym for home fries. I have never heard of American fries either, but now I see that Johnny Rockets food joints serve them, and they look like regular French fries to me. Johnny Rockets Group is headquartered in Southern California, and their restaurants are spread out all over the place. http://www.johnnyrockets.com/themenu/items starters.php http://www.johnnyrockets.com/locations/ I should note that MSN Encarta disagrees about what American fries are and defines them as being pan-fried (boiled potatoes, sliced and...http://www.englishforums.com/English/WhoVsWhom/2/mhjpr/Post.htm#1041105Fri, 29 Oct 2004 18:55:41 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1041105areffA friend of mine (a fellow Detroiter) was in a ... the old fish eye, and said, "You mean HOME FRIES?!" ?? I've never heard of American fries, and I'm American. Or do they only exist in Canada? I don't understand \\P.'s remark, but "American fries" seems to be a regional (Upper Midwestern) synonym for home fries.http://www.englishforums.com/English/Denigrate/5/mgvcq/Post.htm#1039841Tue, 26 Oct 2004 21:42:25 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1039841charles stewartcouldn't Because a black person reacting with visible terror in response to unexplained phenomena attributed to ghosts (popularly called "spooks") was a stock character in comic strips and film comedies in the early to mid-20th century. Does it have a derogatory racial connotation? For whom? Yes, somewhat. For African Americans. Because the stock character was portrayed as a buffoon in several ways: firstly, because he stupidly attributes the unexplained (such as something brushing against him in the dark, or a hidden person making ghoulish noises) to ghosts rather than to natural phenomena; secondly, because he immaturely over-reacts to the disturbance, as a child might; thirdly, because his verbal and physical reactions...http://www.englishforums.com/English/UniversitySlang/2/mgrlq/Post.htm#1035751Tue, 19 Oct 2004 21:49:13 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1035751areffTo answer the last-quoted question first, I don't know, as ... the Britons sucking air in and saying "God help us">). Hall of Residence, or a Residence Hall, is a very American expression. It may be a Brit expression also, but you needn't read Rowlings to know the expression. I wouldn't expect to hear "hall of residence" in AmE, but "residence hall" seems possible. Isn't "dorm" (formalAmE 'dormitory') another synonym? And "hall" is I think what we used when I was in college a century ago. A frat or sorority, as a living space, isn't the same thing. Frat people live in "frat houses" or perhaps "frathouses". A residence hall or dorm...http://www.englishforums.com/English/HowAddressUnknownAmericanPerson/5/mgvxv/Post.htm#1034449Mon, 18 Oct 2004 00:55:45 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1034449richard maurerYes, Fraser should not have said "repeal of legislation" but "the reversal of a Supreme Court decision," but what do foreigners know? If we were trying to tell them who their next prime minister should be, we'd surely get the terminology all wrong. What is a word that generalizes both 'legislation' and 'court decision'? Richard Maurer To reply, remove half Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.http://www.englishforums.com/English/InfluenceDubyaPrestige/7/mgrkx/Post.htm#1033717Sat, 16 Oct 2004 18:08:01 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1033717donna richouxDonna: I'm going to look into the history of "folks" a bit more and see if it can be traced to any particular regions. I've always figured it was a general American, if not British, colloquialism. Does *anyone* *anywhere* use it formally? I went to Mastertexts.com to see how it was used in 19th century literature. Some writers, like George Eliot, used it repeatedly, but always in dialect conversation. I saw that Thackeray was someone who would put it into an otherwise "ordinary" sentence (narration, or the speech of upper-class characters). Examples: Virtue! give me the virtue that can forgive; give me the virtue that thinks not of preserving itself, but of making other folks happy. Such a dandy as George...http://www.englishforums.com/English/TheBustyGirlsOfAmerica/8/mcdxb/Post.htm#1031154Tue, 12 Oct 2004 02:23:51 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:1031154richard maurerThat's interesting. When did we start expecting certain things to get smaller? The increasingly physically smaller electronics doing the same or better job is only part of miniaturization. Another major factor was Japanese design philosophy. As the Japanese became the major factor in electronics, their designs became more familiar. There was a time as I recall when there would be competing products on the market that functioned nearly equally. The Japanese model, if you opened it up, had tightly packed transistors and other electronic thingies sometimes touching each other. The American version had space between all the parts. They weighed about the same. The Japanese model was small. The American model perhaps sold to customers who...