In my opinion: If it's the exact same concept, the same word should be used to prevent the reader wondering if you've shifted the subject slightly. Plus, of course, you can use pronouns to prevent the monotony of repeating the same word too

Yes, but be aware that most of the time it's used ironically , even if you say it in a normal voice. e.g. "We had to wait for hours thanks to their incompetence." "I've got heart disease and high blood pressure thanks to my wife's cooking."

I'm not sure that's what our guest meant. If someone calls you by name, e.g. "Hey, John!" The usual response would be simply "Yes?" Many other responses are possible. You could reply with the person's name (Hey, Brian - how's it going?)

No, it's a joke. Steve Martin is a comedian. Don't expect his sentences to be sensible.

The first is better, simpler, and more direct. The only thing wrong is a typo: "quiet" is misspelled "quite". Cheers John.

The normal manner would be: "She hasn't always been ..." = In the past (up till now), there have been times when she was uninterested in politics. "She wasn't always ..." would be used in a number of specific circumstances. 1. If "she" is no

In my opinion, there are too many forums. What's the point of distributing the queries across a dozen different places? It just makes it awkward to find questions that need answering, which is slow work on a dial-up modem. Besides, I think it's

This book looked promising – it was subtitled A How-Not-To Guide to the 47 Most Common Mistakes in English Made by Journalists, Broadcasters, and Others Who Should Know Better – and in the first few pages I came across a passage referring to that

It's not idiomatic in British English, Shaz. Not sure if there's a US usage.

I'm not sure that's an English idiom. Can you give us an exact quote so we can see the context?