You'll sometimes find that places and geographical features that have "descriptive" names - especially in North America, where many were named more recently (18th-19th centuries) than in Europe for example - may be gramatically odd, or spelled

Apologies if I've created controversy here! My remarks were more focussed on spoken English than written, and perhaps it's not surprising that official documents and teaching literature follow the rule more strictly, since there are always people

Yes, its relevance in your sentence is that when businesses "consolidate" - ie combine production/distribution into fewer, or even one place, less employees are required overall, meaning people will lose their jobs, thus depressing the local economy.

Hi Bluealbatross, I live near Newcastle, and answered your similar question in the thread entitled: "Received pronunciation and mid Atlantic English" ...but I've pasted it here in case anyone wants to continue on this thread: I don't

I don't think I'd recommend learning the Newcastle accent if you want to learn a British regional accent. Its often reckoned to be one of the most difficult of accents to understand - not only for non British, but for many British themselves!

At the risk of outraging the purists, I think this is an example of where modern usage has supplanted a previous "rule". Very few modern English speakers use the word "whom" in normal conversation. Indeed, most would be far more surprised to hear

I'd point out that number 2 is a North American structure that you wouldn't hear in the UK. We would probably say "figure it out". To paraphrase Clive: Figure it out! Maybe she just likes ugly, stupid guys.

From what I remember from TV programmes, this is a term used by vets (vetinary surgeons) and others who look after animals, to clarify whether they deal with animals usually kept as pets (eg dogs, cats, hamsters etc), ie "small animals", as

I may be wide of the mark here Mr P, but I thought there was a slight difference in meanings either side of the Atlantic: In BrE, a "gang-bang" means group sex (not always rape) In AmE it is usually used in reference to gang violence I'm

Hmm, I wouldn't say that. Unless you specifically imply something different, 2 and 3 would be understood in the UK to mean simply that you are a skilled pianist. Phrase 1, as said, sounds a bit odd in isolation, but could be heard in certain