As bluntly as possible. There's just no way to soften this kind of blow. "Buddy, I think you'd better sit down.... there's some very bad news. Your Uncle Bob died this morning." I think that's the only way.

Couldn't stay away from us, could you mate?

My father once asked me this riddle, and gave me a rather interesting hint. He said, "minus-minus-plus", meaning, "a double negative gives you the positive". I've found various occasions to apply that, whether inside or outside my maths paper!

The increase in heart beat is probably due to agitation and distress - a stress-hormone effect. Unfortunately, I have a very scrappy memory, and this article was something I read years ago. Cheers, -Joy

Please check post no. 198597 in the thread http://www.englishforums.com/English/TellMistake/bpwvz/Post.htm by Silversamand. He/she is not the one asking the question, and the "solution" provided is a complete mess with regard to spelling and

YoungCalifornian wrote: Katherine Hepburn and Audrey Hepburn are not related. They aren't? Oops... I just Googled. I'm sorry. Don't know where the misconception came from.

Okay, James. No pics of your sister here, of course! What about yours? Joy-the-insistent.

Good point, Kriss. I remember reading an article that said that upon hearing a baby crying, men registered a far greater increase in heartbeat and blood pressure. But it was the women who started making noises and actually acting on their

Sheesh! 40 pages! It's time we closed this thread. But who cares anyway, we're all having fun! Okay... Clepsydra.

MrPedantic wrote: In British English, you sometimes hear this construction: 1. If I had have known, I would have done XYZ. This is used as an emphatic form of: 2. If I had known, I would have done XYZ. However, as has been said,