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convertable
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Why is the word convertible and not convertable? Is there some rule?
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Meet the Huggetts - 'lumme'!
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In Meet the Huggetts, a BBC 7 radio show from 1959, Mr. Huggett (Jack Warner) kept saying, 'Lummy', which, of course, is, as you would expect and interjection of surprise. My Penguin Dictionary describes 'lummy' or 'lumme' as 'slang', but the Concise OED says it's 'vulgar' and derived from 'Lord love me'!... more »
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fag = duster???
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I recently used the expression "fag-end" in a post to a discussion group about transport. I used it in the expression "the fag-end of the year". The phpBB word censor insists on changing the word to "duster". The board admin says that "duster" is a slang word for cigarette, but I can't find any reference to such a meaning. Has anybody encountered... more »
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Does sarcasm work both ways?
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Someone ends a paragraph with "You don't often associate California with good looking women." Later some Californian pretends to be offended, and the first person says, I was being sarcastic. I do associate California and the movies etc. with good looking women. I trust him that he was kidding in the first sentence, but was the... more »
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Is this sentence ok as it stands?
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Is "to respond" correct usage in the sentence below or should it be changed to "in responding" and "its ability to" added after "ensure"? "I would encourage you to look at the full report which makes interesting reading and confirms the entrepreneurial agility of private business to respond to a rapidly changing economic climate and... more »
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a usage of 'to hear'
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Hello to all. ["The envoy's delicate health had taken great benefit from Bombay, and after his week of sea-sickness his strength and spirits recovered remarkably. He and Stephen often sat together, *hearing one another their Malay verbs* or rehearsing his address to the Sultan of Kampong." (H.M.S. Surprise. Patrick... more »
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out of town
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Hi I wanted to ask this question for long, but thought it's silly to. Anyway, I could afford to be silly, so I ask now. When people say "I will be out of town next week", must it imply that the guy is leaving his town, or just taking holiday (maybe in town)? As a non-native speaker of English, I ask this because I found some... more »
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make believe
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Hi - I checked a dictionary which tells "make believe" meaning "to pretend". Then, when a sentence like this, "The firm's guidance makes us believe that our forecast is conservative". Does this "make us believe" imply the meaning of "to pretend"? With thanks for your advice. Kevin Hong Kong
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Not sure how to punctuate this
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I feel like an extra comma is needed in the statement below, but I'm not sure. I'm also wondering whether there's already too many commas. Thank you for your kindness, your empathy, your dedication, and most of all, your warm caring heart. Do I need a comma between "warm" and "caring"? Is this statement even... more »
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to concern
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"Publishers employ thousands of staff *to concern* many different aspects of publishing books, so for a start you can speak to those people who will be out of jobs thanks to Google books." I read this in a reader's letter to the Times today and wondered if such employment of the verb "concern" was correct or commonplace. Although not a... more »
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