Table of Contents
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[Prefatory remarks]
Welcome to alt.usage.english!
guidelines for posting
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recommended books
dictionaries
online dictionaries
general reference
grammars
books on linguistics
books on usage
online usage guides
online language columns
books that discriminate synonyms
style manuals
books on mathematical exposition
books on phrasal verbs
books on phrase origins
books on Britishisms, Canadianisms, etc.
books on "bias-free"/"politically correct" language
books on group names
books on rhyming slang
artificial dialects
Basic English
E-prime
pronunciation
how to represent pronunciation in ASCII
rhotic vs non-rhotic, intrusive "r"
How do Americans pronounce "dog"?
words pronounced differently according to context
words whose spelling has influenced their pronunciation
usage disputes
"acronym"
"all ... not"
"alot"
"alright"
"between you and I"
"company is" vs "company are"
"could care less"
"could of"
"different to", "different than"
"done"="finished"
double "is"
"due to"
"functionality"
gender-neutral pronouns
"God rest you merry, gentlemen"
"hopefully", "thankfully"
"if I was" vs "if I were"
"impact"="to affect"
"It needs cleaned"
"It's me" vs "it is I"
"less" vs "fewer"
"like" vs "as"
"like" vs "such as"
"more/most/very unique"
"mouses" vs "mice"
"near miss"
"none is" vs "none are"
plurals
plurals of Latin and Greek words
plurals => English singulars
preposition at end
"quality"
repeated words after abbreviations
"Scotch"
"shall" vs "will", "would" vs "should"
split infinitive
"that" vs "which"
"that kind of a thing"
the the hoi polloi debate
"true fact"
"try and", "be sure and", "go" + verb
"whom"
"you saying" vs "your saying"
punctuation
"." after abbreviations
spaces between sentences
," vs ",
"A, B and C" vs "A, B, and C"
foreigners' FAQs
"a"/"an" before abbreviations
"A number of..."
when to use "the"
subjunctive
word origins
"A.D."
"alumin(i)um"
"bloody"
"bug"="defect"
"Caesarean section"
"canola"
"catch-22"
"cop"
"copacetic"
"crap"
"ebonics"
"eighty-six"="nix"
"Eskimo"
"flammable"
"freeway"
"fuck"
"golf"
"hooker"
"ISO"
"jerry-built"/"jury-rigged"
"kangaroo"
"limerence"
"loo"
"love"="zero"
"merkin"
"nimrod"
"O.K."
"outrage"
"paparazzo"
"pie-shaped"
"portmanteau word"
"posh"
"quiz"
"Santa Ana"
"scot-free"
"sincere"
"sirloin"/"baron of beef"
"SOS"
"spoonerism"
"suck"="be very unsatisfying"
"till"/"until"
"tip"
"titsling"/"brassiere"
"troll"
"typo"
"Wicca"
"widget"
"wog"
"wonk"
"wop"
"ye"="the"
phrase origins
"the bee's knees"
"beg the question"
"billions and billions"
"blue moon"
"Bob's your uncle"
"break a leg"
"to call a spade a spade"
"cut the mustard"
"cut to the chase"
"The die is cast"
"dressed to the nines"
"Elementary, my dear Watson!"
"Enquiring minds want to know"
"The exception proves the rule"
"face the music"
"fall off a turnip truck"
"full monty"
"Get the lead out"
"Go figure"
"Go placidly amid the noise and the haste" (Desiderata)
"go to hell in a handbasket"
"hell for leather"
"hoist with his own petard"
"by hook or by crook"
"Illegitimis non carborundum"
"in like Flynn"
"Jingle Bells"
"Let them eat cake"
"mind your p's and q's"
"more honoured in the breach than the observance"
"more than you can shake a stick at"
"ollie ollie oxen free"
"peter out"
"politically correct"
"push the envelope"
"put in one's two cents' worth"
"rule of thumb"
"shouting fire in a crowded theater"
"son of a gun"
"spitting image"/"spit and image"
"There's a sucker born every minute"
"to all intents and purposes"
"wait for the other shoe to drop"
"Wherefore art thou Romeo?"
"whole cloth"
"the whole nine yards"
"You have another think coming"
words frequently sought
words ending in "-gry"
words without vowels
list of language terms
"I won't mention..."
names of "&", "@", and "#"
"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."
"Take the prisoner downstairs", said Tom condescendingly.
What is the opposite of "to exceed"?
What is the opposite of "distaff side"?
grass strip between road and sidewalk
miscellany
What is a suggested format for citing online sources?
Does the next millennium begin in 2000 or 2001?
What will we call the next decade?
Fumblerules ("Don't use no double negatives", etc.)
English is Tough Stuff
What is the phone number of the Grammar Hotline?
deliberate mistakes in dictionaries
How reliable are dictionaries?
etymologies of personal names
How did "Truly" become a personal name?
trademarks
commonest words
Why do we say "30 years old" but "a 30-year-old man"?
What words are their own antonym?
sentences grammatical in both Old English and Modern English
radio alphabets
distribution of English-speakers
provenance of English vocabulary
"billion": a U.K. view
Biblical sense of "to know"
postfix "not"
origin of the dollar sign
spelling
spelling reform
joke about step-by-step spelling reform
What is "ghoti"?
I before E except after C
How do you spell "e-mail"?
Why is "I" capitalized?
diacritics
"-er" vs "-re"
"-ize" vs "-ise"
doubling of final consonants before suffixes
possessive apostrophes
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