Cole Parker

What language was this originally written in? Anyone know? C

Just the end picture of the black pudding is going to put me off eating anything for a week. C

Thanks, John!

I think most schools have instituted a no-bullying policy, basically because they were forced into it by getting sued for not doing anything when bullying was reported. The old "take care of it yourself; it builds character" has been discredited in most schools. Unfortunately, it's also generated into 'if you defend yourself by hitting back, you get the same punishment as the original aggressor'. That's never seemed fair to me. Schools are still trying to figure things out. Today I read about a rumor going around a school that some kids had guns are were planning an event. So the coach confronted a girl who was supposedly involved and when she slapped at his phone when he was calling for assistance, he pushed her against a wall and held here there. Subsequently they found she had a gun. Then the coach was fired for mistreating a student. All he did was hold her against the wall, and, incidentally, perhaps saved many students in an armed insurrection at a school event. No, they haven't quite got it all figured out yet.

I don't mind sex in a story, but it should be endemic, should fit in very naturally, not be foreced, and not be the point of the story. You can always tell when sex was added because the author felt this was the place he needed to add some. If the point of the story is sex, then I don't generally find it all that interesting and gets more and more boring as the story continues. a story should be about something else that captures the imagination.

I now know enough to be confused about a show I'll never watch, which means I'll remain confused but happy the analysis of it is over and I can go do something constructive with the time I have left. However, I do have to acknowlege that the deconstruction of 8,000 pages herein was well-written. I expect nothing less from Jason. C

Great to hear you're okay and all is well. C

Wonderful writing. How can anyone not want to know what lies beyond the huckleberry bush? Of couse I do. I read it, as I often do, thinking as an editor. I made a few, very few, comments along the way. Please ignore them if you'd like, but here they are: Despite the desolation, David’s youth and his joy in his new bicycle buoyed his spirits. He sped up the dirt road towards the dark green (fence ?) that marked the park boundary. Then they soared (higher ?) into the sky like a single giant creature before descending into the forest. Then he waded knee-deep through the burbling creek to the opposite (bank. He wandered) (before wandering ?) (rather abrupt and stark transition as written.) deeper into the woods. He bent over, then lay down (on his side) (to mesh with 'the twigs on his shoulder' that is upcoming) so they were at eye level. Then he crept forward, determined to see who was (encroaching on) (sharing ?) this forest. At the edge of the glade he (carefully ?) parted the branches of a huckleberry bush so he could spy without revealing himself. Very good start, in my opinion. C

The amazing thing to me is that your list, R, goes all the way to Ch 40 till Johnny's name appears at all, other than his introduction. C

I've read all the Dick Francis books, most of them several times. He has one were the incomprehensibility of Cockney rhyming slang is a major complication in the solving of the murder. I can't imagine people actually talk like that but realize they must. C

Thanks, guys. It's been fun getting to this point. And I love cliffhangers! C

I get your point, but you're not correct. Using your sentence, Americans would say, "No, we went the baseball game." Never 'the baseball.' That sounds so, so strange. It's the same with basketball. Never 'the basketball' always 'the basketball game.' I guess it could be constructed to work your way. How about, "We went to two games that day, the basketball and baseball." But even there, 'games' would be tacked on at the end. But 'the basketball' could actually be used that way. C

Bruin: This was the usage of 'backing in' that made no sense to me. As you can see, it has nothing to do with reversing a car: And the politics? The repeated emphasis was on "backing in reef communities", protecting 64,000 tourism jobs, helping with COVID recovery, at a time when several electorates close to the reef are under threat. C

Here are several terms/words that I found reading a news article in major Australian newspaper that are perhaps germane to this topic. I would guess they'd be generally known to people in the UK, and not familiar to Americans. 1) spruik it 2) went to the cricket 3) cut-through 4) cack-handed 5) backing in 6) motherhood statement To explain number two, no one here would say they went to the baseball. The English seem to have a strange relationship with the article 'the'. The drop it when speaking of hospitals, and add it when speaking of cricket. And number 4 has nothing to do with parking a car, or as some put it, parking up; it was used in the article discussing beach communities.

Who among us hasn't had that problem? C

That sounds to me like she was using the subjunctive. I don't know what the subjunctive usage should be for the verb 'forget'. The internet wasn't much help, either. I too find 'forgotten' in that usage to sound better. Even if it is the subjunctive. I should mention that 'gotten' now shows up in most lists showing how to conjugate the verb 'get' as this: got/gotten. I take that to mean either works as well as the other. I wonder if that's true in list compiled by strictly British lexicologists.

Probably so. Their sense of humor runs that way. I watch a lot of Brit shows on Acron. I'm now watching The Larkins. Wonderful show. Of course, it's rich with Engish expressions we've never heard. Like: 'I'll put that behind my ear.' Say what? C

That's another term, savoury, that you guys use frequently and it means something else over here. To us savory is an adjective, never a noun, and it designates a good flavor, often a sharp or strong one. Also, we spell it correctly. 🙄

And is it any surprise that a mere Yank is perplexed when even the English disagree? 😁 Yeah, I know it's just a lazy habit you guys indulge in, leaving the 'past' out. Like you do so many times leaving the 'the' out. Going to hospital. What a strange way to talk! C

I don't mind the 'gone ten' part so much. It's the half ten that gets me. They never specify if that means night-thirty or ten-thirty, and I'm sure they only say it that way to muddle the Yanks. C

I would think anyone conversant with the English language, no matter his country of origin or level of education, would have a problem with "Bill suggested that we went after lunch". There are many examples of British vs. American usage differences, and of course I can't think of any as I write this. But I see them all the time reading Brit stories, just as I'm sure Brits do reading ours. May the best man win. 😏 C

Thanks! C

You could find out by phoning them and telling them it was Roger calling.

I vaguely remember Wimpy Burgers. It was so long ago . . .

It'll be awfully slippery. The mayo, you know?