Search found 10 matches

by hcbowman
Thu Jul 28, 2005 9:01 am
Forum: Good Word Suggestions
Topic: Lichtenberg Ratio
Replies: 4
Views: 11556

Lichtenberg Ratio

Having wrongly supposed that the standard dimensions for sheets of paper (US Letter, A4, etc) would approximate the golden ratio , I recently lost a bet while learning the definition of the Lichtenberg Ratio: The ratio of the square root of two to one. This ratio is the basis for the standard ISO pa...
by hcbowman
Wed Jul 27, 2005 10:20 am
Forum: Idioms
Topic: Monkey shines/or/Blame it on the animals
Replies: 12
Views: 42315

Where do you get the 小っちゃい「つ」 from?
Sigh... My Japanese has really gone to the dogs. Thanks, Flam!
by hcbowman
Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:52 am
Forum: Idioms
Topic: Monkey shines/or/Blame it on the animals
Replies: 12
Views: 42315

There's a really great collection of Japanese "cat" idioms on about.com this week: http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/aa072200.htm?nl=1 I really love 借りて来たねこ or "borrowed cat," meaning to be uncharacteristically circumspect like a cat in a strange place. Another good one is...
by hcbowman
Tue Jul 26, 2005 12:02 pm
Forum: Idioms
Topic: smart cookie
Replies: 6
Views: 45389

It's interesting that the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms http://dictionary.cambridge.org/results.asp?searchword=cookie&dict=I is self-consciously gener-neutral in the definitions of both smart cookie and tough cookie , but for both idioms they supply an example referring to a woman...
by hcbowman
Tue Jul 26, 2005 8:12 am
Forum: Idioms
Topic: smart cookie
Replies: 6
Views: 45389

smart cookie

I'm curious about smart cookie , which was used in a recent broadcast of A Way With Words that focused on food expressions. Unfortunately, the show didn't give either the meaning or the origin of the idiom. The Online Etymology Dictionary says smart cookie goes back to 1948 but gives no specifics. M...
by hcbowman
Mon Jul 18, 2005 10:14 pm
Forum: Good Word Suggestions
Topic: TRINITITE
Replies: 6
Views: 12382

The -ite ending makes trinitite sound like a mineral. The same is true for fulgurite, which is the glass-like product of lightning striking sand or certain types of stone. My question is whether trinitite and fulgurite are minerals. Aren't minerals supposed to be crystalline in structure? And aren't...
by hcbowman
Mon Jul 18, 2005 8:55 am
Forum: Good Word Suggestions
Topic: pillion
Replies: 2
Views: 6291

pillion

As an inveterate motorcyclist, I'd like to suggest pillion , which enjoys prominent billing in the recent Chatham House report : "Riding pillion with a powerful ally has proved costly in terms of British and US military lives, Iraqi lives, military expenditure, and the damage caused to the coun...
by hcbowman
Fri Jul 15, 2005 6:38 am
Forum: Good Word Discussion
Topic: GAS
Replies: 4
Views: 11589

my mother said we didn't want to stop there Katy During her first visit to California, my Brit wife observed a sign for the chain restaurant "In-N-Out Burger" . She immediately asked, "They do mean that figuratively, right?" Being the original drive-through burger joint, a visit...
by hcbowman
Thu Jul 14, 2005 1:41 pm
Forum: Grammar
Topic: "to hospital" vs "to the hospital"
Replies: 24
Views: 65252

Is this strictly a case of definite versus indefinite reference? One says, "I take the bus to school," even though he probably has a definite school in mind. In cities where there are numerous good hospitals, one could still say "I'm hurt! Please take me to the hospital!" without...
by hcbowman
Thu Jul 14, 2005 10:02 am
Forum: Grammar
Topic: "to hospital" vs "to the hospital"
Replies: 24
Views: 65252

"to hospital" vs "to the hospital"

In the coverage of the London bombings, I noticed that the British say "to hospital." In American English, we say "to school" more often than "to the school," but we tend to retain the "the" in "to the hospital." What is at work here?

Thanks,

Cliff

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