I go along with much of what has already been said. I voted No because I cannot have too much of this sort of stimulation. I will confess that I do not at the moment even read the posts daily but I save them up so that I can have a little feast from time to time. Nothing wrong with a repeat now and ...

I completely accept that languages and meaning can change over time. "Literally" is one of many words that have become debased over time. I have my favourites that annoy me most and these are ones where numeric values have changed such as "decimate" = "reduce by one tenth" which is now used as "redu...

The article, especially the second example, shows the familiar problem of automated translation attempts where word-by-word dictionary lookups are used. More modern translation tools try to work on phrase or word-group matching and are often more successful because of it. I am reminded of the hilari...

I'm not at all sure that uptalk is completely new in British English. I am sure it has always been there as long as I can remember. In earlier days though, I would say that it was used in the context of repeating the sense of what someone else had said, possibly prefaced with "Do you mean to say,......

As well as fake etc., there is a general use of Brummagem, or more often Brummie (maybe Brummy) in connection with an assumption that the city's inhabitants are a little slow-witted or just plain dim. I hasten to add that this is not my own experience or judgment. A classic example is "Brummagem scr...

There are parallels in our language's German roots: darin= in there, in that or just inside; darunter = underneath (it) and similar.

Other like the Scottish "outwith" serve to leave one wondering about the subtle distinction from "without".

Anders, What's your position on the "man" as genderless suffix question? I am interested particularly as your tag "Irren ist männlich" is quite specific as to gender. I have occasionally wondered if was a deliberate choice. The version "Irren ist menschlich" is gender-free and is, I think, more comm...

Having only just ventured into this Agora, starting by seeming to disagree with the Good Dr Goodword is perhaps presumptuous. However , although not disputing the basic origin of trencherman , I had always been of the opinion that it is a formation from trencher , meaning a wooden plate or board on ...

I have finally got round to dipping into the Alpha site, haven't really had a lot of time for Agoring recently. Looks good and lots of familiar names.

Hi to those who remember me from the other place.

Derek

Note for self: Must make more time for this sort of thing.