78,831 reputation
487169
bio website caxton1485.wordpress.com
location United Kingdom
age 70
visits member for 1 year, 8 months
seen 2 days ago
stats profile views 5,901

I have spent most of my career in government service, much of it abroad. I have a degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Oxford and the Diploma in English Language Studies from the UK's Open University, and am qualified as a teacher of English to foreign learners. I have studied several other languages including French, German, Latin, Arabic and Old and Middle English.

My blog, Caxton, is mostly, but not entirely, about the English language.

Elsewhere on the web I have attempted to write in the constrained style of the 'Ouvroir de littérature potentielle' (OULIPO) in Variations on an Incident in Paris and in Variations on Jane Austen. I have also created a full set of 256 Syllogisms by figure and mood and showing which are valid and which are not.


May
4
awarded  Necromancer
May
4
answered “Functionalities;” According to Firefox, this word doesn't exist
Apr
27
awarded  Good Answer
Apr
23
comment “Coquette” vs. “flirt”
@tchrist. Thank you. I'll try to remember that.
Apr
17
answered Can I bother someone “for” something?
Apr
15
comment “He made a picture” vs. “he has made a picture”
All I can tell you is that, at least in British English, the present perfect construcion is used to relate something that has happened, usually in the fairly recent past, that has some kind of bearing on the present situation.
Apr
15
comment What part of speech is “methinks”?
@John Lawler. But sometimes intransitive: 'I think, therefore I am.' And: 'What are you doing?' 'I'm thinking.'
Apr
14
answered A grammar rule (Present perfect)
Apr
14
comment Is “gonna have to” an Americanism?
@Mitten. I can assure you that as a speaker of British English I'm quite capable of using it myself.
Apr
14
comment “in every respect” vs “in every aspect”
That should have been collocations.
Apr
14
comment “in every respect” vs “in every aspect”
The usual collacations are in every respect, but from every aspect.
Apr
14
comment “He made a picture” vs. “he has made a picture”
The context includes what follows, and it also includes the wider social framework.
Apr
14
comment “in every respect” vs “in every aspect”
Yes, you can in the appropriate context, but, in your example, respect is what is needed. I'll say in passing that the whole style is a little strange.
Apr
14
comment “He made a picture” vs. “he has made a picture”
It still depends on the context.
Apr
14
comment “He made a picture” vs. “he has made a picture”
It depends on what has gone on previously in the conversation.
Apr
14
answered “in every respect” vs “in every aspect”
Apr
14
answered “He made a picture” vs. “he has made a picture”
Apr
14
revised Is “gonna have to” an Americanism?
deleted 8 characters in body
Apr
14
answered Is “gonna have to” an Americanism?
Apr
13
revised Why do people say “that-a-way” instead of “that way”?
added 40 characters in body