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| bio | website | caxton1485.wordpress.com |
|---|---|---|
| location | United Kingdom | |
| age | 71 | |
| visits | member for | 1 year, 8 months |
| seen | yesterday | |
| stats | profile views | 5,919 |
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.
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Apr 6 |
comment |
Are These Words Interchangeable? It's another shibboleth. Nothing more. |
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Apr 6 |
comment |
Are These Words Interchangeable? Why is it a pity? There can’t be much doubt over what The man was hung at dawn means. |
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Apr 6 |
revised |
Are These Words Interchangeable? added 1 characters in body |
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Apr 6 |
answered | “The people with whom you are talking” vs. “The people you are talking with” |
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Apr 6 |
comment |
'Letters as letters', 'words as words' @Edwin Ashworth. There's no alternative in that case, but there is in the OP's. |
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Apr 6 |
comment |
Should a photograph label read “you and I” or “you and me”? I have voted to close, but I'll just say that you can use whichever you like. I would write 'Seth and me', because it's less formal. |
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Apr 6 |
answered | 'Letters as letters', 'words as words' |
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Apr 5 |
answered | How to refer to the “elevated areas” of a mountain? |
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Apr 4 |
answered | What do I call someone I hire to do my personal work for me? |
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Apr 4 |
revised |
What do I call someone I hire to do my personal work for me? deleted 2 characters in body |
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Apr 4 |
answered | “I am” vs “am” - When should they be used in a sentence? |
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Apr 3 |
answered | Must a non-proper noun that starts a sentence be preceded with an article? |
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Apr 3 |
answered | Which is correct, “does go to” or “does goes to”? |
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Apr 2 |
comment |
What is a noun modifying clause? @Edwin Ashworth. More than two years on, I would now say that taken by me was a clause, and agree with John that it was a relative clause. It’s an ellipsis where the full form would be which was taken by me. |
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Apr 1 |
comment |
Can we use “from” after “stop”? Both the COCA and BNC have several records of stop from followed directly by the -ing form, and I think I'd be capable of using it myself. |
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Apr 1 |
answered | Can we use “from” after “stop”? |
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Mar 28 |
awarded | Popular Question |
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Mar 28 |
answered | Is there an English term for “L'esprit de l'escalier”? |
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Mar 27 |
comment |
“Italy-based company” or “Italian-based company” @tchrist. That may in part be because in speech the /n/ is lost through assimilation. Does it ever come out in speech as ‘Americam-based’? |
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Mar 27 |
answered | “This may get confused” or “This may get confusing” |
