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  1. #71

    Join Date
    Apr 2010
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    Saintly No More

    It used to be Saint Valentine's Day.

    He is still commemorated in the name of the St Valentine's Day Massacre, a Mafia event in Chicago in 1929.

    But in present-day usage, he is no longer remembered.


  2. #72

    Join Date
    Jul 2008
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    Hong Kong side
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    Quote Originally Posted by GeoTommy:
    You need to go �Full-Hongkie� when pronouncing SF-Express:

    Es-sy Ef-foo Ex-sy Pres-sy (8 syllables instead of 4)
    That's hardcore man : respect
    Morrison likes this.

  3. #73

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    Sep 2019
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    https://www.shearsoneditorial.com/20...-an-adjective/

    https://grammarist.com/usage/concerning/

    Two viewpoints on an issue that has troubled me in recent years.

    My position concerning it should be self-evident.
    R.O. likes this.

  4. #74

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    I became aware of this usage only recently. I think I heard the head of the WHO using it.

    The Grammarist comment is good. It's strange how "new" usages often turn out to be old.

    In the Grammarist's words, I am one of "those inclined against the word" and will "continue avoiding it."

    AsianXpat0 likes this.

  5. #75

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    In the Grammarist's words, I am one of "those inclined against the word" and will "continue avoiding it."
    That is very concerning.

  6. #76

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    Apr 2010
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    Today's Word

    I hope this will interest scholars and fusspots. The pronunciation of long words sometimes causes difficulty and disagreement in English - controversy is an old trouble-maker.

    What about today's word: respiratory?

    I will use quotation marks - " - to represent the English half-vowel - the a in about.

    - - - -

    I think the standard British, and a possible American - pronunciation is

    res - pi - r" - tri.

    - - - -

    Another American pronunciation is

    res - pr" - tor - i

    (with a light stress on tor).

    - - - -

    In my opinion, the natural way to pronounce it is

    res - pi - ray - t" - ri.

    - - - -

    But if you pronounce it like that, you will sound uneducated. Go figure.


  7. #77

    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Posts
    623

    Hope and Wish

    Yesterday, Carrie Lam said,
    "In deciding what to lift, and how much to lift [the restrictions], it is not an exact science. I hope it is an exact science."

    Of course, she meant,
    I wish it were [or was] an exact science.

    The different uses of hope and wish are among the hardest things for HK students to learn.


  8. #78

    She is setting a bad example.


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