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It is not just common. It is a peasant language! Some related sig quotes from my collection:
Sans smiley: The Ctrl and Alt keys on your keyboard are similar in character to the Shift key on a regular typewriter. They change what...
English was a language invented by Norman invaders to pick up Anglo-Saxon barmaids. It retains much of this character.
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." -- James D. Nicoll, on Usenet
"Not only does the English Language borrow words from other languages, it sometimes chases them down dark alleys, hits them over the head, and goes through their pockets." -- Eddy Peters
English doesn't `pick up' loan words, it consciously stalks them. -- Andrew Moffatt-Vallance
mea culpa ... i just remember being told as undergraduate that the 360-65 as an (750ns memory) "upgrade" of an earlier announced model with 1mic memory that didn't ship...
"The misinformation that pbuttes for gospel wisdom about English usage is sometimes astounding." -- Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage
English grammar is not taught in primary or secondary schools in the United States. Sometimes some mythology is taught under that rubric, but luckily it's usually ignored, except by the credulous.
never existed. Some photographs of a Univac 9400 happened to be mislabeled, because when the computer's number appeared in them...
"Who Says English Ain't Phonetic?: 267,982 Simple Rules for Perfect Spelling and Pronunciation." In leading bookstores QI 2562.
I remember seeing a sign on a power station that was trilingual: English, French, and American. It said "No Admission. Pas D'admission. Keep Out".
The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched."
Sincerely,
Gene Wirchenko
Computerese Irregular Verb Conjugation: I have preferences. You have biases. He-She has prejudices.