Wordwizard

If ruling something out doesn't essentially mean striking it off a list then where does it come from? I don't think you've really dealt with my original question, gd.

In the context of the crisis in English Football and the search for a new manager I heard a commentator on the radio this morning saying that nobody could be ruled out and nobody could be ruled in. This seems wrong in two ways. Firstly, if someone is ruled in, presumably that means that they have go...

I would prefer the first sentence. The second doesn't sound quite right.

I would use relating to as an alternative for concerning or regarding. As for related to, I am related to my brother; he is my relation. I hope that helps but I would be able to give a fuller reply if I knew what had prompted your query in the first place.

Quoc, I think it would be helpful for you to bear in mind that the modal verbs (will, would, can, could, must, may, etc.) all have multiple uses. Would can be used to form conditionals but that is only one of the ways in which it is used. 1/ is a conditional use. You could rewrite the sentence as: "...

Quoc, where has this query come from? Have you got some real-life examples that you have seen somewhere?

Wikipedia says that it is named The Gray Lady for its "staid appearance and style."

TEFL is Teaching English as a Foreign Language. TESOL is (I think) Teaching English as a Second Language.

Could this be a sign, gd, that your Plain English Handbook may not be sufficient for all your linguistic needs? There are plenty of good English grammars available over here which explain countability very well. Their number has multiplied in recent years to satisfy the demands of the burgeoning TEF...

Under Castles in Spain the Penguin Dictionary of English Idioms has "unreal wealth and splendour which only exists in the mind." I suppose your Moorish castles would have seemed unreal and unattainable to anyone looking on from afar, Agilis.

Our local paper is the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard, just known as the Standard (Wilts is Wiltshire.)

Dale, it's quite common here in the UK on market stalls. YOu often see tomatoe's, plum's, apple's, and so on. The practice periodically arouses the ire of retired colonels in places like Tunbridge Wells who fire off letters to the Times about the way the language is going to the dogs. (You may not b...

Can I take it then, Agilis, that you agree with gdwdwrkr over the plural form of logo?

What is the correct plural of the word logo: logos or logo's? I ask because it seems to me that there is a risk of confusion with the Greek word logos which appears in English texts on Theology and Esoteric Philosophy (I've just checked and it's in the dictionary).

I would be interested to know what others in the US think of this because according to every grammar I 've ever consulted a sentence like "If I did it, here's what would have happened" is wrong. Is that acceptable in American English?