MSGID: 1:153/716.0 c7617bc2   
   REPLY: 2:221/6.0 5c2de4e6   
   CHRS: IBMPC 2   
   Hi again, Anton!  Here's an update on my earlier reply to you:   
      
    AS>  I have read recently that "I have the honor to report   
    AS>  that..." is incorrect and that one should say "I have   
    AS>  the honor of reporting that...":   
      
    >  Official committee reports in English of the Canadian   
    >  House of Commons all contain the phrase "Your Committee   
    >  has the honour to present its Xth Report".  That should   
    >  of course be "the honour of presenting."   
      
      
              In the light of further input I would say your reluctance & mine to   
   accept the author's claim is justified.  I noticed a very similar construction   
   in NINETY-NINE GLIMPSES OF PRINCESS MARGARET, by Craig Brown:   
      
                [During the 1970's BBC comedian John Fortune] introduced   
                her to his producer, Denis Main Wilson.  'She asked him   
                what he did.  He stood up very straight and said:  "Ma'am,   
                I have the honour to produce a little show called _Till   
                Death Us Do Part_."'   
      
      
              When I googled "I have the honour to" I found a dozen examples from   
   the UK & the US in which "I have the hono(u)r to inform you" is used.  There's   
   one from New South Wales... i.e. in Australia... as well.  And while they span   
   roughly four centuries, various 21st-century policy documents are listed.   
      
      
              For those who prefer "shoulds" DEBRETT'S is a wonderful source.  It   
   includes conventional formulas such as "I have the honour to remain [...] your   
   [...] most humble and obedient servant."  IIRC, much the same wording was used   
   in 19th-century business letters... and I've found a US example saying "I have   
   the honor to transmit herewith my report"... so there's no doubt in my mind as   
   to whether this usage is correct.  Unless you are writing letters to the Royal   
   Family, however, you probably won't see it used very often these days....  ;-)   
      
      
      
    AS>  But why?  It is the more difficult for me to understand   
    AS>  because in my naytive Russian the infinitive version is   
    AS>  only natural.   
      
      
              Some folks may see it as dated &/or unnecessarily formal, but AFAIC   
   you can get away with doing whatever feels right to you in many cases....  :-)   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
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