MSGID: 2:221/360.0 5d4b4012   
   REPLY: 1:153/716.0 d4114ce0   
   PID: JamNNTPd/Cygwin32 1.3 20190208   
   CHRS: IBMPC 2   
   TZUTC: 0300   
   TID: hpt/w32-mvc 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   Ardith Hinton:   
      
   AH> What  I had in mind there was not FOWLER'S, but the work   
   AH> of an author from the US.   Because  I  don't  speak  US   
   AH> English  I saw little need for it until I became curious   
   AH> about why Americans do what they do with, e.g., "of" and   
   AH> thought I'd best consult a USAian expert....   :-)   
      
   Ah, that meow... I mean MEU.   
      
   AH> Recently  Dallas  &  I  watched  a  series  about  Queen   
   AH> Victoria in which the actress said (when HM  was  8  1/2   
   AH> months  pregnant  & was not allowed, by the standards of   
   AH> the day, to do as she wished) said "I'm bored of  this".   
   AH> At  a  similar  stage  I  was reminded of people who had   
   AH> built a ship in the basement & wondered how they'd  ever   
   AH> get  it out...  and when I asked Dallas to help with the   
   AH> vacuuming I got a new vacuum cleaner almost immediately.   
   AH> But  when  I exclaimed, "What... Queen Victoria wouldn't   
   AH> have said that!?" the 1998 edition of FOWLER'S confirmed   
   AH> my suspicion that "bored of" emerged well over a century   
   AH> later.  :-))   
      
   Then you might enjoy  "The  Witch"  (or  "The  VVitch") -- a   
   splendidly  depressing  horror  movie  where  the actors are   
   speaking the true English of the witch-hunting period in New   
   England.   Watching  it  from a Bluray via a projector, with   
   good Soviet loudspeakers was to me  a  shocking  experience!   
   Don't try it alone.   
      
   AH> Perhaps  I  should  refresh  my  memory  in that regard.   
   AH> Although some of us probably learned about it at school,   
   AH> North  Americans  in  general  don't  make a distinction   
   AH> between "will" and "shall".  I think much of the power &   
   AH> sublety  of the language is lost when folks try too hard   
   AH> to simplify or naturalize it.  :-)   
      
   Well, it is not nearly as hard as conscious  care  of  one's   
   language.   Recall  the  second law of thermodymamics, which   
   says the chaos  increases  by  itself,  whereas  maintaining   
   order  takes  effort.   "The  only  thing  necessary for the   
   triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing," and it is!   
      
   AH> While I know very little about Anthony Hope, I  think  I   
   AH> know what you mean WRT Agatha Christie.  She could speak   
   AH> volumes about a man by saying he  was  wearing  spats  &   
   AH> riding  in  a first-class railway compartment... in much   
   AH> the same way as the photograph  I  saw  of  her  wearing   
   AH> pearls  while  eating  breakfast  on  the  patio  of her   
   AH> country estate spoke volumes.  When you  understand  the   
   AH> fine  points  of  grammar  &/or  the  upper-middle class   
   AH> customs of the day you'll understand far more  than  the   
   AH> kids  whose  chief  ambition is to fit in with their age   
   AH> mates.  :-Q   
      
   Count  me  with  the  kids,  then.    I   needed   extensive   
   annotations to understand Aldous Huxley's "Crome Yellow".   
      
   ---   
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