HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: idx009@cck.coventry.ac.uk (the Crisco Kid)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: floating and sinking
Date: 9 Nov 92 17:47:52 GMT
Distribution: alt
Organization: Eris's Restaurant

In article <1992Nov8.2040.215@ALMAC> shakib.otaqui@almac.co.uk writes:
>DT>   Also, has anyone ever gotten a long shrift?
>
>  No, and I'm far from gruntled about it.
>
>  Shakib

I think people probably have received long shrift, but that it's not
been worth noting.  "Shrift" is the noun form of the verb "to shrive",
or "to absolve from one's sins"; one who receives "short shrift" is
thus given only a brief period before death (and, I suspect, a violent
death) before being sent to meet her or his Maker.

			Kay
-- 
6'2", dark short hair, blue eyes, bisexual and horny as ....
Kay Dekker, Dept of Industrial Design, Coventry University, Coventry UK
37 Old Winnings Road, Keresley Village, Coventry   |B0 f t+ g++ k++! s+ e r p!
Phone: +44 203 838668 (work) +44 203 337865 (home) |Deflowerer-of-innocents
From: bubai@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (P.Chatterjee)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Question about proper usage
Date: 8 Nov 1992 15:59:58 -0600
Organization: Kansas State University
NNTP-Posting-Host: matt.ksu.ksu.edu

Hello,

The question:

Is " I spent the better part of the last two years sprucing up my mathematics   background" correct? That is, should it be 'sprucing' instead of 'sprucing up'?

Thanks for any help.
From: idx009@cck.coventry.ac.uk (the Crisco Kid)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: floating and sinking
Date: 9 Nov 92 17:52:37 GMT
Distribution: alt
Organization: Eris's Restaurant

In article <BxGMrt.9uL@cck.coventry.ac.uk> idx009@cck.coventry.ac.uk (the Crisco Kid) writes:
>I think people probably have received long shrift, but that it's not
>been worth noting.  "Shrift" is the noun form of the verb "to shrive",
>or "to absolve from one's sins"; one who receives "short shrift" is
>thus given only a brief period before death (and, I suspect, a violent
>death) before being sent to meet her or his Maker.

Sorry to folloup to my own followup, but I missed a small element in the
chain of reasoning: it was considered necessary before death to make a
final confession of one's sins, and to be absolved (shriven) of them, thus
dying in a state of grace, if one were to have a hope of gaining Heaven.
Dying unshriven, without the last sacraments, was greatly feared.

				Kay
-- 
6'2", dark short hair, blue eyes, bisexual and horny as ....
Kay Dekker, Dept of Industrial Design, Coventry University, Coventry UK
37 Old Winnings Road, Keresley Village, Coventry   |B0 f t+ g++ k++! s+ e r p!
Phone: +44 203 838668 (work) +44 203 337865 (home) |Deflowerer-of-innocents
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: gmw1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Gabe M Wiener)
Subject: Re: Various things
Reply-To: gmw1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Gabe M Wiener)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 15:37:19 GMT

In article <cezA92_00WBMM6PVsj@andrew.cmu.edu> bl2m+@andrew.cmu.edu (Benjamin D. Lukoff) writes:
>> >b) What areas of the U.S. still call carbonated beverages "pop" and
>> >not "soda" ?
>The entire west coast! And here in Seattle the words have fused into
>'soda pop' which I assume is *not* peculiar just to the Emerald City.

Interesting.  When I was in California some months ago I never noticed this.


--
Gabe Wiener - Columbia Univ.     "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings 
gmw1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu       to be seriously considered as a means of 
N2GPZ in ham radio circles        communication. The device is inherently of
72355,1226 on CI$                 no value to us." -Western Union memo, 1877
From: paul.burnett@pcs.sj.ca.us (Paul Burnett) 
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: "Bilingual Education"
Date: 6 Nov 92 08:34:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: PCS-BBS - San Jose, CA - 408-270-4085
Reply-To: paul.burnett@pcs.sj.ca.us (Paul Burnett) 

TO: harper@oracorp.com (Douglas Harper)

DH>I've never been a partisan of "amerindian".  It's an ugly, unnecessary
  >term based as firmly as "American Indian" on the mistaken geography of
  >Columbus.

I've become a reluctant partisan of "Amerindian" if only to distinguish
such from "Asian Subcontinent / Hindu/Sikh Indians from the country of
India" - the _real_ "Indians".

DH>I have always opposed the use of the phrase "native American" to denote
  >aboriginal Americans because (1) it's an unnecessary, misleading
  >inelegant coinage and (2) I object to the political subtext.

But what do _they_ call themselves?  They certainly didn't know they
were Americans when Columbus "discovered" them, and probably didn't
learn this until much later.  I don't object to "North (or South or
Central) American aborigines", but I don't particularly like "aboriginal
Americans", because they certainly weren't really "citizens" of America
until fairly recently ....

---
 . QMPro 1.0 07-2042 . ...from San Jose, CA
From: paul.burnett@pcs.sj.ca.us (Paul Burnett) 
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: Vote early and often
Date: 6 Nov 92 09:07:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: PCS-BBS - San Jose, CA - 408-270-4085
Reply-To: paul.burnett@pcs.sj.ca.us (Paul Burnett) 

TO: rnewman@bbn.com (Ron Newman)

RN>|> The way I heard the joke, it was about Gov. Endicott Peabody, and the
  >|> towns are Endicott, Peabody, and Marblehead.

RN>The way *I* heard it, there were FOUR towns.  Endicott, Peabody,
  >Marblehead... and Athol.

Athol is the home of the Starret Tool Company, making fine measuring
tools for over a century.  Our distributor years ago would introduce
himself as representing Starret, "located in Athol, Mathathuthetth."

---
 . QMPro 1.0 07-2042 . ...from San Jose, CA
                                                                                                                             
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: roger@crux.Princeton.EDU (Roger Lustig)
Subject: Re: Question about proper usage
Originator: news@nimaster
Reply-To: roger@astro.princeton.edu (Roger Lustig)
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 23:42:11 GMT

In article <1dk2kuINN8nl@matt.ksu.ksu.edu> bubai@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (P.Chatterjee) writes:
>Hello,
>
>The question:
>
>Is " I spent the better part of the last two years sprucing up my mathematics   background" correct? That is, should it be 'sprucing' instead of 'sprucing up'?

>Thanks for any help.

"Sprucing up" is standard usage.  On the other hand, 

a) I'd drop "background" in that sentence, as it doesn't really mean much.

b) I'd limit line length to 80 characters.  8-)

If this is a sentence to be put in some formal document, e.g., the cover
letter for your resume', don't use "spruce up," as it's a fairly informal
usage.

Roger


Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: monica@searchtech.com (Monica Skidmore)
Subject: Re: Vowels in words (and syllables)
Organization: Search Technology, Inc.
Distribution: all
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 21:16:41 GMT

In article <1d9oriINNam5@gap.caltech.edu> dian@arpeggio.gg.caltech.edu (Dian  De Sha) writes:
>
>The phrase we were taught was "a, e, i, o, u, and, sometimes, y."
>This was necessary to fulfill the grammar requirement that
>*all* words shall contain at least one vowel.  With such a
>definition, what would we do with "try, cry, fly..."?
>

Was anyone else taught "a, e, i, o, u, and, sometimes, y and _w_?"  Several
different teachers told me this, but they never gave a really satisfactory 
example of 'w' as a vowel.  One of them explained that in some words where
one might assume that 'w' is a consonant it is technically a vowel.  (I think 
an example might have been something like 'bow,' but I can't remember.)

-- 
Monica D. Skidmore                            monica@searchtech.com
Search Technology, Inc.                       emory!stiatl!srchtec!monica
                                              monica@srchtec.uucp
From: microsoc@black.ox.ac.uk (Microsoc)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: mnemonics in general
Date: 10 Nov 92 12:29:23 GMT
Organization: Oxford University Computing Service, 13 Banbury Rd, Oxford, U
Originator: microsoc@black

In article <1992Nov9.043447.5968@dg-rtp.dg.com> cochran@spam.rtp.dg.com (A. Jing Hippy) writes:
>eepjm@wombat.newcastle.edu.au (Peter Moylan) writes: 
>| In article <29OCT199216261065@adpdp2.lanl.gov>, 108116@adpdp2.lanl.gov (108116) writes:
>| > Ok guys!  What mnemonics do you all know?  The more unusual the better, I'll
>| > start you off:
>| 
>| Well, there's the one for remembering the first hundred or so digits
>| of pi.  It starts out as "God, I need a drink!"  Can't have been a
>| very good mnemonic, though: I've forgotten the rest.
>
>OK, I don't *think* I'm stupid, but how does one use "God, I need a drink"
>to remember 3.14159?

Count the number of letters in each word....

Again, it can't be a good mnemonic since I can't remember it, but isn't it
something like 
"God, I need a drink (alcoholic of course) after that heavy
lecture involving Quantum Mechanics?" 
(Would give 3.14159265457979... is that right, anyone?)

Marc Read
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: srgcraf@grace.cri.nz (Ross A Fletcher)
Subject: Re: question
Organization: Industrial Research Ltd
Distribution: alt
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 92 23:46:27 GMT

In article <S91001RA.92Nov9113143@d38.sfc.keio.ac.jp> s91001ra@sfc.keio.ac.jp (Rie Aizawa) writes:
>Subject: question
>From: s91001ra@sfc.keio.ac.jp (Rie Aizawa)
>Date: 9 Nov 92 02:31:43 GMT
>To netters,
> 
>I had to choose *one* wrong sentence from these: 1 The night began to break.
>                                                 2 Morning began to break.
>                                                 3 The day began to dawn.
>                                                 4 It began to dawn.
>
>I don't know which one to choose, and why.  Please explain, anyone?
>
>Also choose *one* wrong sentence from these: 1 It doesn't concern me.
>                                             2 I don't concern it.
>                                             3 It has nothing to do with me.
>                                             4 I'm not concerned with it.
>
>And the same from these: 1 This book is easy to be read.
>                         2 This book is easy to read
First group

I would vote for the first.  It is not usual to say night breaks - normally 
night "falls".  The word "break" refers to light breaking through the 
darkness e.g. the song "Morning has Broken".  The last two sentences are 
correct usage - "dawn" can be used in the active sense also i.e. "the day 
dawned" 

Second Group

Second sentence doesn't sound correct at all but I'm slightly hazy about the 
grammatical error.  Concern is a passive verb - it is a state of being not 
an action i.e. in the infinitive form it is "to be concerned (about)" and 
not (normally) "to concern", although "Don't concern yourself with...." is 
ometimes used.  The sentence would be better as "It is not concerned by me" 
when referring to an animal (of unknown gender).  He or She would replace "
it" if referring to a person.


Third group 
First sentence is wrong.  The infinitive form "to be read" is inappropriate 
because it is adjectival-describes the book further.  It would be used, for 
example, in "The book to be read (next week; on Tuesday etc.)is "Lady 
Chatterley's Lover".  For the question, you need the active form "to read" 
because some words are assumed. The full sentence would be  "This book is 
easy (for someone) to read. 

Ross
>>If you have enough time for these, please e-mail to 
me!>Thank you very much! :)
>
>-----
>Rie Aizawa * Keio University * s91001ra@sfc.keio.ac.jp
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: froggy@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au (Robyn McNamara)
Subject: Re: Various things
Organization: Monash General Access UNIX System
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 10:12:08 GMT

In article <1992Nov8.042646.10166@news.columbia.edu> gmw1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Gabe M Wiener) writes:
>a) The other day, I was talking about a technical design with someone,
>and they referred to the pending patent on the device.  However, his
>pronunciation of "patent" rhymed with "latent."  I've never heard the
>word "patent" pronounced any way other than with the first syllable
>pronounced like the name "pat."  Has anyone else encountered "patent"
>prounounced with the long a?

That's the only way I've _ever_ heard it pronounced.  Presumably, it's
the English pronunciation - Australian English being reasonably close to
English English.


-- 
Robyn McNamara                                        The Cosmic Froggy
                     froggy@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au
"Walk the lines of Nature's palm/Crossed with silver and with gold"-JT
From: roger@crux.Princeton.EDU (Roger Lustig)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: scrabble boredom
Date: 5 Nov 92 16:46:39 GMT
Reply-To: roger@astro.princeton.edu (Roger Lustig)
Organization: Princeton University
Originator: news@nimaster

In article <1992Nov5.073532.27523@news.eng.convex.com> tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen) writes:
>Looking at a scrabble board you see funny things... like 
>the fact that "debugger" and "begrudge" are but rearrangements
>of each other.

>Trivia question: which set of letters has FIVE distinct words
>associated with it?  Can any find MORE than one of these?
>I have 16 FOURS, and but one FIVE?

Seven-letter sets or smaller ones?

stop/spot/pots/tops/opts
stripe/ripest/priest/sprite/tripes

Roger
From: casseres@apple.com (David Casseres)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: I before E rule
Date: 11 Nov 92 17:35:41 GMT
Followup-To: alt.usage.english
Organization: Apple Computer Inc.

In article <1992Nov3.201605.14865@news.weeg.uiowa.edu>,
jwagner@news.weeg.uiowa.edu (Joseph F. Wagner) wrote:
> 
> Everyone remebers the rule: "I before E except after C and in the case of A
> like in weigh and neighbor." 
> 
> Well, there is a third part to this little rhyme that talks about exceptions
> like leisure. If anyone can mail me the entire rule, I will be eternally
> indebted to you. Please mail me as I don't read this group and, as always,
> thanks in advance.

I learned a pair of rules:

1. I before E except after C, or when sounded like A as in neighbor and
   sleigh.

2. All the common exceptions are found in this sentence: "Neither financier
   seized either form of weird leisure."

--

David Casseres
Exclaimer: Wow!
From: rnewman@bbn.com (Ron Newman)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: Vote early and often
Date: 6 Nov 1992 03:18:26 GMT
Organization: Bolt, Beranek & Newman, Inc.
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: spcsun25.bbn.com

In article <baron.54.720457302@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>, baron@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Dennis Baron) writes:
|> In article <1992Oct29.222724.24106@Princeton.EDU> roger@crux.Princeton.EDU (Roger Lustig) writes:

|> >TRIVIA: which three Massachusetts towns were named for Gov. Lowell?  (joke)

|> The way I heard the joke, it was about Gov. Endicott Peabody, and the
|> towns are Endicott, Peabody, and Marblehead.

The way *I* heard it, there were FOUR towns.  Endicott, Peabody,
Marblehead... and Athol.

-- 
Ron Newman		rnewman@bbn.com
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: chantal@osf.org (Chantal Eide)
Subject: dassn't
Organization: Open Software Foundation - Research Institute
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 21:43:41 GMT

I heard a very old lady use the word "dassn't."  
"I dassn't miss another day."  Sort of like dare not
or ought not.  Does anyone know something about this
word?  Where it originated?  If it's a contraction?

Chantal Eide



-- 
--------------------------------------------
Chantal Eide (chantal@osf.org)
--------------------------------------------
From: bl2m+@andrew.cmu.edu (Benjamin D. Lukoff)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: Gender neutral pronouns
Date: 6 Nov 92 16:12:02 GMT
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

Excerpts from netnews.alt.usage.english: 6-Nov-92 Re: Gender neutral
pronouns by Leon James Garde@jupiter 
>  
> >Which of the following two statements is correct?
>  
> >A) If a person wishes to discuss gender-neutral pronouns, he should do it 
> >somewhere other than sci.skeptic.
>  
> >B) If a person wishes to discuss gender-neutral pronouns, they should do 
> >it somewhere other than sci.skeptic.
> Niether   ... though I'm skeptical that one can categorise such a statement
> as being either true or false , on ground of a lack of CONTEXT.
Not true, the first sentence is correct, though it is increasingly
becoming a liability to use it. I wish people would understand that when
I use a gender-specific pronoun I am not excluding one-half of the human
species!
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: tvorst@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Tommy Che Vorst)
Subject: OED online?
Organization: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1992 07:12:01 GMT

Does anybody know where I can find the OED online, and how to use it?
Much appreciated.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
  Tommy ( Yogi )                              Dept. of English, UofM
                (the REAL UofM - nyaaaah Vid! (Minn.)) 
                     email:  tvorst@ccu.umanitoba.ca  
            ....residences in Canada, France, and Holland.
                       "YAAH! DEATH TO OATMEAL!"
                   Remember: it's just my opinion.
 +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 

 
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: greg.grainger@rose.com (greg grainger)
Subject: Re: Have X, will trav
Organization: Rose Media Inc, Toronto, Ontario.
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 02:36:11 GMT
X-Gated-By: Usenet <==> RoseMail Gateway (v1.70)


Date Entered: 11-07-92 21:31
On Nov. 6,  ostvold@imag.imag.imag.fr (Bjarte OSTVOLD) wrote:

OS>Can someone explain the origin of this type of phrases:

OS>        "Have X, will travel"

OS>where X is a noun.

It's a resume. The first statement describes attributes - i.e., 'I have
a(n) X'. The second statement describes a willingness to relocate.

There was a television program from the late fifties called 'Palladin', in
which the protagonist (who was a kind of good-guy gunfighter) had a
business card which read 'Have gun. Will travel.'

                                                Cheers,
                                                Greg.

Greg Grainger
Toronto, Ontario.
greg.grainger@rose.com
10:48:18 am, Sat 11-07-1992.

Personal policy statement: Neither flames nor flame-bait will be responded
to.
---
   OLX 2.2   Civilized people need love for full sexual satisfaction.
   RM 2.00 : RoseNet<=>Usenet Gateway : Rose Media 416-733-2285
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: gtoal@ibmpcug.co.uk (Graham Toal)
Subject: Re: scrabble boredom
Organization: The IBM PC User Group, UK.
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 01:31:30 GMT

In article <+m+qf=l@SantaFe.edu> meyer@sfi.santafe.edu (Thomas P. Meyer) writes:
:The dictionary search missed the set I came up with---
:
:retains
:retinas  (probably an acceptable spelling, esp. by Scrabble players :) )
:stainer
:restain
:nastier
:ratines
:
:Pretty boring words, but what do you expect from the three commonest vowels
:and the four commonest consonants?

I expect more than that!  How about starnie, resiant, retsina, stearin,
anestri, antsier, asterin, eranist, estrain, neritas, ranites, ranties,
rantise, sertain, straine, taniers, tiranes and traines :-)

G
--
From: watson@madvax.uwa.oz.au (David Watson)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: What is wrong with "rule of thumb" ?
Date: 13 Nov 1992 01:09:57 GMT
Organization: Maths Dept UWA
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: xanthorrhoea.maths.uwa.oz.au

In article <casseres-091192095247@missmolly.apple.com>, casseres@apple.com (David Casseres) writes:
|> In article <1992Nov2.160251.29355@iscnvx.lmsc.lockheed.com>,
|> lange@iscnvx.lmsc.lockheed.com (Alex Lange) wrote:
|> > I would strike "rule of thumb" not out of any hypersensitivity to
|> > women's issues, but simply because the phrase is hackneyed, worn-out,
|> > overused, dull, cliche, and so on.
|> 
|> Then what would you use in its place?  I find it the only quick,
|> universally understood term for a body of "folk engineering" knowledge that
|> is of great use to me every day.
|> 
|> By the way, I was startled to learn the (long forgotten) origin of the
|> phrase; I had though it came from the "rule" that the last joint of a
|> person's thumb is about one inch long.

There are many rules-of-thumb which are useful and non-sexist.  Using an
example of a bad rule-of-thumb to condemn all such rules is, in itself,
the application of another bad rule-of-thumb.

-- 
Dave Watson                          Internet: watson@maths.uwa.edu.au

Xref: sparky alt.usage.english:8267 sci.lang:7901
From: bl2m+@andrew.cmu.edu (Benjamin D. Lukoff)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english,sci.lang
Subject: Re: Latin forms in English
Date: 5 Nov 92 17:25:08 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.seySKIy00WB593rlUO
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

Excerpts from netnews.alt.usage.english: 4-Nov-92 Latin forms in English
by Callec Dradja@psuvm.psu. 
>     way that it begins with 'ph.' Could you help me find a commonly used
>     Latin word with a plural form that ends in 'a'? (i.e. it is a neuter
Bacterium, plural bacteria.
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: marder@kauri.vuw.ac.nz (Stephen Marder)
Subject: Re: Bonniful glips &c.
Organization: Victoria University of Wellington
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 18:36:44 GMT

In article <dconway.18.0@cs1.uct.ac.za> dconway@cs1.uct.ac.za (D CONWAY) writes:
>	The powerful find buses silly.
>
>Only criticism is that "powerful" is an adjectival noun, so - could you find 
>a *noun* which ends in "ful", or even a whole new sentence which preferably 
>doesn't have any word classes in the predicted order?
>
   What about 'handful'?


-- 
Stephen Marder 			    P.O. Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand
Russian Section 		    Email:Stephen.Marder@vuw.ac.nz
School of European Languages       Telephone: +64 4 472-1000 x8824
Victoria University of Wellington
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: pjames@hubcap.clemson.edu (perry r james)
Subject: Re: PIqued!
Organization: Clemson University
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 22:24:35 GMT

In article <BxIp78.M44@constellation.ecn.uoknor.edu> mmmirash@midway.ecn.uoknor.edu (Mandar M. Mirashi) writes:
>
>Also, since the value of PI  has been calculated upto a million
>decimal places, if anyone has it on-line, could you please e-mail
>it to me?
>

Hi all,
    A 1.25+ million digit approximation for pi is avaliable by ftp from
wuarchive.wustl.edu in the directory /doc/pi.  I downloaded the .Z file
over the summer, but wuarchive.wustl.edu's ftp is not responding now, so
I can't confirm that it's still there. 
    Have fun,
    Perry

    pjames@hubcap.clemson.edu
From: thayes@desire.wright.edu
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: a good dictionary
Date: 6 Nov 92 11:24:13 EST
Organization:  Wright State University 



MC> I know I'm going to regret asking this, 

:) ...

> but in what dictionary did you find
> "noone" as one word?

In the Newworld Dictionary, ofcourse!

-----ted hayes
From: jgd@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (John G Dobnick)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: I before E rule
Date: 7 Nov 1992 00:11:24 GMT
Organization: University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Reply-To: jgd@csd4.csd.uwm.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: 129.89.7.4
Originator: jgd@csd4.csd.uwm.edu

From article <1992Nov6.140630.1@cc.newcastle.edu.au>, by ccjal@cc.newcastle.edu.au (John A Lambert):

> The rule as I learned it 55 or so years ago was `I before E when the sound is
> ee.'

  Weird!

-- 
John G Dobnick                          ATTnet: (414) 229-5727
Computing Services Division             INTERNET: jgd@uwm.edu
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee     UUCP: uunet!uwm!jgd

"Knowing how things work is the basis for appreciation,
and is thus a source of civilized delight."  -- William Safire