HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: roger@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Roger Lustig)
Subject: Re: Use of 'I' and 'me'
Originator: news@nimaster
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 06:09:28 GMT

In article <14048@goanna.cs.rmit.oz.au> s913606@yallara.cs.rmit.OZ.AU (Mab) writes:
>We were discussing the use of the term 'you and I' as opposed to 'you
>and me' the other day... as in:

>'You and I can go now' (pretend there's no such word as 'we' okay?)

>and

>'He called you and me'

>I figure that both of these are correct, as you use the 'I' when you
>would use it normally ('I can go now') and the same with the 'me'
>('He called me'). What does everybody think? A friend of mine thinks
>that it should be 'He called you and I'... is this right?

Yes and no.  "you-and-I" has been an immutable (i.e., non-declinable)
piece of English for about 7 centuries.  Especially when preceded by the
word "between," it's found everywhere.  (As in Shakespeare, _Merchant of
Venice_, Act III, Sc. 1: "All debts are cleered betweene you and I.")

But of course we usually say "me" when the pronoun comes after the verb,
in other situations.  Besides, "me" is used for direct and indirect
objects, so, analogous to Latin and other heavily
inflected languages, we would use it in "He called me."  

So an English teacher would say that "He called you and me" is correct.
But the glue that holds "you-and-I" together is very strong, and this
has led to "you-and-I" being common in colloquial speech.  

Roger
>ADVthanxANCE.
>     __  __      __   _  Email the Mabster at: s913606@yallara.cs.rmit.OZ.AU
>.___/  |/  |____/  |_| |____________________________________________________.
>|  / /| /| | __/_| |_| |____  "That's one small step for man, and ---       |
>| / / |/ | | \  _| |_| |_  /   SHIT! There's a f**king alien!"              |
>`/ /     | |/ /\ | | | | /            -Neil Armstrong (Before govt coverup).|
>(_/------|___/--\__|-|__/---------------------------------------------------'
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: "Route" for yall!
From: thayes@desire.wright.edu
Date: 14 Aug 92 09:37:10 EST
Distribution: all
Organization: Wright State University 

In article <dian.713749867@egg.gg.caltech.edu>, 
dian@arpeggio.gg.caltech.edu (Dian  De Sha) writes:
> In <baron.20.713717987@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> 
baron@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Dennis Baron) writes:
> 
>>Ted, that's "all ya'll," to be precise.
> 
> Isn't it "all y'all"?
> 
> --Dian

Darn right, Dian!  And if Herr Clinton gets ee-lected Dennis will never,
ever get it wrong again!

-----ted hayes

Xref: sparky alt.usage.english:6758 sci.lang:6610
From: rod@bohra.cpg.oz.au (Rod Bruce)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english,sci.lang
Subject: Re: Can I axe you a (sikth) question?
Date: 21 Aug 92 05:30:15 GMT
Organization: Computer Power Software

amlogan@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Adam M. Logan) writes:

>In article <maynor.714312243@Ra.MsState.Edu> maynor@Ra.MsState.Edu (Natalie Maynor) writes:
>>I'm trying to think whether I've ever heard anybody include the second [f]
>>in "fifth."  

>I recall one high-school math teacher who consistently said "fift".

>Adam

To my ear, it is normally pronounced exactly as spelt, Australia wide.

Unrelated, but curious -

Occasionally seen on our roads these days are service vehicles (typically
garbage trucks or buses) with the following strange message written
in large letters on the back -
		WARNING - VEHICLE CONSTANTLY STOPPING

For some reason I have trouble with this.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
> Rod Bruce                          | ACSnet:  rod@bohra.cpg.oz[.au]          <
> 19 Cato St,                        | UUCP:  ..uunet!munnari!bohra.cpg!rod    <
> East Hawthorn, Australia, 3004     | Phone: +61-3-8230225 Fax: +61-3-8248068 <
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
-- 
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
> Rod Bruce                          | ACSnet:  rod@bohra.cpg.oz[.au]          <
> 19 Cato St,                        | UUCP:  ..uunet!munnari!bohra.cpg!rod    <
> East Hawthorn, Australia, 3004     | Phone: +61-3-8230225 Fax: +61-3-8248068 <
From: cam@castle.ed.ac.uk (Chris Malcolm)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: Asses & Tongue in cheek
Date: 14 Aug 92 15:58:02 GMT
Organization: Edinburgh University

In article <1992Aug13.140019.8706@lucy.ee.und.ac.za> barrett@daisy.ee.und.ac.za (Alan P Barrett) writes:

>>  so there we leave Don Quixote, sitting
>>  on his ass, until this time next week."

>> No telling if this was said as a Freudian
>> slip or tongue in cheek...

>Probably neither.  He probably just meant "ass" as in "donkey".

It sounds like an ignorant urban rumour to me, since Don Quixote
didn't sit on a donkey. Being a knight he sat on his horse. Sancho was
the donkey rider. I blame underfunding of the education system for the
persistence of this thread :-)
-- 
Chris Malcolm    cam@uk.ac.ed.aifh          +44 (0)31 650 3085
Department of Artificial Intelligence,    Edinburgh University
5 Forrest Hill, Edinburgh, EH1 2QL, UK                DoD #205
Xref: sparky alt.usage.english:6525 sci.lang:6489
From: mcovingt@athena.cs.uga.edu (Michael A. Covington)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english,sci.lang
Subject: Re: Can I axe you a question?
Summary: Phonotactics
Date: 18 Aug 92 03:33:23 GMT
Article-I.D.: athena.1992Aug18.033323.23575
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Georgia, Athens

In article <1992Aug16.203635.3839@news.columbia.edu> gmw1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Gabe M Wiener) writes:
>Can anyone shed some light on how the dreadful usage of the word "axe" in
>place of "ask" ever got started?  Is there any linguistin explanation as
>to why the s and k sounds get reversed in many inner-city dialects?

Yes.  Phonotactics.

Every language has a set of rules (called phonotactic rules) that say what
combinations of sounds are possible and impossible.  The existence of
phonotactics makes it much easier to understand unclear or muffled speech,
because you can immediately and subconsciously rule out impossible
combinations.

In English, /sk#/ (where # denotes word boundary) is so uncommon that
some speakers put it into the impossible class and replace it with
/ks#/, which is common.

I've met _plenty_ of people who won't pronounce /sks#/ (as in 'desks');
they insist on putting a vowel in it, /skis#/ or something like that.

-- 
+ Michael Covington - Artificial Intelligence Programs - U of Georgia - USA 
+ Unless otherwise noted, these are private opinions, not official statements.
+ VOTE NO GEORGIA LOTTERY - don't tie education to an unpredictable income.
From: roger@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Roger Lustig)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: Can I axe you a question?
Date: 18 Aug 92 16:27:44 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Princeton University
Originator: news@nimaster

In article <1992Aug18.051523.13229@midway.uchicago.edu> hau4@midway.uchicago.edu writes:
>In article <1992Aug17.221445.172@midway.uchicago.edu> goer@midway.uchicago.edu writes:
>>asimov@wk223.nas.nasa.gov (Daniel A. Asimov) writes:

>>>And I often hear "et cetera" pronounced "ek cetera."  (This is 
>>>mucus to my ears.)

>>Foreign phrases always get mangled when borrowed.  It's just a mat-
>>ter of degree.  We don't pronounce "et cetera" in a particularly
>>Latin-like manner (even late Latin, I might add). 

>That's not the point. The way "we" pronounce 'et cetera' is consistent with
>the way Latin words are pronounced in English. But when somebody pronounces it
>'ek cetera' (or, rather, 'exettera') it is clearly because they never read
>but only watch TV, like Chancey the gardener ("Being There").

That's Chance, not Chancey.  Perhaps you only saw the movie...(he later
takes on the name Chauncey Gardiner, because people learn his name the
usual way -- the way he says it, not the way it's written on a page).

As for watching TV, yes, one gets one's info from TV by spoken, and not
written, means most of the time.  

But about 99% of language is learned via the spoken path; and that's how
ecsetera gets into the language, along with thousands of other changes
in pronunciation.  

And it makes no difference at all to the language.

>Similar is the origin of 'asterix' pronounciation - the only familiar similar
>word is Goscini-Uderzo's Asterix the Gaule. Too bad, for two reasons: "Asterix"
>is a damn good comic strip, and the word 'Asterix' is an obvious pun on
>'asterisk'...

"Obelisk" is so uncommon?

>> Nor do the liberated souls who pronounce it "ek cetera."

>They are "liberated" from thinking, a very popular form of freedom today.

Yeesh!  What are *you* liberated from? Manners?  Sorry, but that is not
only snotty in the extreme, but dead wrong.  Lots of very educated,
thoughtful people use the same pronunciations you purport to use  as a
shibboleth.  

Most people, even the ones who think, don't spend a lot of time
considering the etymology of each word they use as they speak it, or
even as they learn it.  You don't need etymology to speak or understand
a language, and words with unusual phoneme patterns are doomed to get
mispronounced a lot, and possibly even to change pronunciation after a
while.  

Now, I ask you: what obligation do we have to some imagined "standard"
form of the language?  Should we stop doing all the natural speaking we
do, just because the "Standard" might be violated?  This is carrying the
spirit of FORTRAN a bit far.  

Roger
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: sp@mirabeau.osf.fr (Simon Patience)
Subject: Re: and - or - but
Reply-To: sp@mirabeau.osf.fr (Simon Patience)
Organization: OSF Research Institute
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 09:51:39 GMT

In article <1992Aug12.211626.6941@ac.dal.ca>, asuncion@ac.dal.ca writes:
> People who begin sentences with "And", "But", or "Or" should be slapped silly
> by an English teacher. NEVER BEGIN A SENTENCE WITH and, or, but!

And don't you forget it!
Or you'll be in big trouble. 
But I might forgive you if you promise not to do it again.

Simon.

  Simon Patience
  Open Software Foundation			Phone: +33-76-63-48-72
  Research Institute				FAX:   +33-76-51-05-32
  2 Avenue De Vignate				Email: sp@gr.osf.org
  38610 Gieres, France				       uunet!gr.osf.org!sp
From: crawford@ben.dev.upenn.edu (Lauren L. Crawford)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: Someone kicked my Donkey...
Date: 12 Aug 92 18:27:07 GMT
Organization: University of Pennsylvania

In article <SLAGLE.92Aug11235329@sgi417.msd.lmsc.lockheed.com> slagle@lmsc.lockheed.com writes:
>In article <1992Aug10.135851.27740@dg-rtp.dg.com>, cochran@spam.rtp.dg.com (A. Jing Hippy) writes:
>
>> I recall that my dad once used the term "bitch", in context, to refer to
>> a female dog, and my mother dressed him down for it pretty severely. In
>> her mind, it was a "bad" word and should never be used at all.  
>
>Bitched him out good, did she?
>----
>Mark E. Slagle                                 PO Box 61059



What an asinine thing to say. 


 
-- 
Lauren Crawford  //  crawford@ben.dev.upenn.edu
"Happy campers you are, happy campers you have been, and as far as I'm
concerned, happy campers you will always be."
                  --J. Danforth Quayle in American Samoa
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english,soc.culture.british
From: kjcarey@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Kevin J. Carey)
Subject: Re: Name for Brits and Irish?
Originator: news@nimaster
Organization: Princeton University
Distribution: eunet
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1992 22:09:36 GMT

In article <1992Aug16.174226.10117@waikato.ac.nz> maj@waikato.ac.nz writes:
>There is a sense in which Ireland may be taken
>as part of Britain. In common geographic
>nomenclature the largest island in the Whatever
>Islands is commonly called
>
>Great Whatever      or     Big Whatever.
>
>The second largest is often referred to as
>
>   Little Whatever.
>	
>If you applied that rule Ireland would be
>'Little Britain'.  Probably that's pushing things
>Murray A. Jorgensen [ maj@waikato.ac.nz ]    University of Waikato

My understanding is that the name "Great Britain" does indeed involve
the idea of a "Little Britain". However, that "Little Britain" is not
Ireland, but Brittany, France.
Kevin.
From: michaeln@cs.uq.oz.au (Bunweasel)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: Asses & Tongue in cheek
Date: 13 Aug 92 00:19:55 GMT
Reply-To: michaeln@cs.uq.oz.au
Organization: Department of Computer Science, The University of Queensland

>This reminds me of a "blooper" LP record I have
>which contains a delightful BBC broadcast with
>someone reading an episode of 'Don Quixote' in
>a very posh accent, concluding thusly:
>
>"I see that our time is running short, 
> so there we leave Don Quixote, sitting
> on his ass, until this time next week."

No, that sounds like typical BBC humour.
The dry delivery is essential.

-m.
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: shair@barolo.cso.uiuc.edu (Bob Shair)
Subject: Less versus Fewer... time to give up?
Reply-To: rmshair@chgvmic1.vnet.ibm.com
Organization: IBM Champaign
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 1992 18:22:22 GMT

Is it time to give up on the distinction between "less" and "fewer?"
Statements such as this one, excerpted from the formal IBM Announcement
Letter for a new display, sound wrong to me:     

          BUSINESS SOLUTIONS                                                    

          The PS/2 8511 Color Display has far less components than the IBM      
          8512, contributing to higher reliability for the customer.

--

Bob Shair                          shair@chgvmic1.vnet.ibm.com
Scientific Computing Specialist    SHAIR@UIUCVMD (bitnet)
IBM Champaign
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: asimov@wk223.nas.nasa.gov (Daniel A. Asimov)
Subject: Re: Can I axe you a question?
Organization: NAS, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 21:45:54 GMT
Distribution: usa

In article <1992Aug17.013531.18483@leland.Stanford.EDU> alderson@elaine46.Stanford.EDU (Rich Alderson) writes:
>In article <1992Aug16.203635.3839@news.columbia.edu>, gmw1@cunixa (Gabe M Wiener) writes:
>>Can anyone shed some light on how the dreadful usage of the word "axe" in
>>place of "ask" ever got started?  Is there any linguistin explanation as
>>to why the s and k sounds get reversed in many inner-city dialects?
>
>The process is called metathesis.  It is a living process in human phonology;

I wonder if there is a connection between this ask/axe thing, and the fact that
the word for "mosquito" in French is "moustique."

--Daz
From: jjd@TEAK.CRAY.COM (Jeff Drummond)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: "Route"
Date: 12 Aug 92 15:31:39 GMT

Organization: Cray Research, Inc.
Keywords: t*.MAW.to, to.MAY:tow 

In article <1992Aug12.142601.25493@athena.mit.edu> dks@athena.mit.edu (dks) writes:
>. . . I think the single phrase "paper route" has had more influence
>than anything else on how the r-word is pronounced in the USA.  Even
>within the usage patterns of a single individual, "paper route" seems
>to have a reified "r-out" existence, independent of all other occurrences
>and pronunciations of the r-word.  And since the "r-out" noun is so
>firmly ensconced, I suppose it seems natural that the verb form would be
>affected, given our propensity here in the US to indulge in the verbing
>of nouns, and, as with "router," even the *wrong* nouns!
>
>Dhanesh

  Well, I grew up pronouncing "route" both ways.  I said it as RAU.t for
"paper route" and "rural route" and as RU:t for highways (route 66, route
45) [back before they mostly all became highways, interstates, etc.].

  Of course, I had a dual pronunciation of some other words as well:

  "My ONT Wilma is my ANT on my father's side."

  Perhaps a genetic predisposition to soften the vowel sounds in noun
modifiers?

-Jeff    jjd@cray.com
--
"It's a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word."
  -Andrew Jackson        [or pronounce it?]
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english,soc.culture.british
From: dml@philabs.philips.com (Damian M. Lyons)
Subject: Re: Name for Brits and Irish?
Organization: Autonomous Systems, Philips Labs, Briarcliff Manor, NY
Distribution: eunet
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 17:10:39 GMT

In article <3811@keele.keele.ac.uk> cla04@seq1.keele.ac.uk (A.T. Fear) writes:
>From article <1992Aug16.222313.14707@Princeton.EDU>, by kjcarey@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Kevin J. Carey):
>>> I believe it was fashionable at one time (and may still be in
>                                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  
> >>certain circles) to call the Irish "West Britons"
>
>This was phrased this way for a purpose. If you're going to be touchy
>(it's getting a bit like the Balkan groups around here) please read what
>I say first.
>

You're apparently missing the point here. The reason that "West
British" is used is because Irish people are not normally considered
any kind of British (Northern Unionists excepted). Thus the term
relies for its effectiveness on the fact that Ireland is *not* part of
Britain. QED.


>to mean the entire Kingdom much to the chagrin of the Scots and Welsh
>(and Cornish if you will...). You'd have thought that Irish grievances
>were directed against the English and so that would have been the 


They could hardly chant "English Out" at a regiment of Scottish
Paratroopers..... 


Damian.
-- 
_________________________________________________________________
         Damian M. Lyons | x6444 | dml@philabs.philips.com       
_________________________________________________________________
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english,sci.lang
From: hau4@ellis.uchicago.edu (sven  hauptfeld)
Subject: Re: Can I axe you a question?
Reply-To: hau4@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 05:27:00 GMT

In article <1992Aug18.033323.23575@athena.cs.uga.edu> mcovingt@athena.cs.uga.edu (Michael A. Covington) writes:
>
>In English, /sk#/ (where # denotes word boundary) is so uncommon that
>some speakers put it into the impossible class and replace it with
>/ks#/, which is common.
>

Poor elephant was stripped off of his TUX !

Don't walk there after DUCKS !

:-)

Sven
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: Less versus Fewer: Victory?
From: thayes@desire.wright.edu
Date: 19 Aug 92 09:25:39 EST
 <1992Aug18.095458.3563@desire.wright.edu> <1992Aug18.163433.6659@midway.uchicago.edu> <1992Aug18.165856.13240@Princeton.EDU>
Organization: Wright State University 




In article <1992Aug18.165856.13240@Princeton.EDU>, 
roger@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Roger Lustig) writes:
> In article <1992Aug18.163433.6659@midway.uchicago.edu> 
goer@midway.uchicago.edu writes:
>thayes@desire.wright.edu writes:
RG> I vote that we just let the checkout lines be, and keep it our 
RG>little secret.
TH>          !!!!!!!!!                                         !!!!!
TH>Why Richard, who *are* these "we" & "our" you refer to?
RG>Do you think I should have added smileys?
> 
RL> No, you should have pointed out that "8 items or less" is flat-out
RL> *correct.*  And idiomatic.  And long-standing usage.  And standard.
RL> Roger

Pardon me, sir, but you seem to have missed the point of this exchange.  I
had posted that "we had won" because NPR had used "fewer." Then Richard had
teased me about "we." Then he used "we" (see above) and I teased him for that
in return.

Now you have been quite busy excoriating those who would expect "that" instead
of "which," and other conventions.  So on the one hand you want to lay claim to
using English any way you please, but on the other you want to make sure we toe
the rules you seem partial to.  Will you soon be publishing a list of
acceptable rules we may follow, or will you just let us know what you approve
of as we go?

-----ted hayes
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: evan@hpl.hp.com (Evan Kirshenbaum)
Subject: Re: Use of 'I' and 'me'
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 18:04:01 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard

In article <1992Aug20.135351.7065@news.eng.convex.com> tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen) writes:
>
>It may be interesting to observe that in Spanish, "entre" (between)
>is specifically exempted from requiring object-case pronouns, thus
>rendering "entre tu y yo" (betwen you and I) grammatical by definition.

"By act of this legislature, the preposition 'entre' is hereby
exempted from the requirement in Section 2.4.a.iv)".  :-)

My Spanish is rusty. Do other prepositions take objective pronouns in
conjunction.  "con ti' y mi'" sounds just as bad, but I'm not sure if
I should say "con tu y yo" or "conmigo y contigo".  How about
constructions such as "nos buscaba a Juan y yo"? ("a Juan y mi'"?  "a
Juan y a mi"?)

Evan Kirshenbaum
    HP Laboratories
    3500 Deer Creek Road, Building 26U
    Palo Alto, CA  94304

    kirshenbaum@hpl.hp.com
    (415)857-7572

Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: gmw1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Gabe M Wiener)
Subject: Re: Less versus Fewer... time to give up?
Reply-To: gmw1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Gabe M Wiener)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1992 16:26:58 GMT

In article <71275@apple.Apple.COM> shaevel@Apple.COM (Jeff Shaevel) writes:
>cochran@spam.rtp.dg.com (A. Jing Hippy) writes:
>>"Express line - 12 items or less"
>
>Any others out there?

When I was in high school, the nearby grocery store had a very interesting
sign that read:

		      This is the express line.
		 You are limited to 10 items or less.		[sic]
	     The number 10 is not subject to negotiation.


--
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: peterw@spider.co.uk (Peter Woodhouse)
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
Subject: Re: Usage: 'go' for 'said' - second try
Date: 19 Aug 92 12:22:50 GMT
Organization: Spider Systems Limited, Edinburgh, UK

In article <6166@lhdsy1.lahabra.chevron.com> hillyer@rrc.chevron.com writes:
>
>The first try was garbled, so here is a second try.
>
>Where did the usage `go' for 'said' come from?  Example I went into the store and I go, "How much is that doggie in the window?", and he goes, "$199.95 plus tax."  I seem to hear it all the time lately, even from educated people.  Is it a West Coast usage (I presume it hasn't shown up in the UK, yet).
>
>Just curious.
>
>Martin

You presume incorrectly.  It's been used here since I can remember.

Peter
-- 
Spider Software                                 E-mail:  peterw@spider.co.uk
Spider Park, Stanwell Street                    Phone :  +44 31 555 5166
Edinburgh, Scotland
Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
From: dant@techbook.com (Dan Tilque)
Subject: Re: Someone kicked my Donkey...
Organization: Pseudopolis Yard
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 09:25:28 GMT

slagle@lmsc.lockheed.com writes:
>steven@syacus.acus.oz.au (Steven Malikoff) writes:
>
>> However, in Yankspeak(tm), you use "ass" for (2). Can you correctly
>> interpret the non-offensive sentence "The horse kicked my ass" to mean
>> "The horse kicked my donkey"?  
>
>The horse kicked an ass.
>The horse kicked one of the asses.
>The horse behaved like an ass.

This discussion reminds me of a somewhat contrived joke which depends on
the different meanings a Briton and an American would assign to the
sentence:

  I feel the perfect ass.

I won't repeat the joke.  You can probably contrive an equally good one
yourself.

---
Dan Tilque    --     dant@techbook.com