Stephen Mulraney wrote:
>
> Does anyone employ phrases like "The water will stop immediately the
stop-cock
> is turned"? (I've just noticed it in some anti-frost precautions the Uni
sent
> around). I'm refering to the lack (to my mind) of a word such as "when" or
> "after" following "immediately. I've only ever noticed it in England, and
it
> really suprises me each time I see it.
I've never heard anyone in the United States say
this in speech. I've seen it in writing occasionally,
but I've always assumed the writer simply left out
the conjunction by mistake. (Does anyone proof-
read anymore?)
As Padraic said, "stop-cock" in the United States
refers to a device in Chemistry Lab which opens
and closes the bottom of a glass tube. (Isn't this
term also used by professional plumbers to refer
to any kind of water valve?)
--Ph. D.