Re: USAGE : English past tense and participle in -et

Tristan McLeay scripsit:

> You funny people, everyone knows a whine is an annoying high-pitched
> noise :)
Too right, even when it's made by a person.  But I take "whinge" to
be a general synonym for "complain", whereas "whine" is specific to
complaints in a certain tone of voice.

> Is 'all right' in the dictionary separately then? Because 'alright'
> doesn't mean 'everything is correct', but 'okay'.
Umm, "O.K." is an acronym (deliberately misspelled) for "all correct",
so I don't understand the distinction you're making between the two.
It's true that "O.K." can mean "Yes" in answer to a question, as can
"all right", but that's not the basic meaning of either.

--
John Cowan   jcowan@reutershealth.com   http://www.reutershealth.com
    "Mr. Lane, if you ever wish anything that I can do, all you will have
        to do will be to send me a telegram asking and it will be done."
    "Mr. Hearst, if you ever get a telegram from me asking you to do
        anything, you can put the telegram down as a forgery."

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