Best way to deal with ants ?

[John Cartmell]

Until we get the next 'big one'. :-(

Asian tsunamis and Katrina are small fry ...

[Rob Morley]

VIRUSES :-)

[John Schmitt]

Depends how low-brow you want to appear. ;-) You should think about the criterias involved. :-0

John Schmitt

[Rob Morley]

virii is pseudo-highbrow

You should think about the criterias involved. :-0

As criteria is the plural of criterion I wonder why you would want to further pluralise it.

[Bob Eager]

the last bit!

[John Schmitt]

I am out of practise.

You may notice that wikipedia has omitted the words "irony" and gullible".

John Schmitt

[Mary Fisher]

:-)))

[Rob Morley]

It is not the correct Latin.

I realised that you trying to make a point, but it was not altogether clear what that point was - "criterions" might have been more aposite, being an incorrectly anglicised plural form of a word with Greek origins, but something with a Latin root would really have been more appropriate, don't you think?

[John Schmitt]

As I am familiar with both dead languages (you should have seen the locals fall about laughing when I used ancient Greek), and they both form a sigificant part of what has fallen into the OED, the distinction is relatively trivial to me. Of course my employers have a number of campi.

John Schmitt

[Mary Fisher]

'practise' isn't even the correct English!

Mary

[John Schmitt]

Exactly which variety of English are you referring to? I think you will find that the original Middle French word-root from which the word came into English used the "S" spelling. The "C" spelling is a neologism.

John Schmitt

[Bob Eager]

As is so often the case, the American English version is the 'purer' of the two. Fowler says that 'practise' (as the noun and verb) is American English, and is the verb (but not the noun) in British English.

Mary failed to specify that she was limiting her comment to British English.

[Mary Fisher]

All the Americans I know use'practice' for both verb and noun.

This is UK.diy

Mary

[Bob Eager]

Probably not a significant sample.

That does not constitute a qualification.

[aam]

[Mary Fisher]

It means that I don't need to define what language I'm using to readers.

Those who do read my posts know what to expect, they needn't waste time opening them. There's a growing muber of posters whose posts I ignore.

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

And with far more interesting lives.

Mary

[Bob Eager]

Touched a nerve, I see...

[Mary Fisher]

er ?

You're a dentist?

Mary

[Andy Hall]

Outrageous. You'll be suggesting next that it's OK to use "leverage" as a verb, that "repurpose" is a word and that "momentarily" should be used where "momently" is correct ;-)