Upon further reflection (that means, "after Speed reached deep into her dusty unkempt cairn of a memory"), I think I see what the individual meant about "in-a-gadda-da-meeting."

Apparently the Iron Butterfly song, as heavy and ugly as it was, was so long it took up literally one entire side of an album. I don't remember how long that came to (anyone remember?), but it would have been the length of six to ten regular songs.

Marta, a "washeteria" is a self-service laundry, also known as a "laundromat." You may also find it as "washateria." You'll especially find it in blighted neighborhoods full of people who are forced to give getting food and shelter and avoiding the local police a much higher priority than they give speaking proper English.

I suppose your guess about the second word, which I refuse to touch with a ten-foot cattle prod, is as good as mine.

"In-a-gadda-da-vida" is a song from the psychedelic era, sung by the charmingly named Iron Butterfly, in a voice resembling that of a zombie with the stomach flu. Your source was evidently trying very hard to be bright, witty, and hip, and failing pathetically.

No offense, but all three words are... miserable. Skanky. Odious. Better left for dead.

Very slight, and not very meaningful.

"But for" many times indicates a circumstance that prevented the happening of something else:

"But for the the extensive flooding that washed out much of the spring planting, the farm would have shown a considerable profit that year."

"Except for" most often indicates something that is literally an exception:

"Except for the farm that sustained serious flooding damage, all the farms in the area showed a considerable profit that year."

In your case, the "except for" case is marginally more acceptable to me, though there is a great deal of overlap.

I think they mean the same thing. This British English page agrees (and I think most American English speakers would also agree):

http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/grammar/archive/as_if.html

I tried very hard to think of any cases in which I use the two differently, but after much wasted time I could not think of any.

Jeudi, that's interesting. The way I read it was that Goossun was asking for English words (i.e. words commonly accepted as part of modern standard English) that used the prefix "ab-" to form a word that meant something opposed to the meaning of the original English word.

However "abuse" was originally derived, it remains the case that "use" is a modern English word and that "ab-" is used to "negate" it.

What I do see some trouble with is that "negation" is particularly loosely defined for the purposes of this thread. Normally you'd think of the "opposite" of "use" as, say, "neglect" or "put away."

Jeudi, as a native English speaker who is now a correspondence secretary and technical writer, and has formerly been a proofreader and copyeditor, I can assure you with the greatest confidence that English speakers USE the word every day and have been for time out of memory.

Jeudi, yeah, the whole "ab-" thing is Latinate. I was so interested in this question I hauled out my dictionary at home and looked at the words beginning with "ab."

Almost all of the common words I could find are variations on Latin words. A few are, surprisingly, variations on German words. ("Abreaction" is a synthetic-Latin translation of a German word meaning "catharsis," and turns out to mean what you do when you're on the couch at the psychologist's office. My kitten's vet must have made her usage up.)

By little more than coincidence, really, some of the "ab-" words LOOK like "ab-" plus an English word, and the meaning gives no clue to their Latinate origins. A terrific example is the word "abuse," which currently has the same meaning as "misuse" (prefix "mis-" plus English word "use"). But "abuse" comes from a Latin word that was formed from "ab-" plus the root of "utility."

Incidentally, "Abbie," used in the phrase "Abbie Normal," is a joking reference to the word "abnormal" itself. I don't know where it came from originally (probably from a comedian's routine or a popular movie). Google the phrase to see how it is used in various websites (most notably as the name of a punk rock band at www.abbienormalrock.com).

Abbie, the whole Internet is nothing but the combined utterances of millions of self-proclaimed experts.

Get over it.

Christ.

This is an etiquette question, not a grammar question, lol :)

It depends on where you are. If you're in a formal business lunch, you certainly must say, "May I have..." or, "Would you please bring me..." another napkin, for example. In an informal business lunch, you may say, "Could I have..." or, "Please get me...." In a casual setting (such as a cafeteria, where the server stands behind the line and hands you what you point at), it is courteous to say, "I would like some...."

It's always OK to answer, "The broiled fish special, please" in response to "What can I get for you?" or, "May I take your order?"

Cowboys eating with oil rig workers at a Texas barbecue joint are commonly heard to say, "Miss, get me some of that sliced pork." I guess that's not shockingly disrespectful... but it's not polite.

And always, always say "Thank you" to the server when they have done what you asked.

A word can be a noun and an adjective at the same time, guys. It's extremely common and perfectly OK.

Zen Garden may be compared to "flower garden" or "Zen meditation," both perfectly understandable phrases that use a noun to perform the adjectival function.