goossun, not in front of the children. ;D

In fact, now that I'm thinking about it, there are a couple of nouns in English that begin with a U but do not begin with the sound "yoo." "Ululation" (meaning a sort of fluid vocalization) is one of these (according to the American Heritage Dictionary). So in that case it would be correct to say "an ululation."

This ex-proofreader/editor wouldn't have hesitated one second, Jennifer. The preceding posters are correct; the use of a/an depends on sound, not spelling. So if it's correct to say "a young woman" or "a yellow submarine," it's also correct to say "a unit of measure" or "a uniform consistency."

Ha! Less of the sexist prejudice, please. Speedwell is a lady. :)

Didactic? Who, me? :D

Dave, you're right. The "colors" are flags, and a ship from one country that emerged victorious in a sea battle with a ship from another country would have its own colors "flying." The colors of the losing ship would have been confiscated by the winner. Or so I understand.

"Colored" is a word invented by the white authorities to make it easy to classify those who were other-than-white (and thus "othered," as the po-mos would say). It was an exclusionary word that emphasized the view that Americans of dark-skinned African descent were not, and were not expected to be, full participants in American society.

"People of color" is a phrase invented by the self-appointed advocates of the rights and interests of Americans descended from dark-skinned Africans. It made it easy to separate their interest group from those who were not part of the interest group. It was a term of social liberation that emphasized their cultural uniqueness and allowed them to claim exemptions from the cultural memes and dictates imposed upon them by the white-dominated hierarchy.

Oh, wait, did those two paragraphs say exactly the same thing? My bad. :)))))

"Full stop" and "blah," I'm hoping sincerely that increased study of English will prevent you from giving incorrect advice such as what you have posted here.

Vindibul's examples are correct and current, if a little old-fashioned sounding to some. Increased familiarity with correct English writing will convince you of this.

First, understand that "envy" is a perfectly good verb, not only a noun.

Now, I agree that the construction "I don't envy you (your possession of something)" looks strange. But it's OK. It is kind of shorthand. We could, for instance, restate the first example as, "Additionally, I don't wish to be in your place should the likely circumstances happen."

You can often make better sense out of such an idiom if you realize that when you feel envy, you are envious of someone possessing something, whether that something is a belonging or just good fortune. So if I was to say, for example, "I don't envy her her son-in-law," I could be saying either, "I'm glad I don't have to have him as my son-in-law," or "I wouldn't want to have the bad luck of being his mother-in-law."

You may also say simply, "I don't envy you."

There is probably a technical linguistic name for this little weirdness, but I don't know what it is. Please be assured that the examples you gave are fine.

Naturally the presence or absence of the parentheses does not change things. Sorry--should have said that right out.

Here in Houston, for example, the city highways are (frustratingly) referred to by names instead of highway numbers. So we have the Katy Freeway (I-10), the Northwest Freeway (290), the Beltway (8), the Grand Parkway (6), the North Freeway (45), and the Loop (610).

In the preceding sentence it would have been absolutely incorrect to write "... Katy Freeway ("I-10"), the Northwest Freeway ("290") ..." and so forth.

I can verify that for the airport codes in particular, quotation marks are never used in the way you indicate. You didn't just up and decide to call the airport LAX--that is one of its official names. The only reason you would ever use quotes is if you were specifically referring to the acronyms as examples, for example:

Although Houston Intercontinental Arport is the major airport in the city, its three-letter code is not "HOU," but "IAH." An older airport, Hobby Airport, bears the designation "HOU."

Quote marks aren't even absolutely necessary then. It would be OK to write, for example:

He told me that the three-letter code for Houston Intercontinental Airport is IAH.

Secretaries' honor. :)