Also it's interesting that in English, cent can mean either one hundred (from the latin centum) or one hundredth (from the latin centesimus)

Regarding "... of a percent"; I've heard this before and even said it, but now that I think about it, I don't think it's really correct grammatically. Percent literally means "per hundred". "Per" is already a preposition. Use of "of" would be a double preposition. It would be like saying "I was driving sixty five miles of a per hour."

Jo, it's called an ellipsis. If you poke around on this site, you will find several interesting posts about it.

To put it another way, from the American Heritage dictionary:

Motivation:
1 - The act or process of motivating.
2 - The state of being motivated.
3 - Something that motivates; an inducement or incentive.

Motive:
1 - An emotion, desire, physiological need, or similar impulse that acts as an incitement to action.

(From dictionary.com) a motive is something that causes someone to act in a certain way, do a certain thing, etc.

Motivation definition 3 is symonymous with motive; a motive is something that motivates, but motivation is a broader word since not everything that motivates is a motive.

Motivation can also mean "the act of motivating", where "motive" cannot. Compare, "oxygen, oxygenate, oxygenation" (or many other similar examples) with "motive, motivate, motivation". With this in mind, I would suggest that motive and motivation might not really be synonyms. Say, I get an apartment. My motive may be to be comfortable and protected from the elements. My motivation may be my parent's throwing me out of the house!

Interesting to note, you may hear "it is I", but rarely hear "it's I". You also hear "it's me" more frequently than "it is me". If both are "correct", Clearly "I" is more formal.

Matthew, "smell" is not copular when used as a transitive verb. In "I smell bad", smell is copular. In "I smell flowers", it is not. Many copulative verbs are not always copular depending on usage.

While a colon is used for lists, the example "stranger" gave is not quite correct. First of all, the colon should be at the beginning of the list itself, i.e., before "diapers", but a colon should not be used if the list starts with a preposition (like "with") or linking verb; thus, it should read: "For example, you can fill the basket with diapers, baby wipes, baby lotion, baby powder, baby oil, and NS Bottles."

If a colon were to be used, it would look something like this: "For example, you can fill the basket with the following: diapers, baby wipes, baby lotion, baby powder, baby oil, and NS Bottles."

P.S. - Note my use of a colons for other purposes: to introduce a quote and, in this very P.S., to introduce an example or explanation.

see http://www.writingcenter.emory.edu/colonsemi.html (courtesy of speedwell from another posting)

RE: "...It's a very important criterion for grammar. Otherwise what is the point of grammar?"

Perhaps I was not completely clear. I did not say that something that is grammatical need not be understandable.
What I did say is that being understandable does not make something grammatical, which I think you agree with. I think you may then have interpreted it as the converse of what I said (or, at least, what I meant:).

Sorry, goofy. The examples you gave are no different than saying "Me arrived safely" or "Please contact I". This isn't some example of pedantic adherence to complex and arbitrary rules. These are the simplest of sentences with nothing more than subject, verb and object. These are simple rules that are taught in kindergarden, no, before, to the typical three year old. Since when is understandability a criterion for proper grammer? Notice I misspelled grammar? You still understood what I wrote didn't you? Does that mean it was spelled correctly? "Me go store." and "Me fall go boom" are certainly understandable, but neither is grammatical. They sound like I'm imitating a cave man or a two year old. I have said myself how grammar evolves through usage, but that doesn't mean that just because someone says something, that it is grammatical.