“Shall” is tolerable, but “shan’t” shouldn’t be used by anybody unless they have a Mr. Howell accent.
“Albiet” is a sure fire conversation stopper.
Tennis majors are indeed a fortnight long. Usually you just hear that in reference to Wimbledon, though.
I used the word “opulent” a day or two ago. You don’t hear that much. I don’t like to repeat myself or I would have used it again today; I think it’s a good word. (One of my favorite words in English is “bloviate,” nobody says that either.) I also said something about an “anachronistic moustache.”
More and more, the tennis commentators are using ‘fortnight’ for all the slams. And if you like superb phrasing and and an expressive vocabulary, listen to my favorite sportscaster of all time, Mary Carillo. You’ll hear her use that term and many more, all in her own enchanting style.
She can be endearing one moment and vitriolic the next.
She once referred to the bevy of chicks in Marat Saffin’s box as a “bunch of bimbos”. Not that this is at all indicative of her command of the language, but the characterization made my eyes go wide, and I marveled that she could get away with it, even though it was amusingly accurate. For Marat has (had?) a reputation for whoring and high living. No one else dares to be as explicit as Mary.
She also did a number on Marcello Rios. I guess he had a huge teeny bopper claque and treated those kids rather hideously, if you get my drift. Mary made it clear just how much she loathed the guy.
But would a “bevy of bimbos” be better, barely?
When I was in the UK recently, I picked up the British version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for my step-sister, just to have fun seeing what the editor’s thought needed to be Americanized. Just a few pages in I found that in America, Dudley had learned a new word: “Won’t!” Whereas in Britain, he learned a new word: “Shan’t!” I took this to indicated that shall and shan’t are more commonly used in Britain, but perhaps it was just a case of the editors assuming that American children are idiots?
Personally, I’ve taken it upon myself to resurect the telephone greeting “Hoy, hoy!” originally proposed by Alexander Graham Bell (and still used by Mr. Burns on the Simpsons.)
Probably, but she was so pissed, so disdainful of these gals, her sense of alliteration must have gotten impacted. Like the fart I mentioned earlier. 
“Hoy, how” is a great way to answer the phone but I thought only Mr. Burns did it! HA!
I used “beverage” in the sense of an “adult beverage” which to me is a nice way of saying, “a drink”
I know, I’m weird. Silly. :rolleyes:
Just consulting my copy…
Woo-hoo! Canadian kids are trusted to be able to understand “Philosopher” and “Shan’t”!
-DF
::Scott begins whizgigging over the fact that Antiochus quoted him.::
I always liked the archaic “kine” for that.