There is a difference in meaning of ‘in case…+ verb’ in common U.S. and British usage. A non-native speaker could make a confusing mistake here.

I quote the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (1995 ed.), the best learners’ dictionary I know:

bq. (just) in case – especially spoken a) as a way of being safe from something that might happen or might be true: Take an umbrella, in case in rains / I’m sure Harry will remember, but why not give him a ring just in case?b) AmE if: In case I’m late, start without me

If a non-native speaker said to me, ‘I will take an umbrella in case it is raining’, I would wonder what was meant: ‘I will take an umbrella in case it rains’ or ‘I will take an umbrella if it is raining’.

Geoffrey Pullum has an entry on just in case in Language Log. What he says is slightly different from what I say. He confirms the meaning, but he says most U.S. speakers use the British meaning (his alterations to his entry are in a different colour, which is useful). He says the usage meaning ‘if’ comes from those Americans trained in the formal sciences and philosophy.

This may well be true. Maybe the few Americans I’ve discussed it with have all had some science or philosophy education. And since I don’t hear Americans all that often – although I have been reading them almost daily on the Internet for over twelve years – I might conclude that a usage I find odd is standard. It’s very easy to generalize about the unfamiliar.

legaltv.co.uk is a TV channel which has apparently been online (and on Sky) since February. It calls itself ‘The law firm in your living room’.

Via RollOnFriday:

bq. A spokeswoman told us that the channel launched back in February, although no one noticed, and it is targeting students, qualified lawyers and, err, really just the public generally. Rather alarmingly, it aims to be a “law firm in your living room” and viewers will be able to enjoy such varied programmes as “Cook with Counsel – bringing the courtroom to your kitchen” and “M.D.A. – where lawyers operate on doctors”.

It sounds as if Pakistan were treated badly. The linguistic point is how this will be described, if at all, in the German-language press.

The page Curiosities of biological nomenclature has some odd examples:

bq. Piseinotecus divae Er. Marcus, 1955 (gastropod) “Piseinotecus” means “I stepped on Teco.” Teco was a dog belonging to a diva (or to Prof. Diva Corrêa). One of the Marcuses (Evelyne or Ernst) stepped on the dog on the way to the kitchen in the middle of the night.

bq. Bufonaria borisbeckeri Parth, 1996 (bursid sea snail) Etymology: “Ich widme die neue Art Boris Becker, dem meines Erachtens größten deutschen Einzelsportler aller Zeiten.” [Spixiana 19(1): 129]

bq. Strigiphilus garylarsoni Clayton, ~1989 (owl louse) “I considered this an extreme honor. Besides, I knew no one was going to write and ask to name a new species of swan after me. You have to grab these opportunities when they come along.” – Gary Larson

But when I read this Independent headline, I thought people had been crushing Volkswagen cars: Fans ‘exterminate’ Hitler beetle

bq. Some biologists have suggested that Sheibel’s naming of a blind beetle after the Führer was, in fact, an attempt to ridicule him. Such antics aren’t unimaginable. Last year, three newly-discovered types of slime mold beetle were named after members of the current US administration: A bushi, A cheneyi and A rumsfeldi. All done with the greatest of respect, of course, claim the scientists at Cornell University, who named them.

Yes, but have people been rushing to collect these three?

More information at Wikipedia (English)

Artikel auf Deutsch

If I’d got any closer to this I would probably have fallen into the Pegnitz (on its way to join the Rednitz and form the Regnitz). And then there wouldn’t have been a picture!

SPÄTER HINZUGEFÜGT: Anscheinend geht es bei Google nur um private Startseiten, die man auf dem eigenen Rechner hat.

LATER NOTE: Apparently Google provides feeds only for private pages on a person’s own computer, start pages in the browser (see comments). I still need to look into it, though.

Schon vorgestern fand ich mein Weblog, ohne Ads, auf einer IT-Website in Nordirland. Heute finde ich dies.

Is Google offering my copyrighted contents further?

People can quote an entry of mine or a photo if they acknowledge my name. The usual way is to link. I don’t want people to take a whole entry or put a picture on their site normally. But to take the whole RSS feed? Without asking or reading the copyright notice?