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Re: OT: Questions or Doubts?



On Fri, Aug 20, 2004 at 08:32:45PM +0800, John Summerfield wrote:
> Kent West wrote:
> 
> >Is this word "doubt" a non-American-English-speaker's word for 
> >"question"? And if so, in that person's language, is "doubt" 
> >equivalent to "question", or is it just that they don't understand the 
> >use of the word?
> >
> >Or am I totally off-base, and am missing something?
> 
> 
> I did a quick check: firefox has a simple filter on subject/sender, so I 
> typed in "doubt." Found two threads, one where someone was expressing 
> doubts regarding future 2.6 kernels, and this.

My pet peeve is "take a decision" vs. "make a decision".  Great 
Britains, Old Europe, New Europe, Asia and the Third World all say "take 
a decision" when they speak english.  We never use that in America.

"Take a decision" is so passive; it implies studying what my options 
are, holding my nose, and choosing one.  "Make a decision" is much more 
American -- we'll just invent the option we want and then take that one.



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