Hi, Ardith Hinton!
I read your message from 07.07.2019 23:44


 AH> I hear the above in many popular songs from the US. I also note
 AH> with interest that our neighbours to the south tend to shorten the
 AH> spelling of words like "cheque" and
"neighbour", in an apparent
 AH> attempt to simplify the language. What I don't understand is the
 AH> tendency to leave out "of" in stock phrases like "a
couple of" only
 AH> to add it where others wouldn't use it... e.g. "inside
of" & "off
 AH> of". I have requested MODERN AMERICAN USAGE from the public
 AH> library. :-)

Is "check and neighbor" a tendency to shorten? It is just the
American spelling which is differ from the British/Canadian one.

Bye, Ardith!
Alexander Koryagin
english_tutor 2019

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