A few that have popped up in recent fic:

"rang off" vs "hung up"

"Call" in the US means on the phone. In the UK, does it still mean physically drop by for a visit? Or is that just "call on"? Here, "call on" can mean visit, but is very rarely used that way. More commonly, it's used in the sense of summoning. "I'll have to call on my ability to..."

"Constraint." I've only ever heard this in the sense of a limitation. Webster's does list a secondary emotional definition, but it's not one I can recall having encountered anywhere but R&R. Anyone want to weigh in on this one? Is it a US/UK thing, is it just me, or is it just Mere? (I think that covers all the options...)

A couple unresolved questions I had from SoMH part 4...

"the only true way to appreciate nature's spectaculars was from inside"

In the US, a "spectacular" is a big show, a spectacale. As in "Epic Stunt Spectacular!"

This is not a sense of the word I can recall having seen, and I'm not quite sure what word I would use for it. "Glories," perhaps, or "wonders." Better yet, "the wonders of nature." "Nature's spectaculars" tells me that nature is putting on huge blockbuster shows, very likely with an admission charge, and almost certainly with some form of fireworks.

"And way, way too close to her partner's throat than she liked."

In the US, we'd say "Way, way too close for comfort," "Far closer than she liked," or just "Way too close." We would not say "Way closer than she liked" (unless we were, say, Jimmy), nor would we say "too close than she liked."

Paul

P.S. Roo -- commas may be free for you, but I recycle mine. I keep a Bin of Used Commas here on my desk. Whenever I have to take one out, it goes *plink* into the bin, for later reuse. In a pinch, I can even clip the tails and make periods, colons, or semi-colons.

When in doubt, think about penguins. It probably won't help, but at least it'll be fun.