Mutton dressed as lamb, with fat knees to boot.

Research is done, not made.

He did. And he boasted about it, so now he can’t deny it.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/128130324/Joseph-Muscat-says-he-signed-an-agreement-with-China-on-Malta-s-behalf-it-Torca-18APR2010

He’s a good man, from a good family – but she’s driven him nuts.

Actually, his father Salvu Seychell was a baker. Horace Seychell is a mechanic.

[Daphne – Ex wife, not wife, by the looks of it. His Facebook page is a festival of fetishes for porn films, ladies’ bottoms, and sexy Indian chicks.]

Blimey. That’s me to a T.

Fortunately, PhDs are not that uncommon in the UK. Neither the use of American-English which creates, I must say, a lot of confusion in a country that has strong links with its trans-Atlantic cousin.

Common-sense could also say ‘couple’ is a collective noun, regardless what it’s used for.

I’ve just checked this with a PhD in linguistics in the UK. It’s ‘a tricky one’ – the Americans consider couple (people) as ‘singular’ while, traditionally, in the UK it is ‘plural’. After a bit of research I made on British news-related sites, it transpired that only the BBC website makes a systematic use of the traditional rule – the American-English influence is robust and unavoidable.

[Daphne – British English and American English are different languages, Joe. Decide which you want to use and stick with it. You didn’t have to double-check my information with a ‘PhD in linguistics’ (where did you find one at this time of night?). It’s not a rule but common sense. A couple is getting married? Of course not. A couple ARE getting married. If it sounds wrong, then it generally is.]

The bigger the photoshop, the more they believe it.

Now, who exactly said that?

The correct version is, “the couple HASN’T” not “HAVEN’T”. Collective nouns take singular.

[Daphne – No, not when they are people. This is because the ‘of people’ is unspoken but still present. A couple (of people); a group (of people) etc. Therefore, a couple (of people) are going, and a group (of people) are running away.]