The proper article to use in the sentence A/An NaI detector

[Evo]

may and might, anyone?

They can both be used, but saying "it may happen" is a stronger possibility than saying "it might happen".

I've always loved this joke about may and might:

Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson go camping and pitch their tent under the stars. In the middle of the night, Holmes wakes his companion up and says: "Watson, look up at the stars and tell me what you deduce." Watson says: "I see millions of stars and maybe quite a few planets among them. It may be true that a few of the planets are quite like Earth and there might be life on them." Holmes replies: "Watson, you bloody fool! Somebody has stolen our tent!"

 

[Ivan Seeking]

"Watson, you bloody fool! Somebody has stolen our tent!"

I can't believe that I didn't see it coming.

 

[Les Sleeth]

'Spades' is clearly an elliptic usage of 'the suit of spades', and so, is a singular noun, unless you say 'the spades', in which case it would be a plural noun.

1. Spades is trump.
2. The spades are trump.

'Point of view' could be be associated with a singular noun or a plural; the latter, if context shows that 'the others' collectively share one point of view. However, I can't think of an example where 'other's point of view' is not an elliptic form of 'other person's point of view'.

1. Is this your idea of things ?
No, it is some other's point of view. ('person' in ellipsis)

2. The others' point of view is just the opposite of mine.

If we talk of 'points of view', then it would nearly always belong to the 'others' except in the case where the elliptic usage is applied to one person, at different times.

1. The others' points of view are all ridiculous.

2. (Context : among two students...) While the first student's opinion has remained fairly constant over the course of his schooling, the other's points of view have been all over the board. ('student' in ellipsis)

Awesome (especially since you agree with what I thought). No, great examples and a clear explanation. Next time my friends argue with me I'll have this link ready to give them.

 

[Evo]

I love this BBC definition of the slang term "bloody".

*** Bloody is a medium-strong swear word, used to give emotional emphasis to something that you are saying. It should not be used in polite situations. For polite conversation, substitute: You stupid idiot!

Oh yeah, "you stupid idiot" is much more polite! (Those British are weird.)

 

[Les Sleeth]

(Those British are weird.)

I know, what's up with cricket?

 

[tribdog]

call me a stupid idiot and I'll give you a bloody nose

 

[Ivan Seeking]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_slang

Be careful about your comments please.

I about died laughing.
Bashing the bish
Beating the bishop
Boxing the clown...

 

[tribdog]

I'm old fashioned. I would never use 99.89% of those terms. Maybe Aardvarking.

 

[Moonbear]

I love this BBC definition of the slang term "bloody".

*** Bloody is a medium-strong swear word, used to give emotional emphasis to something that you are saying. It should not be used in polite situations. For polite conversation, substitute: You stupid idiot!

Oh yeah, "you stupid idiot" is much more polite! (Those British are weird.)

That really made me laugh so hard, now I'm having a coughing fit because I swallowed wrong while laughing (don't ask, something I'm sure only I could do).

 

[tribdog]

Oh yeah, "you stupid idiot" is much more polite! (Those British are weird.)

speaking of which. Where's that stupid idiot jimmyp? His abandoning us is bloody wrong.