Tom.Thomson (5/13/2011)
that Dutchmen (on at least one of them) think that English "may" always means "may or may not" and can't be used unless "may not" and "may" are both true - in British English people commonly either say "may or may not" or put the verb into the subjunctive (might) if they want that meaning (although there's certainly no hard and fast rule) and I still haven't a clue what Americans do with that may...only combination (evidently not what Kiwis and Dutchmen do, but that still leaves plenty of scope for variation).
Tom - I also think my first two wives and all children must be Dutch.
"I May" always means "I may" or "I may not".
Shhhh... Don't tell them I said that. I may get in trouble
Seriously though, America alone is a centuries old melting pot of unique global and regional dialects. Dialects of a language born elsewhere.
Is it statistically probable that we have any exact definition of how English is spoken or interpreted that works with Internet Blo0gging?
IMHO: Blogging, discussion, etc... are how we determine what the masses get from our written word today. At least those of us not lucky enough to have authored a book lately.