On Fri, 31 Oct 2003 10:03:03 +0200, "Haluk" <yokoolebiri@spam.net>
belched the alphabet and kept on going with:

>"another fool" <anotherfool@hotmail.com>, haber iletisinde sunlari
>yazdi:44845040.0310302248.47a85601@posting.google.com...
>> "SR" <srindler@da2.so-net.ne.jp> wrote in message
>news:<3fa07681$1_6@cosmos.uncensored-news.com>...
>> > I wonder about the expression "by and by".
>> > My son's English book (Japanese high school) defines "by and by" as
>"pretty
>> > soon". I found this one
>> > in 2 dictionaries (Babylon Online) for example.
>> > However, it is also defined as "gradually", "eventually", or "it won't
>be
>> > long".
>> >
>> > The difference between "pretty soon" or "soon" and "gradually" is like
>day
>> > and night
>> > to my ears!
>> > The actor (Superman) got paralyzed when he fell from his horse. Since
>this
>> > tragedy happened several years ago, he has been improving by and by.
>> > Nobody would think that this means "pretty soon" or just "soon".
>> > What have the experts to say on this one?
>> >
>> >
>>
>> In most usages i have heard (or used)it means "eventually" or
>> "gradually" I have never heard it used to mean "soon" or "pretty soon"
>
>
>SF posted it on alt.english.usage too. There seems Brits and Yanks mean
>different things by "by and by". And ESL speakers such as myself are
>privileged to chose whatever they like...

A privilege I have often enjoyed with Japanese. Sometimes my wife will
tell me, "You can't say that". I reply, "Sure I can. Watch me".