The American word 'toney' meaning 'fashionable' is also derived from the French word 'ton'.

'Ton' can mean either 'fashion' or 'people of fashion'. It's pronounced the French way with a muted 'n'.

Bucky, that rule doesn't obtain in British English. It looks a bit bizarre to us.

"Ten minutes later his secretary calls back: We've got face time with the president, guy named Walter Helfgott."

This line from an American thriller is, I suppose, standard in American English but not over here.

Senior moment I'm afraid, Will. I was referring to colons, not semi-colons. After colons, capitalization is certainly creeping in.

Unfortunately, Will, capitalizing after a colon is creeping into British publishing. The reason may be transatlantic deals and the need for standardized conventions. The Americans, as the senior partners, tend to have the last word.

Tome, as a Brit, capitals after a colon are barbarous.

Thank you, Will. Very interesting. It's true I don't remember 'ize' in Dickens.....

I'm pretty sure I've come across the usage 'a quarter of three' in the essays of Addison and Steele in the Spectator from the early eighteenth century.

Why make personal comments? I don't see the necessity.

Noisenet - I'd say you were right, not your professor. Yes, it's true that people use gender to refer to people nowadays but traditionally gender is a grammarian's word that refers to words. In many languages - not, thank God, English - words have gender. People have sex. (When they're lucky).