"fixed around" (UK vs US)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

As the good ol' MSM finally start tackling the "Downing Street memo",
expect a lot of discussion about the trans-Atlantic semantics of "fixed
around"...

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http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-06-07-bush-blair_x.htm
Robin Niblett of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a
Washington think tank, says it would be easy for Americans to
misunderstand the reference to intelligence being "fixed around" Iraq
policy. " 'Fixed around' in British English means 'bolted on' rather than
altered to fit the policy," he says.
-----

There was some interesting discussion about "fixed around" on
alt.usage.english when the memo first came to light last month:

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.usage.english/browse_thread/thread/fec41dbb7352e0f6/


--Ben Zimmer