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>There was an article in the newspaper yesterday about a guy in the Chicago suburbs who shot a woman and then himself. Here is the last sentence in the article: "The neighborhood did not report any problems with Kahle." Oh, that's what the neighborhood said, is it? ;)

Again a collective noun. Is a neighbourhood a collection of buildings or of people (is the Church a bunch of buildings or the people that comprise the congregation?). If sense 1. then the N. can indeed speak.

We often get streets talking to cities in the news. e.g. "The EU sent a terse letter to the British Government. Downing St. has been in talks with Strasbourg ...", or "The White House issued an ultimatum to Tel Aviv..."

An old roomie of mine and I used to take turns to do the weekly grocery shopping, mainly in a street called Sydney St. If either of us would fail to get something important, and the other complained, then the shopper would say "Well you could have 'phoned Sydney St. and told me." (this was before mobile phones - "mobies") and we used to laugh about it every time. Sad!

>
>A friend and major language maven was grumbling the other day about improper use of possessives. For example, "He was a friend of my father's." "My father's WHAT?" she said.

I've often mused on that one. But it is quite common usage. It's like belts and braces. Either "He was a friend of my father." or "He was my father's friend." would both do. I suppose it's like shorthand for:

"He was a friend ... of my father's (friends)." or "He was a member of the group of my father's friends", i.e. he was happy to be counted amongst this esteemed group.

And I suppose expressions like: "An old roomie of mine" come under this umbrella too, :-)

Terry