Ev’n now, while thus I stand blest in thy Presence, A secret Damp of Grief comes o’er my Thoughts,

English is / my father tongue. / A father tongue is / a foreign language, / therefore English is / a foreign language / not a mother tongue.

“And they would certainly take offence, were their son to be accused of theft.” “It would stir them up like an egg whisk. I mean, however well they know that Wilbert is a pincher, they don't want to have it rubbed in.” … “And if ever a man needed to be constantly under an eye, it's the above kleptomaniac.” “The what?” “Haven't you been told? Wilbert's a pincher. … He pinches things. Everything that isn't nailed down is grist to his mill.”

By undermining the effectiveness of the sanctions regime being imposed on Russia, China clearly hopes to weaken the compliance mechanism that keeps that order working and under American control. Beijing probably also has an eye on blunting the effectiveness of this particular mechanism so that it can’t be effectively deployed against China in the event that Beijing feels compelled to conduct its own “special military operation” against Taiwan.