I have set your statements are in blue text, mine in black text:
Here are some more observations of what I heard other people say and what I found myself saying:
(1) "I want to work nearer to our house" (I checked m-w.com and near is used to denote a short distance or time. It seems that this is grammatically correct. But in terms of usage, I would say "closer" instead. Can either way be used without raising any eyebrows?)
I think the more idiomatic usage is “I want to work closer to our house.” The expression using “nearer” is also acceptable usage, but the preposition “to” after nearer is often knocked off, as follows: “I want to work nearer our house.” I don’t think using either of the two expressions would raise eyebrows.
(2) I was walking in a supermarket one day looking for bottled-water. I asked myself: "Now where is that bottled-wa...where are those bottled-waterssss… wait a minute. Neither sounds right." Do we restructure the entire sentence and say, "Where is the bottled-water section?" or "Where is the cheese section?" instead of saying "Where is that cheese?" (which sounds like you're part of a witch-hunt with a pitch-fork in hand) or "Where are the cheese?"
Yes, it’s more idiomatic to ask “Where’s the bottled-water section?” than “Where are those bottled waters?” When referring to the bottled, drinkable variety, water is normally not pluralized to “waters,” which refers to wide bodies of water like seas and lakes.
In the same token, “Where is that cheese?” and “Where are the cheese?”, although both grammatically defensible, don’t sound a very educated way of speaking. “Where’s the cheese?” is more idiomatic, but “Where’s the cheese section?” sounds more educated than “Where’s the cheese?”
(3) I usually see signs saying "Inquire Inside". I saw "Inquire Within" in one American sitcom. Is "Inquire Within" acceptable usage? I only ask since I haven't heard it said or written this way.
I think “Inquire Inside” is the correct message when the signage is posted outside an enclosed area and is meant to be read by people approaching that area. “Inquire Within” sounds facetious to me—in fact, that sign in the American sitcom might have been meant to be a joke.
(4) Do we say "On my free time, I like to play the guitar." or "In my free time, I like to play the guitar"?
“On my free time, I like to play the guitar” is more idiomatic than “In my free time, I like to play to guitar.” Note that when we invert the first version as “I like to play the guitar on my free time,” the grammatical correctness of the preposition “on” becomes obvious. In contrast, “I like to play the guitar in my free time” doesn’t sound right, indicating that “in” is probably not a suitable preposition in this particular expression.
(5) I hear a lot of people say:
(a) I graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science in accounting.
(b) "I studied AB Political Science."
Does one study Political Science or does one study Bachelor of Arts Political Science?
I think the sentence in (a) is a redundant and very awkward way of saying it. Better: “I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in accounting.”
The sentence in (b) is bad English. Correct: “I studied for an AB in political science.” Also correct: “I earned an AB in political science.”
“One studies Political Science” is correct, “One studies Bachelor of Arts Political Science” is bad, very awkward English phrasing. Also correct: “One studies for a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.”
(c) Other observations that have their words clearly mixed-up would be:
"I am a bachelor of Mass Communication"
"I had a degree in Bachelor of Science, Accounting" - I'm guessing they still do, otherwise it wouldn't make any sense "undoing" a degree that they had earned even if we consider the fact that they had taken a graduate course of a different specialization right?
“I am a bachelor of Mass Communication” is dead wrong. The correct way to say it is this: “I have a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication.”
“I had a degree in Bachelor of Science, Accounting” is also dead wrong. The correct way: “I earned a degree of Bachelor of Science in Accounting.” Even better: “I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.”
(6) "I am fond of Facebook"; "I am fond of tennis"; "I am fond of on-line games"
To me this sounds off since I usually hear the word "fond" being used for animate objects like people or pets, like "she has grown fond of him" or "I am fond of her 3 month old puppy."
All three statements are grammatically, semantically, and idiomatically correct. Have you heard anyone object to the statement “I’m fond of ice cream”? I doubt it. “Fondness” is definitely not reserved only for animate objects like people or pets; it’s much more encompassing of animate and inanimate objects alike.
