... enjoyed by 'two peoples divided by a common language.'

Neither of my (British) dictionaries recognise either "gem-stone" or "gemstone". :P

But the usage is "gemstone", and that is what I would mark, despite the word apparently not being in the received version of my language.

Taken together with the mention of Joyce ('why use an old word when you can coin your own neologism') that lead me to ponder the concept of "straight-laced". A pair of Oxfords* is conventionally laced with the inevitable diagonals hidden under the flaps, so that all one sees is four parallel lacings across line where the flaps touch. A Derby* (Gibson) is often laced with the lace going from above the flap diagonally down under the other flap to come up through the opposite hole one row up. (I'm sure someone can explain that better! Or see the URL below.)

"Strait-laced" is a well-fossilised metaphor from a very tightly-laced and highly constraining corset. My memory of corsets is that it is usual to lace them in the second manner. Granted, many (most?) corsets have lacing hooks similar to those now used on walking boots, but the laces still criss-cross symmetrically just as they do on the hooked or the eyeleted part of walking boots. Thus a straight-laced corset would be unconventional; not merely laced differently but also probably less "strait". Straight-lacing of shoes certainly seems to provide less mechanical advantage in tensioning the laces.

Happily for the readers, I think that "straight-laced" describes the proofer/editors in this community better than "strait-laced". Perhaps James Joyce was as fortunate?

Xi

(PS: They are together "British" dictionaries rather than "English", because whilst one is a small Oxford, the other is Chambers', which comes from an Edinburgh house.)

*This is the best reference I could find that has pictures:
http://www.shoesinternational.co.uk/manufacturers.cfm?Gender=1
You would need to use the menu at the left to find the two styles. The first offering under 'Oxford' is an oxymoron (an Oxford cannot be a Derby and vv). On both pages the 'Barker' shoes probably best illustrate the lacings. (And my two friends who can afford such things say that it is a toss-up between Barker and Church for the best non-bespoke shoe.)