Grammar Usage, Part Deux

[Q.Q.Quillume]

You three...I am now so lost.

Once upon a time there was a TV show - Laugh In with Dan Rowan, Dick Martin, Goldie Hawn, Arte Johnson, Lily Tomlin and a cast of "1,000s". Sort of kind of like a weekly prime time pre-SNL but waaay before Belushi, Ackroyd, Murray, Gilda et. al.

"The devil made me do it", "verrry interresting", "you bet your sweet bippy", "and that's the truth" were some of the recurring one-liners from the show. (You had to be there . . . ) Despite what mikelz says, my grandfather told me all about it.

[Lefty731PM]

Actually, I have, it's really quite funny. My old english teacher had this thing where she went crazy if we spelled the a lot : ALOT with no space.

If you were one of my students, you'd see it from me, too. It's pretty frustrating when you see people abuse the language, but worse when they think it doesn't matter. You write "and said the word alot". It is not a word, it is two words, so you didn't learn your lesson, despite her efforts.

You don't use a capital E for English and you suggest that you were guilty of writing "alot". Do you write that you had "agood" game of golf or that you saw "anice" pair of pants????????????????????????

[Uber$winG]

Language is a tough character to wrangle. With a million monthly neologisms and all the Orwellian “Newspeak,” it’s a wordy wonder we are able to communicate effectively. But seriously, how many of you out there really rely on the predicate nominative in daily discourse; meaning, how many of you say “It is I” instead of “It is me?” Better yet, how many people remember to employ the subjunctive conditional when uttering things like “I wish it were Christmas,” or is it easier to forget and just say “I wish it was Christmas?”
Now, I consider myself the original dilettante when it comes to language (mostly for having been forced to read all of the soporific literature Henry James has produced - in fact, if I could fight one author it would be he), but for those of you out there who want to understand how language really works I suggest any of the works centered on the Semiotics of C.S. Peirce (pronounced as “purse”) - he makes Chomsky appear as a babbling child.

[ClairefromClare]

Language is a tough character to wrangle. With a million monthly neologisms and all the Orwellian “Newspeak,” it’s a wordy wonder we are able to communicate effectively. But seriously, how many of you out there really rely on the predicate nominative in daily discourse; meaning, how many of you say “It is I” instead of “It is me?” Better yet, how many people remember to employ the subjunctive conditional when uttering things like “I wish it were Christmas,” or is it easier to forget and just say “I wish it was Christmas?”

Chomsky WAS a babbling child!

[bradpet]

(The " Grammar Usage" thread got locked, but I have a relevant addendum. I'm not trying to "open a new wound" or anything to those who might have been offended by the content of the thread - just trying to continue the discussion, including responses to this post. So just treat this like it's Post #47 in that thread.)

Congratulations Harry for stimulating such an entertaining & informative thread!!! Julie_M's wit is second to none. Yes, I agree with one of the 'threadsters' that Strunk & White’s “The Elements of Style” should be mandatory for all. Whilst not advocating a return to 16th century English, the modern 'dumbing down' destruction of the English language is starting to hurt my ears. When I hear the media referring to Congress 'voting down' a bill instead of 'rejecting' or 'voting against' it, or intelligence reports being 'sexed up' instead of being 'embellished', I begin to wonder whether Bart Simpson will be reading the news soon. To borrow a line out of the above good book of Strunk, when writing anything we should be mindful to "eliminate unnecessary words"; which would probably make our newspapers about

half their current size!!! Thank heavens for the solitude of the golf course!!

[julie_m]

Congratulations Harry for stimulating such an entertaining & informative thread!!! Julie_M's wit is second to none.

Oh, you...I...aw, gees...

Thank you.

Whilst

HA

not advocating a return to 16th century English, the modern 'dumbing down' destruction of the English language is starting to hurt my ears. When I hear the media referring to Congress 'voting down' a bill instead of 'rejecting' or 'voting against' it, or intelligence reports being 'sexed up' instead of being 'embellished',

You guys DO realize you keep pointing out new things for me to keep hearing and be annoyed at, right?!

Thank heavens for the solitude of the golf course!!

Amen! Welcome to the board!

[tbjohnston]

The thread title includes the word, "usage," so this isn't too much of a detour:

Hmm...what about the hoi polloi?

[tbjohnston]

Dent, don't worry, sometimes we all find ourselves using commas, sometimes, just perhaps, more than we should.

You mean it is OK to emulate Kipling?

He sat, in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam Zammah on her brick platform opposite the old Ajaib-Gher - the Wonder House, as the natives call the Lahore Museum.

[tbjohnston]

One of the additional options when posting is "Disable smilies in text". Did anyone else see this and initially think that similes were not recommended, but metaphors were acceptable?

[ClairefromClare]

Hmm...what about the hoi polloi?

Care to elucidate? Anyone who uses "hoi polloi" knows what I mean, so just how are you teasing me here?

[Smallville]

Let's not even get to "I could care less," "ATM machine," and "PIN number." I fight that losing battle with my kids almost daily.

For some reason, "I could care less" doesn't bother me much; I don't know why, it should but it doesn't. The other two bug the bejezzus out of me!

A few more messed up terms: 10 A.M. this morning (and his brother, 7 P.M. this evening). WTF of course A.M. is morning. say one or the other. Or at least say "10 A.M. TODAY or 10:00 THIS MORNING (or yesterday or tomorrow). "Needless to say." Then why did you say it? I hear (or see) news people and newspaper reporters (JOURNALISTS for God's sake!) say or write both of these quite often!

[tbjohnston]

Care to elucidate? Anyone who uses "hoi polloi" knows what I mean, so just how are you teasing me here?

Oh - not teasing, just adding to the stack begun by "ATM machine" and "PIN number" by repeating the definite article with "the hoi polloi"

Now, if you'd like me to start teasing, just let me know!

[bradpet]

For some reason, "I could care less" doesn't bother me much; I don't know why, it should but it doesn't. ...

I wish I had built up your immunity to the "I could care less" expression. For me it's akin to to fingernails down a blackboard (perhaps) or up there with "I didn't do nothing". ...

I like your "needless to say" comment. I reminds me of the current 'classic' ... [wait for it] .... [wait for it] ..... " At the end of the day ...". To quote one of my uni lecturers, it's just another way of saying " Um ". Are you out there Julie_m ?

[ClairefromClare]

A few more messed up terms:

My husband does that all the time. Divorce isn't good enough--no jury will ever convict me.

Oh - not teasing, just adding to the stack begun by "ATM machine" and "PIN number" by repeating the definite article with "the hoi polloi"

Oh, definitely!

I guess I was a little slow on the uptake yesterday.

[julie_m]

Are you out there

Let's see, you posted this 17 hours ago? I'm on Texas time...so that's...5 p.m. yesterday evening. I was still working.

[bradpet]

Let's see, you posted this 17 hours ago? I'm on Texas time...so that's...5 p.m. yesterday evening. I was still working.

That would be because I'm situated in Brisbane (city), Queensland (State), Australia (country).

Greetings to my Northern Hemisphere counterparts from a land down under!!!