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Veronica
10-24-2006, 06:02 PM
Petal - part of a flower

Peddle - to sell or trade something

Pedal - noun: the part of your bike that your foot rests on
verb: the act of turning the crank.

GG

PS You may peddle your petals while you pedal if you have a flower cart attached to your bike.

You can peddle a set of pedals and decorate them with petals to try to get a better price.

BleeckerSt_Girl
10-24-2006, 06:06 PM
If your pedals sink in a puddle you can always paddle.

velogirl
10-24-2006, 06:06 PM
You forgot:

pedal -- (verb) -- the act of propelling a bicycle with your feet

petal -- (verb) -- the act of covering an object in flowers

paddle -- (noun) -- the thing you use to paddle (verb) a canoe

SadieKate
10-24-2006, 06:15 PM
I'll just name the topic and you guys can provide the definitions:

ride
rode
road

Have at it.:D

Veronica
10-24-2006, 06:19 PM
Ride and rode are the same as verbs, as rode is the past tense of ride.

Road of course is something to be ridden on, unless you prefer to ride off road.

V.

Kitsune06
10-24-2006, 06:21 PM
Petal - part of a flower

Peddle - to sell or trade something

Pedal - noun: the part of your bike that your foot rests on
verb: the act of turning the crank.

GG

PS You may peddle your petals while you pedal if you have a flower cart attached to your bike.

You can peddle a set of pedals and decorate them with petals to try to get a better price.


There's also
Pettle
–verb (used with object), -tled, -tling. Scot. and North England to fondle; pet.
So you may pettle the petals you're peddling as you pedal your little flower cart, too!

velogirl
10-24-2006, 06:24 PM
Ooh! A new word. I like that Kitsune. Pettle -- I'm going to pettle the pedaling peddler!!!

Pettle, pettle, pettle!!!

Adventure Girl
10-24-2006, 06:25 PM
I'll just name the topic and you guys can provide the definitions:

ride
rode
road

Have at it.:DYou don't have to be a Rhodes Scholar to get this one!:D

Hey, SK, back to the original topic -- Can't Izaak the Wonder Poodle be included in the first grouping?

DeniseGoldberg
10-24-2006, 06:44 PM
Funny - this has been bothering me for a long time. I almost posted something here, but I was afraid that I couldn't say it nicely, so I posted it in my blog instead - http://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com/2006/10/words-words.html.

Veronica -
Thanks so much for finding a nice (and funny) way to point out this error in grammar!

--- Denise

mimitabby
10-24-2006, 06:45 PM
Pedal is a noun too!

at least on my bike, there are two Pedals!

velogirl
10-24-2006, 06:50 PM
Pedal is a noun too!

at least on my bike, there are two Pedals!

Yeah, that was in the original post.

Pettle, pettle, pettle!!!

SadieKate
10-24-2006, 06:52 PM
You don't have to be a Rhodes Scholar to get this one!:DOr live in Rhode Island.:p


Hey, SK, back to the original topic -- Can't Izaak the Wonder Poodle be included in the first grouping?As in the Wonder Poodle peddles for pettles? Let's not talk about what he does with petals.

CyclChyk
10-24-2006, 06:55 PM
There's also
Pettle
–verb (used with object), -tled, -tling. Scot. and North England to fondle; pet.

Can I pettle something other than petals while peddling? I'm not even thinking about a bike/bike parts at this point................. :eek:

Kitsune06
10-24-2006, 07:00 PM
... only if you're on a tandem. :eek: :p

velogirl
10-24-2006, 07:06 PM
Not true, Kitsune!!! I can pettle pedallers next to me -- that's one of the main reasons we need to learn to ride with only one hand on the bar. Now I'm all paranoid that I spelled pedallers wrong. Oh bugger!

mary9761
10-25-2006, 02:17 AM
Or live in Rhode Island.:p

As in the Wonder Poodle peddles for pettles? Let's not talk about what he does with petals.


Hmmm, Does The Wonder Poodle piddle in puddles while pondering petals while peddling for pettles??
:D :p

Dogmama
10-25-2006, 03:12 AM
Leaf me alone-I no had koffee yet

Haudlady
10-25-2006, 05:05 AM
While reading a book (a very good one), I found out that Kitsune means "fox" in Japanese! :D The characters that form the word can also be interpreted as "come and sleep."

So, Kitsune, does this mean you are a foxy lady? :cool:

(By the way, the book was "Plum Wine" by Angela Davis-Gardner.)

...sorry for the interuption... back to your regularly scheduled program!

Kitsune06
10-25-2006, 05:23 AM
(still hijacked)
Don't worry, it's early. I'm chasing your post around the board, replied @ the 'consider this' thread, only to discover you *moved it*! Have some more coffee. Kitsune (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitsune) means 'fox' but also relates to fox spirits, who would manifest themselves as (yup) beautiful young women (among few others). And yup, some etymologies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitsune#Origins_of_kitsune_myths) have it that "kitsu-ne" means "come and sleep" and "ki-tsune" which means "always comes". The Japanese view of Kitsune as yokai has fit me decently for quite awhile...

Some days I have a harder time hiding my tail than others! :D

KnottedYet
10-25-2006, 05:29 AM
That's what belts and suspenders are for.

Sheesh, you young kids and your baggy pants....

lph
10-25-2006, 05:31 AM
<back on track>

I'm a Grammar Grinch too. Which is pretty officious of me, considering I hardly speak English any more.

The one I really hate is "loser". Spelt "looser". Arg!

Funny thing, it bugs me less when English speakers misspell it (hey, they just can't spell) than when Norwegians, trying to be kreatif and unusual, misspell it. It's not cool to use a phrase in a foreign language if you can't SPELL it!

KnottedYet
10-25-2006, 06:03 AM
I view spelling and grammar as creative endevours. Sometimes breaking the rules gets yer point across better than following them. (which is why I sucked as a proofreader, but I am a good editor)

What sticks in my craw are the trendy phrases that get flung around with reckless abandon. Like "looking to". That one gets up my nose. Can't think of any others at the moment.

aka_kim
10-25-2006, 07:47 AM
And from another grinch:

break
brake

salsabike
10-25-2006, 08:42 AM
He lead them to victory.

Auggh! I HATE that. Used to have a boss who spelled it that way and no amount of correction would stick.

wannaduacentury
10-25-2006, 11:28 AM
Rosie
http://www.electrabike.com/04/bikes/06bikes/fashion/06_fas_07.html#

Daisy
http://www.electrabike.com/04/bikes/06bikes/fashion/06_fas_06.html

"Petal Power" -Aren't these Cute?

LBTC
10-25-2006, 12:02 PM
I LOOOOOVE Daisy! I know what I want when DH starts making plumber money!! :D

Namaste,
~T~

Geonz
10-25-2006, 12:09 PM
I visited c.i.c.l.e. a couple weeks ago and they have assorted news articles on their site, and one had "peddling" in the headline... so I borrowed a name (I don't know why... ) and simply commented "pedal! pedal! your spelling teacher is weeping! :) .
The thread had a couple other comments (the first taking me to task for being too critical!) but before long somebody from cicle posts taht hey, they could use some help editing... does Cassie want to volunteer? (In the meantime I'd posted another correction, though I started with "nice article.")
So I guess I"ll email 'em and volunteer as myself ... BE YOURSELF always :) :) :)

... I get my Gazelle tonight, I get my Gazelle tonight...

Pedal Wench
10-25-2006, 12:32 PM
What is up with the double/'tripple' debates? TRIPPLE??? Where does that come from????

SadieKate
10-25-2006, 12:44 PM
A tad too much tippling?

Bad JuJu
10-25-2006, 12:57 PM
Their
There
They're

Some of my students cannot seem to get this straight, even when they're sure that their brains are there--though I'm not so sure!

chickwhorips
10-25-2006, 02:08 PM
my stepmom has a bulletin board that she puts up with a bunch of these. she makes the kids define each word and make sure its spelled correctly. i still get them confused sometimes. spelling and grammar aren't my strong points as you all know.

i read the red book.

Geonz
10-25-2006, 02:14 PM
"Tripple" comes from the fact that almost all "consonant-l-e" words with a short vowel sound in the first syllable have two consonants before the l-e, so that the first syllable is a "closed" (short sound) syllable, and the second syllable is a consonant and l and e. THe person spelling triple with two p's has an astute intuition for spelling but hasn't learned the exceptions. SInce spelling is scarcely taught thoroughly anymore (or else you, too, would know why this word was tricky :D ) it's no surprise that people would make this mistake.
Consider: supple (though I have a friend who pronounces that souple!), grapple, pimple, and in the long-vowel world noble, able, and bugle. (Long vowel sound c-l-e words are much less common, too.)
And people say you never use this knowledge!! :D :D

Dianyla
10-25-2006, 02:35 PM
If you have pierced nipples with barbells, the ball ends on each side end up looking like a triple nipple.

Just sayin'. :cool:

chickwhorips
10-25-2006, 02:43 PM
If you have pierced nipples with barbells, the ball ends on each side end up looking like a triple nipple.

this is true... or it just looks like one big nipple if you wear the right shirt. :eek:
(kit i think we should stay out of this one.)

Dianyla
10-25-2006, 03:01 PM
this is true... or it just looks like one big nipple if you wear the right shirt. :eek:
(kit i think we should stay out of this one.)
A bipple? :rolleyes:

mary9761
10-25-2006, 05:06 PM
Forgive Me :p :p

Owed Two A Spell Chequer

Eye halve a spelling chequer It came with my pea sea It plainly marques four my revue Miss Steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word And weight four it two say Weather eye am wrong oar write It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid It nose bee fore two long And eye can put the error rite Its rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it I am shore your pleased two no Its letter perfect Awl the weigh My chequer tolled me sew.

LBTC
10-25-2006, 05:29 PM
Love this thread - you girls are a hoot!

It's
Its

Why do even lawyers get these ones mixed up?

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

yellow
10-25-2006, 06:18 PM
Ladies, ladies. Tripple is a BEER! Belgain, nonetheless. And I quote:

A trappiste brewery is characterized by the beer being brewed in the abbey by a member of the monastic order. Most trappiste breweries create a "dubble", "tripple" and a "small" beer for daily consumption by the monks.

(From this (http://www.columbia-dist.com/The_Articles/Belgian.htm)website.)

My contribution to the grammar grouchiness (I stole this from another forum):

"You definitely don't want to spell it 'definately'. And if you lose weight, your clothes are too loose."

mary9761
10-25-2006, 06:37 PM
funny, if I'd started this I could have said Grumpy Grammar Gramma Grinch Grouses or Grumpy Gramma Grammar Grinch Grouses :p

yellow
10-25-2006, 06:49 PM
funny, if I'd started this I could have said Grumpy Grammar Gramma Grinch Grouses or Grumpy Gramma Grammar Grinch Grouses :p

Mary, you are awesome. Between this and your "owed"...thanks for the chuckle!

CyclChyk
10-25-2006, 07:04 PM
Sort of OT but kind of not.......
My most annoying written word is "YOUR" when referring to "YOU ARE"..... I mean really, is YOU'RE so hard to comprehend?

Most hated spoken mis-words are numerous but top two:
"accrost" instead of accross. Since when was a T added to this word??
"ain't" instead of aren't. 'Nuff said.

LBTC
10-25-2006, 08:12 PM
Sort of OT but kind of not.......
My most annoying written word is "YOUR" when referring to "YOU ARE"..... I mean really, is YOU'RE so hard to comprehend?

Most hated spoken mis-words are numerous but top two:
"accrost" instead of accross. Since when was a T added to this word??
"ain't" instead of aren't. 'Nuff said.

Egad! :eek: Those are some of the worst! Although in a post or an email I might use a silly variation like ain't just for effect....it's not part of my spoken lexicon.

I wish I had something funny to say, like the rest of you! heehee

You rock!
~T~

mary9761
10-26-2006, 05:51 AM
Mary, you are awesome. Between this and your "owed"...thanks for the chuckle!


I'm glad I brought a smile! BTW, I can't take credit for writing the OWED bit, I found it some time ago on the net and just had to keep it. :p

Bad JuJu
10-26-2006, 07:14 AM
I'm glad I brought a smile! BTW, I can't take credit for writing the OWED bit, I found it some time ago on the net and just had to keep it. :p

Awww, I thought you were a blossoming poet. :D

And here's another grammar matter that bugs me:
What's with writing the plural of words like "ghosts" and "priests" with no -s at the end? I've noticed this that last two or three semesters and it makes me tear my hair out (which is not to say "tare my hare out" :D ).

SadieKate
10-26-2006, 08:22 AM
Oh, you mean more than one priest or ghost is "priest's" and "ghost's"? :rolleyes:

Eden
10-26-2006, 08:31 AM
From Craigslist this morning -

Free Large double pain aluminum window

hmmmmm, no wonder he really wants to get rid of it, single pain is bad enough....

Bad JuJu
10-26-2006, 08:41 AM
Oh, you mean more than one priest or ghost is "priest's" and "ghost's"? :rolleyes:

No--I mean they write "ghost" when they mean "ghosts" or "priests" when they mean "priests," "scientist" when they mean "scientists"--jeez, it's enough to make me crazy!

SadieKate
10-26-2006, 08:45 AM
BJJ, my post was a reference to our earlier rants about apostrophe abuse.

wannaduacentury
10-26-2006, 10:44 AM
Sort of OT but kind of not.......
My most annoying written word is "YOUR" when referring to "YOU ARE"..... I mean really, is YOU'RE so hard to comprehend?

Most hated spoken mis-words are numerous but top two:
"accrost" instead of accross. Since when was a T added to this word??
"ain't" instead of aren't. 'Nuff said.

LOL, Has anyone found "yonder" yet?? I haven't and I've been in the south all my life tee hee. libury is another when it should be Library, yes I work in one too. Jennifer :rolleyes:

SadieKate
10-26-2006, 10:53 AM
LOL, Has anyone found "yonder" yet??Sure, you can wonder over yonder 'safternoon.

My Texas teacher grandmother was once asked one by of her students, "How do you spell 'safternoon?"

Dianyla
10-26-2006, 10:57 AM
Here's a Portland area local problem that Kitsune and others will probably enjoy.


"McMinimum's" instead of McMenamin's, a local brewpub chain.

chickwhorips
10-26-2006, 11:05 AM
when these threads start, i start to think i shouldn't post anymore. i'm really not good at spelling or grammer and half the time typing.

wannaduacentury
10-26-2006, 11:20 AM
Sure, you can wonder over yonder 'safternoon.

My Texas teacher grandmother was once asked one by of her students, "How do you spell 'safternoon?"

I remember that one and Geetyet?(sp?) (Did you eat yet? my great uncle told me this one in NC)

AHMA (contraction). (southern slang)
Usage: "Ahma gonna sit rat cheer til foe the safnoon."

:p

CR400
10-26-2006, 11:47 AM
Ok, I feel the need to add mine.

to
too
and two.

Oh, how often do I see the wrong word writt-en, it seems like people are always leaving off the second o. So maybe they should just use the word also-it replaces.

Ok, I have often fell to the pedal as I usually blank out in the spelling and write it with an e instead. Forgive me I'm actually bad at spelling.

Fine, now that I'm worried about all the careless grammar mistakes I make now, I'll leave. I love comma splices, hope I left a few.:D :D

snapdragen
10-26-2006, 11:49 AM
How about printner?

I pritner fell of my bar stool....

Geonz
10-26-2006, 12:00 PM
Dear struggling spellers,

I can't speak for any of the other grinches, but since I teach people with dyslexia I have had to learn to channel my grammar grouchies.

To me there's a HUGE difference between anything typed as an ongoing dialogue and something that you're publishing or setting out to the public. That stuff deserves that ancient skill called proofreading. Also, if you can't spell, nowadays it's quite possibly because you were never taught, not because you held it in disdain.

So keep posting... and it doesn't matter what we think anyway. I happen to know that many people find my habits of dressing to violate all kinds of rules I just can't seem to figure out. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop wearing clothes :D :D (or stop going out in public).

But actually, what am I doing on line... I'm supposed to be spending my spare work moments developing spelling-improvement software. I'm out of here :)

chickwhorips
10-26-2006, 12:10 PM
But actually, what am I doing on line... I'm supposed to be spending my spare work moments developing spelling-improvement software. I'm out of here :)

do you need someone to try that on? i'll be willing to be your willing victim.

cherinyc
10-26-2006, 12:12 PM
snapdragon - i had to read your last post a couple times, then referred back to my traumatic move in 8th grade, from South Florida (basically New York) to North Florida (basically Georgia).

They pronounced it pert-near. "I pert-near fell out my chair." I can't even fathom where that comes from.
The 2 that confused me most were, "fixin to" "I'm fixin to go meet my ma"
and the usage of the word "learn" "Boy - I'm gonna learn you some manners".

Scary stuff.

Dianyla
10-26-2006, 12:39 PM
They pronounced it pert-near. "I pert-near fell out my chair." I can't even fathom where that comes from.

I think it's from "I pretty near fell out" which could be rewritten as "I came close to falling out of my chair".

cherinyc
10-26-2006, 12:44 PM
I think it's from "I pretty near fell out" which could be rewritten as "I came close to falling out of my chair".

OHHHH. Yeah I see it now. Pretty near. Thanks Dianyla - I've been wondering about that for a while now.

wannaduacentury
10-26-2006, 05:54 PM
[QUOTE=cherinyc;137745}
The 2 that confused me most were, "fixin to" "I'm fixin to go meet my ma"
and the usage of the word "learn" "Boy - I'm gonna learn you some manners".

Scary stuff.[/QUOTE]

Those were the ones I couldn't remember earlier. "fixin" is quite popular and "What is your teacher gonna learn you at school today?"

Y'all
Pronunciation: 'yol
Function: Contraction
Ye all or you all. :p

CyclChyk
10-26-2006, 06:46 PM
The 2 that confused me most were, "fixin to" "I'm fixin to go meet my ma" Scary stuff.

Ok - guilty. I have said "fixin' to" since I was "knee high to a grasshopper".

Also, the one phrase I have that drives my husband insane (but I have caught him using it once or twice) is "might should" as in "I might should give her a call to see if she is ok" kinda thing.........

Guess I will always just be a wannabe yank. :(

DeniseGoldberg
11-07-2006, 07:32 AM
Thanks V for starting this thread - but I think it needs a bump out of obscurity again. My eyes have started seeing posts again where women must be selling their bikes...


peddling = selling
pedaling = riding


I don't know about you, but I pedal my bike; it's definitely not for sale!

Bad JuJu
11-07-2006, 07:37 AM
My department chair just circulated this review on the book The War Against Grammar. I find it refreshing to hear that I and the other grammar grinches here are not alone in our distress over the state of grammar these days. I can't wait to read the whole book, now that I've seen the review.

BleeckerSt_Girl
11-07-2006, 08:10 AM
I thought it was funny when we (unfortunately) wound up eating at a big buffet style chain restaurant a couple of years ago, and after you got your main course on a plate, you could go over to a huge condiment bar with a big sign that read "FIXIN'S". Did the food somehow need to be "fixed" before it was edible?? :eek:

Trek420
05-16-2009, 05:20 PM
There really are Grammar police :p

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9_kahA_wQo&feature=topvideos

shootingstar
05-16-2009, 06:00 PM
Methinks some of us need to straighten out the use of complimentary as found in the topic thread about personality of significant other. (See under "Cycling".)

It's..uh.."complementary". But no doubt, there will be compelling, but not totally accurate reasons for the other adjective.
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=30937

I know, I know, as the song by C. Lauper goes: "We're just GIRLS..and we wanna have FUN. :D

Trek420
05-16-2009, 06:12 PM
I know, I know, as the song by C. Lauper goes: "We're just GIRLS..and we wanna have FUN. :D

It's "girls just want to have fun" which is very different from "we're just girls"

Oh nooooo, now it's on to the "lyric grinch" :p ;) :D

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVwFeQpy_Us

Aint Doody
05-18-2009, 10:53 AM
How about "mis-cheev-ius" as a pronunciation for mischievous? I abhor that. I even heard Ann Curry say it incorrectly doing the news on the Today Show a few months back.

And there's a local commercial for a restaurant in Tri Cities, WA, that has a versa-tile menu.......yikes! What do they serve???

I like "fixing to." I grew up in the Deep South and didn't realize that everybody else in the US didn't say that until I moved out to the Pacific Northwest.

michelem
05-18-2009, 12:00 PM
How about "mis-cheev-ius" as a pronunciation for mischievous? I abhor that. I even heard Ann Curry say it incorrectly doing the news on the Today Show a few months back.


Yes, annoying! I guess it happens often enough for a note from Dictionary.com:

Pronunciation note:
Pronunciations of mischievous with stress on the second syllable: [mis-chee-vee-uhs] or, less commonly, [mis-chee-vuhs], instead of on the first: [mis-chuh-vuhs], are usually considered nonstandard. The pronunciation [mis-chee-vee-uhs], with the additional syllable, occurs by analogy with such words as previous and devious.

pinkbikes
05-18-2009, 12:27 PM
My two pet peeves are:

infer vs imply

and

led vs lead

I am SO sick of reading job applications telling me about how some applicant "lead a team on a project." He might want to lead a team and he may have led a team, but he probably didn't dunk them in a vat of molten lead!

Biciclista
05-18-2009, 12:36 PM
congradulations? ERRGGGG ARGHHH!!!!

Andrea
05-18-2009, 12:49 PM
Yes, annoying! I guess it happens often enough for a note from Dictionary.com:

Pronunciation note:
Pronunciations of mischievous with stress on the second syllable: [mis-chee-vee-uhs] or, less commonly, [mis-chee-vuhs], instead of on the first: [mis-chuh-vuhs], are usually considered nonstandard. The pronunciation [mis-chee-vee-uhs], with the additional syllable, occurs by analogy with such words as previous and devious.

I think that the 4-syllable version sounds more fun.

Pedal Wench
05-18-2009, 01:01 PM
alot instead of a lot
abit instead of a bit

breath and breathe, however, confuse me.:rolleyes:

Veronica
05-18-2009, 01:37 PM
Alot starts young. I beat my 5th graders about it a lot. It doesn't help. :D

Veronica

Crankin
05-18-2009, 02:38 PM
Invariably, when I would ask my students (who had me for 2 years) what important things they learned in my English/Language Arts class, the fact that a lot is two words always came up.
Don't get me started on the incorrect use of apostrophes.
Please, just because a word ends in an s does mean it needs an apostrophe.

bmccasland
05-18-2009, 03:28 PM
congradulations? ERRGGGG ARGHHH!!!!

Guilty as charged. I'll go stand in a corner with a Dunce cap on if it'll make you happier. Don't ask me why my brain refuses to remember how to spell it (I T :p ) correctly.

I can tell you that I was taught rote memorization in school, not phonetics. The only spelling rule I learned was "I before E except after C". I had long battles with trying to find words in the dictionary, when I couldn't spell them, and was doing my best to sound them out. I still have trouble spelling. Became a happier spelling camper when I discovered the thesaurus - I could find the word I wanted by looking up similar words.

Skierchickie
05-18-2009, 03:44 PM
I was behind a minivan this morning, on my way to work, and they had the following emblazoned across the back: Read a Newspaper Everyday

Grrr! Every Day.... EVERY DAY!!! Our local newspaper is terrible, by the way. I don't think they read. What is worse, they quoted a local school official a few days ago, saying "Every parent who left a message received a call back from myself". Shouldn't school officials have a grasp of proper English? Misuse of "myself" is one of my pet peeves. That and the apostrophes on every plural word (by the way, Crankin, I think you meant "doesn't", not "does" :p).

BikeDutchess
05-18-2009, 06:11 PM
used
supposed

... as in "we used to think spandex was silly" and "he was supposed to buy me a beer after the ride."

I just cringe every time I see "use to" or "suppose to"

PamNY
05-18-2009, 06:29 PM
I like "fixing to." I grew up in the Deep South and didn't realize that everybody else in the US didn't say that until I moved out to the Pacific Northwest.

I also like "fixing to." I no longer say it, but I contend that it has a precise and important meaning. And I won't even start discussing "I reckon."

Pam

uforgot
05-19-2009, 12:17 AM
My pet peeve (and I'm sure I've mentioned it) is your vs you're. I've received invitations that read your invited. I'm also currently fighting I seen with my students. They'll say "Hey, I seen you the other day", or "I seen Joe downtown". Goes right through me.

pinkbikes
05-19-2009, 01:56 AM
"Every parent who left a message received a call back from myself". Shouldn't school officials have a grasp of proper English? Misuse of "myself" is one of my pet peeves. That and the apostrophes on every plural word (by the way, Crankin, I think you meant "doesn't", not "does" :p).

Thank heavens there is another human in the world who cares about the improper use of the reflexive pronoun! I thought I was the only one!

Do they use it because they think it sounds nicer and less egotistical than good old "me"??? It is so common and so insidious that the other day I had to stop myself before I used it too!:eek:

They call me "the apostrophe Nazi" at work for my efforts to ensure anything that goes out under my signature (with an apostrophe) is correct.

Crankin
05-19-2009, 03:08 AM
Yea, the "does" was simply a typo.
While I really know that spelling ability has nothing to do with intelligence, it still bothers me to see misspelled words in print. I know there are varying opinions as to how necessary correct spelling is on a forum like this, but the same errors over and over get to me. I am pretty sure many would tell me to chill out, and that it doesn't matter.
As far as the speech patterns go, many of them are regional. It would be sad to lose some of the words that are unique to different parts of the country. It's already happened around Boston. Words like tonic (soda), barrel (garbage can), and bubbler (water fountain) are only heard in certain towns, usually places where many generations of families have lived without any in-out migration. You only hear the "Boston accent" in the old mill cities, certain towns, or in older people. I know that I purposely lost mine very quickly when I moved away in high school.
However, things like "I seen" and "he don't" or "your" for "you're" are just bad grammar/spelling!

redrhodie
05-19-2009, 03:35 AM
I'm a right brain type, so I hope you all give me a break when I screw up. I have other strengths.

I confess to having issues with its and it's, affect and effect, and even left and right :o. I can use them correctly, but it takes some effort.

But, I can draw a nude figure without looking at the paper. ;)

OakLeaf
05-19-2009, 03:36 AM
However, things like "I seen" and "he don't" ... are just bad grammar

Actually, I think it's more casual vs. formal than "good vs. bad." In many social situations, saying "I saw" or "he doesn't" is like wearing black tie to a football game. Cambridge is different from Appalachia on that score, I'm sure. ;) But my opinion is when in Rome, speak Latin. (Or Italian, depending on what millennium that saying came from. :p)

I use both of those constructions frequently in conversation; never in formal situations and rarely in writing. And I'm the one who just went back and edited to make sure that the period was on the correct side of the quotation marks. :cool:

Veronica
05-19-2009, 05:46 AM
However, things like "I seen" and "he don't" or ... are just bad grammar/spelling!

Not necessarily...

I've been taking a class that talks about African American English and often what we hear as poor grammar is actually a linguistic dialectic and has real meaning.

When someone says, "He been bugging me." It's not poor grammar; it means the person has been bugging them repeatedly. "I seen" means the person has seen it often. "He don't never..." the repeated negative is for emphasis.

It's been really interesting. AND, it's helped me understand my students a little bit better. The trick is getting the kids to understand when they need to use standard English.

Veronica

Biciclista
05-19-2009, 06:02 AM
Thank heavens there is another human in the world who cares about the improper use of the reflexive pronoun! I thought I was the only one!

Do they use it because they think it sounds nicer and less egotistical than good old "me"??? It is so common and so insidious that the other day I had to stop myself before I used it too!:eek:

They call me "the apostrophe Nazi" at work for my efforts to ensure anything that goes out under my signature (with an apostrophe) is correct.

You are not alone!
We were at the Opera the other day and they have a big marquis where you can read what they are singing while they are singing. I could not resist letting my husband know the two times they made typos.

Yes Veronica, good points. They need to be conversant in both the mainstream dialect and their own.

Crankin
05-19-2009, 06:56 AM
I guess I meant that those constructions are bad grammar for standard English. Believe me, I am not one of those "English only" types. But, I have had a problem getting kids to understand that it is necessary to speak standard English in business and school situations.
The "I seen" and "he don't" are much more prevalent in other parts of the country, even among well educated speakers. If someone spoke like that here, even in a social situation, it would not be seen as something positive. Yea, we are language snobs here, so don't start yelling! When I was first married, my husband used both of those expressions, because that's what his parents used. When he was getting ready to go back to finish his BA, I explained to him that he probably shouldn't use certain language forms at the university. He just never thought about it, as it was all he had ever heard.
Actually, I find regionalisms and dialects quite interesting to learn about.

Veronica
05-19-2009, 07:18 AM
Oh, I'm a total language snob. :D 4 years of Latin in high school, 4 more in college and 3 years of Classical Greek.

I think it's all about situational approriateness. Our society as a whole has become less aware of what's approriate or the lines are getting blurred and language is just a side effect of that. There are some things about Miss Manners I miss.

Veronica

PamNY
05-19-2009, 07:37 AM
The "I seen" and "he don't" are much more prevalent in other parts of the country, even among well educated speakers. If someone spoke like that here, even in a social situation, it would not be seen as something positive. Yea, we are language snobs here, so don't start yelling!

"I seen" and "he don't" are not acceptable among educated speakers in any part of the country. When I moved to the northeastern U.S. from the south, I did notice that some people believed that, and I really had to bite my tongue to stop myself from pointing out their grammatical errors.

In written communication, the people I worked with in the northeast were actually worse than southerners, but that might be a function of the corporate structure. I did notice that people in the northeast simply would not believe that there are rules about use of language. One person told me that she didn't want to use hyphenated modifiers because "it looks funny."

Pam

Veronica
05-19-2009, 07:59 AM
"I seen" and "he don't" are not acceptable among educated speakers in any part of the country.

Pam


Not afraid to speak your mind I see.

I believe there is a time and a place for everything - even bad grammar.

Veronica

tulip
05-19-2009, 08:19 AM
I haven't read through all of the posts, so I apologize if this one has been discussed already.

LESS and FEWER. Get it right, people!

Ah, that's better.

PamNY
05-19-2009, 08:30 AM
I believe there is a time and a place for everything - even bad grammar.

Seriously? Outside of fiction? I'm not arguing; just curious. I do think bad grammar can be used for emphasis in a joking way -- I can't think of an example that would work in writing, but we did it a lot in my family. In fact, this thread has reminded me that I should write down a few of the things we laughed about in my family so I don't forget them.

Pam

Pedal Wench
05-19-2009, 08:34 AM
Seriously? Outside of fiction? I'm not arguing; just curious. I do think bad grammar can be used for emphasis in a joking way -- I can't think of an example that would work in writing, but we did it a lot in my family. In fact, this thread has reminded me that I should write down a few of the things we laughed about in my family so I don't forget them.

Pam

I write a column (online, for the SciFi Channel) and I regularly use sentence fragments and words such as "ain't" and "I dunno." It's conversational and I think allowed in that context.

Eden
05-19-2009, 08:40 AM
Now, I don't view this as an excuse to not learn the proper grammar of the day, but just remember that language is not static. It is ever evolving and that the rules that were used just a generation or two ago may not apply in this day and age. Someday everyone may properly use words or forms that in this time seem to be slang or poor grammar and today's rules may seem impossibly stiff and formal.... (my husband's great aunt was a school teacher and her grammar book still had all the rules and conjugations for thee and thou)

Veronica
05-19-2009, 08:45 AM
Seriously? Outside of fiction?

Bad grammar in conversation often comes from the home. When you criticize a child's language, you're criticizing their homelife and maybe even their culture.

Often they are following certain grammatical rules. They are not standard English grammatical rules, but they are rules.

Veronica

PamNY
05-19-2009, 09:15 AM
I write a column (online, for the SciFi Channel) and I regularly use sentence fragments and words such as "ain't" and "I dunno." It's conversational and I think allowed in that context.

I would call that poetic license.

Pam

Duck on Wheels
01-01-2010, 02:01 PM
From an on-line recipe for pumpkin soup:

*To make pumpkin purée, cut a sugar pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff, lie face down on a tin-foil lined baking pan. Bake at 350°F until soft, about 45 min to an hour. Cool, scoop out the flesh. Freeze whatever you don't use for future use.

Trek420
01-01-2010, 02:21 PM
Takes a pretty big oven to do that :eek: :eek: ;)

lph
01-04-2010, 12:15 AM
*snort* hilarious! I think that's the best lie/lay confusion I've ever seen. :D

beccaB
01-04-2010, 05:16 AM
How about a cookbook my kids had that says to beat the eggs with a fork. It did not say to crack them open first. My oldest got a big kick out of me beating the heck out of those eggs with a fork. Made a big mess but was good for some laughs!

Trek420
01-04-2010, 06:38 AM
Bad grammar in conversation often comes from the home. When you criticize a child's language, you're criticizing their homelife and maybe even their culture.

Often they are following certain grammatical rules. They are not standard English grammatical rules, but they are rules.

Veronica

Language is a beautiful evolving thing. But at a certain point isn't it the job of the entire village idiot that raises the child and even educates adults because we never stop learning to say "you ain't going to get or keep a job if you can't use standard written and spoken English" :cool:?

I'm not criticizing, I'm not saying anything about your parents, family and culture, I'm just sayin' ;) :cool: at a certain point it's like showing up for the interview with the knuckle tattoo. ;) I can express myself any way I choose off the job but at work I will need clear standard English.

I'm a teeny tiny itsy bitsy cog working in a to remain unnamed large company. We recently got a chat application so you could be on our website right now, it says "click to chat" and you reach me, or another rep.

I was surprised, shocked really during the training .... it's cross cultural, racial, age, height .... there were many of us being taken off the application and told "sorry, you're fine on the phone but you can't write your way out of a paper bag".

Well, the company could say "This is your job. We're doing everything online now." :( What if I could not write?

Like the bumpersticker says "if you can read this, thank a teacher"

Dogmama
01-05-2010, 05:27 AM
Bad grammar in conversation often comes from the home. When you criticize a child's language, you're criticizing their homelife and maybe even their culture.

Often they are following certain grammatical rules. They are not standard English grammatical rules, but they are rules.

Veronica

"People judge you by the words you use." Wasn't that a commercial for something?

Duck on Wheels
01-05-2010, 06:53 AM
*snort* hilarious! I think that's the best lie/lay confusion I've ever seen. :D

I keep trying to envision a way it could make sense. Only safe-to-try-at-home one I've come up with is that it was so exhausting cutting and cleaning the pumpkin, that while the pumpkins is in the oven you take a nap on the floor, face down on the spare baking sheet. Even that image is pretty funny. :D

spazzdog
01-05-2010, 10:50 AM
Here is set of words that I see miss-used/miss-spelled on a regular basis:

rain
rein
reign

My brain is not cooperating, so please, someone supply a fun sentence using all 3 properly.

Veronica
01-05-2010, 11:00 AM
When it rains, the reins of the reins of the reigning queen's horses get wet.

Veronica

Jones
01-05-2010, 12:36 PM
Durning my reign as queen I will try to rein in the rain.

spazzdog
01-06-2010, 02:49 PM
OK, next:

For
Fore
Four

spazz

SadieKate
01-06-2010, 03:04 PM
This may be my all time favorite comic strip.

http://comics.com/pearls_before_swine/?DateAfter=2010-01-02&DateBefore=2010-01-06&Order=d.DateStrip+ASC&PerPage=1&Search=&x=49&y=9

HoosierGiant
01-06-2010, 05:09 PM
This may be my all time favorite comic strip.

http://comics.com/pearls_before_swine/?DateAfter=2010-01-02&DateBefore=2010-01-06&Order=d.DateStrip+ASC&PerPage=1&Search=&x=49&y=9

We LOOOOOVE Pearls Before Swine -- fight over the paper in the morning to see who gets the first gut-busting guffaw of the day!

My bulletin board is filled with scads of cycling ephemera and two comics: the conjugal visits one you hyperlinked and this one -- http://comics.com/pearls_before_swine/2009-01-02/.

SadieKate
01-06-2010, 05:33 PM
Love it!

I finally signed up for a daily email from comics.com which I can get on my iPod (before I even get out of bed). No paper-wrangling now.

Catrin
01-07-2010, 10:58 AM
OK, next:

For
Fore
Four

spazz

She smiled as the call of "FORE" came through the window from the golfers as she contemplated the four remaining pieces of chocolate-nut fudge they had left for later.

Dogmama
01-07-2010, 02:18 PM
Tiger Woods won't be yelling "Fore" for he had at least four illicit affairs.

Eden
01-07-2010, 02:36 PM
I had a friend in college who was dyslexic - spell check was his savior, but indeed homophones were his worst enemy. They are also seriously challenging for the people I know who speak English as a second language.

Their, there, they're

They're having their party there...

SadieKate
01-07-2010, 05:09 PM
I had a friend in college who was dyslexic - spell check was his savior, but indeed homophones were his worst enemy.
Oh, jeez. I read that as homophobes.

It makes complete sense as a standalone statement but in this thread I had a "where the heck did that come from" reaction.

Trek420
01-07-2010, 07:46 PM
It makes complete sense as a standalone statement but in this thread I had a "where the heck did that come from" reaction.

Ok so now we do the "change one letter to change the entire sentence" game.

But it makes sense. With enemies like that who needs friends? :rolleyes: :p

tribogota
01-08-2010, 09:21 AM
and now because I live and work in Spanish, where you spell things exactly how they sound, I have transferred that ability to English, which drives my mother crazy in emails "were i right whatever letters/words first come to mind an then use the wrong their/there/they're all over the place".

Crankin
01-08-2010, 09:34 AM
Homophones were the bane of my existence when I was teaching English. Some kids never learned the differences/usages no matter what hands-on activities I tried. And judging from communication with other adults, a lot of people don't know correct usage for things like there/their/they're.

Duck on Wheels
01-14-2010, 01:00 PM
There there, dear. I'm sure they're all doing their best for you over there.

nc tam
01-21-2010, 07:38 AM
How about discreet/discrete?

Dogmama
01-21-2010, 11:19 AM
....fore sale

lph
01-21-2010, 12:49 PM
How about discreet/discrete?

Oh, I hate this one. Whenever I see "we guarantee to be discrete" or something of the kind, I want to add "what? one little step at a time??" :D

Chile Pepper
01-21-2010, 01:09 PM
Oh, I hate this one. Whenever I see "we guarantee to be discrete" or something of the kind, I want to add "what? one little step at a time??" :D

I've run across discreet numbers--in a professionally translated economics text. Truly cringe-worthy.

Veronica
01-21-2010, 01:16 PM
I guess the numbers are good at keeping secrets.

Veronica

OakLeaf
01-21-2010, 03:27 PM
This thread has drifted into snippy spelling sourpuss snivelers. :p

PinkBike
01-22-2010, 06:45 PM
for spazz and sk:

http://comics.com/pearls_before_swine/2009-06-02/

this one cracks me up!

OakLeaf
01-25-2010, 03:59 AM
And when did "renown" become an adjective? Grrrrrr.

SadieKate
01-25-2010, 07:59 AM
Renown or renowned? If the latter, a heck of a long time.

OakLeaf
01-25-2010, 08:05 AM
The former. That's what drives me crazy about it. Your post is the first time I've even seen the word "renowned" in about five years. Everyone writes "renown" to mean "renowned."


ETA: Oh, I get it.... it's been re-nouned. ;)

SadieKate
01-25-2010, 08:11 AM
ETA: Oh, I get it.... it's been re-nouned. ;):D I'll have to send that to my English teach dad.

Skierchickie
01-25-2010, 08:27 AM
Regime used in place of regimen. I see / hear it WAY too frequently, and am afraid it is becoming generally accepted. Even on Masterpiece Theater last night, on PBS (it was "Emma", by Jane Austen, of all things - her father made a remark about his exercise regime). A regime is a government, a regimen is a system of training or treatment.

And how about all of the nouns that have become verbs, all of a sudden?

SadieKate
01-25-2010, 09:09 AM
That might be more of a style thang.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/regime

Maxxxie
01-25-2010, 02:30 PM
And how about all of the nouns that have become verbs, all of a sudden?

This is particularly obvious in the IT industry. A few months ago, I had to sit through a sales spiel in which the speaker described how they "productised" a service. Instead of just saying "We decided to sell our services", he said "We productised our service". ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! And he did this all through the presentation. I wanted to take him aside and slap him, but I think that might've been unprofessional. :)

Max

deeaimond
01-26-2010, 06:50 AM
Here is set of words that I see miss-used/miss-spelled on a regular basis:

rain
rein
reign

My brain is not cooperating, so please, someone supply a fun sentence using all 3 properly.

The rain put a rein on the lead cyclist's reign.

lph
01-26-2010, 07:17 AM
This is particularly obvious in the IT industry. A few months ago, I had to sit through a sales spiel in which the speaker described how they "productised" a service. Instead of just saying "We decided to sell our services", he said "We productised our service". ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! And he did this all through the presentation. I wanted to take him aside and slap him, but I think that might've been unprofessional. :)

Max

You could've productised a slap ;)

A bit lost in translation maybe, but similar: there's a trend in Norwegian for people to describe typically chocolate or luxury foods by using "wine taster terms" like: "deep, rich, good on taste".... I hate that! There's nothing wrong with saying that something just plain TASTES GOOD! :mad:

PinkBike
01-26-2010, 01:52 PM
how about "should of" instead of "should've" -- aaarghhh

kjay
01-26-2010, 02:08 PM
It's "should have"! :-)

Maxxxie
01-27-2010, 12:22 AM
Let's not forget "Alot" (not even a word!) instead of "A lot". Thankfully, I've never seen anyone try to use "Allot" in place of "A lot", but I suspect it's only a matter of time. :rolleyes:

Max

crazycanuck
01-27-2010, 01:52 AM
Advice & advise...AGHGHGHG..

*beats head on desk*

Catrin
01-27-2010, 03:23 AM
email as a verb....am I the only one still irritated by this?

OakLeaf
01-27-2010, 03:50 AM
email as a verb....am I the only one still irritated by this?

Do you use just "mail" as a verb?

Dogmama
01-27-2010, 03:58 AM
Specially instead of Especially. As in, "Specially prepared for you."

Dogmama
01-27-2010, 04:01 AM
Lack of adverbs. Maybe they have gone the way of the carburetor. I can be found yelling at television news reporters, "BUY AN 'LY'". But that only happens during certain times of the month. :D

Crankin
01-27-2010, 04:31 AM
I have to admit, that the repeated misspelling of the same words, by the same poster(s) on this list bugs me. But, I never would say anything. Most people think it's nit-picky. And I guess the accepted practice is that spelling in on line communication doesn't matter. But, I still proofread what I write.

Veronica
01-27-2010, 06:10 AM
I must admit that I started this post in hope that it would enlighten some people and get them to start using correct spelling. My thought was that maybe no one ever told them correct usage. All through junior high I would guess in my essays about using then or than. It wasn't until my freshman year in high school that anyone took the time to explain which was which. Thank goodness for Mrs. Woodbrey, my awesome Latin teacher!

My MIL once told me that she had trouble spelling their. She knew when to use it, but couldn't remember if it was i or e first. I pointed out that all three start with the.

Now when my 5th graders can't remember that it is A LOT, two words, despite the numerous times I've told them... that's a mystery. :D

Veronica

Catrin
01-27-2010, 06:54 AM
Do you use just "mail" as a verb?

Sure, but the term started out as a noun for an electronic letter. Common useage has changed to allow the use of the term as both noun and verb, but it still catches my ear. "Google" does the same thing when it is used as a verb rather than a reference to a specific search engine. It is interesting to see this useage regardless of the actual choice of search engine.

Maxxxie
01-27-2010, 11:07 AM
email as a verb....am I the only one still irritated by this?

Yes, you are. :p Perhaps you'd prefer it if people phoned you instead? ;)

Max

SadieKate
01-27-2010, 11:56 AM
Sure, but the term started out as a noun for an electronic letter. Common useage has changed to allow the use of the term as both noun and verb, but it still catches my ear. "Google" does the same thing when it is used as a verb rather than a reference to a specific search engine. It is interesting to see this useage regardless of the actual choice of search engine.

"Electric" was used as a noun into the last century. Perhaps you'd prefer not to have electrified washing machines, sewing machines, computers, etc.? :p

Language evolution is a fascinating thing.

SadieKate
01-27-2010, 12:01 PM
Regime used in place of regimen. I see / hear it WAY too frequently, and am afraid it is becoming generally accepted. Even on Masterpiece Theater last night, on PBS (it was "Emma", by Jane Austen, of all things - her father made a remark about his exercise regime). A regime is a government, a regimen is a system of training or treatment.

And how about all of the nouns that have become verbs, all of a sudden?

Voila! Perhaps she meant regiment.:p

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/regiment.html

SadieKate
01-27-2010, 12:07 PM
Actually, this is a very interesting site.

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/index.html

You will find certain words or phrases criticized here listed in dictionaries. Note carefully labels like dial. (dialectical), nonstandard, and obsolete before assuming that the dictionary is endorsing them. The primary job of a dictionary is to track how people actually use language. Dictionaries differ among themselves on how much guidance to usage they provide; but the goal of a usage guide like this is substantially different: to protect you against patterns which are regarded by substantial numbers of well-educated people as nonstandard.

List of errors with a search engine
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html#errors

A particularly good one.
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/poopoo.html

kjay
01-27-2010, 12:10 PM
Note use of "which" as opposed to "that." Okay, I need to stop this. ;-)

lph
01-27-2010, 12:17 PM
argh! I've been spelling "ad nauseam" wrong for years. Damn.

kjay
01-27-2010, 12:39 PM
eeeeeeeeks! So have I. :-(

SadieKate
01-27-2010, 01:12 PM
Arg! I've been spelling it wrong ad nauseam also. :(

OakLeaf
01-27-2010, 01:23 PM
to protect you against patterns which are regarded


Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah [running screaming out of room]!

kjay, I'm SO glad I'm not the only one who's bothered by that!

SadieKate
01-27-2010, 01:32 PM
Hey, I didn't make that statement. Feel free to correct your quote . . .

And read the website author's statement about which/that.
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/which.html

And more comments from the author of English language guide (and found through comments on Brians' site -- and notice the italics and a redundant indent to show that I am quoting someone else):
http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/t.html#that


That versus Which.
According to the more quibbling self-styled grammar experts, that is restrictive, while which is not.

Many grammarians insist on a distinction without any historical justification. Many of the best writers in the language couldn't tell you the difference between them, while many of the worst think they know. If the subtle difference between the two confuses you, use whatever sounds right. Other matters are more worthy of your attention.

For the curious, however, the relative pronoun that is restrictive, which means it tells you a necessary piece of information about its antecedent: for example, "The word processor that is used most often is WordPerfect." Here the that phrase answers an important question: which of the many word processors are we talking about? And the answer is the one that is used most often.

Which is non-restrictive: it does not limit the word it refers to. An example is "Penn's ID center, which is called CUPID, has been successful so far." Here that is unnecessary: the which does not tell us which of Penn's many ID centers we're considering; it simply provides an extra piece of information about the plan we're already discussing. "Penn's ID Center" tells us all we really need to know to identify it.

It boils down to this: if you can tell which thing is being discussed without the which or that clause, use which; if you can't, use that.

There are two rules of thumb you can keep in mind. First, if the phrase needs a comma, you probably mean which. Since "Penn's ID center" calls for a comma, we would not say "Penn's ID Center, that is called CUPID."

Another way to keep them straight is to imagine by the way following every which: "Penn's ID center, which (by the way) is called CUPID. . . ." The which adds a useful, but not grammatically necessary, piece of information. On the other hand, we wouldn't say "The word processor which (by the way) is used most often is WordPerfect," because the word processor on its own isn't enough information — which word processor?

A paradoxical mnemonic: use that to tell which, and which to tell that.

This opinion would support Brians' choice of "which" over "that." I'm now outta here.

OakLeaf
01-27-2010, 01:49 PM
Hey, I didn't make that statement. Feel free to correct your quote . . .


I didn't think it was you. I just didn't bother to put in a sub-quote (since you didn't ;)). Italics aren't preserved in auto-quote.

It was part of our Law Journal's style manual. Let them call our faculty "quibbling self-styled grammar experts" if they like [I mean honestly, how is that rule any different from any of the ones we've been complaining about in eleven pages of this thread?], but I had not only to know the rule, but to apply it to manuscripts submitted by law professors.

SadieKate
01-27-2010, 01:54 PM
That would be because there is visual differentiation between regular and italic text, and included a link to the statement, in my post.:cool:

Chile Pepper
01-27-2010, 02:52 PM
That versus which is a style question. US publishers tend to prefer the distinction, whereas the Brits almost never do--they freely use which as both restrictive and nonrestrictive. I personally edit my authors following the that/which distinction based on my publishers' expressed preferences, but strictly speaking, which is grammatically correct.

kjay
01-27-2010, 03:11 PM
"That" is used with a restrictive clause, "which" with a nonrestrictive clause. For that reason, it's important to use the correct word; therefore, it's not simply a matter of style, in my opinion.

PinkBike
01-27-2010, 03:25 PM
Not to mention "that" as opposed to "who."
"That" describes a thing, "who" a person.
i.e. "Cancellara is the one who gets my heart racing."

OBTW today I was watching last year's Ghent-Wevelgem race and Phil Liggett, who is the King of Malapropisms, said the peloton was going to have to "redress the situation." Maybe they could do that AFTER they address the situation.

Catrin
01-27-2010, 03:34 PM
"Electric" was used as a noun into the last century. Perhaps you'd prefer not to have electrified washing machines, sewing machines, computers, etc.? :p

Language evolution is a fascinating thing.


Yes, you are. :p Perhaps you'd prefer it if people phoned you instead? ;)

Max

A living language is a wonderful thing, and I never claimed to be consistent with this :D

OakLeaf
01-27-2010, 04:52 PM
"Electric" was used as a noun into the last century.

It's still used as a noun in Ohio. (And for all I know, in other parts of the country as well.)

crazycanuck
01-30-2010, 08:44 PM
Ok, i've been pondering this one for the past week & am now wondering if i'm out to lunch..

Someone please tell me why I can't say "Please email the details to me or Please email the details"?
Email can be a a verb..Email, emailing, emailed... If i'm incorrect, please provide numerous accurate sentences as examples.

Next one is Sunburn. Can it be used in the folowing manner:" I ended up with a sunburn." ?? I could say " I'm sunburnt" but can I say " I'm sunburnt on my back"? Should one only say " My back is sunburnt"?

Thank you..