Grammar Police Requested

[MrsEmmaPeel]

I was in a *boring* meeting, absentmindedly doodling on a scratch pad. I was pretty amazed after the meeting when I noticed that I doodled the following:

"I so enjoy discussions like these", she said wielding a bloody axe in her hand.

After the meeting, I glanced at my notes and have a serious question: is these appropriate in this context? I mean, should the correct grammar be: "I so enjoy discussions like this", she said wielding a bloody axe in her hand. I mean, isn't discussions a collective and therefore implies a singular?

Please set me straight. I am longing for instruction.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

“I so enjoy discussions like these”, she said wielding a bloody axe in her hand.

I think it should be:

“I so enjoy discussions like this (discussion)” she said, wielding a bloody axe in her hand.

[MrsEmmaPeel]

A boring meeting is one that is totally non-productive - glitz with no substance. I am used to meetings that solve (or notify) participants of problems. All the NASA meetings in which I participated were certainly worth my while. This series of meetings are simply to feed an ego with no real purpose, hence boring.

[processing please hold]

Maybe since you weren’t paying attention you felt more relaxed and weren’t intellectualizing your thoughts. That’s all.

[irishtenor]

I once had a teacher tell me to watch my grammer. I told her my grammer lived in Florida, so I couldn’t watch her.

[processing please hold]

About how long ago it was for me to.

[MrsEmmaPeel]

LOL! So what did the teacher do? I would have given you A+.

[processing please hold]

Your post # 42 explains your reason for the grammar lapse. As I thought. Intelligence was not needed for that meeting. :)

[RepublitarianRoger]

"I so enjoy discussions like these", she said wielding a bloody axe in her hand.

OK, if you want to get really picky:

1. In some strict grammar circles, the word "like" should be replaced with "such as." However, in modern usage, it is generally accepted as an alternative to "such as." A sentence such as It's great to have a friend like John would look strange to most people if "such as" were used instead.

2. Replace "these" with "this."

3. The comma after "this" needs to go inside the last quotation mark, not outside it.

4. A comma is needed after "said."

Corrected version:

"I so enjoy discussion such as [or like] this," she said, wielding a bloody axe in her hand.

That's it, I think.

But enough grammar drivel. I think that the main question is: What possessed you to randomly doodle that sentence?!?

(Yes, the ?!? is bad punctuation...sue me. :)

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Thank you. You do me a great kindness. For I simply could not understand my appalling lapse in grammar.

[MrsEmmaPeel]

THANK YOU so much!!!! This was the kind of detail that I was after.

[RepublitarianRoger]

...and of course, I make a mistake in the corrected version. LOL!

“discussions,” not “discussion.”

I’m sure that others will find something else I did incorrectly. Oh well.

[processing please hold]

I should be as grammatically correct as you when you make an error. That would please me to no end. I’ve always been comfortable speaking in the vernacular form.

[RepublitarianRoger]

Now that I think about it, perhaps “discussion” would actually work better than “discussions” anyway. It is referring to the human activity of discussion and indicating a preference for discussion that is like this one — rather than making reference to other discussions experienced in the past that were like this one. I think either works, though the meanings are slightly different.

OK, I think I beat that one to death now.

[irishtenor]

Well, after she quit laughing... :>)

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Its best to find humor in all things, no matter how grammatically incorrect they may be.

[Shyla]

I am the worst at writing, punctuation skills, et al..

I really could give a crap!!!!

Some just need to pull their undies out of their tight a$$ cracks.............

IMO

[shbox]

I get the overalll jist of what someone is talking about and try not to make my life so complicated that I need to correct someone’s every move. .....like I am so much better or something.....
If I talk to someone about their grammar for five minutes then I am mad at myself because I just wasted five minutes of my life on something that was not neccessary and I will never get that five minutes back.

People need to stop sweating the petty things.....

[Shyla]

So true.

There are times when I feel that I am going to get a FRGrammerTicket...:)

Life is too short.

[JennysCool]

This was the kind of detail that I was after.

Mrs. Peel, are you quite certain you don't mean, "These were the kind of details that I was after?"

:-)

[MrsEmmaPeel]

You misunderstand, Shyla. I seek an FRGrammarTicket. I truly want to know what is preferred. Anyone can use bad grammar, why not be one of those that know the rules and astound the experts?