Color me skeptical. It's a little hard to believe. ... But it's more than a little stirring that old Ben hasn't been entirely forgotten.
Posted on 02/24/2007 10:03:44 AM PST by rhema
Ping
Where's the onoma, rhema?
Another construction that appalls me is "The reason being is ..." "Being" is the verb, not an adjective. "Is" is unnecessary (and, in Bil CLinton's case, ill-defined).
Or "The laundry needs washed." No, the laundry needs TO BE washed. Or the laundry needs WASHING. "Washed" is never a noun, so whatever the laundry needs, it must be some form of verb.
Don't even get me started on spelling ...
Color me skeptical. It's a little hard to believe. ... But it's more than a little stirring that old Ben hasn't been entirely forgotten.
That's because THEY DON'T TEACH SUCH RUDIMENTARY THINGS AS LANGUAGE anymore. Just like they don't teach the true history of America anymore.
What they teach is multi-culturalism and homosexual relationships .. the dumbing down of America.
I wanna get me a huntin' license.
¿Por qué debemos preocuparnos de inglés?
"The media is..."
"This data..."
"These phenomenon..."
The one the always annoys me is the use of "he and I" when "him and me" should be used. "He and I" are the lazy default. As in, "Give some of that cake to he and I."
You're right, and if I remember my high-school grammar instruction correctly, both constructions that follow the transitive verb needs are direct objects, so the infinitive phrase to be washed and the gerund washing both have noun functions in each sentence.
"Fewer and fewer Americans bother to discuss hypothetical or counterfactual circumstances using this verb mood."
Perhaps if the experts learned to express themselves more simply, hopeful students would improve their grammar.
The distinction between "was" and "were" is outmoded. The meaning, in either case, is clear. Why pressure the student with extra worries when there are egregious errors such as, "He gave the book to I"? Or, "Me and my wife went to the show."
Or perhaps they should start teaching grammar to the teachers. One teacher who wrote to a local paper to rebut the complaints about failing grades on teacher's exams, started her first sentence with these words, "I and my colleagues..."
A post talking about politicians mangling the English language, and not one mention of President Bush's legendary malapropisms? He may be many things, but an effective communicator he certainly is not.
Reminds me of a great Dave Barry "Ask Mr. Language Person" column:
Q. When should I say "phenomena," and when should I say "phenomenon?"
A. "Phenomena" is what grammarians refer to as a "subcutaneous invective," which is a word used to describe skin disorders, as in "Bob has a weird phenomena on his neck shaped like Ted Koppel." Whereas "phenomenon" is used to describe a backup singer in the 1957 musical group "Duane Furlong and the Phenomenons."
One grammatical error that's been grating on me in recent times is the use of the word "less" when the word "fewer" is the correct choice.
btw (webisms piss me off too) my six year old grandson corrects other kids' grammar on a regular basis.
As a teacher, I'll respectfully disagree, kitkat. The meaning of "Me and my wife went to the show" is also clear. Just as students should know pronoun cases, I think they should also know the three moods of verbs: indicative, imperative, and subjunctive.
Yup. A wise old journalism professor told me, "Always use who with people and animals (pets) with names."
For example, "'thuh' Earth" rather than "'thee' Earth".
This always sounds childish to me, kind of like Valley Girl speech.
Many people -- media people, notably -- who substitute the nominative case for the objective do so in an attempt to sound grammatically knowledgeable, I think. They're just not aware of constructions like direct and indirect objects, objects of prepositions (your example), and subjects of infinitive phrases ("We asked him to be our captain").
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