Calling Paul Thomas, scottielvr, gonzo914, et al

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Bloomfield
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Post by Bloomfield »

I went back and fixed my first post, where I meant to quote your "this is now incorrect grammar." I give you all that about different languages, and changes over time.

Here:
English grammar says: The subject appears in the nominative.

(1) Me is going to sleep.

(2) I am going to sleep.

Sentence (1) is incorrect. Sentence (2) is correct. I don't see where "incorrect" grammar enters into it. Grammar either applies or it doesn't. Wrong category, you see.

But again, never mind: you have the mindless usage of masses on your side.
/Bloomfield
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talasiga
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Post by talasiga »

From "The Concise Oxford Dictionary"
[the 3rd of 8 entries on "grammar" therein]
"Person's manner of using grammatical forms; speech or writing regarded as good or bad by the rules of grammar; what is correct according to those rules."

Therefore, my dear Bloomfield, under this meaning, if a person uses incorrect form in language that may be said to be "incorrect grammar". This is analogous to the expression, "poisonous food" and also, "iatrogenic aetiology" to name a few other expressions that seem contradictory to a pedantic mind. Further and deeper pedantic investigation will often reveal that the contradiction was merely an apparency.

We should not blame mass usage for our deficiencies in reticulate pedanticism. I trust you will not find this to be a "vapid post".
qui jure suo utitur neminem laedit
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Bloomfield
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Post by Bloomfield »

talasiga wrote:From "The Concise Oxford Dictionary"
[the 3rd of 8 entries on "grammar" therein]
"Person's manner of using grammatical forms; speech or writing regarded as good or bad by the rules of grammar; what is correct according to those rules."

Therefore, my dear Bloomfield, under this meaning, if a person uses incorrect form in language that may be said to be "incorrect grammar". This is analogous to the expression, "poisonous food" and also, "iatrogenic aetiology" to name a few other expressions that seem contradictory to a pedantic mind. Further and deeper pedantic investigation will often reveal that the contradiction was merely an apparency.

We should not blame mass usage for our deficiencies in reticulate pedanticism. I trust you will not find this to be a "vapid post".
It shouldn't come as a surprise that I am aware of this usage: It would be odd if I deprecated something I wasn't aware of. "I don't like it that some leaves are red, not green," I say. "Therefore, my dear Bloomfield," you reply, "some leaves are red."

I won't push my luck with vapid; after all, the fact that something is not spiritless tells us nothing about what sort of spirit it is filled with.
/Bloomfield
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Jerry Freeman
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Post by Jerry Freeman »

How did I get HERE?

I was just minding my own business, checking the various Chiff&Fipple boards I usually visit, and somehow I ended up in this place.

*staggers away from the keyboard*

Best wishes,
Jerry
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jsluder
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Post by jsluder »

Jerry Freeman wrote:How did I get HERE?
It's one of the side-effects of musical fusion. Like nuclear fusion, musical fusion creates energy. This energy radiates outward, warping threads on other forums and bending them in m-dimensional space, pulling the unsuspecting poster into the locus of energy. This usually results in disorientation and an inability to walk in a straight line. Curiously, the inebriated are apparently immune to the disorienting properties of musical fusion, and rarely notice that they've ended up in a completely different forum.
Giles: "We few, we happy few."
Spike: "We band of buggered."
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carrie
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Post by carrie »

Yes, just so. I almost did my 1K thesis on this topic, but I was advised that I needed to find something more original. I guess that whole music fusion/forum warp/m-dimensional space thing has become something of a topic du jour in academic circles on Irish music messageboards.

Carol
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NancyF
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Post by NancyF »

Bloomfield wrote:
Congratulations wrote: I also take it that your beautiful spelling is a poke at the Germanic roots of the English language? :P
That must be it.
hee hee from those that know about Germanic roots of bloomin languages.
Nancy F

Life's too short to work harder than you must.
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emmline
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Post by emmline »

There is something amiss when a thread contains references to cats on radiators and troth-pledging, but me isn't sure what.
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dubhlinn
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Post by dubhlinn »

Well it was a Hepcat :wink:

Slan,
D.
And many a poor man that has roved,
Loved and thought himself beloved,
From a glad kindness cannot take his eyes.

W.B.Yeats
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Wombat
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Re: Calling Paul Thomas, scottielvr, gonzo914, et al

Post by Wombat »

cskinner wrote:You know who you are, and you know why I have gathered you all here together. Don't think your little displays have gone unnoticed.

The cat is on the radiator.

In this sentence, is the prepositional phrase adjectival or adverbial? I go with adjectival because of what seems like a linking verb, but--not being able to find anything easily that answers this question--I'd rather humiliate myself here by asking than by screwing up with the client who is paying me to develop a grammar program.

Obviously in the following sentence it is adverbial.

The cat sleeps on the radiator.

Thanks for any help.

Carol
I wouldn't classify it either way unless I were forced to. If forced to, I'd have to say adjectival since being 'on the radiator' is a mode of being, not a mode of doing for a cat, or anybody for that matter. I'd change my mind if you could convince me that 'is' is short for 'is lying' or something like that.

Logically, adverbial phrases and adjectival phrases behave in exactly the same range of ways and the important distinctions are within these categories not between them. The distinction seems really forced for prepositional phrases, which is really another way of saying we shouldn't be drawing it, even if it is traditional to do so.
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Jerry Freeman
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Post by Jerry Freeman »

jsluder wrote:
Jerry Freeman wrote:How did I get HERE?
It's one of the side-effects of musical fusion. Like nuclear fusion, musical fusion creates energy. This energy radiates outward, warping threads on other forums and bending them in m-dimensional space, pulling the unsuspecting poster into the locus of energy. This usually results in disorientation and an inability to walk in a straight line. Curiously, the inebriated are apparently immune to the disorienting properties of musical fusion, and rarely notice that they've ended up in a completely different forum.
Thank you for explaining that. It's comforting to know how things work.

Best wishes,
Jerry
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