Why Grammar Matters: A Place To Discuss Matters Of Grammar

[shapeshifter]

6 hours ago, Pallas said:

On October 19, 2018 at 10:26 PM, shapeshifter said:

Heard by a 9-1-1 operator recently, "A woman is attempting to ride a horse through the Taco Bell drive-though, but the horse is not having it."

This made me laugh, but where is the grammatical error?  At worst it's a pun. "Not having it" -- colloquial for refusing, referring to the drive-through, and "not having it" -- Taco Bell, on the hoof or otherwise

Yes, the caller is probably only guilty of Inadvertent Bad Punnery, but lack of clarity and poor word choice should count for something.

 

 

4 MINUTES AGO, MEEP.MEEP SAID:

What's a drive-though ?

Was the 911 operator reporting this on TV?

A "drive-through" is typically a one-lane, one-direction driveway that goes past a window where food and beverage orders are taken and proceeds past another window where food orders are picked up. 

 

I am not at liberty to divulge the source of the 911 call transcript. ?

Edited October 30, 2018 by shapeshifter

[SVNBob]

5 hours ago, meep.meep said:

What's a drive-th[r]ough ?

A drive-thru, but spelled "correctly".

 

Note: I'm not making fun of meep.meep here.  I'm making a joke at "thru" vs "through", and the fact that most fast food places use the shorter on their signage.  Leading to the perfectly acceptable sentence of "Just drive through the drive-thru." and variations.

Edited October 31, 2018 by SVNBob

[Sandman87]

I'm going to open a fast-food place that only sells food for horses. It'll be a drive-trough.

Thank you! I'll be here all week!

[shapeshifter]

5 hours ago, SVNBob said:

11 hours ago, meep.meep said:

What's a drive-th[r]ough ?

A drive-thru, but spelled "correctly".

 

Note: I'm not making fun of meep.meep here.  I'm making a joke at "thru" vs "through", and the fact that most fast food places use the shorter on their signage.  Leading to the perfectly acceptable sentence of "Just drive through the drive-thru." and variations

And now I realize that @meep.meep was no doubt just being sardonic with regards to the use of "thru" for "through" (but was foiled by a typo) rather than, as I supposed, being located in a place devoid of any "Drive-Thrus" or where maybe they refer to it in some other way.

Hey, Honey, can you stop by the gallop-thru and pick us up some grub for supper?

[meep.meep]

You spelled it "drive-though"

I was just innocently asking about your typo.  Not that that would fall under nit picking or anything.

And I was making fun of you.  Because there is nothing more delightful than finding typos when someone is complaining about the grammar mistakes and poor word choices of others.

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, meep.meep said:

I was just innocently asking about your typo.  Not that that would fall under nit picking or anything.

Oh crap. And I did check it when I saw yours, and was sure I had the "r."

[Cobalt Stargazer]

As the Christmas season approaches, I notice the dearth of people who can correctly pronounce jewelry. There is no such thing as joolary, Zales.

[Browncoat]

2 hours ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

As the Christmas season approaches, I notice the dearth of people who can correctly pronounce jewelry. There is no such thing as joolary, Zales.

Agreed!  I can’t understand why jewelry is so hard to pronounce — just say jewel, and add ‘ry’. 

[Ohwell]

It's not HIPPA,* it's HIPAA! (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)

Rant over

*I'm not going to name the forum but it drives me nuts when I see it. 

[Browncoat]

I had to hire an assistant last year, and there were at least two who put "familiarity with HIPPA regulations" on their applications!  They did not get interviews.

[Moose135]

21 hours ago, Browncoat said:

"familiarity with HIPPA regulations"

Is HIPPA a female HIPPO?

[Jacqs]

dead people are not "former" is often not remembered in modern times, It's "U.S. president Lyndon Johnson" not "former U.S.  president Lyndon Johnson".

[bmasters9]

10 hours ago, JacquelineAppleton said:

dead people are not "former" is often not remembered in modern times, It's "U.S. president Lyndon Johnson" not "former U.S.  president Lyndon Johnson".

How is "former" improper? After all, the people who are dead held those jobs for which they are remembered at one time or another.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, bmasters9 said:

How is "former" improper? After all, the people who are dead held those jobs for which they are remembered at one time or another.

Would "previous U.S. president Lyndon Johnson" be acceptable? Or would "previously elected U.S. president Lyndon Johnson" be?

[Pallas]

Two issues, it seems. One -- the one most flouted -- is if "former President (name)" and "President (name)" is proper formal address for one of the previous office-holders. It is not, says this protocol pro and others. The formal title is, "The Honorable (name)"  and "Mr./Ms. (name)." The term former President is informal and descriptive. As explained, the Presidency of the U.S. is a role, not a rank, and may be held by only one person at a time; likewise, the Governorship of a state. Not so the offices of Senator, Justice, Judge, Ambassador, Cabinet Secretary or top-ranking military officer. So, while living and out of office, properly addressed as Sen. Obama, Mr. Bush, Mr. Clinton or Amb. Bush. Good luck with that.

Second, how to refer to a past President who has passed? If recently, "the late (name), (number) President of the U.S."  If more distantly, no "late" -- as the dead is not among lately living. 

[topanga]

On 11/13/2018 at 6:00 AM, Browncoat said:

Agreed!  I can’t understand why jewelry is so hard to pronounce — just say jewel, and add ‘ry’. 

Agreed. Although I give a pass to my Southern friends who say “joo-ry.’ It sounds so...Southern. 

[Sandman87]

I find myself constantly having to suppress my inner Grammar Cop in these very forums because people don't know when to use italics and when to use quotation marks for the titles of things. I tell myself that they're probably just using a smart phone that doesn't make all of that fancy typographical dingbattery available to the user.

[shapeshifter]

13 minutes ago, Sandman87 said:

I find myself constantly having to suppress my inner Grammar Cop in these very forums because people don't know when to use italics and when to use quotation marks for the titles of things. I tell myself that they're probably just using a smart phone that doesn't make all of that fancy typographical dingbattery available to the user.

@Sandman87, I hope I didn't disappoint you this week when I finally broke down and typed a show title without italics because it is difficult on my mobile devices. But there's really no excuse for not using quotation marks for episode titles--other than not knowing.

Edited November 21, 2018 by shapeshifter

[Browncoat]

11 minutes ago, Sandman87 said:

I find myself constantly having to suppress my inner Grammar Cop in these very forums because people don't know when to use italics and when to use quotation marks for the titles of things. I tell myself that they're probably just using a smart phone that doesn't make all of that fancy typographical dingbattery available to the user.

That's why I mostly use quotation marks -- can't do italics easily!  Sorry!  :)

[shapeshifter]

1 minute ago, Browncoat said:

That's why I mostly use quotation marks -- can't do italics easily!  Sorry!  :)

IMO, it's better to just capitalize the words of a show title than use quotes if the italics are cumbersome--just to differentiate between shows and episodes. But I'm getting laid off next May, so maybe I won't care anymore after awhile. I spent 2 hours yesterday helping an undergraduate format footnotes correctly.

[Ohwell]

27 minutes ago, Sandman87 said:

I find myself constantly having to suppress my inner Grammar Cop in these very forums because people don't know when to use italics and when to use quotation marks for the titles of things. I tell myself that they're probably just using a smart phone that doesn't make all of that fancy typographical dingbattery available to the user.

That's interesting because when I read movie, television and book reviews, I see the the titles written in italics in most of the time.  I use italics and quotation marks interchangeably, depending upon my mood.  So arrest me.     

[Browncoat]

14 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

IMO, it's better to just capitalize the words of a show title than use quotes if the italics are cumbersome--just to differentiate between shows and episodes. But I'm getting laid off next May, so maybe I won't care anymore after awhile. I spent 2 hours yesterday helping an undergraduate format footnotes correctly.

Ugh, footnotes.  Also, I'm sorry you're being laid off.

[Sandman87]

Incidentally, if you want to you can use BB code to make something italic, with "I" and "/I" in square brackets. Like this, but without the spaces:

[   I   ]   Italic word   [   /   I   ]

 

ETA: From tonight's news: "(for these people) the reality of losing their homes is all too real."

Edited November 23, 2018 by Sandman87

[Ohwell]

Has the word "sympathy" been relegated to the dustbin?  All I ever hear now is "empathy, empathy, empathy," whether it's used appropriately or not.  It seems to be the new buzzword now. 

[Milburn Stone]

10 hours ago, Ohwell said:

Has the word "sympathy" been relegated to the dustbin?  All I ever hear now is "empathy, empathy, empathy," whether it's used appropriately or not.  It seems to be the new buzzword now. 

Good point. As I understand the correct definitions of the terms, empathy is not about a feeling-state, it's about an imaginative-state. That is, the ability to imagine the experience of another. One can imagine the experience of another without feeling that same feeling, or without feeling sad. If one does feel sadness for the other person, that's sympathy.

[Milburn Stone]

I would add (upon thinking further) that sympathy isn't only about sadness. It's feeling the same thing as another person, whatever that feeling is. We speak of "sympathetic vibrations," and those are usually understood to be positive. Any in-synch-ness of feeling is sympathetic. 

[Pallas]

2 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

As I understand the correct definitions of the terms, empathy is not about a feeling-state, it's about an imaginative-state. That is, the ability to imagine the experience of another.

I think it's the reverse: sympathy is to understand or imagine the other's emotion; empathy is to experience it. And I'm sorry to say that yes, empathy is the new engagement. Robust engagement.

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

13 hours ago, Ohwell said:

Has the word "sympathy" been relegated to the dustbin?  All I ever hear now is "empathy, empathy, empathy," whether it's used appropriately or not.  It seems to be the new buzzword now. 

Good point. As I understand the correct definitions of the terms, empathy is not about a feeling-state, it's about an imaginative-state. That is, the ability to imagine the experience of another. One can imagine the experience of another without feeling that same feeling, or without feeling sad. If one does feel sadness for the other person, that's sympathy.

This is fascinating from a sociological/psychological/anthropological/historical perspective. In this era of social media, people (myself included) are quick to say that I too have had that experience, but at the same time (for perhaps political, economic, or other reasons), people are less likely to imagine how the other is feeling about some experience that is outside their own.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

"English, motherf$%^&er, do you speak it?!?!"

[GHScorpiosRule]

26 minutes ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

"English, motherf$%^&er, do you speak it?!?!"

I Want, NO, I NEED THIS MUG!!!! Where can I get it?????

[Cobalt Stargazer]

2 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I Want, NO, I NEED THIS MUG!!!! Where can I get it?????

There's about three different versions, but I'd suggest an Amazon search under 'grammar police coffee mug.'

[Bastet]

I love number 16.

[shapeshifter]

<small-voice>I have issues with 13. and 14. </small-voice>

[rur]

1 minute ago, shapeshifter said:

<small-voice>I have issues with 13. and 14. </small-voice>

I understand. Perhaps someone can effect a change for the next version.

[Browncoat]

5 hours ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

"English, motherf$%^&er, do you speak it?!?!"

I need this mug as well, and I don't even use mugs!

[Milburn Stone]

15 hours ago, rur said:

I understand. Perhaps someone can effect a change for the next version.

Yes! 13 and 14 fail to capture all the complexities. This affects my affect.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

This affects my affect.

Or, as some might say, "effects your affect."

[Tanichka]

"Fast paste walking"  -  sigh.  (Posted on FB)

[Haleth]

I laughed when a reporter was doing a story about people buying lottery tickets and they were lining up in line.  I'm not sure how else one would line up.

17 hours ago, Tanichka said:

"Fast paste walking"  -  sigh.  (Posted on FB)

As that paste starts getting sticky it will become harder to walk fast.

[supposebly]

21 hours ago, Tanichka said:

"Fast paste walking"  -  sigh.  (Posted on FB)

Heh, I read this as: a fast paste which is walking....

[Anela]

23 hours ago, Tanichka said:

"Fast paste walking"  -  sigh.  (Posted on FB)

I didn't understand what this was supposed to be, at first. Paste = paced. Bloody hell. 

[Tanichka]

4 hours ago, Anela said:

I didn't understand what this was supposed to be, at first. Paste = paced. Bloody hell. 

Yeah, they meant “paced”.   Autocorrect?  I doubt it.

[AimingforYoko]

On 12/10/2018 at 9:47 AM, Cobalt Stargazer said:

"English, motherf$%^&er, do you speak it?!?!"

Missing: 17. Faze = To fucking disturb

              18. Phase = A fucking distinguishable part in a fucking course, development or cycle.

Otherwise, on point.

[connieinnc]

On 12/12/2018 at 7:25 PM, AimingforYoko said:

Missing: 17. Faze = To fucking disturb

              18. Phase = A fucking distinguishable part in a fucking course, development or cycle.

Otherwise, on point.

Also:

19. Pore = to examine closely

20. Pour = to cause a substance to flow from a container 

[Jacqs]

Grisly end - to die in a gruesome way

Grizzly end - to die in a gruesome way at the hands of a bear

[SVNBob]

4 hours ago, connieinnc said:

  18. Phase = A fucking distinguishable part in a fucking course, development or cycle.

As a noun, yes.  Also, as a verb = To fucking pass through (as in "The ghost phased through the fucking wall.")

[rur]

website: a location connected to the Internet that maintains one or more pages on the World Wide Web.

web sight: the ability to view web pages

web cite: quoting something read on Facebook

[supposebly]

So many expressions that are pronounced the same. ;-)

[meep.meep]

fucking homonyms!

[Brookside]

On ‎12‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 11:07 AM, Cobalt Stargazer said:

There's about three different versions, but I'd suggest an Amazon search under 'grammar police coffee mug.'

21:  Using "there's" instead of "there are."  

;-)