tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767882372399480621.post439760894622067102..comments2023-04-11T10:56:49.628+02:00Comments on CD Covington: Friday things and a grammar rantUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767882372399480621.post-88213266820394251282013-11-11T15:27:24.081+01:002013-11-11T15:27:24.081+01:00Dear anonymous, sign your name or I shan't eng...Dear anonymous, sign your name or I shan't engage you.<br /><br />Camille: All the grammar rant blogs in the world will not put copyeditors out of a job ;) CD Covingtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18130960187504382508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767882372399480621.post-3019144909571362742013-11-10T18:24:43.557+01:002013-11-10T18:24:43.557+01:00Hey you! You keep this up and I'll be out of ...Hey you! You keep this up and I'll be out of a job! ;-)Camillenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767882372399480621.post-9656043027981911482013-11-09T18:59:04.029+01:002013-11-09T18:59:04.029+01:00"I was sitting at the table by aliens == wtf?..."I was sitting at the table by aliens == wtf?"<br /><br />I don't get the wtf. Are you one of those humans-only bigots who think aliens should not be allowed to come into a cafe with other humans, and have a coffee and chat about the weather or politics? Personally, I have no problem sitting by aliens, or anyone else.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767882372399480621.post-67314925425330181382013-11-09T03:59:47.388+01:002013-11-09T03:59:47.388+01:00Ending a sentence with a preposition is not as evi...Ending a sentence with a preposition is not as evil as pontificaters would have you believe. A lot of the nonsense grammar rules exist because once upon a time (until about the 1940s), people forced English to obey Latin grammar rules, despite English not being a) Latin or b) a Romance language. (It's Germanic with a lot of vocabulary from Norman French, Latin, and Greek.)<br /><br />That's where the nonsense rule about splitting infinitives (boldly to go vs to boldly go) and ending with prepositions comes from.<br /><br />I saw a post somewhere recently (within the last month or two, I think, possibly on or via Language Log) about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrasal_verb" rel="nofollow">phrasal verbs</a> such as "to come from" or "to put up with". They are a semantic unit (ie, they are a set phrase that conveys a specific meaning), so saying that "Where do you come from?" is ending with a preposition is somewhere between false and meaningless, especially because no one says things like "Whence do you come?" anymore.<br /><br />(I think linguistics is really interesting, but I am not an expert. I know just enough to be dangerous.)CD Covingtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18130960187504382508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767882372399480621.post-67011293749437114482013-11-09T01:31:22.392+01:002013-11-09T01:31:22.392+01:00I enjoyed the clarification. :) Also, what's ...I enjoyed the clarification. :) Also, what's so bad about ending a sentence with a preposition? I've been trying to avoid it lately, but it's difficult. - Kim nAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com