Cato's Grammar Grumble

Started by Cato, February 08, 2009, 05:00:18 PM

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karlhenning


Florestan

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on February 20, 2009, 07:19:50 AM
Hah!  Must have translated literally. 

No, he said it in Romanian (noi impreuna cu mine, literally us together with me) and in our language it's a ridiculous pleonasm, since us already implies me. :)

More true quotes from Romanian soccer players:

I didn't weep but I had tears flowing from my eyes.

A man is a human being.

It's all the fault of max-media

(After a match lost 1-3): Had we not received three goals, we could have won the match.

:)

Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

karlhenning


DavidRoss

Quote from: Cato on February 20, 2009, 07:20:07 AM
"...in order to form a more perfect union..."

If something is perfect, how can it be "more perfect" ?   :o

What were the "Framers of the Constitution" thinking here?  Is it a mistake?
I've always read that as a simpler way of saying "in order to form a union more closely resembling the standard of perfection that we cannot articulate clearly, nor whose particulars we may define to the satisfaction of all, but which we generally have little problem recognizing when we see it."  ;D
"Maybe the problem most of you have ... is that you're not listening to Barbirolli." ~Sarge

"The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people's money." ~Margaret Thatcher

sul G

Footballers, eh? These courtesy of QI:

Well, Clive, it's all about the two Ms - movement and positioning.

He dribbles a lot and the opposition don't like it - you can see it all over their faces.

Goalkeepers aren't born today until they're in their late twenties or early thirties.

The Germans only have one player under 22, and he's 23.

If someone in the crowd spits at you, you just have to swallow it.

I wouldn't be surprised if this game went all the way to the finish.

We didn't underestimate them - they were just a lot better than we thought.

He's started anticipating what's going to happen before it's even happened.

If I had a blank piece of paper there'd be five names on it.

I don't think there's anyone bigger or smaller than Maradona.

I never make predictions and I never will.

Aston Villa are seventh in the league. That's almost as high as you can get without being one of the top six..

Chile have three options: they could win or they could lose.

Don't ask me what a typical Brazilian is because I don't know what a typical Brazilian is. But Romario was a typical Brazilian.

We don't want our players to be monks. We want them to be better football players because a monk doesn't play football at this level.

We must have had 99% of the match. It was the other 3% that cost us.

You're on your own out there with ten mates.

and so on - there's more where that came from. Worth pointing out that Kevin Keegan is responsible for many more than his fair share of these.

Florestan

 :)

A late Romanian maverick politician: My destiny has been marked by fate.
Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Cato

Quote from: Florestan on February 20, 2009, 07:43:46 AM
:)

A late Romanian maverick politician: My destiny has been marked by fate.

And not by grammar!

Concerning the overuse of "I" as a prepositional object: I believe this stems from people again trying to sound more educated, and of course they end up being wrong.

"Just between you and I..."   BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!  10,000 VOLTS!   >:D

"Just between you and me..."

Visiting the haunts of the illiterati, I often hear e.g. "Me 'n' him went dow' there las' night..."

"He and I" is apparently too much to hope for in such cases!   :o

And then you have the mangling of verbs in broad daylight: "They must've went there last night." BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! 10,000 VOLTS!   >:D

"They must have gone there last night!"   $:)
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

Dr. Dread

Man, I'm glad I know all this stuff. However, don't be afraid to correct me if I ever screw up. Only fools get offended when they're corrected.

sul G

Quote from: Mn Dave on February 20, 2009, 08:07:12 AM
Man, I'm glad I know all this stuff. However, don't be afraid to correct me if I ever screw up.

Would that be correction Cato-style?

QuoteBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!  10,000 VOLTS!   >:D

karlhenning

Quote from: RegIf you really wanted to join the PFJ, you'd have to really hate the Romans.

Cato

Oh Really?   0:)

Release the voltage!   >:D

As a Latin teacher (among other things), I must ask how anyone could really hate the Romans!   :o
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

Dr. Dread


karlhenning

Quote from: Mn Dave on February 20, 2009, 08:07:12 AM
Man, I'm glad I know all this stuff.

There's always other stuff to learn. And that is an occasion for gladness, too.

DavidRoss

Quote from: Mn Dave on February 20, 2009, 08:07:12 AM
Man, I'm glad I know all this stuff. However, don't be afraid to correct me if I ever screw up. Only fools get offended when they're corrected.
Amen!  (The gates of heaven open and a chorus of angels sings.)
                                   
"Maybe the problem most of you have ... is that you're not listening to Barbirolli." ~Sarge

"The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people's money." ~Margaret Thatcher

karlhenning

Quote from: Maciek on February 20, 2009, 08:41:13 AM
Wow! I feel so modern (or is it old-fashioned?? probably the latter ;D). I went last year! (There Will Be Blood)

Last year? Shouldn't that be There Was Blood? j/k  0:)

Dancing Divertimentian

How about the word (term?) "email"?

When we write to someone electronically we say "I sent him an email".

But when we write to someone using paper (a letter) we don't say "I sent him a mail". We say "I sent him a letter".

So when emailing someone shouldn't it be "I sent him an e-letter (eletter)"?
Veit Bach-a baker who found his greatest pleasure in a little cittern which he took with him even into the mill and played while the grinding was going on. In this way he had a chance to have the rhythm drilled into him. And this was the beginning of a musical inclination in his descendants. JS Bach

Cato

Quote from: donwyn on February 20, 2009, 09:02:10 PM
How about the word (term?) "email"?

When we write to someone electronically we say "I sent him an email".

But when we write to someone using paper (a letter) we don't say "I sent him a mail". We say "I sent him a letter".

So when emailing someone shouldn't it be "I sent him an e-letter (eletter)"?

You have spotted another case where English has become inconsistent!  But this horse has galloped far away from the barn!

This has spread into German as well, where "E-mail" has been adopted as a feminine word, and so one can " eine E-mail schreiben."  In the early days of the Internet (10-12 years ago) I used "e-Brief" in German (e-letter) as you suggested, but the bias in German is that using English shows sophistication and sets a "cool" generation apart from the old fogies.  My German correspondents always told me "Nobody uses 'e-Brief,' everybody uses 'E-Mail'." 

I will still insist on using the hyphen, however, for the word "e-mail."
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

karlhenning

I tend both to use the hyphen, and to resist using e-mail as the unit (I sent him an e-mail message).

karlhenning

But then, to be sure, it was a long time before I assented to We're going out for a beer. (I still hold the line at cup of coffee.)