Cato's Grammar Grumble

[Karl Henning]

A deliciously incompetent comma found by chance via Google:

Memories, may be beautiful and yet what's too painful to remember we simply choose to forget.

[Florestan]

Let's put it this way:

Memories

May be beautiful, and yet,
What's too painful to remember,
We simply choose to forget.

Nice little poem, ain't it? 

[Karl Henning]

Content, B+
Rhythmic flow, C-

[Florestan]

Content, B+
Rhythmic flow, C-

You're absolutely right on rythm. How about this version?

Memories

May be beautiful, and yet,
What's too painful to remember,
We choose simply to forget.

[Szykneij]

Beautiful mem'ries
Too painful to remember
We choose to forget

[mn dave]

MEMORIES!

PAAAAIN!

Ah, forget it!

[Florestan]

MEMORIES!

PAAAAIN!

Ah, forget it!

Exactly! 

[North Star]

Let's put it this way:

Memories

May be beautiful, and yet,
What's too painful to remember,
We simply choose to forget.

Nice little poem, ain't it? 

Hmm..

Memories
May be beautiful,
    and yet,
What's too painful to
    remember
We simply choose
    to forget

[Karl Henning]

Excerpted from a listener's review, on Amazon, of the Stones' Let It Bleed:

These two songs is one of the many reasons to buy this cd.

[Florestan]

Memories
May be beautiful,
    and yet,
What's too painful to
    remember
We simply choose
    to forget

As a Romanian, I give this version an A-Okay as far as pure rythm is concerned.   

[aquablob]

Beautiful mem'ries
Too painful to remember
We choose to forget

Haiku!

[Cato]

Haiku!

Gesundheit!

[Karl Henning]

Hah!

[Karl Henning]

From the Biography of The Beatles on Amazon:

The story began in Harold Macmillan's "never had it so good" '50s Britain. It should be fiction: four teenagers with no more than eight O'Levels between them, running and biking and busing and busking all over Liverpool in search of new chords and old guitars and half-decent drum kit and any gig at all.  They were determined to amount to something – [....]

Curiously redolent of the Irish Sea, that O'Levels.

[Cato]

So last night on comes a commercial for "Myrbetriq." 

The first thing I thought of was:



This must be something from Mr. Mxyzptlk from The Fifth Dimension!

The commercial went on to detail that "Myrbetriq" 

is for a certain unpleasant condition below the waist.

Can drug names get any stupider?

[The Six]

The American pronunciation of "mobile" sucks. "mo-bull" ugh. The Brits have this one right.

[bwv 1080]

The American pronunciation of "mobile" sucks. "mo-bull" ugh. The Brits have this one right.

Yeah, that song on Who's Next would sound alot different

[Karl Henning]

Not that we look to politicians as exemplars of good English . . . As a Roman Catholic, the traditional teaching of my faith has not w​​avered.  That's simply wrong, isn't?--the initial phrase can only refer to the first-person possessive pronoun my.  Sloppy, sloppy.  But of course: typical of our politicians these days.

[Karl Henning]

"Trying to win the war of correct English usage is the labor of Sisyphus and would drive me over the edge. So I choose one battle at a time...."

[Cato]

Not that we look to politicians as exemplars of good English . . . As a Roman Catholic, the traditional teaching of my faith has not w​​avered. That's simply wrong, isn't?--the initial phrase can only refer to the first-person possessive pronoun my.  Sloppy, sloppy.  But of course: typical of our politicians these days.

Yes, the As-clause modifies the subject, which is "the traditional teaching" and that makes no sense.

"I think you know what I'm trying to say!"   

"Trying to win the war of correct English usage is the labor of Sisyphus and would drive me over the edge. So I choose one battle at a time...."

The field of Punctuation is full of landmines!

Praises to the professor!  The struggle does seem quixotic at times, and probably is quixotic. Nevertheless, we keep hoping things will at least stabilize in our aliterate* era.

* Referring to people who have rudimentary reading and writing skills, but who rarely read or write anything.