Cato's Grammar Grumble

[jochanaan]

Great typo I just saw on Facebook: "... his impeccable bass loins ...."

You "loin" something new every day!

[NorthNYMark]

This just reminds me that I have to get back to grading papers.  If I were to post hilarious grammatical, spelling, and syntactic errors every time I came across one, I would be filling up the thread. Some particularly memorable ones from years past include the "pedal stool of power" and "Napoleon Dynapart."

[Ken B]

This just reminds me that I have to get back to grading papers.  If I were to post hilarious grammatical, spelling, and syntactic errors every time I came across one, I would be filling up the thread. Some particularly memorable ones from years past include the "pedal stool of power" and "Napoleon Dynapart."

It took me a moment to get the pedal one. D'oh!

[NorthNYMark]

It took me a moment to get the pedal one. D'oh!

It took me a while to figure it out at first, as well.  The weirdest thing is that I have seen it at least twice, in two different universities.  I wonder if it's some kind of autocorrect thing.

[Cato]

This just reminds me that I have to get back to grading papers.  If I were to post hilarious grammatical, spelling, and syntactic errors every time I came across one, I would be filling up the thread. Some particularly memorable ones from years past include the "pedal stool of power" and "Napoleon Dynapart."

A stool with pedals!  Sure!  Which reminded me of something recently seen called Top Gear: Ambitious but Rubbish, a show where everyone speaks with British accents of one sort or another. 

But then again, the show is found on BBC America!   

My son discovered this curious broadcast, which features 3 odd mechanics who fancy themselves 21st century Henry Fords, but end up being closer to Canada's Red Green in competence and ingenuity!

So, the 3 are planning a cross-country race in motorized wheelchairs against British soldiers who were disabled in various ways.  They shake hands with the soldiers and agree on a bet:  the losers must pay the winners with...

"...a case of Biz."



The bet struck my son and me as very funny, very eccentrically British!  A case of detergent booster!

Until it struck me that, because of those British accents, we were not really understanding things correctly!

They were actually betting a case of...



Well, maybe not this brand, but...

And yes, the soldiers won!   

For an example of the fun, and to check out the "Messala hubcaps" :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtTnfFH2Hjc

[North Star]

A stool with pedals!  Sure!  Which reminded me of something recently seen called Top Gear: Ambitious but Rubbish, a show where everyone speaks with British accents of one sort or another. 

But then again, the show is found on BBC America!   

Brits with British accents?! Bizarre!  0:)

[Ken B]

    English is full of traps for the unwary. Not the least in pronunciation.

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.


                    2) The farm was used to produce produce.


                    3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.


                    4) We must polish the Polish furniture..


                    5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.


                    6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert..


                    7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.


                    A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.


                    9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.


                    10) I did not object to the object.


                    11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.


                    12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.


                    13) They were too close to the door to close it.


                    14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.


                    15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.


                    16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.


                    17) The wind was too strong for me to wind the sail.


                    18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear..


                    19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.


                    20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

[Ken B]

Brits with British accents?! Bizarre!  0:)

I saw a show on BBC America where two Brit actresses played sisters. One had a Manchester sounding accent, middle or north England anyway, and her sister an Irish brogue.

[North Star]

    English is full of traps for the unwary. Not the least in pronunciation.

Great stuff, and what about the best sentence in the English language:

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

[Ken B]

Great stuff, and what about the best sentence in the English language:

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

Great hot sauce! 

[Cato]

    English is full of traps for the unwary. Not the least in pronunciation.

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

Many thanks for the list!  I will show this to my Latin students when they complain about anything being  "too confusing!"   

[jochanaan]

Great stuff, and what about the best sentence in the English language:

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

"With wings which I have won me..." --Gustav Mahler

[The Six]

That's good, cuz I've been looking for a girl who likes the joy!

[jochanaan]

Perhaps we'd better give her a pass, since English is likely not her native tongue.  Otherwise, we would have to, uh-- Maybe I'd better stop here; too many puns about to slip past my fingers...

[Phrygian]

The eponymous Grammarian of this thread has become a correspondent of mine.  A writer of rare perception and wit, Cato finds humour in the quotidian, the quirky, the idiosyncratic.  He mines a rich vein of irony and comedy in his regular missives and is never coarse or vulgar - he just doesn't have to be.  A gifted wordsmith, Cato's observations about "the increasingly Kafka-esque nature of American life" reveal him as a man who is very interested in his fellow human beings and these characters provide the colour in his daily life.  And he's a teacher.  Lucky students!!

[Cato]

The eponymous Grammarian of this thread has become a correspondent of mine.  A writer of rare perception and wit, Cato finds humour in the quotidian, the quirky, the idiosyncratic.  He mines a rich vein of irony and comedy in his regular missives and is never coarse or vulgar - he just doesn't have to be.  A gifted wordsmith, Cato's observations about "the increasingly Kafka-esque nature of American life" reveal him as a man who is very interested in his fellow human beings and these characters provide the colour in his daily life.  And he's a teacher.  Lucky students!!

Wow!  I am reminded that the Romans hired servants, who whispered into the ears of triumphant Roman generals marching in parades through the city: "Remember that you are only a man!" 

Many thanks!

Perhaps we'd better give her a pass, since English is likely not her native tongue.  Otherwise, we would have to, uh-- Maybe I'd better stop here; too many puns about to slip past my fingers...

Or past your tongue, native or otherwise!       0:)

My brother - who visits China semi-regularly - often tells of seeing bizarre translations on signs posted to help English-speaking tourists.  Instead, the tourists end up being puzzled or greatly amused, but not necessarily helped!

I recall seeing a pamphlet in Chinese-spiced English for a tea that was "varified to stop falling of hairs and boiling on skin!"   0:)

[jochanaan]

...Or past your tongue, native or otherwise!       0:) [...]

Tongues, indeed, were what I had in mind--especially cunning ones...

[Karl Henning]

When the answer was still no, she tantrumed and screamed, and I had to drag her out of the store.

This may be the first I have seen tantrum verbed.

[Ken B]

This may be the first I have seen tantrum verbed.

Tantric works better as a verb.

[Karl Henning]

Tantric or tan treat?