Cato's Grammar Grumble

[jochanaan]

Viz. this headline:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/07/filmmakers-fighting-happy-birthday-copyright-find-their-smoking-gun/

I might have wished that they had said simply "conclusive evidence" rather than "smoking gun."

Yes, that metaphor is moribund.

[Cato]

Viz. this headline:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/07/filmmakers-fighting-happy-birthday-copyright-find-their-smoking-gun/

I might have wished that they had said simply "conclusive evidence" rather than "smoking gun."

"Worn-out phrases and longing gazes won't get you where you want to go."   

And a "smoking gun" does not necessarily prove anything, except that the gun was fired.   0:) 

On the radio this morning I heard a 20-something use "sweeped" rather than "swept."   I find no acceptance of that form in dictionaries, even though the speaker has obviously been attracted by rhyming words like "leap," which does allow "leaped" and "leapt."

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

Yes, that metaphor is moribund.

Don't you mean "shot dead!"?

[Karl Henning]

Not merely a flesh wound.

[jochanaan]

Don't you mean "shot dead!"?

Wasn't that what I said?

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

Wasn't that what I said?

moribund meaning "well on the way toward death." In this case, one could wish for the "smoking gun" to shoot itself deader than a doornail.

[Cato]

"Every child is uniquely brilliant!"

The slogan of an on-line K-12 school. 

[Karl Henning]

Zowie!

[Florestan]

"Every child is uniquely brilliant!"

or brilliantly unique. 

[Cato]

or brilliantly unique. 

That one will most probably be used by a competing school!   0:)

I was reminded of the line from the wonderful cartoon movie The Incredibles:

https://www.youtube.com/v/A8I9pYCl9AQ

[Ten thumbs]

moribund meaning "well on the way toward death." In this case, one could wish for the "smoking gun" to shoot itself deader than a doornail.

I'm glad you used deader rather than more dead. In these days when we are all to be wrapped in cotton wool, everything must be made 'more safe'.
One could though argue that dead in an absolute.

[Cato]

I'm glad you used deader rather than more dead. In these days when we are all to be wrapped in cotton wool, everything must be made 'more safe'.
One could though argue that dead is an absolute.

An old debate for such words: I suppose one could say that somebody dead for 10 days is "deader" than somebody dead for 5 days.  Of course, both are still dead. 0:)

[jochanaan]

An old debate for such words: I suppose one could say that somebody dead for 10 days is "deader" than somebody dead for 5 days.  Of course, both are still dead. 0:)

Reminds me of "a little bit pregnant"!

[Ten thumbs]

Perhaps it is our egalitarianism that has led to bad grammar being heard and written more prominently than in the past. Once it was confined to the 'lower classes', for example servants. Here are some examples from Charlotte Smith's novel 'The Old Manor House', 1793.

"I'm not myself no judge of them there things"
"He gived me a letter, which I carried in"
"he look'd to me as if he had rather of stay'd"

[Cato]

Reminds me of "a little bit pregnant"!

Heh-heh!  I once saw the phrase "final death" which, I suppose, could work for vampires...

Perhaps it is our egalitarianism that has led to bad grammar being heard and written more prominently than in the past. ...

A distinct possibility, along with simple laziness, or the desire to be "cool" like the morons lionized in the media: you should see and hear my suburban students trying to sound like "gangstas."    

[Abuelo Igor]

Heh-heh!  I once saw the phrase "final death" which, I suppose, could work for vampires...

Death is really just the beginning...

(Ominous chord)

[Cato]

Death is really just the beginning...

(Ominous chord)

   F-A-D-F-A-F-G# ?


Speaking of Music and Grammar, it is time to revisit this:

https://www.youtube.com/v/8Gv0H-vPoDc

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

From the Gesualdo Hex : Music, Myth and Memory by Glenn Watkins, a work of remarkable scholarship and insight, but which needed a more alert editor:

"How, in a word, could death be taken at face value when it was destined to be quickly and dramatically overturned by resurrection?  In this Gesualdo no doubt sensed special properties that helps (sic) us to understand the magical appeal of such a large undertaking..."

[Karl Henning]

From the Gesualdo Hex : Music, Myth and Memory by Glenn Watkins, a work of remarkable scholarship and insight, but which needed a more alert editor:

"How, in a word, could death be taken at face value when it was destined to be quickly and dramatically overturned by resurrection?  In this Gesualdo no doubt sensed special properties that helps (sic) us to understand the magical appeal of such a large undertaking..."

That is a book which I need to re-read.

[Cato]

From the Gesualdo Hex : Music, Myth and Memory by Glenn Watkins, a work of remarkable scholarship and insight, but which needed a more alert editor:

"How, in a word, could death be taken at face value when it was destined to be quickly and dramatically overturned by resurrection?  In this Gesualdo no doubt sensed special properties that helps (sic) us to understand the magical appeal of such a large undertaking..."

Well, in Ancient Greek, neuter plurals are treated as singulars...but this is English! 

And now...this! 

America is already suffering what is termed a "debate" involving candidates for president.

10 - TEN! - people will be on a stage, but they will not be debating anything.  What one will see - if one wants to (I do not) - is a ten-sided press conference, and NOT a "debate."

To discover what used to be called a debate, check out the Lincoln-Douglas Debates.  You will note two things immediately: only TWO people were on stage, and they had more than 120 to 180 seconds to make their statements.

The Short-Attention Span Society (SASS) strikes again!  0:)