[title]Family quotes[/title] [description]Welcome to our family quotes section! Here you'll find some of the funniest (and wisest) quotes on the subject of family life![/description]
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UC  , 3 yr 68 days ago

"It is also the title track of an album (1979) by Marianne Faithfull."

Which I owned.

UC  , 3 yr 68 days ago

""Good English" implies that there are various kinds of English ("good English" and "bad English"),"

"and indeed there are - they are known as "dialects", which deviate in various ways from "received English" (which is itself a somewhat ill-defined term). The most outlandish dialect is "pidgin English""

They are not "good English" or "bad English", but "other Englishes".
"... rather than various speakers of English whose skills vary. ... Michael Sellaroli". 'English', like "Michael Sellaroli" is a proper name."

"But there is (AFAIAW) only one entity known by the proper name "Michael Sellaroli" (and whether either of the adjectives "good" and "bad" could reasonably be applied to him I wouldn't know)."
Not good or bad in himself (a "good person" or "bad person") but a BAD "Michael Sellaroli" makes no sense because there is only ONE "Michael Sellaroli". A 'good' X is contrasted against a 'bad' X if 'X' is a common thing of which there are many examples. 'Barolo' is utterly unlike "Michael Sellaroli" or 'English', because there are many producers of Barolo, each of whom is a unique producer who capable of making bad Barolo in comparison to other producers' products.

'Barolo' is thus not a unique thing like "Michael Sellaroli", but merely another name for 'wine'. There is really only ONE language called 'English', though there are many dialects, but these dialects are not 'good' or 'bad' in themselves. So, unlike "bad Barolo" (which means Barolo wine not up to the standard set by most producers) "bad English" simply makes no more sense, because there is no comparing of a unique thing, than there is in saying "this is a bad Michael Sellaroli".
"But there are numerous entitities (dialects) described by the proper name (if it really is a proper name) "English", and hence it is reasonable to discuss whether one of them is "better" or "worse" than another."

No, it does not.
Raymond S. Wise    641461 Wed, 20 Sep 06 04:06 PM

"But no such thing as "Speak good English" or "Speak ... no "good Pope Pius X" or "bad Pope Pius X"."

"You never heard of "recived English", or even of "BBC English"? Nor of the pretentious "American English"?"

Why is "American English" any more pretentious than the name of any other variety of English (Australian English, British English, Canadian English, South African English, and so forth)?

Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com
UC    641465 Wed, 20 Sep 06 04:14 PM

"You never heard of "recived English", or even of "BBC English"? Nor of the pretentious "American English"?"

"Why is "American English" any more pretentious than the name of any other variety of English (Australian English, British English, Canadian English, South African English, and so forth)?"

Right. None of these is 'better' than another, and none is 'good' or 'bad'.
UC
CDB    824917 Wed, 20 Sep 06 04:21 PM

"The CDB entity posted thusly:"

"How about the good Tullia and the bad Tullia? Clue: one of them didn't drive the family car over her daddy."

"I can never remember; was it the pretty Tullia that drove the car over her daddy?"

She is said to have left a good-looking corpse.
CDB
Blue Sow  , 3 yr 68 days ago

snip
"They are not "good English" or "bad English", but "other Englishes"."

Ah, you mean there is more than one.
"name for 'wine'. There is really only ONE language called 'English',"

Ah, you mean there is only one.
"... and hence it is reasonable to discuss whether one of them is "better" or "worse" than another."

"No, it does not."

Ah, you do not know what you mean.

Blue Sow
Tony Cooper    641476 Wed, 20 Sep 06 04:48 PM

"You never heard of "recived English", or even of "BBC English"? Nor of the pretentious "American English"?"

"Why is "American English" any more pretentious than the name of any other variety of English (Australian English, British English, Canadian English, South African English, and so forth)?"

The appearance of "the" in his sentence could affect the meaning. You skipped over it indicating that you didn't see it as an indicator of meaning.
Ambiguous phrasing, but not necessarily phrasing that means what you took it to mean. "The pretentious 'American English'..." could be the American English that is spoken pretentiously by, say, William F. Buckley. The British English type is identified as "BBC English", so the American English could also be typed.
I don't necessarily think that Buckley is pretentious, but some might.

Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL
Bob Lipton  , 3 yr 68 days ago

"Why is "American English" any more pretentious than the name ... British English, Canadian English, South African English, and so forth)?"

"The appearance of "the" in his sentence could affect the meaning. You skipped over it indicating that you didn't see ... English", so the American English could also be typed. I don't necessarily think that Buckley is pretentious, but some might."

Buckley is pretentious, but not his style of English. It's a Boarding School accent.
Bob
UC    641493 Wed, 20 Sep 06 04:59 PM

"The appearance of "the" in his sentence could affect the ... don't necessarily think that Buckley is pretentious, but some might."

"Buckley is pretentious, but not his style of English. It's a Boarding School accent. Bob"

Could someone explain the British school system to me? It is difficult to understand here in the US.
UC
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