http://www.englishforums.com/search/pro.htm?q=user%3apedant&o=DateDescendingSearch results for 'user:pedant'en-USXMOD (Build: 3616.28671)http://www.englishforums.com/English/Take/vwml/post.htm#22448Sat, 14 Feb 2004 08:16:26 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:22448pedantCorrection. 1 is awkward. Try this instead: "To do this would take a long time." 2 is incorrect. "It takes a long time for me to do this." is right. 3 is correct.http://www.englishforums.com/English/BracketsCommasColonsEmphasise/nwd/post.htm#22447Sat, 14 Feb 2004 08:07:10 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:22447pedantI'd argue your goals are in conflict. If de-emphasis is what you want, use commas. Brackets tend to emphasize their contents simply because they are less common. But brackets also suggest greater separation. So if non-essentiality is your goal, brackets say it most clearly.http://www.englishforums.com/English/Prep/vwmg/post.htm#22446Sat, 14 Feb 2004 08:00:20 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:22446pedantOne usually thinks of wind pushing rather than pulling: "The wind pushed me back." Leave off the preposition, unless you want to get poetic: "The wind pulled at me." "The wind is pulling on me." "The wind licked at my ankles."http://www.englishforums.com/English/IdiomaticPhrases/vwrx/post.htm#22445Sat, 14 Feb 2004 07:52:56 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:22445pedant"Another day in paradise." is meant sarcastically. You might use it when you wake up in a bus station and realize you'll probably be there all day.http://www.englishforums.com/English/PronouncingWrittenThings-Spelling/vjwc/post.htm#22444Sat, 14 Feb 2004 07:44:51 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:22444pedant@ - "at" 3+4=7 - "Three plus four equals 7." 3*5 - "Three times five." 2.1*3.5 - "Two point one times three point five." 2^5 - "Two to the power of five" sin(x) - "Sine of x" or "Sine x" 1.6*10^(-19) - "One point six times ten to the power of negative nineteen." Bonus: 6.0 - "six point oh."http://www.englishforums.com/English/WillAre/vhlh/post.htm#22443Sat, 14 Feb 2004 07:36:27 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:22443pedant"Ever" suggests an infinite span of time, or at least a lifetime. Without "ever" the implication is that the letting go will be soon.http://www.englishforums.com/English/IAmYourHostConanObrian/vjkx/post.htm#22442Sat, 14 Feb 2004 07:33:19 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:22442pedantYou need the comma. The proper noun is parenthetical. You can test this by lopping it off: "I am your host." The meaning is preserved. Compare this to "I thought I saw aunt Jane." No comma, because "I thought I saw aunt" doesn't quite work.http://www.englishforums.com/English/UnderstandHowlVerbs/2/vwpg/Post.htm#22441Sat, 14 Feb 2004 07:26:28 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:22441pedantFor the record, "howl" can be a noun or a verb. "His howl was like a siren." But "to howl" and "to understand" are verbs in any language. Aren't they?http://www.englishforums.com/English/QuestionAboutAdverbs/vbcc/post.htm#20041Fri, 23 Jan 2004 07:51:49 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:20041pedantNo difference. Though adverb placement frequently does change meaning (as opposed to changes meaning frequently).http://www.englishforums.com/English/Pendant/vrnc/post.htm#20040Fri, 23 Jan 2004 07:43:00 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:20040pedantDid someone call me?http://www.englishforums.com/English/Aint/vbzj/post.htm#20039Fri, 23 Jan 2004 07:40:47 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:20039pedant"is not" - He ain't here. "are not" - They ain't neither. "has not" - He ain't been here in days. "have not" - Ain't you heard a thing I said?http://www.englishforums.com/English/WhileVsWhilst/vrpm/post.htm#20038Fri, 23 Jan 2004 07:35:06 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:20038pedantI always thought it was a British thing.http://www.englishforums.com/English/WhatPlualFormNounDoveBird/dqwx/post.htm#19665Mon, 19 Jan 2004 05:07:23 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19665pedanta flockhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/WhatDoesIshReallyMean/clv/post.htm#19664Mon, 19 Jan 2004 05:06:20 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19664pedant"ST-HI"?http://www.englishforums.com/English/UsageOfWhat/dqng/post.htm#19663Mon, 19 Jan 2004 04:58:08 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19663pedant"What up?" is American urban ghetto slang. See "dawg", "peeps", and "nizzle".http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseHelpSoon/dqhd/post.htm#19662Mon, 19 Jan 2004 04:53:22 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19662pedantPut a "my" in front of "explicitly", and ditch the first comma.http://www.englishforums.com/English/DifferenceBetweenWords/dqph/post.htm#19661Mon, 19 Jan 2004 04:50:59 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19661pedant"Tell" can take an idirect object, but "say" cannot: "I told him to come." (good) "I said him to come." (bad) For this reason, "tell" suggests direct communication with a listener or listeners, whereas "say" may be used with or without a listener: "She told us a story." "She said her prayers." "Say" is commonly used when quoting; "tell" less often: "Turn left." I said. I told her: "Turn left."http://www.englishforums.com/English/BlurryFacade/dqqz/post.htm#19660Mon, 19 Jan 2004 04:32:56 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19660pedantboth perfecthttp://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseHelpJetlagged/dqmz/post.htm#19659Mon, 19 Jan 2004 04:29:56 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19659pedantDitch the first comma in #1. And you need the "my", no matter what. First because the sentence is already formal, and second because without the "my", you'd be suggesting that the package did the mentioning.http://www.englishforums.com/English/UnderlineGrammarRules/dbw/post.htm#19658Mon, 19 Jan 2004 04:24:54 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19658pedantThe rule we were taught is that titles of movies, books, paintings, and other bodies of artwork are all underlined when typed and italicized when published. (Of course, this was when italicization was something only a profession printer could manage.) Subheadings within such works are put in quotes. These would include chapters titles, article titles in a magazine, episode titles in a TV series, etc.http://www.englishforums.com/English/HelpAsapThanks/dqgp/post.htm#19503Sat, 17 Jan 2004 03:25:40 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19503pedantNo fragments here, but your sentenses are unclear because of confusing commas and capitalizations. I assume you mean this: "The sites were either rural Indian reservations or urban, which in San Francisco turned out to be quite multicultural. We would work at day camps or do a Kid's Club." I've made several assumptions here. One is that there were two kinds of sites not three (rural, urban, and reservations -- which is how it read initially); another is that a Kid's Club is a proper noun (i.e. a name rather than a discription). If not, it should be "kids' club" (note the location of the apostrophe). You needed a comma before, not after, "which." Exclamation points should be reserved for exclamations: "Get lost!" "I got an A!" "Help, my...http://www.englishforums.com/English/LikeOrSuchAs/dpkd/post.htm#19277Thu, 15 Jan 2004 02:51:48 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19277pedantThat's a perfectly good use of the word "like", though it can be less formal than "such as".http://www.englishforums.com/English/PluralPlateInchThickInches-Thick/dpjh/post.htm#19276Thu, 15 Jan 2004 02:45:49 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19276pedantYes, it depends on the way the number is written: 1/2 inch thick vs. 0.5 inches thick. Fractions are singular, and any decimal other than 1 is plural. It's easier if you think of the number written out: three-quarter inch vs. point seven five inches.http://www.englishforums.com/English/UsageOfThat/dplz/post.htm#19275Thu, 15 Jan 2004 02:37:35 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19275pedant"I'm going out to meet someone I know." and "Make sure you get it done by end of business today." are best. But "Make sure that you get it done by end of business today." is fine.http://www.englishforums.com/English/TheCorrectNicknames/dplh/post.htm#19274Thu, 15 Jan 2004 02:32:00 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19274pedantno quoteshttp://www.englishforums.com/English/Swearing/dmhg/post.htm#19273Thu, 15 Jan 2004 02:25:48 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19273pedantYes, and where would I send that?http://www.englishforums.com/English/TwoQuickScreenplayGrammar-Questions/dpdm/post.htm#19179Wed, 14 Jan 2004 04:49:54 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19179pedantSarah's is absolutely correct. As for "No", I imagine you'd get five different answers from five different people. If "No" were a true quotation, you'd write: Then the answer is, "No." But it's not really a quote, is it? Still, you wouldn't write: Then the answer is no. I like your version best.http://www.englishforums.com/English/CouldMovingSpain/dpbj/post.htm#19178Wed, 14 Jan 2004 04:43:56 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19178pedantYou can certainly say, "They are moving out of Spain." The fact that the construction would usually apply to, say, an apartment or a neighborhood only gives it a particular flavor. This is not a decision of grammar but of poetics. If, however, you don't want any flavor to your words, if, for example, you are writing a formal business letter and seek only bland correctness, you would say, "They are leaving Spain." or "They are leaving Spain for good." or "They are moving to Miami."http://www.englishforums.com/English/The/dxww/post.htm#19177Wed, 14 Jan 2004 04:37:47 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19177pedantLegalese has its own peculiarities, and I am no expert. I do, however, watch TV as much as the next pedant and so have heard plenty of courtroom dialogue in which the "the" is dropped, particularly when refering to "councel", "defense", and "witness". From my POV, it all seems pretty idiomatic.http://www.englishforums.com/English/ParticularWord/dpzw/post.htm#19175Wed, 14 Jan 2004 04:32:04 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19175pedantHow about "happy"? Never heard of "cross-listed", but it sounds like "cross-referenced", which usually refers to redundant indexing in a publication, which is a good thing. For example, in a cross-referenced Encyclopedia, the entry for Civil Disobedience might say "see Gandhi", and the entry for Gandhi might say "see Civil Disobedience ."http://www.englishforums.com/English/ForWhomTheBellTolls/dpvb/post.htm#19173Wed, 14 Jan 2004 04:22:27 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19173pedantBefore it was a Hemmingway title or a Metallica lyric, it was a line from a poem. I forget the title and author, but the full sentence was: "Ask not for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee." And it was a meditation on death. In Europe, they used to ring a bell to announce a death. So the point of the line was, don't look around wondering whose death the bell is signalling; we are all going to die, including you.http://www.englishforums.com/English/WouldHaveBeen/dxdj/post.htm#19172Wed, 14 Jan 2004 04:16:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:19172pedant"Because of their heavy weight, the only thing they could have done would have been to stay on the ground forever," is an ugainly sentence. That alone is reason not to say it.http://www.englishforums.com/English/ThinkTank/dxbm/post.htm#18950Mon, 12 Jan 2004 05:19:40 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:18950pedantA think tank is simply a group of people who research issues and/or propose solutions. There are political think tanks, technology think tanks, military think tanks, etc.http://www.englishforums.com/English/The/dxww/post.htm#18949Mon, 12 Jan 2004 05:08:45 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:18949pedantYou seem to have a firm grasp of it. What specifically bothers you about it?http://www.englishforums.com/English/AshamedOf/2/dmwq/Post.htm#18948Mon, 12 Jan 2004 05:07:06 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:18948pedantIn this forum, you'd think the censors would be blocking bad grammar.http://www.englishforums.com/English/InformalVsFormal/dxwx/post.htm#18947Mon, 12 Jan 2004 05:02:22 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:18947pedantIn English, relative formality is less a question of grammar than of vocabulary and syntax, whereas other languages -- Spanish, for example -- use a different set of verb conjugations. In an informal situation, I might say, "Gimme that." But the formal expression would be "Would you please pass me that?" More idiom than rule here. Why is this important? Language expresses the vast range of human relationships, and some are more formal than others. If my brother and I are watching TV and I say "Would you please pass me the chips?", he would assume I was joking or angry at him or had been replaced by a robot. But if I were having dinner with the President and said, "Gimme the potatoes," I might be thrown out before the dessert arrives.http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseIncorrectVersionSentence-Changed/dxwk/post.htm#18946Mon, 12 Jan 2004 04:45:39 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:18946pedantGenerally, in English a noun precedes its verb: "I eat", "they went", "she drives", etc. That's why the noun and verb in question ("name" and "was") sound better in that order. Now, you might point out that English questions often reverse the noun-verb order ("Is that you?" "Are we there yet?"). But this is true of independent clauses in a question (which is why we say "What did you say...?" not "What you did say...?") not of dependent clauses (i.e., "...your name was.")http://www.englishforums.com/English/PartsOfSpeech/dxjb/post.htm#18945Mon, 12 Jan 2004 04:33:52 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:18945pedantconjunctionhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/AshamedOf/dmwq/post.htm#18870Sun, 11 Jan 2004 07:55:07 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:18870pedantWhat I meant -- and I think it's clear -- is that the other versions would be stilted in American English. To claim that only American English is unstilted would be absurd. Most people, when deciding between a logical and an illogical interpretation, would assume the former is what's intended. Hitchhiker says: "Saucer of milk." - no squabbling!http://www.englishforums.com/English/ClausesAndPhases/dxrj/post.htm#18869Sun, 11 Jan 2004 07:42:26 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:18869pedantClauses contain a subject and a predicate. Phrases do not. There are two types of clauses: dependent and independent. The latter can be a sentence by itself. The sentence "He was a long-haul driver who kept his eyes on the road." contains an independent clause ("He was a long-haul driver") and a dependent clause ("who kept his eyes on the road."). Since phrases are simply clusters of words that form syntactic units, there are any number of different kinds. "On the road" is a prepositional phrase within the afformentioned clause. "Long-haul" is an adjectival phrase.http://www.englishforums.com/English/JobAssessments/dxrx/post.htm#18867Sun, 11 Jan 2004 07:31:03 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:18867pedantThere are correspondence courses you can take through the mail or online. Failing that, you could buy and read textbook of English grammar. You might try proofreading or spellchecking your own writing, as well.http://www.englishforums.com/English/TouchBase/dnpq/post.htm#18866Sun, 11 Jan 2004 07:27:02 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:18866pedant"Before you turn in your report, let's touch base and see if we got the same answers." "I try to touch base with my boss once a day whenever he's traveling." "Next time, touch base with me before you shoot your mouth off."http://www.englishforums.com/English/NinePartsOfSpeech/dnpk/post.htm#18865Sun, 11 Jan 2004 07:23:06 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:18865pedantI've never counted, but here goes: noun, pronoun, article, adjective, adverb, verb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. I suppose a pronoun could be considered just a type of noun. And what about proper nouns?http://www.englishforums.com/English/WhyCantSpecificReference/dnnj/post.htm#18864Sun, 11 Jan 2004 07:16:36 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:18864pedantBet he can't.http://www.englishforums.com/English/Gotten/2/dgvd/Post.htm#18863Sun, 11 Jan 2004 07:15:17 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:18863pedantEnkatesu is a font of misinformation. Of course, grammarians dictate good grammar from bad. That's one of the definitions of the profession, for crying out loud. This kind of grammarian is called a prescriptivist. For more information on this, see the prescriptivist/descriptivist thread.http://www.englishforums.com/English/UseOfTheAboutBodyParts/dnxw/post.htm#18862Sun, 11 Jan 2004 07:07:05 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:18862pedantI can think of at least three examples that upset your theory, Mike: "Skin is the largest organ in the human body." "Pubic hair is gross." and "Saliva makes a good lubricant."http://www.englishforums.com/English/ThinkTank/dxbm/post.htm#18861Sun, 11 Jan 2004 07:00:07 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:18861pedantThe sentence "Economist, a pro-trade think tank, said he expected...." is grammatically incorrect. A think tank doesn't speak, and you wouldn't call one a "he".http://www.englishforums.com/English/AndBeginningSentence/dvmc/post.htm#18860Sun, 11 Jan 2004 06:57:14 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:18860pedantIt is still a point of contention, but most authorities now accept "and" and "but" as perfectly good ways to begin sentences. Lord knows the Bible is filled with such examples.http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseExplainErrorSentencePart-Question/dxcm/post.htm#18859Sun, 11 Jan 2004 06:54:37 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:18859pedantNo wonder they're driving you crazy. Both sentences are perfectly correct. They are, however, informal. More formal versions are "Please tell me your name again." and "He does not work as hard as she does."http://www.englishforums.com/English/ProblemSentence/dxdr/post.htm#18858Sun, 11 Jan 2004 06:50:19 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:18858pedantYes, but it's the contraction of "have" that sounds like "of": "I would've liked to have seen that."