Not going to be an open and shut case then.
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Sotted on FB in relation to this image:
"Kids get tort transsexualism’s at school by lefty teachers these days."
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At least they got the apostrophe in the right place!Originally posted by Bryn View PostSotted on FB in relation to this image:
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"Kids get tort transsexualism’s at school by lefty teachers these days."Comment
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Some might disagreeOriginally posted by Pulcinella View Post
Is 'boys' being used adjectivally, describing the 'basics' needed by boys, or do the boys in some sense 'possess' these basics? If it read: "The boys' basics" it would suggest that the basics did indeed belong to particular boys, as in 'the boys' books' where the boys in question are Peter Brown and Paul Smith, and the books are their copies of Bradley's Arnold needed for the next lesson in a few minutes time.
It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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Fair comment, and you've explained why I often find such use rather odd and unnecessary.Originally posted by french frank View PostSome might disagree Is 'boys' being used adjectivally, describing the 'basics' needed by boys, or do the boys in some sense 'possess' these basics? If it read: "The boys' basics" it would suggest that the basics did indeed belong to particular boys, as in 'the boys' books' where the boys in question are Peter Brown and Paul Smith, and the books are their copies of Bradley's Arnold needed for the next lesson in a few minutes time.Comment
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Not in the instance of "transsexualism’s" in the quote associated with the image. The quoted sentence was part and parcel of the original I came across on FB.Originally posted by Pulcinella View PostComment
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Originally posted by Pulcinella View PostAh: I thought that that was something wot you wrote!
And it is possible that tort has been committed if we knew more about the context.It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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That "tort" was what I first picked up on in the original on FB. The context and "transsexualism’s" were the icing on the cake.Originally posted by french frank View Post
And it is possible that tort has been committed if we knew more about the context.Comment
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Dickens the grammarian
I've recently embarked on rereading, in some few cases reading, all of Dickens's novels, and have enjoyed pondering on how our language and writers' styles have changed over the many intervening decades. But I was bought up short by this near the end of Chapter XLV of Dombey and Son: "The proud, undaunted face... indifferent to any aspect to which it might present itself to such as he." Hasn't this got to be "such as him"? Surely he couldn't have written it as: "present itself to he as and such as he"?
I'm well aware that the boy Dickens received little in the way of good formal education, but has there ever been a detailed critique of his grammar? He was clearly very much alive to 'lower class' errors (grammar, malapropisms etc) to give flavour to such characters, so he might be thought to set the bar high for his own authorial voice!
On a more minor point, IIRC throughout David Copperfield' Mr Peggoty's direct speech has 'trew' as the spelling for 'true'. To me there's no difference in pronunciation so it seems a pointless distinction. Was there in Dickens's time?I keep hitting the Escape key, but I'm still here!Comment
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It could be analyzed as a compressed form of"... present itself to such [a person] as he [is]."Originally posted by LeMartinPecheur View Post
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The fact that I would use "such as he" in that sense, and that "such as him" just feels slightly off (and "such as her" even more so for some reason) suggests it was something that was bashed into me during grammar lessons and reinforced by what I heard or read. Using the person's name(rather than he or him) is more usual now I think, and so the Dickens version isn't encountered often and sounds rather mannered?Originally posted by vinteuil View PostComment
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In today's York Press:
The Black Sheep Brewing Company Limited has closed the Last Drop Inn in Colliergate, though it is other city pub, the Three Legged Mare in High Petergate, remains open.
I guess one and a half cheers for not using the apostrophe.
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The correct version should, of course, have read, "The Black Sheep Brewing Company has closed the Last Drop Inn in Colliergate, though it's his other city pub, the Three Legged Mare in High Petergate, that remains open".Originally posted by Pulcinella View PostIn today's York Press:
The Black Sheep Brewing Company Limited has closed the Last Drop Inn in Colliergate, though it is other city pub, the Three Legged Mare in High Petergate, remains open.
I guess one and a half cheers for not using the apostrophe.
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