Pedants' Paradise

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  • Serial_Apologist
    Full Member
    • Dec 2010
    • 37814

    Originally posted by Pulcinella View Post
    A rather odd headline in the Independent makes it sound as if Starmer and the PM are two different people:

    Starmer faces union backlash as PM puts mortgages before public sector pay
    Starmer is a lot more than just two different people...

    Comment

    • vinteuil
      Full Member
      • Nov 2010
      • 12936

      Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post

      Starmer is a lot more than just two different people...
      ... which of us is not?

      " ... I contain multitudes"

      .

      Comment

      • Serial_Apologist
        Full Member
        • Dec 2010
        • 37814

        Originally posted by vinteuil View Post

        ... which of us is not?

        " ... I contain multitudes"

        .
        Quite.

        Comment

        • french frank
          Administrator/Moderator
          • Feb 2007
          • 30456

          Originally posted by vinteuil View Post

          ... which of us is not?

          " ... I contain multitudes"

          .
          Was Serial thinking of the King James Bible?

          "For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.

          And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many."

          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

          • Pulcinella
            Host
            • Feb 2014
            • 11062

            Affirming rather than swearing an oath. (ff's mention of the KJV put me in mind of this, which I'd spotted this morning.)

            This extract (from today's Times) omits to mention that the new Green MP for Bristol Central (replacing the former shadow culture secretary) is a Quaker, and they don't swear oaths either!

            Is that your constituency, ff?

            Analysis by Humanists UK has found that 249 of the 625 MPs
            whose decisions are known chose to affirm. However, the majority of MPs, 338, swore on the Bible, usually the King James version.
            There were 14 Muslim MPs, who swore on the Quran, and Rishi
            Sunak was one of three MPs to swear on the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu holy book. There are also likely to be a handful of religious MPs, including Tim Farron, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats and a Christian, who affirmed because their beliefs prohibit oaths.
            The big jump in irreligious MPs was the result of the Labour landslide in which Starmer’s party won 412 MPs. Almost half of Labour MPs — 47 per cent — affirmed, compared with only 9 per cent of Conservatives. The Liberal Democrats, who won a record 72 seats, also had 47 per cent of their MPs make an affirmation.
            The Greens are the most irreligious party, with all of their four MPs affirming, and six of the SNP’s nine MPs did the same. One of Nigel Farage’s five Reform MPs affirmed.

            Comment

            • Serial_Apologist
              Full Member
              • Dec 2010
              • 37814

              Originally posted by french frank View Post

              Was Serial thinking of the King James Bible?

              "For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.

              And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many."

              Not exactly - I was merely thinking specifically of the Starmer in clever disguise who says and does this, and the one revealed who says and does the opposite. Who can guess what others lurk behind this dodgy persona?

              Comment

              • Pulcinella
                Host
                • Feb 2014
                • 11062

                Photo caption in today's Sunday Times:

                Zoe Hamburger, 39, is an alumnae of the Worldwide Hamburger Marketing University

                No, she isn't. But at least they got the gender right, so someone tried....

                Comment

                • vinteuil
                  Full Member
                  • Nov 2010
                  • 12936

                  Originally posted by Pulcinella View Post
                  Photo caption in today's Sunday Times:

                  Zoe Hamburger, 39, is an alumnae of the Worldwide Hamburger Marketing University

                  No, she isn't. But at least they got the gender right, so someone tried....
                  ... but perhaps Zoe identified as 'them' - so alumnae a possibility

                  Comment

                  • burning dog
                    Full Member
                    • Dec 2010
                    • 1511

                    THE PEDANTS' REVOLT

                    Wat Tyler: I thought I would have less followers than this.

                    The Crowd: Fewer!

                    Comment

                    • Pulcinella
                      Host
                      • Feb 2014
                      • 11062

                      Originally posted by vinteuil View Post

                      ... but perhaps Zoe identified as 'them' - so alumnae a possibility

                      But if Zoe is a they, would we not have to have: Zoe are alumnae?

                      (That's not as silly a question as it might appear. I got criticised previously for showing my distaste for the use of 'they', which is partly because it results in clumsiness in certain instances, and ambiguities in others, and this seems a prime example of where it goes awry.)
                      Last edited by Pulcinella; 14-07-24, 08:38.

                      Comment

                      • Old Grumpy
                        Full Member
                        • Jan 2011
                        • 3643

                        In some counties "they is" would be perfectly acceptable

                        Comment

                        • Pulcinella
                          Host
                          • Feb 2014
                          • 11062

                          Originally posted by Old Grumpy View Post
                          In some counties "they is" would be perfectly acceptable
                          We was talking about that only yesterday.

                          Comment

                          • french frank
                            Administrator/Moderator
                            • Feb 2007
                            • 30456

                            Originally posted by Pulcinella View Post
                            But if Zoe is a they, would we not have to have: Zoe are alumnae?
                            No-o-o-o-o ... because that would be even more confusing as it would confirm Zoe as more than one person. 'Zoe is an alumnae' would be wrong but at least it's obvious what is wrong.
                            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

                            • LMcD
                              Full Member
                              • Sep 2017
                              • 8637

                              Originally posted by Pulcinella View Post
                              Photo caption in today's Sunday Times:

                              Zoe Hamburger, 39, is an alumnae of the Worldwide Hamburger Marketing University

                              No, she isn't. But at least they got the gender right, so someone tried....
                              cf. my 6470 above

                              Comment

                              • vinteuil
                                Full Member
                                • Nov 2010
                                • 12936

                                Originally posted by french frank View Post

                                ... it would confirm Zoe as more than one person
                                ... as the man said, "I contain multitudes"



                                Comment

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