Pedants' Paradise

[handsomefortune]

tis - but thought it was tonight, good job i asked.

[Flosshilde]

On the contrary, it's up to us all to do our best to use the language well.

But what do you mean by 'well'? Do you mean 'correctly', as defined by academics (and pedants), or do you mean using it in a way that is appropriate? If it is being used for a utilitarian purpose - to convey instructions, for example - then strict adherence to rule would be appropriate. If, however, it is being used for a more creative purpose - in a poem or novel, for example - it could be used more flexibly. And if it was in a letter between friends then, I think, anything goes.

[Pabmusic]

...If it is being used for a utilitarian purpose - to convey instructions, for example - then strict adherence to rule would be appropriate. If, however, it is being used for a more creative purpose - in a poem or novel, for example - it could be used more flexibly. And if it was in a letter between friends then, I think, anything goes.

Nicely put. I try to avoid talking of 'rules' because there are so many false ones about (don't split an infinitive, for instance), but you need clarity of meaning, as well as conciseness, for the first of your examples.

[Flosshilde]

I've just read the care instructions in my Barbour jacket & they tell one to "hang the garment in a dry airy place to dry off natural." What is the world coming to, when you can't even get decent English from a Barbour jacket!

[amateur51]

I've just read the care instructions in my Barbour jacket & they tell one to "hang the garment in a dry airy place to dry off natural." What is the world coming to, when you can't even get decent English from a Barbour jacket!

[Flosshilde]

I should make it clear, for the sake of my reputation, that the jacket cost £13 in the local PDSA shop.

[ahinton]

I should make it clear, for the sake of my reputation, that the jacket cost £13 in the local PDSA shop.

Why should you do that? What difference would it have made to your "reputation" or indeed anything else had you actually borrowed £1,500 from someone else's borrowed funds to fund its purchase in a fancy fashion store?

[gurnemanz]

the jacket cost £13 in the local PDSA shop.

.. bit steep.

[scottycelt]

The Barbour jacket is surely the badge of an English country gentleman from the Tory shires, yet Flossie, who lives in Glasgow and calls himself a socialist, announces he is now the proud owner of one.

Without wishing to be pedantic, couldn't he simply have bought a tartan 'Hoodie', made in the sweatshops of Communist China, instead ... ?

[amateur51]

The Barbour jacket is surely the badge of an English country gentleman from the Tory shires, yet Flossie, who lives in Glasgow and calls himself a socialist, announces he is now the proud owner of one.

Without wishing to be pedantic, couldn't he simply have bought a tartan 'Hoodie', made in the sweatshops of Communist China, instead ... ?

You are a wag, scotty

The poor man was only making a valid point about the cleaning instructions on his second-hand Barbour. I thought you Scots, albeit a refugee long domiciled in England, admired and valued thrift such as this

[Flosshilde]

Why should you do that? What difference would it have made to your "reputation" or indeed anything else had you actually borrowed £1,500 from someone else's borrowed funds to fund its purchase in a fancy fashion store?

Agreed, my reputation is probably in tatters (unlike the jacket, which should last some time).

I don't think that I know anyone with £1,500 - borrowed or not - to lend


Scotty - perhaps I should have bought a Burberry coat, to blend in more with the natives? A tartan jacket would have made me look like an American golfer.

[Serial_Apologist]

Agreed, my reputation is probably in tatters

Certainly is with me, Floss: I would never have had you down as a chav - not even a second-hand one!

[Flosshilde]

There was discussion up-thread about 'lie' & 'lay'. This from the blurb on the R3 website about tonight's concert (ie something that hasn't happened yet) -

"Four of Gustav Mahler's Ruckert lieder lay at the heart of this concert "

[mangerton]

There was discussion up-thread about 'lie' & 'lay'. This from the blurb on the R3 website about tonight's concert (ie something that hasn't happened yet) -

"Four of Gustav Mahler's Ruckert lieder lay at the heart of this concert "

I am shocked and appalled, but not surprised. As we have said, standards of English nowadays are dropping like a stone, and, sad to say, the BBC is in the van.

[gurnemanz]

There was discussion up-thread about 'lie' & 'lay'. This from the blurb on the R3 website about tonight's concert (ie something that hasn't happened yet) -

"Four of Gustav Mahler's Ruckert lieder lay at the heart of this concert "

Now that the concert has taken place, this sentence has become grammatically correct.