tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post1565226520855870941..comments2024-03-27T19:11:37.620-04:00Comments on You Don't Say: Take a breath. The wells of English are not defiled. John McIntyrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03559687583130468871noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-60282952206435555842022-05-13T12:55:49.433-04:002022-05-13T12:55:49.433-04:00"Online discussions of this sort inevitably d..."Online discussions of this sort inevitably degenerate into peevery"<br /><br />You are, I suspect, too generous. While it is possible that the original complaint was about actual grammatical errors--a failure of a verb to agree in number with the corresponding noun, say--it is at least as likely that the complaint was peevery all along, about people not following some BS made-up pretend rule.Richard Hershbergernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-28425764528280561282022-05-11T09:38:21.955-04:002022-05-11T09:38:21.955-04:00You fail to mention the deleterious effect of the ...You fail to mention the deleterious effect of the failure to teach students cursive writing, which is a sure cause of the downfall of Western civilization. Since a part of my education was in France, where I actually used a steel pen dipped into an inkwell (1959-60), I am well qualified to speak of this, even though my early writing varied from the up-and-down style of the French to the regularly slanted style of the Palmer penmanship instruction of the US. I'm sure most of my moral failings result from this irregular and barely attended instruction. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-57999159378799391112022-05-10T21:29:05.759-04:002022-05-10T21:29:05.759-04:00"The problem with defending the purity of the..."The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and riffle their pockets for new vocabulary." -- James Nicoll"Orange Mike" Lowreyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11873590101675983279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-29558123288748779882022-05-10T21:09:45.253-04:002022-05-10T21:09:45.253-04:00‘It is a bad question for two main reasons. First,...‘It is a bad question for two main reasons. First, grammar, is not a lost art.‘ I totally agree with you on this topic, John, but I’m curious about that comma after ‘grammar’ in this quote. Was it intentional? If so, why? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6051744883907551402.post-47599883743412867022022-05-10T16:48:54.737-04:002022-05-10T16:48:54.737-04:00Thank you, thank you, thank you!!Thank you, thank you, thank you!!JoAnne Lehmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08018903074123794277noreply@blogger.com