Grammar Discussions

[mrs.dr.ron]

A brush would've been easier and probably cheaper.

Two two-bedroom apartments for sale for less than $200,000 in once-troubled Frankston complex

Melbourne's housing market is bottoming out and there's bargains on offer - but buyer beware, they're cheap for a reason.

www.domain.com.au

Oh please say it was shag carpet on the ceiling .......

 

[Julesmac]

I found where Qantas keeps the cleaners in the BNE J lounge.

I don’t know where they keep their apostrophes.

View attachment 158472

The errant apostrophe. I never seem to have a Texta with me when I see these signs - the urge to correct is strong indeed. Speaking for myself, I add

 

[Julesmac]

I read an article in which the 'journalist' referred to drying her car with a 'shammy' - now that took me a moment to work out. Of course there's no point telling 'em to check the dictionary since they actually can't spell well enough to find the correct page.....
If you really want to have a laugh, try reading the Epicure section every Tuesday in the 'Age'. The restaurant reviews are written in the most purple prose imaginable. I recall Stephen Downes used to be howled down for similar horrid wordings. A 'puck' of steak, anyone? Another time he managed to wrangle 'meniscus' into a sentence about steak. My meniscus (es) are safely attached to my knees.

 

[get me outta here]

Long before I knew I had them in my knees, in science I learned that they were this, and I still check them out in my rain gauge:

The meniscus (plural: menisci, from the Greek for "crescent") is the curve in the upper surface of a liquid close to the surface of the container or another object, caused by surface tension. It can be either concave or convex, depending on the liquid and the surface." Ref Wiki.

How that refers to steak I know not.

I read an article in which the 'journalist' referred to drying her car with a 'shammy' - now that took me a moment to work out. Of course there's no point telling 'em to check the dictionary since they actually can't spell well enough to find the correct page.....
If you really want to have a laugh, try reading the Epicure section every Tuesday in the 'Age'. The restaurant reviews are written in the most purple prose imaginable. I recall Stephen Downes used to be howled down for similar horrid wordings. A 'puck' of steak, anyone? Another time he managed to wrangle 'meniscus' into a sentence about steak. My meniscus (es) are safely attached to my knees.

 

[GladstoneTim]

Hi,
Just wondering....does anyone have insight into the pluralization of premise?

Every visit to Suncorp Stadium heralds multiple announcements that the stadium is “a licensed premises”.

 

[JohnM]

Hi,
Just wondering....does anyone have insight into the pluralization of premise?

Every visit to Suncorp Stadium heralds multiple announcements that the stadium is “a licensed premises”.

I think the ‘a’ is redundant.

 

[Hvr]

 

[Julesmac]

No wonder The Age is losing readership... two pearlers from Last Tuesday's 'Epicure'.An except from wine writer Evan Mitchell's book (never heard of him).
"A new generation of art academics came of age in the heyday of postmodernism. Their zealous advocacy of conceptual art shaped the next generation - a significant appeal being that conceptual art effectively excused them from having to know much of anything before Marcel Duchamp's urinal." Can anyone clarify that gem? Utter bull....

Next - from Gemima Cody, one of the food reviewers I loathe. I was spoilt for choice amongst the cough in her review but check this particular paragraph -
"But where to start. Fizz? Probably. It feels right if oysters are on the cards. But will it be Krug or a peachy pet nat from the South African kids of the Wine Farm? Sommelier Marty McCaig fills all the bases between prog rock and big house producer pillars. There again, those snack-sized martinis are a siren song to drinkers and a hat tip to moderation at once frosty and fierce." If you can render that into plain English you're a better man than I am, Gungadin.

 

[get me outta here]

“This bird”? Is that your description of a woman - it’s straight out of the 1970s. Plus, a spot fact checking: The Age readership passes four million mark

 

[Julesmac]

“This bird”? Is that your description of a woman - it’s straight out of the 1970s. Plus, a spot fact checking: The Age readership passes four million mark

I was pretty annoyed when I wrote....'bird', whilst non PC these days, was the first that came to mind!Thanks for pointing out the readership number

 

[Deleted member]

I know I have said it before. But, the over and misuse of “myself” and “yourself” is doing my head in.

 

[Hvr]

The government's (uncorrected) grammatical gaffe:

The government's grammatical gaffe that everyone ignored

Frank and fearless, but not brave enough to correct a prime ministerial typo.

www.canberratimes.com.au

And in that list was the error, which would be republished many times. So many times, in fact, that most of the officials involved now seem too embarrassed to admit it exists.
"Michaelia Cash, the Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business."

It's a small detail, but her title should clearly be the Minister for Employment, Skills, and Small and Family Business.

"If you were writing about those three things in a sentence, you would need to include the 'and'. And, yes, you would add in the Oxford comma for clarity."

Oh dear, and who knows when it will be corrected?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi,
Just wondering....does anyone have insight into the pluralization of premise?

Every visit to Suncorp Stadium heralds multiple announcements that the stadium is “a licensed premises”.

Premises - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

In this sense, the word is always used in the plural, but singular in construction. Note that a single house or a single other piece of property is "premises", not a "premise", although the word "premises" is plural in form; e.g. "The equipment is on the customer's premises", never "The equipment is on the customer's premise".

 

[Deleted member]

'Nuff said !

Writing wrongs: Grammar and punctuation crucial for clarity at work

Is there still room for upholding convention in the written word at work?

www.smh.com.au

 

[ALH]

I know I have said it before. But, the over and misuse of “myself” and “yourself” is doing my head in.

Myself and + 1 agree

I suspect some people think it makes them sound smarter!

My pet hate is "What was your name"? Ummmm.....it's always been ALH!

 

[get me outta here]

Tonight’s newsreader is not aware that the plural crisis is crises, not the very awkward “criseses”.

 

[get me outta here]

They just have to think back to her Maj who says, “My husband and I”. There seems to have been some confusion about me, myself and I for some time.
I also find it very grating not to mention self centred, to hear people say, “me and my friends are .... “. Just think back to her Maj again.

Myself and + 1 agree

I suspect some people think it makes them sound smarter!

My pet hate is "What was your name"? Ummmm.....it's always been ALH!

 

[ALH]

They just have to think back to her Maj who says, “My husband I”. There seems to have been some confusion about me, myself and I for some time. I also find it very grating to hear people say, “me and my friend are .... “

Today I started to read a Facebook post. “ I and my daughter...... “

I started to twitch.

If It’s not possible to say this out loud, please don’t put it to paper (or post)

 

[sjk]

Today I started to read a Facebook post. “ I and my daughter...... “

I started to twitch.

If It’s not possible to say this out loud, please don’t put it to paper (or post)

But what’s the actual grammatical error there?

I’m sympathetic, since I have three languages I’m close to “native” in, but no language that I would consider 100%.

Slippery slope in my opinion, since a lot of what people say out loud is ungrammatical.

 

[ALH]

But what’s the actual grammatical error there?

I’m sympathetic, since I have three languages I’m close to “native” in, but no language that I would consider 100%.

Slippery slope in my opinion, since a lot of what people say out loud is ungrammatical.

It should be “My daughter and I...”