Grammar Discussions

[anat0l]

Aaaaaaaa'gggghhhhhh!

<Doctor> You can close your mouth now, I can't see anything wrong in there. :mrgreen:

 

[whatmeworry]

So this is why I am become verbose with my language when...

[h=1]Men get creative with grammar when they want to impress fertile women[/h]

Men get creative with grammar when they want to impress fertile women

 

[SeatBackForward]

My five year old son and I were driving, and he noticed one of those "keep left" signs, oddly placed in the middle of the road. The conversation ended like this:

The right side of the road is left.
The right side of the road is right.
The right side of the road is wrong.

Are all equally correct?

 

[marki]

You are Right

 

[cove]

It is short rights and long lefts when you drive in America.

 

[Hvr]

My five year old son and I were driving, and he noticed one of those "keep left" signs, oddly placed in the middle of the road. The conversation ended like this:

The right side of the road is left.
The right side of the road is right.
The right side of the road is wrong.

Are all equally correct?

Is your 5 year old licensed to drive? :mrgreen:

Or did you mean to write "I was driving my five year old and..."?

 

[SeatBackForward]

Is your 5 year old licensed to drive? :mrgreen:

Or did you mean to write "I was driving my five year old and..."?

Our car is much older than five years old

 

[rogerkambah]

One of my real hates is the reporting of an accident in which a car is involved, where TV news reporters and newsreaders say 'the car lost control', rather than 'the driver lost control of the car.'

 

[jastel]

The term "car accident" is way overused as well...crash, mistake, error, inattention, stupidity would be a better term to describe what one or more of the drivers did.
Just because the driver didn't do it on purpose doesn't make it an "accident".

Accident implies no one is to blame...most times one or more people are.

 

[anat0l]

One of my real hates is the reporting of an accident in which a car is involved, where TV news reporters and newsreaders say 'the car lost control', rather than 'the driver lost control of the car.'

The term "car accident" is way overused as well...crash, mistake, error, inattention, stupidity would be a better term to describe what one or more of the drivers did.
Just because the driver didn't do it on purpose doesn't make it an "accident".

Accident implies no one is to blame...most times one or more people are.

I guess there are a few things worth commenting on here.

"Car accident" pretty much is a "lump" term (or broad term, as it were). If someone hears it enough, they will all be car accidents, i.e. reported incidents where something unfortunate happened and a car was involved in it. What happened in that incident is sometimes likely not an accident... although then we have something different to consider. If someone didn't mean to do something - whether they were drunk or not, for example - it's considered an accident. If not, then it is not an accident and someone would be subject to stiffer charges because it means they actually wanted to hurt someone.

An accident doesn't mean it is someone's fault, but it also doesn't automatically mean no one was at fault, and even then it depends upon what particular incident are we even discussing the attribution of fault.

As for "the car lost control", that's rather sloppy, but perhaps it is for the reason to avoid naming the driver as the one that lost control as the automatic prejudice would then be that the driver was clearly at fault. Even if they were negligent and didn't service their car that would have picked up why the car went out of control. Of course, the alternative is to use the passive voice, i.e. "Control of (or over) the car was lost and..." I'm told that is frowned upon, though for my line of work which avoids naming actors or using personal pronouns, it is near normal.

That said, in news casts I have heard "The driver lost control of the car..." pretty often, especially when the story is being introduced.

 

[Happy Trails]

I can't remember the the last time I read of a car crashing - it seems they only ever 'smash into' things these days.

 

[get me outta here]

Looking up shows in NYC, I notice a couple of the names of songs in the description of 'Wicked':

[h=2]
A mega hit for over ten years, Wicked on Broadway is full of memorable tunes including "Defying Gravity," "As Long As Your Mine," "Popular" and "The Wizard and I."[/h]

 

[sergeyvzn]

Looking up shows in NYC, I notice a couple of the names of songs in the description of 'Wicked':

[h=2]
A mega hit for over ten years, Wicked on Broadway is full of memorable tunes including "Defying Gravity," "As Long As Your Mine," "Popular" and "The Wizard and I."[/h]

I hope your mine is long enough

 

[get me outta here]

If this keeps up I'm going to get confused and start saying it myself.

I hope your mine is long enough

 

[sergeyvzn]

If this keeps up I'm going to get confused and start saying it myself.

Some mines are longer than others, what's to get confused about? -))

 

[get me outta here]

Just saw this amusing take on an old saying, on another thread:

[h=1]"What's a product that is a former shadow of itself?"[/h]

 

[get me outta here]

Just read in the Fin Review:

[h=3]Casual joggers outlast ironmen[/h]Vigorous running regularly could be almost as harmful as being a couch potatoe.

 

[whatmeworry]

This guy will probably be loved on this thread.
Grammar zealot Bryan Henderson declares war on phrase 'comprised of'

 

[JessicaTam]

Apparently the Age thinks that Tony Abbott is grappling with rouge backbenchers. I thought the opposition were the Reds!

 

[Hvr]

Apparently the Age thinks that Tony Abbott is grappling with rouge backbenchers. I thought the opposition were the Reds!

I wonder if the writer will blush when they are told of their error?