Search found 3392 matches
- Thu Dec 12, 2019 5:05 pm
- Forum: Addicts' Corner
- Topic: Happy Christmas!
- Replies: 1
- Views: 415
Happy Christmas!
Greetings to all! For some reason, I woke early this morning. It was still dark, and the stars were out. But I could only see that because the lights were out too - which I thought was odd. I was unsettled about something. Then I remembered. I cannot recall whether it was Hector who was harrying me ...
- Wed Dec 11, 2019 3:46 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: A party
- Replies: 3
- Views: 1725
Re: A party
I have never heard a special phrase for that type of party. My first thought was that we might say something like "a thank-you party for our customers". But a little searching around on Google suggests that the terms "customer/client appreciation party" are quite widespread. Perhaps these terms are ...
- Mon Dec 09, 2019 6:52 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: How old are you?
- Replies: 8
- Views: 2857
Re: How old are you?
Whether or not it is rude to ask a person's age depends on many things. Some people are very touchy about their age. Some people think that it is rude for a man to ask a woman how old she is. Some people think it is rude for younger people to ask older people their age. If an opportunity arises in c...
- Mon Dec 09, 2019 3:24 pm
- Forum: Addicts' Corner
- Topic: Death of the apostrophe
- Replies: 2
- Views: 698
Re: Death of the apostrophe
Nice spot, trolley! One of the more amusing diatribes on the subject. But it also helped me to put the whole thing into sharp focus. As you know, I listen to text nowadays rather than attempting to read it visually. The voices I use to do so are extremely high quality, very natural sounding voices. ...
- Fri Dec 06, 2019 11:08 pm
- Forum: Addicts' Corner
- Topic: Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus, Father Christmas
- Replies: 8
- Views: 6719
Re: Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus, Father Christmas
Where I lived, in the deepest, darkest regions of Bavaria, on the Austrian border, it was the Krampus who came on the 5th of December to scare the crap out of kids. An altogether more alarming figure than even Knecht Ruprecht, the Krampus always disturbed me. I do wonder about the psychological dama...
- Wed Dec 04, 2019 2:32 pm
- Forum: Word Origins and Meanings
- Topic: the royal 'we' / the royal 'you'?
- Replies: 16
- Views: 22472
Re: the royal 'we' / the royal 'you'?
Which is the same as many English-speaking doctors do.
- Tue Dec 03, 2019 3:56 pm
- Forum: Word Origins and Meanings
- Topic: the royal 'we' / the royal 'you'?
- Replies: 16
- Views: 22472
Re: the royal 'we' / the royal 'you'?
Indeed. You still hear that occasionally when adults are talking to babies: "Ja, was macht er denn?" (And what are you doing?")
- Mon Dec 02, 2019 12:29 am
- Forum: Word Origins and Meanings
- Topic: the royal 'we' / the royal 'you'?
- Replies: 16
- Views: 22472
Re: the royal 'we' / the royal 'you'?
Nowadays, it is familiar to Germans primarily through period drama. My guess is that it was largely lost sometime at the end of the 19th century. I suspect that, if Germany still had a monarchy, it would survive in that context only. Even in the most formal situations, it has gone from the language ...
- Sat Nov 30, 2019 7:32 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: the early days with
- Replies: 2
- Views: 212
Re: the early days with
You ignore the possibility of there being early days when we didn't have proper equipment and early days when we did have proper equipment as well as later days (when we may or may not have had proper equipment). It could well be important to distinguish between the early early days and the later ea...
- Wed Nov 27, 2019 10:00 am
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: waking Jane up
- Replies: 13
- Views: 1236
Re: waking Jane up
A bolt of fear went through him As they thundered through the sky Indeed, clever double metaphor. Good song. My favourite version is Robbie Krieger's (of the Doors) tongue-in-cheek version . Incidentally, the whole of that gig with Robbie Krieger and John Densmore is well worth watching if you are ...
- Sun Nov 24, 2019 12:48 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: waking Jane up
- Replies: 13
- Views: 1236
Re: waking Jane up
Things have been completely clarified for me! This was really complicated. It was a big problem for me. I am glad that things are clear to you. They are far from clear to me. Or, more accurately, they are far from cut and dried. Many of your questions hinge on the fact that, although a particular c...
- Sun Nov 24, 2019 12:18 am
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: waking Jane up
- Replies: 13
- Views: 1236
Re: waking Jane up
Erik's point is valid, but that actually goes back largely to your original question. As I said in my first response, there is a possible elliptical meaning to this type of construction, and the meaning you propose, namely that I kicked John while he was coming through the door is possible. The alte...
- Sat Nov 23, 2019 4:08 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: comma plus and
- Replies: 1
- Views: 649
Re: comma plus and
The presence or absence of the comma has no impact on the fundamentally unnatural structure of the sentence. We would find different ways of expressing the intended meaning clearly. "Tim was playing the bass and Jack was making a dreadful noise on the drums." "Tim was playing the bass and Jack was p...
- Sat Nov 23, 2019 3:56 pm
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: waking Jane up
- Replies: 13
- Views: 1236
Re: waking Jane up
Trolley is right. I have said before that I think the term "adverbial" is the most useless designation used in linguistics. It has become a midden on which people throw anything they cannot explain adequately using conventional grammar. Always remember that the comma reflects a pause or change of in...
- Mon Nov 18, 2019 11:44 am
- Forum: Usage and Writing
- Topic: useful for you to
- Replies: 3
- Views: 1113
Re: useful for you to
My immediate reaction was the same as Bob's: "You will find this book useful for/in understanding ...". The fact that any given sentence is "grammatically correct" does not mean that it would be a natural choice for native speakers. I often choose "E" in answer to these questions, when my choices ar...