Comments on: Turn Off the Lights on Your Way Out http://grammarsource.com/2007/04/24/turn-off-the-lights-on-your-way-out/ Bring your curiosity and your questions and let's figure out our weird language Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:28:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: grammarblogger http://grammarsource.com/2007/04/24/turn-off-the-lights-on-your-way-out/#comment-273 grammarblogger Tue, 26 Jun 2007 14:40:02 +0000 http://grammarsucks.com/turn-off-the-lights-on-your-way-out.htm#comment-273 Good point there. Actually, I should've made Americans possessive, i.e., Americans'. Good point there. Actually, I should’ve made Americans possessive, i.e., Americans’.

]]> By: Name Withheld http://grammarsource.com/2007/04/24/turn-off-the-lights-on-your-way-out/#comment-272 Name Withheld Fri, 27 Apr 2007 06:28:34 +0000 http://grammarsucks.com/turn-off-the-lights-on-your-way-out.htm#comment-272 (Don't ask me how I managed to stumble upon this website.) Pardon whatever inconsistencies my grammar may have in trivial details like spelling and so forth, I cannot help but notice logical errors in this post. When you mentioned the teacher "whose grammar (learned as a second language) is infinitely better than most native Americans, even college graduates," shouldn't you have said that her grammar was "infinitely better than _that of_ most Americans"? Otherwise, it would seem that you are making your comparison ambiguous. Also, a concurring explanation as to the origins of the phrase "lightbulb went off" (which I have never heard, honestly) could be that we compare it to other events that happen suddenly, such as alarms, fireworks, participants in a race, and so on. Anyway, I'd probably stick to the phrase "lightbulb came on" because it makes more sense. (Don’t ask me how I managed to stumble upon this website.) Pardon whatever inconsistencies my grammar may have in trivial details like spelling and so forth, I cannot help but notice logical errors in this post. When you mentioned the teacher “whose grammar (learned as a second language) is infinitely better than most native Americans, even college graduates,” shouldn’t you have said that her grammar was “infinitely better than _that of_ most Americans”? Otherwise, it would seem that you are making your comparison ambiguous.

Also, a concurring explanation as to the origins of the phrase “lightbulb went off” (which I have never heard, honestly) could be that we compare it to other events that happen suddenly, such as alarms, fireworks, participants in a race, and so on. Anyway, I’d probably stick to the phrase “lightbulb came on” because it makes more sense.

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