Archivio per il novembre 2007

Non può essere `più grande' e `soltanto'

Un titolo in mio panno locale, Tempi de Los Angeles, ad esempio nella riesaminazione del reprise di un film di 25 anni che era il direttore “più grande e soltanto, colpo.„

Ahem. Essere la più grande, qualcosa deve essere in concorrenza con almeno due somethings altrimenti. Se sta competendo appena altro ad un film, per esempio, può essere un colpo più grande, ma essere il più grande, ha bisogno almeno di due competitori.

Così, se questo direttore avesse soltanto un film colpito, quindi quel film non potrebbe essere più grandi o più grandi, ma appena “il suo soltanto colpo grande.„

L'approvazione, nessun cure, ma io ha pensato che la portassi in su comunque come esempio di abusare la lingua inglese senza chiunque me l'nota probabilmente.

Inviato da grammarblogger

Il vostro corpo lo dice tutto

La lingua di corpo ed altre indicazioni nonverbal (solitamente) comunicano spesso più delle sue parola. Purtroppo, non è così facile strategize i suoi movimenti corporei; sono occasionalmente quasi involontari e ecco perché sono così revelatory.

In ogni modo, il guru Tonya Reiman di lingua di corpo della vigilanza gli dà alcune punte:

Inviato da grammarblogger

Il `fa funzione di domande di grammatica' migliorata

Stavo divertendo che rispondo ai vecchi “faccio postings di domande di grammatica„ a causa di alcune limitazioni incorporate del mio software blogging, in modo da ho installato una tribuna preferibilmente.

Se avete una domanda, vada prego appena al La grammatica interroga la tribuna e scrivagli il poll. a macchina. Controllerò frequentemente e mi assocerò alla brigata di risposta. Altri possono ritenere liberi rispondere a pure. Faccia tuttavia, prego così seriamente e soltanto se avete qualche cosa di importante aggiungere alla discussione. Non è una stanza di scherzo o di chiacchierata.

Inviato da grammarblogger

Auto-Scriva, Auto-Scritto Blog: Babble Redux di sport

Ho ottenuto una buona risata il lunedì in cui il Billy Martin [/tag], l'avvocato [della modifica] per il quarterback ora-imprigionato dei falchi de Atlanta [modifica] Michael Vick [/tag], ha pubblicato un detto di dichiarazione che il suo cliente “auto-aveva ceduto„ per cominciare il suo termine della prigione di indeterminato-in-lunghezza.

Martin’s statement went on to further praise Vick for his “self-surrender.”

Now, to surrender is something you do voluntarily anyway rather than (usually) facing some more horrendous consequences, such as being shot dead on the spot. Therefore, it is always an act of the “self.”

Taking Martin’s usage to my more unfamous and mundane self, since I pen this blog voluntarily without compensation and with no gun at my head, I must “self-write” it, and it is therefore “self-written.”

Did you just “self-read” that?

Posted by grammarblogger

Yankee Gaffer Obviously Doesn’t Read This Blog

Recently, I blogged about the difference between me and myself, the latter being unable to stand alone as a pronoun.

However, Yankee scion Steinbrenner Lite (prodigal son Hank) managed to screw it up in this quotation about negotiations with Alex Rodriguez:

"He [A-Rod] wanted to make sure myself [sic] and my brother knew that he was sincere and serious."

I guess Hank didn’t read my post this week about the uses of me and myself.

Of course, if you’re next in line to inherit the New York Yankees, it doesn’t realy matter how grammatical you are.

Posted by grammarblogger

Bureaucratizing Good English

My friend Jill, who is Chinese but knows English well and teaches it in Taipei, wrote to ask me about the use of the prepation to (the swift, etc.) in this quote from Ecclesiastes:

“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”

Later, I found this bureaucratese (modern) rendition of the same famous passage as satirized by George Orwell:

“Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account."

"Just so," as my Irish ancestors would say. We’re in a bad way. ("Awesome," I should say. LOL)

Posted by grammarblogger

No Longevity, But Maybe Some Levity

As reported by Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times, here is a conversation between Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith on TNT’s "Inside the NBA":

Barkley: "I was reading that heavy drinking is not good for your health, so I have to stop."

Smith: "Stop drinking what?"

Barkley: "No, I gotta stop reading."

I agree with the message, but the gotta has gotta go.

Posted by grammarblogger

‘Myself’ Is Not a Polite Version of ‘Me’…

it’s just ignorantly wrong.

Myself is a reflexive pronoun that must appear with the use of me; it cannot be substituted for me.

If you don’t want to talk about yourself because you feel it appears arrogant, feel free never to talk about yourself. However, if you’re just trying to paper over the ego thrill of talking about yourself, myself ain’t the solution. It just shows you’re stupid.

Posted by grammarblogger

‘Throw Under the Bus’: Common but Hard to Trace

I’m hearing people use the phrase “throw under the bus” so frequently that I began wondering about its origin.

Best answer I can find is that the origin is either unknown or unfindable.

Here’s one:

From Slang: the Authoritative Topic-by-Topic Dictionary of American Lingoes from All Walks of Life by Paul Dickson (Pocket Books, New York, 1990), under “Automotive Slang,” “throw under a bus — Sales talk for selling someone a car or van with all the extras and options at full sticker price or better.”

Here’s another from Grant Barrett:

“Despite the Urban Dictionary entry (which, like all such dubious etymologies, lacks details–call letters? station manager name?) I was only able to take it back for certain to 1991, when it appeared in a courtroom context. There is also a bracketed quote from 1984, which, as in HDAS style, means that it’s not certain to perfectly epitomize the term being defined, from the rock-and-roll industry. It has it only as ‘under the bus’ not ‘throw under the bus’ or ‘put under the bus’ (which is a less common variant).”

Anybody else want to weigh in?

Posted by grammarblogger

Random Words and Creativity

One of my pursuits in life is figuring out how Internet search engines do their thing and rank Websites on the search results. This all falls under the category of Search Engine Optimization, or SEO (caps not needed when spelled out, but SEO folk consider themselves rather important).

While doing some SEO research today, I came across a telling quotation about creativity:

…too many people believe creativity is a talent with which some people are born and the rest can only envy. This is a negative attitude that is completely mistaken.

So, how does one tap creativity? That’s a huge topic that I’m not even going to broach today, but words–and brainstorming–play a huge role in creativity.

Therefore, I introduce you to the Random Word Generator. It’ll give you a word when you arrive. Hit refresh, or F5, and it’ll give you another word.

Words are the building blocks of creativity. Take a few random words and see what you can come up with.

Posted by grammarblogger