Is it just me?

UKRob

UKRob

Joined
Thursday March 1, 2012
Location
Lichfield
Or do other people think that threads along the line of 'Recommend me a DE...' seem to be grammatically incorrect? I don't know if it is an offence against the rules of grammar, but it's similar to my local Health Club sign that offers a reward if you 'Join a friend'. What they are after of course is for you to get a friend to enrol as a member.

Perhaps I'm just getting old. In fact, I know that's the case so maybe I should have said 'starting to act old'.
 
The answer is... yes and no.
English doesn't have written rules of grammar and a lot of what we consider to be correct grammar now was cooked up in the Augustan period in the 18th century when it was considered proper to impose artificial "classical" rules upon the use of the language. Grammar and spelling in Shakespeare's time, just for one example, was more lax. English is a living language and grammar will change according to usage... so it's best to chillax, dude!
 
I found myself drifting down this route some time ago and purchased Lynne Truss's book Eats, Shoots And Leaves to confirm my suscpisions!

A more humourous read, however, is Lost For Words by John Humphries.

Having got it out of my system, a chill pill a day now seems to suffice!

Pete
 
Exactly... while it is nice to know how to write and speak proper, should you wish to do so... pedantry is a lonely and humourless path.

I might "check" those books out
 
It's amazing to me how so many people don't know the difference between "it's" and "its". In fact I'm sure many don't believe "its" is a word at all.
Same goes for "there", "their" and "they're".
The thing is that the rules are so easy and take two minutes to learn. It makes me wonder what people are thinking about.
 
English is an evolving language, always has been, always will be.

I dont consider it 2 B an academic subject like Maffs and Science because their really r no laws ... see?
 
I do like a good standard of written (and spoken) English but the laws do change over time. Google is now a verb and not many people worry about ending sentences on prepositions or splitting their infinitives. Few pronounce Wednesday as Wed-nes-day.

Second law of thermodynamics is still that everything tends towards atrophy. Can't see binary changing.
 
Re: RE: Is it just me?

fancontroller said:
Laws of Maths and Science change all the time; simple grammar doesn't.
Click to expand...

This simply is not true (either side of the statement). Grammar evolves continually in line with popular usage, science changes very occasionally as paradigms shift, mathematics grows but stands for ever.
 
It's grammatically correct, the dictionary says it is an intransitive verb when describing a cause of action. Therefore it can take a direct object e.g. I recommend he sees a lawyer. The example in the OP is the imperative form of this usage. The example of the health club is poor grammar as the friend joins the club you don't join the friend to the club.

There are many written rules of English grammar, and they can disagree, there is just no committee or academy giving an official set of rules. Grammar books now tend to describe how English is used and not prescribe how it should be used. As long as the person's meaning is clearly in the context then that's all that really matters. The example above follows grammatical rules, in terms of tense and word order, otherwise it would be illegible.
 
The example above I was talking about was: 'I dont consider it 2 B an academic subject like Maffs and Science because their really r no laws ... see?'

Vocabulary changes very rapidly either by making new words or taking existing words and giving them them a new meiinng or usage, but grammar doesn't. We still make plurals, conjugate verbs, make the different tenses, use the passive voice, make questions, make negatives etc. the same way we did hundreds of years ago.
 
joe mcclaine said:
fancontroller said:
WiffWaff said:
English doesn't have written rules of grammar...
Click to expand...
Yes, it does.

Laws of Maths and Science change all the time; simple grammar doesn't.
Click to expand...

All the time?

Example for maths in the last 100 years?
Click to expand...

Whenever breakthroughs are made in science etc. new laws may need to be made and maths to prove them, like j being the square root of -1. The number zero was a relatively recent invention. In the last 100 years didn't Einstein come up with a few laws himself (although I don't know if that involved actual Maths laws). Quantum theory later needed new mathematics. Even the definition of infinity has been opened up for discussion, no longer thought of as a number but as a state. It's an ever-evolving subject.

Simple grammar, as opposed to the use of language, seldom changes and is needed for clear understanding, just as science needs to change to allow us to understand our world.
Now, give me an example where the use of "there" or "their" has changed.
 
If I were* to point out the example of the subjunctive mood, now almost dead, would that help convince you about grammar changes? Pick up a golden-age detective story, only eighty or ninety years old: the basic shape of our speech has shifted noticeably. Go back further and the differences are startling.

As to the mathematical comments, as a PhD mathematician, lecturer, and teacher, let me just plead with you to stop talking about that of which you know not.

* ahahaha. Pedantry jokes ftw.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom