I'm certain it is. That bastard host read my mind earlier today when I was thinking they'd missed a trick in not changing the thread titles to something that would wind up pedants. Just seeing it makes me uncomfortable. *twitch*
Could it be that whoever is playing silly buggers with the thread title put an apostrophe in, pedant's, just to troll? I refuse to countenance the suspicion. Our Hosts and Admins are above such things as we well know.
So setting aside that supposition...
Is there an implied noun after pedant's, and if so what is it?
Or are they doing it simply to challenge KarlLB's theory that whatever people do is in accordance with the grammatical rules of the language?
Could it be that whoever is playing silly buggers with the thread title put an apostrophe in, pedant's, just to troll? I refuse to countenance the suspicion. Our Hosts and Admins are above such things as we well know.
So setting aside that supposition...
Is there an implied noun after pedant's, and if so what is it?
Or are they doing it simply to challenge KarlLB's theory that whatever people do is in accordance with the grammatical rules of the language?
It's probably as deliberate as the misrepresentation of my position.
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
by Lynne Truss really is a fun book.
My teachers, even with aggressive red pens, made very little impression on me. I've learned quite a bit from fellow shipmates, though. I remember one time I said something like, "I need to eat less chocolates," and the following poster said something like, "It's fewer! FEWER! If you can count it, you say FEWER, you idiot!" I can't remember who it was, but I remembered it. There's something to be said for aggressive teaching methods.
In the late 90s I was told I should stop marking in red as students found it intimidating. My reply was that, if red ink was the most intimidating thing about their education, students were escaping remarkably lightly.
To sum up,
-- Homonyms can refer to both homographs and homophones.
--Homographs are words that are spelled alike but not always pronounced the same.
--Homophones are words that are pronounced alike but not always spelled the same.
According to the strict sense of homonyms as words with the same spelling and pronunciation; however, homonyms according to the loose sense common in nontechnical contexts are words with the same spelling or pronunciation, in which case all homophones are also homonyms. Random House Unabridged Dictionary entry for "homonym" at Dictionary.com
Both of those articles do explain the strict definitions you stated, but also give an alternate approach.
I spent 20 years at a minor UK university blasting red pen across students' ( ) lab report submissions, trying to get them each to sound less like a dick, and to care about it. I had some sympathy with them, as my spoken accent is not one associated in the UK with a keen intellect. The point was, if you want to get paid and not look like a dick, don't write like one. This was engineering; no 'I' (who the hell cares what you think) or 'we' (what, did you lack even the confidence to get it wrong with 'I'?), passive voice all the way and no contractions.
I'm another who went to school in the English-grammar-free 70s and 80s, so if I really needed a grammatical term (rare) I had to import its name from German; it's still occasionally fun to freak people out with terms like 'ablative' which sound very funny in an accent as uneducated as mine. I was always OK at writing, just as a result of being a lonely kid who read a lot; one of my externals summarised my first attempt at a PhD submission with 'but it's very well written' .
(Oh, I missed the "amn't" discussions up-thread - still common usage in Dublin English, even amongst my middle-class south-of-the-river in-laws).
I have a a frequent joke with my students. When they come into class, I ask how they are. Almost invariably, they respond, "I'm good, thanks." When I'm feeling both pedantic and puckish (which is not always), I respond "I'm glad to hear it, I hope you are also well." It's a joke. I do understand the difference between formal and colloquial English. I also believe that is part of my job to teach them the difference between the two.
But I have to say that I'm beyond tired of a senior colleague prattling on about how good she is a[t] getting students to write "thesises." I've checked, and no English dictionary recognizes that as a valid form of "theses." And most recently, at the end of a very condescending email from my boss, she ordered me to get a report to "x, y, and I" before a certain date. That's neither colloquial nor correct.
I work in education. I have a strong feeling that both of these people look down on me as under-qualified. And yet, it is they who write like that...
Ross, "fighting" to choose, decide, and elect to join one of the circle's is literally missing the "point" of "Hell", IYSWIM (besides, "Circle" shouldn't be capitalised in your comment (see seventh circle))
Or mathematician. Though we try to use different types and sizes of brackets once we start nesting to reduce confusion.
Yes. It’s terrible when a mathematician goes all broody, and any interference with the eggs is more than your life’s worth. It’s best to offer a variety of brackets and let them choose the ones they want.
Or mathematician. Though we try to use different types and sizes of brackets once we start nesting to reduce confusion.
Yes. It’s terrible when a mathematician goes all broody, and any interference with the eggs is more than your life’s worth. It’s best to offer a variety of brackets and let them choose the ones they want.
Mathematically expressing ovoids is serious business.
@mousethief and @Rossweisse from far away you may not appreciate that this coin is not just a coin. It is a Brexitist political gesture by Mr de Pfeffel Johnson and his pals, which has aroused a great deal of anger and contempt here. The argument about the inscription's punctuation is a small collateral addition, 'to cap it all, these morons don't know how to use commas either'.
Think of it as though the Orange Monster was issuing dollar coins with 'Build the wall' embossed on them.
Comments
Except here, NZ and the UK at least (not sure about SA and Canada), the preposition "to" would follow the "wrote" in your sentence.
It's neither me nor Ross. I leave you to draw your own conclusions...
I'm certain it is. That bastard host read my mind earlier today when I was thinking they'd missed a trick in not changing the thread titles to something that would wind up pedants. Just seeing it makes me uncomfortable. *twitch*
The joke's on them - they're not homophones in the dialect I grew up with.
So setting aside that supposition...
Is there an implied noun after pedant's, and if so what is it?
Or are they doing it simply to challenge KarlLB's theory that whatever people do is in accordance with the grammatical rules of the language?
(once again, xkcd proves to be keeping up pretty well with the Ship).
I view with grave suspicion any suggestion that homophones can change.
It's probably as deliberate as the misrepresentation of my position.
by Lynne Truss really is a fun book.
My teachers, even with aggressive red pens, made very little impression on me. I've learned quite a bit from fellow shipmates, though. I remember one time I said something like, "I need to eat less chocolates," and the following poster said something like, "It's fewer! FEWER! If you can count it, you say FEWER, you idiot!" I can't remember who it was, but I remembered it. There's something to be said for aggressive teaching methods.
I was taught the first term, but I'm seeing the second more and more. Any ideas on why? Is "homophones" maybe something from the UK?
Thx.
A homonym is where two words are spelled the same way but have different meanings, e.g. page.
A homophone is where two words are pronounced the same but may be spelled differently: their, they're, there. Unless you are @Arethosemyfeet.
Thanks for the info. It's quite possible I was taught that in grade school, and have simply forgotten.
But..
I did some checking.
From Writing Explained, "Homonyms vs. Homophones vs. Homographs":
And from Wikipedia's "Homophone" article, footnote #1:
Both of those articles do explain the strict definitions you stated, but also give an alternate approach.
FWIW.
I'm another who went to school in the English-grammar-free 70s and 80s, so if I really needed a grammatical term (rare) I had to import its name from German; it's still occasionally fun to freak people out with terms like 'ablative' which sound very funny in an accent as uneducated as mine. I was always OK at writing, just as a result of being a lonely kid who read a lot; one of my externals summarised my first attempt at a PhD submission with 'but it's very well written'
(Oh, I missed the "amn't" discussions up-thread - still common usage in Dublin English, even amongst my middle-class south-of-the-river in-laws).
Published, here (food, literature, cinema, economics). Standing with the Grammar Valkyrie.
My parents thought that my homophonic pronunciations were just a phase... (reaching for my coat)
Brilliant. Just added this as required reading to my spring semester students.
Or mathematician. Though we try to use different types and sizes of brackets once we start nesting to reduce confusion.
Yes. It’s terrible when a mathematician goes all broody, and any interference with the eggs is more than your life’s worth. It’s best to offer a variety of brackets and let them choose the ones they want.
LOL!
Mathematically expressing ovoids is serious business.
That's better, and the right way round to go in the egg cup.
Anything with corners is always going to be.
Ah, but is the correct end pointing up?
Sorry:
https://www.geogebra.org/geometry/dtackhfg
Depends on where you stick it.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/27/brexit-50p-coin-boycott-philip-pullman-oxford-comma
I used to only think he's an idiot. Now I know.
Damn the chlamydia and it's emoji are funny. Just Smiley's eyes with no smile, just wiped out dread. Works for me.
Eighth circle. Never got over Live And Let Die. Great choon (fine filum) but the GRAMMAR!!!!
Think of it as though the Orange Monster was issuing dollar coins with 'Build the wall' embossed on them.