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whymzycalIn February 2015, io9 writer Lauren Davis tackled a list of “10 Things People Once Complained Would Ruin the English Language,” a fun article that explains 10 things that grammarians and other language lovers used to freak out about. Unsurprisingly, it’s easy to see parallels between past concerns and the language worries of today. Spoiler alert: English hasn’t been ruined yet, and it ( probably won’t be. )
Answer: When do you use "you and I" vs. "you and me"?
Monday, 10 April 2017 19:29whymzycalHello, fellow grammar fans! Today we’re going to explore the question posed by wanted_a_pony: “When do you use ‘you and I’ versus ‘you and me’? Are there differences in American and British English?”
Let’s find out the answer with a little help from the characters of ( Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. )
wanted_a_pony: “When do you use ‘you and I’ versus ‘you and me’? Are there differences in American and British English?”Let’s find out the answer with a little help from the characters of ( Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. )
Friday Funnies: Grammar Sheriff
Monday, 24 October 2016 15:09ariestessWelcome to another installment of the Friday Funnies! Just on a Monday!
{Bonus points to anyone who gets that reference.}
Cyanide & Happiness (Explosm.net)
Even when I hear things like this being said in Westerns or by "hillbillies", it still makes my skin crawl. But I'd be a hypocrite if I said I've never used a double negative before. My prime transgression? "Ain't nobody got no time for that."
So what's your favorite double negative to say?
{Bonus points to anyone who gets that reference.}
Cyanide & Happiness (Explosm.net)
Even when I hear things like this being said in Westerns or by "hillbillies", it still makes my skin crawl. But I'd be a hypocrite if I said I've never used a double negative before. My prime transgression? "Ain't nobody got no time for that."
So what's your favorite double negative to say?
randi2204In today’s edition of Say What?, we’ll be taking a look at a couple of sayings that remind you that what you say, or maybe what you don’t say, can have great impact on what people think of you. Let’s jump right into better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt and tell the truth and shame the devil, with some help from the characters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
( Telling the truth doesn’t make you a fool, does it? )
( Telling the truth doesn’t make you a fool, does it? )
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chiroho.livejournal.comThis week's Say What? looks at two sayings that are related to annelids, and both of them counsel caution in different ways. My examples for explaining these sayings will be from Person of Interest.
( What happens if the worm that the early bird catches decides to turn? )
( What happens if the worm that the early bird catches decides to turn? )
ariestessToday's installment of "Say What?" will look at two phrases that have a common basis in Christianity and taking responsibility for your misdeeds. You've probably heard both but may not know what they mean. So let's find out together with the help of our friends over at Once Upon a Time, shall we?
( (Don't) rob Peter to pay Paul. / (The) writing on the wall. )
( (Don't) rob Peter to pay Paul. / (The) writing on the wall. )
achacunsagloire.livejournal.comThere is nothing quite so amusing about living in the American South as overhearing your fellow Southerners’ lingo while waiting in line at the supermarket. Besides the inevitable “dag burn” here and “ain’t” there, there’s a long list of colorful, exaggerated expressions that Southern speakers often customize when using, making these expressions more colorful and exaggerated than before. Daniel Sosnoski covers one such expression, “butter my butt and call me a biscuit!” as well as a wide range of its variants (including the racier ones) in this very thorough article. He touches a little on the friendly, humorous nature of this and other expressions, even the ones that are a bit (or a lot) on the insulting side.
( Read more: )
( Read more: )
Say What? The bee's knees / The whole nine yards
Friday, 3 July 2015 08:45whymzycal.livejournal.comIt's Friday, and that means it's time for another exciting "Say What?"! In today's installment, we're going to learn about two sayings whose current meanings probably originated in the U.S.—with examples from ( Person of Interest. )
achacunsagloire.livejournal.comHappy Friday, Fandom Grammar watchers! It sure has been an exciting past few weeks, what with the release of the new Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 trailer. Although it provided some juicy details for us fans to salivate over in the coming months, it did little to sate our hunger for Hunger Games goodness.
Speaking of which, this week’s food-oriented idioms inspire hunger of a different sort: “half a loaf is better than no bread” and “the bread always falls butter side down.” Let’s satisfy our hunger for knowledge below the cut:
( First up is "half a loaf is better than no bread": )
Speaking of which, this week’s food-oriented idioms inspire hunger of a different sort: “half a loaf is better than no bread” and “the bread always falls butter side down.” Let’s satisfy our hunger for knowledge below the cut:
( First up is "half a loaf is better than no bread": )
randi2204Welcome to your Friday, grammar fans, and to another edition of Say What?! The sayings we’re going to be looking at today are all about the work we do and the quality of that work. Our friends from the Magnificent Seven will help us take a look at if a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well and if you want a thing done well, do it yourself.
( Doing, doing, done! )
( Doing, doing, done! )
Answer: What are "false friends"?
Monday, 8 June 2015 17:49ariestessHello there, fellow grammarians! Today we're going to answer the question, What are "false friends"?, with a little help from our friends over at Captain America: The First Avenger.
( What are 'false friends'? )
( What are 'false friends'? )
Question: Why is it "sleep tight" and not "sleep tightly"?
Tuesday, 5 May 2015 07:32green-grrl.livejournal.comToday’s question is why we say “sleep tight” and not “sleep tightly.” After all, “sleep” is a verb, so shouldn’t we use the adverb form “tightly”?
Readers of a certain age might remember a similar issue with Apple’s “Think Different” advertising campaign in the 1990s, which had thousands of people crying, “No, think differently!” More recently, singer and grammar nerd “Weird Al” Yankovic has been seen changing a road sign from “Caution Drive Slow” to “Caution Drive Slowly.”
The good news is that there are readers who recognize that an action verb (like sleep or think or drive) should be modified by an adverb, not an adjective. The bad news for people trying to use correct grammar is that there are times when what looks like an adjective actually is an adverb, called a “plain” or “flat” adverb.
( Let’s take a closer look at these little known modifiers with examples from Marvel’s Avengers. )
Readers of a certain age might remember a similar issue with Apple’s “Think Different” advertising campaign in the 1990s, which had thousands of people crying, “No, think differently!” More recently, singer and grammar nerd “Weird Al” Yankovic has been seen changing a road sign from “Caution Drive Slow” to “Caution Drive Slowly.”
The good news is that there are readers who recognize that an action verb (like sleep or think or drive) should be modified by an adverb, not an adjective. The bad news for people trying to use correct grammar is that there are times when what looks like an adjective actually is an adverb, called a “plain” or “flat” adverb.
( Let’s take a closer look at these little known modifiers with examples from Marvel’s Avengers. )
achacunsagloire.livejournal.comHappy Friday, Fandom Grammar watchers! It sure has been one crazy week--which makes the topic of today's Say What? most appropriate: the idioms "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" and "helter skelter." Thanks primarily to pop culture and events of the late 20th century, both of these idioms have come to be associated with madness and terror. As such, we'll be traveling to the sleepy resort town of Silent Hill for help in understanding their meaning and context.
( The horror begins just under the cut: )
( The horror begins just under the cut: )
Answer: When is it okay to use double negatives?
Monday, 27 April 2015 19:51randi2204Today’s question deals with double negatives. We’ll take a look at them and when, if ever, they’re okay to use with a little help from our friends in the Magnificent Seven.
( I don’t want to not learn grammar! )
( I don’t want to not learn grammar! )
bluewolf458.livejournal.comBoth of our sayings today are British in origin. Luckily, Blair from The Sentinel is an anthropologist and has travelled widely, so he can give us some help.( Read more... )
chiroho.livejournal.comWelcome to another edition of Say What? where we look at the origin of different sayings and proverbs. This time our sayings relate to familiarity and closeness, and I'll be using characters from Person of Interest in my examples.
( Are you familiar with your neighbours? )
( Are you familiar with your neighbours? )
mab-browne.livejournal.comOur question today asks which option in this sentence is correct and why?
"So, you are one of those people who isn't/aren't good at accepting help?"
This means that in this post we get to examine the agreement of subjects and verbs, with a little help from Bodie and Doyle and their colleagues from The Professionals.
( Read on )
"So, you are one of those people who isn't/aren't good at accepting help?"
This means that in this post we get to examine the agreement of subjects and verbs, with a little help from Bodie and Doyle and their colleagues from The Professionals.
( Read on )
Answer: Difference between "bring" and "take"
Monday, 15 December 2014 19:56pinkeuphoria1.livejournal.comThis week, we’re going to answer the following question: “What are the differences in usage between "bring" and "take"? Are there regional and/or national differences?”. Tricky, isn’t it? Well, not anymore, since we’re about to solve the mystery surrounding “bring” and “take”, with help from the characters of "How I Met Your Mother"!
( Read more )
( Read more )
chiroho.livejournal.comIn this week's Say What? we'll be looking at two sayings that are clothing related, though only one of them is directly related to what we wear. I'll be using characters from Person of Interest for my examples.
( What do your clothes make of you? )
( What do your clothes make of you? )
