I tell my son and my students that, if eggs or bricks are involved, it's "lay." Otherwise, chances are good it's "lie."... have you considered simply looking at the difference in meaning and structure instead? After all, lay is transitive, while lie is intransitive, and the meanings are quite different, too...
Yes, I know that. As I indicated, this is a pedagogical trick -- a mnemonic.
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P.S. My wife told me to add this one: her boss emailed the entire staff that "this project went flawless!" At which point she went ballistic. And she actually had the guts to email him back to explain about "adverbs." And she's still employed. Amazing.
The use of verbs as adverbs irritates me tremendous too.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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My wife's boss emailed the entire staff that "this project went flawless!" At which point she went ballistic. And she actually had the guts to email him back to explain about "adverbs."
I'm actually straddling the fence on that one, Kirth. I think the problem is the vagueness of "went", rather than "flawless".
Take a look at your next sentence. You correctly write ...she went ballistic. Not ##...she went ballistically##.
That's because the verb to go has several uses in English. And one of them is to act as a weak surrogate for other verbs, like to say or even to be. I'd wager that your wife wouldn't have had any problems with This project was flawless, which was perhaps closer to her boss' intended meaning than This project went flawlessly, which has more to do with process than product.
"Amazing" doesn't actually mean "good"!
You're right. According to Merriam-Webster's, amazing means "causing amazement, great wonder, or surprise <an amazing coincidence>".
Though, if your lady asks you how she looks, you'd be advised to pick a different word, no matter what I just wrote....
I suggest 'Awesome'. Exact same etymology, completely opposite connotation.
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While I agree that interrupting a thread to complain about someones unintentional literary slip is rude that is not what happened. I am confident that Mr. Schneider will take no offense at the above post because of the quiet polite way it was done. In fact as a professional who's job is word smithing I wouldn't be surprised if he thanked the original poster for it.
"...about someones unintentional literary slip..." -- isn't it supposed to be "someone's"?
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The one that drives me nuts? People referring to "the 80's." It's "the '80s." Apostrophes show omission (or possession), and in this case, you're omitting the "19," so that's where the apostrophe goes.
Amazingly, I've even seen this error on CDs from major record labels.
Have you read the book Eats, Shoots and Leaves? I think that you would like it.
Link fixed.
Thanks, Shiny.
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My pet peeve: "Same diff(erence)."
It's often used to imply two things are so similar that they are the "same thing." But my natural response is to ask "compared to what?" People rarely get that in order for something to have the same "difference" as something else there must a third thing for them to be similarly different.
Annoys the daylight out of me.
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Calling someone on an error that could easily have been pointed out in an email is not polite.
[threadjack] Where's the email function on these boards? I'm effing clueless about these things and there have been several occasions where I wanted to PM someone, but ended up having to post kudos (or whatever) in a thread instead. [/threadjack]
My pet peeve: "Same diff(erence)."
It's often used to imply two things are so similar that they are the "same thing." But my natural response is to ask "compared to what?" People rarely get that in order for something to have the same "difference" as something else there must a third thing for them to be similarly different.
Annoys the daylight out of me.
I remember when that one still sounded ignorant. Then it became the punchline of jokes. Then people started quoting the jokes. Then actually just started saying it. Sigh.
Didn't know it was a punchline...
"South Park" - Eric Cartman - "Dolphins, Eskimos, same difference."
I'd wager that your wife wouldn't have had any problems with This project was flawless, which was perhaps closer to her boss' intended meaning than This project went flawlessly, which has more to do with process than product.
It's a great pleasure to discuss these matters with a fellow English speaker! The project in question was a multi-step trip logistics exercise, in which process was the whole point; the boss probably meant something like, "each step smoothly followed the one preceding it, in a flawless progression."
My comment on "amazing" follows from listening to one of my young co-workers ("Paintball is amazing! It's SO much fun! I liked the Transformers movie--it was amazing!") and to a new commercial on the radio: "What could possibly make water taste EVEN MORE AMAZING?"
The taste of plain water might be described in various ways, but "amazing" probably shouldn't head the list.
My top three candidates: (1) ketchup, (2) crushed rose petals, (3) LSD.
(1) Heh. Is "amazing" also used as a synonym for "nauseating"?
(2) That might work. Or maybe morning glory seeds, to go with the theme you started in #3...(3) Some of the routes planned for private aircraft would probably make MORE sense if plotted on acid. When pilots call in and say, "We want to go from Bali to San Fransisco, but definitely stop and refuel in Nice, and we want to avoid the 'Stans, but we'll probably need a hotel in Abu Dhabi at some point," that's when I know that my beloved spouse is looking at heavy overtime again.
In case you're wondering, the product advertised was powdered lemon-flavored crystals, described as "All natural -- just like water itself!"
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In case you're wondering, the product advertised was powdered lemon-flavored crystals, described as "All natural -- just like water itself!"
I guess that depends on what "natural" really means. Do crystals naturally come "lemon-flavored"? Does the water "naturally" have lemon-flavored crystals found in it?
I guess that depends on what "natural" really means. Do crystals naturally come "lemon-flavored"? Does the water "naturally" have lemon-flavored crystals found in it?
Food adjectives are always silly. When I first heard of "organic" food, my immediate question was, "What, as opposed to 'inorganic' food made from rocks and metal ore or something?"
And I always get a kick out of people who say, "It's all-natural, so it must be good for you." I always reply, "Yes, of course. Like arsenic, for example. Or oleander wood."
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Food adjectives are always silly. When I first heard of "organic" food, my immediate question was, "What, as opposed to 'inorganic' food made from rocks and metal ore or something?"
And I always get a kick out of people who say, "It's all-natural, so it must be good for you." I always reply, "Yes, of course. Like arsenic, for example. Or oleander wood."
I think that my favorites are things that say "fat-free food" for things like condiments. (Of course they neglect to say how much sugar is in said "food".)
"For dinner tonight we are having a bottle of chocolate syrup."
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So this is what people with Lit. and English degrees do for fun?
I'd heard rumors but.... }: PHere's a word for you, "vernacular".
*rolls eyes*
I hate it when people use obfuscation unnecessarily to appear smarter than they are.
And for what it's worth, I have a mathematics degree. It's still a pet peave of mine.
So this is what people with Lit. and English degrees do for fun?
I'm not sure about those people. I've got hard science degrees. English is for fun!
Chief Technical Officer
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P.S. My wife told me to add this one: her boss emailed the entire staff that "this project went flawless!" At which point she went ballistic. And she actually had the guts to email him back to explain about "adverbs." And she's still employed. Amazing.The use of verbs as adverbs irritates me tremendous too.
I enjoy verbing nouns. And then I like re-nouning them. Give a noun a good verbing now and again, I say.
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I've got into an argument with one of my colleagues on how "cheap at half the price" MAKES NO SENSE! Of course it's cheap at half the price, it's half price! Now, "cheap at twice the price" would make sense.
Eventually I gave up as he was saying "everybody knows what it means". Well, of course they do. They've been saying it for hundreds of years, and it sounds right (through common usage) but it still doesn't make any sense!
I can't belive I've read every post on this thread up to here. I should be getting smarter by now one would think. But... No.
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Wow... just... wow...
I had no idea a simple "FYI" post would spawn such heated discussion.
I'm glad Wes took it in the spirit in which it was intended - a simple "just so you know" that had no malice or "grammar police" intent behind it. Since he is an editor, I figured he would enjoy learning something about the etymology of the phrase and having a better understanding of its usage and origins. That's all.
And to those who thought the message would have been better suited to a PM, I agree wholeheartedly. As mentioned in my original post, I could find no better place to put the message since these boards do not seem to allow Private Messages. There does not appear to even be a PM functionality here. I did mention the post to Mike McArtor with whom I game every couple weeks and he has since informed me that the Contact Us page has the email address of every Paizo employee. So now I know how to contact people directly should I ever want to pass along some information that would be better suited to a private conversation rather than public.
Anyway, I'm glad the general tenor of this thread has become somewhat more congenial and I hope this message finds everyone healthy and happy - especially Koldoon and his radioactive goop. =o)
Shannon
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(3) Some of the routes planned for private aircraft would probably make MORE sense if plotted on acid. When pilots call in and say, "We want to go from Bali to San Fransisco, but definitely stop and refuel in Nice, and we want to avoid the 'Stans, but we'll probably need a hotel in Abu Dhabi at some point," that's when I know that my beloved spouse is looking at heavy overtime again.
A couple of years ago, a few of my friends (not me) took a trip to Europe. Their return flight was from London to New York via Berlin. For those of you who don't own a globe, that doesn't make sense. At all.
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I guess that depends on what "natural" really means. Do crystals naturally come "lemon-flavored"? Does the water "naturally" have lemon-flavored crystals found in it?Food adjectives are always silly. When I first heard of "organic" food, my immediate question was, "What, as opposed to 'inorganic' food made from rocks and metal ore or something?"
And I always get a kick out of people who say, "It's all-natural, so it must be good for you." I always reply, "Yes, of course. Like arsenic, for example. Or oleander wood."
I think that may be one of my bigger pet peeves of all time.
OK, I live twenty minutes away from Vermont, which is basically Mecca for hippies. Phish and Dave Matthews play regularly. It's the homeland of Ben & Jerry's. Etc.
EVERYTHING there is billed as "organic" and "all-natural". I sometimes just go there and f%%+ with people.
CUT TO OUTSIDE:
A scary dude with a shaved head and combat boots sneeeeeks up behind some guy with dreads and his equally dreaded girlfriend.
"HEY F~$@ERS, WANNA BUY MY MOUNTAIN DEW BOTTLE! IT'S ORGANIC! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Well, not exactly like that, but you get the idea.
I have a high school education...
Higher degrees generally just add to your level of academic specialization. Unless you major in English or Literature or something, you're unlikely to get better at English by merely attending college and/or grad school. Heck, some of the science grad student TAs couldn't speak the language at all.