# Anyone else bored to death of grammar questions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 17, 2001, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-bored-to-death-of-grammar-questions/58415 "2001-03-17T22:20:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2001, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-bored-to-death-of-grammar-questions/58415/21 "2001-03-18T19:30:40Z")
Then there’s this thread in Comments on Staff Reports: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=62962](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=62962) ---
**Author:** ![JoeFriday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/94ad74/32.png) [@JoeFriday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeFriday)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2001, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-bored-to-death-of-grammar-questions/58415/22 "2001-03-19T01:32:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ModernRonin2 \* > \*\*Basically, I feel that language is essentially arbitrary. \*\* That may be so, but the problem is that if we don’t generally agree on its syntax, then we can’t understand one another. I understand and sympathize with what I think is your basic point: that “correctness” can be taken to extremes in grammar as much as it can in other areas; but language is one place where we really do need a consensus. The long and short of it is, when I hear someone use a non-word like “ongoing” or a phrase like “different than,” I am distracted from whatever point he is trying to make. That doesn’t help the speaker at all. ---
**Author:** ![Xerxes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d2c977/32.png) [@Xerxes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xerxes)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2001, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-bored-to-death-of-grammar-questions/58415/23 "2001-03-19T11:29:26Z")
Agree I that to the extremes grammar taken irritating Communication {hymn sheet’s reading the same page off} facilitated Dead you are? Hyperbole ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2001, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-bored-to-death-of-grammar-questions/58415/24 "2001-03-19T22:12:50Z")
Well, dantheman, my powers do not extend as far as Czarcasm and TVeblen’s forum. But I’ll tell you what you can do. You go over there and post in the IMHO thread “all the intelligent people are discussing it over in CCC”. Do you accept this dangerous mission? ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2001, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-bored-to-death-of-grammar-questions/58415/25 "2001-03-19T22:31:41Z")
Shall I tell them “All your base are belong to us intelligent people over at CCC”? Nah, too dangerous. I’m out of my league. 😉 Besides, I’ve said my piece here. If the OP wants to talk about it more, I’d be way overjoyed to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2001, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-bored-to-death-of-grammar-questions/58415/26 "2001-03-20T15:04:15Z")
“Ongoing” isn’t a word? Huh. It’s in Websters, and they claim it goes back to 1877. ---
**Author:** ![nemo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@nemo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nemo1)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-bored-to-death-of-grammar-questions/58415/27 "2001-03-21T04:56:06Z")
There has been some objection to “ongoing,” particularly in England and as recently as the 1990s, on the grounds that it’s jargon or cliche. To say that it isn’t a word when it’s been widely used for fifty years (I don’t mean just by the vulgar folk, but by decent writers as well) seems extreme. New words frequently sound infelicitious for a long time to those who remember a time before they were commonly used. Words that just plain ring wrong now include “concept” used as a verb and “incent” (back-formation from “incentive”). But if that’s the problem here, JoeFriday has one long memory. ---
**Author:** ![JoeFriday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/94ad74/32.png) [@JoeFriday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeFriday)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-bored-to-death-of-grammar-questions/58415/28 "2001-03-21T11:30:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Podkayne \* > \*\*“Ongoing” isn’t a word? Huh. It’s in Websters, and they claim it goes back to 1877. \*\* Right, I know it’s in Webster’s, but I don’t have to like it, and I wish it wasn’t there. The big problem I have with “ongoing” is that it implies the existence of the verb “to ongo.” If so, where are onwent, ongone, etc.? Who says “will ongo”? And what’s wrong with “continuing”? Anyhow, it just sounds to me like more businessese, along with impacted, downsizing, gifting, and growing your sales. And we certainly have to apologize to **ModernRonin2** for discussing grammar in his thread that asks people to stop discussing grammar. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-bored-to-death-of-grammar-questions/58415/29 "2001-03-21T12:57:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JoeFriday \* > \*\* > Right, I know it’s in Webster’s, but I don’t have to like it, and I wish it wasn’t there. The big problem I have with “ongoing” is that it implies the existence of the verb “to ongo.” If so, where are onwent, ongone, etc.? Who says “will ongo”? And what’s wrong with “continuing”? > > \*\* It doesn’t imply the existence of the verb “to ongo.” It’s an adjective, not a verb. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-bored-to-death-of-grammar-questions/58415/30 "2001-03-21T15:01:54Z")
No, it’s not an adjective, although it is an adjectival form. But this is silly. Upcoming. Incoming. Outgoing. It’s a standard construction of Germanic languages. English doesn’t do it as often as Hochdeutsch does, but it’s perfectly normal. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-bored-to-death-of-grammar-questions/58415/31 "2001-03-21T15:20:25Z")
From my print copy of **Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 10th Edition** : ongoing: adj(1877) 1 a: being actually in process b: CONTINUING 2: continuously moving forward: GROWING > [@](#): > > The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. > > ongoing > > SYLLABICATION: on·go·ing > PRONUNCIATION: n´g´´ng, ôn´- > > ADJECTIVE : 1. Currently taking place: “an ongoing festival.” 2. In progress or evolving. It is normal, yes. And an adjective, too! 🙂 From the Cambridge International Dictionary of English: [quote] ongoing adjective [not gradable] continuing to exist or develop, or happening at the present moment /quote] ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-bored-to-death-of-grammar-questions/58415/32 "2001-03-21T15:22:20Z")
Boy, did THAT look crappy! Sorry about that. Hope you understood what I was tying to say… ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-bored-to-death-of-grammar-questions/58415/33 "2001-03-21T16:09:08Z")
Well, I think it’s a perfectly cromulent word, and my usage of it is ongoing. Must be my Teutonic heritage. Sorry, Joe. ---
**Author:** ![nemo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@nemo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nemo1)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-bored-to-death-of-grammar-questions/58415/34 "2001-03-21T17:50:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JoeFriday \* > \*\*And we certainly have to apologize to **ModernRonin2** for discussing grammar in his thread that asks people to stop discussing grammar. 🙂 \*\* No kidding. You beat me to it, Joe; I was going to say that, too. On the other hand, since this thread now seems to have been thoroughly hijacked, does anyone else find anything odd about the thread title? Doesn’t “bored” normally take “by” or “with” as opposed to “of?” The expression “bored to death,” by the way, was condemned as hackneyed as far back as the 1950s. I think discussions about language, grammar, and usage embiggen the smallest man. ---
**Author:** ![ModernRonin2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@ModernRonin2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ModernRonin2)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-bored-to-death-of-grammar-questions/58415/35 "2001-03-21T22:08:28Z")
Ah!!! The pain, the pain!! My whiney, self-serving rant about how annoying I find grammar questions has mutated into yet another grammar thread! The pain! The agony! The overwhelming bleakness! The vaguely existential angst! The profusion of plastic salad forks!! Make it stop, mommy!! ;] Nah, actually I don’t mind. See, I gave this thread up for dead several days ago, so it hasn’t been bugging me. Carry on, ye merry grammarians! Better that you get it out here than sending more questions to Uncle Cece. ;] -Ben ---
**Author:** ![nemo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@nemo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nemo1)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-bored-to-death-of-grammar-questions/58415/36 "2001-03-21T23:27:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ModernRonin2 \* > \*\*Better that you get it out here than sending more questions to Uncle Cece. ;] > -Ben \*\* For the record, not only did it never occur to me that Cecil might reply to me about “different than,” I did not actually ask a question. Cecil started it by bringing “composition” into his column and punting one of the things he said about it. So it’s up to _Cecil_ to avoid provoking people to posting stuff about grammar. nemo [now extracting tongue from cheek] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-bored-to-death-of-grammar-questions/58415.md?page=1)