# Desperate Housewives 11/27 \*Spoilers\* **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 28, 2005, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desperate-housewives-11-27-spoilers/333024 "2005-11-28T06:09:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desperate-housewives-11-27-spoilers/333024/21 "2005-11-29T20:21:16Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I do. You wanna cookie? 😉 Seriously, I was going to say something about that comment as well. Although “this is she” is the proper phrase, it is also a very uncommon one. I didn’t even notice she said that until it was mentioned in the thread. Saying “this is her” does not make one sound uneducated. If anything, saying “this is she” is more likely to make one sound rather pretentious. > [@Honey](#): > > Sister Hot Pants looked like the nanny on Growing Pains Up until the final scene with Gabby and the nun on the front porch I was convinced she _was_ the nanny from Growing Pains! Alas, the nun’s teeth looked much larger than those of the Growing Pains nanny. They did look very similiar, though. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desperate-housewives-11-27-spoilers/333024/22 "2005-11-29T20:59:58Z")
> [@lezlers](#): > > Seriously, I was going to say something about that comment as well. Although “this is she” is the proper phrase, it is also a very uncommon one. I didn’t even notice she said that until it was mentioned in the thread. Saying “this is her” does not make one sound uneducated. If anything, saying “this is she” is more likely to make one sound rather pretentious. I find that very sad. Imagine, using proper grammar makes one sound pretentious! I suppose I shall just have to go on sounding pretentious. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desperate-housewives-11-27-spoilers/333024/23 "2005-11-29T21:44:15Z")
Insisting on using formal, written grammar in casual conversation does, in fact, cause one to sound pretentious. I have, for example, lightened up considerably on always speaking in complete sentences, because people tell me it sounds snotty. I’ve not exactly turned to cockney rhyming slang, you understand, but I try not to sound like the pages of an academic treatise when I talk. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desperate-housewives-11-27-spoilers/333024/24 "2005-11-29T22:02:47Z")
> [@jacquilynne](#): > > I have, for example, lightened up considerably on always speaking in complete sentences, because people tell me it sounds snotty. Then “people” are idiots. Having a subject and a verb together is “snotty”? That’s the dumbest damn thing I’ve ever heard. I assume whoever told you this was able to make themselves understood with the elaborate series of grunts and whistles they use in place of, you know, words? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desperate-housewives-11-27-spoilers/333024/25 "2005-11-29T22:49:58Z")
Oh, I don’t know. I would never consider responding to a telephone request for “Mr. Mudd” with “This is he,” although it’s certainly correct. I don’t know if it’s pretentious, exactly, but it certainly sounds stilted in that context. I would be rather more likely to reply with “Speaking,” which isn’t even a proper sentence _fragment._ It’s just appropriate for that mode of communication. (This is coming from someone who is routinely mocked for a conversational style which is apparently “too precise.”) I don’t think I could bring myself to say “This is him,” though. (Do you think _Desperate Housewives_ threads on other message boards tend to include this sort of tangent?) ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desperate-housewives-11-27-spoilers/333024/26 "2005-11-29T23:19:17Z")
I think I usually answer “This is Tim.” Correct, without sounding quite so pedantic (to my ear, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desperate-housewives-11-27-spoilers/333024/27 "2005-11-30T00:32:05Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > I think I usually answer “This is Tim.” Correct, without sounding quite so pedantic (to my ear, anyway). I think you should answer, “There are those who call me … Tim?” 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/desperate-housewives-11-27-spoilers/333024.md?page=1)