# The cites on that website are quite a sight. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 19, 2001, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571 "2001-04-19T18:27:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Pariah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/41988e/32.png) [@Pariah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pariah)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/41 "2001-04-21T07:31:27Z")
_Koffee Kup_, et al. Man, it’s difficult to even _type_ that without gritting my teeth… ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/42 "2001-04-21T14:21:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lemur866 \* > “My mother gave my brother and me a kiss.” > > Yes, you should say “my brother and me”!!! For crying out loud, what’s up with this overlearning? Fools! I’ll destroy them all! \*\* I grew up learning it as “My mother gave me and my brother a kiss”. Or, furthermore, “My mother gave me and my brother kisses” or “My mother kissed me and my brother”. I think I’m thinking too hard. OT: The rule for cite/citation? Follow this for quote/quotation. Quote is a verb, with these two exceptions (which I can’t, for the life of me, figure out): Main Entry: 2quote Function: noun Date: 1888 1 : QUOTATION 2 : QUOTATION MARK – often used orally to indicate the beginning of a direct quotation Source: [m-w.com](http://m-w.com), enter “quote” in the dictionary thing. ---
**Author:** ![Sealemon88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Sealemon88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sealemon88)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/43 "2001-04-21T14:37:22Z")
What’s up with typing “noone” for “No one”? Is this some sort of inside joke, like typing “manny” for “many”? Just in case it isn’t(And even if it is), no one should type “noone”. It looks stupid. A little bit O’ email ettiquite: If you _must_ send me a Fwd., take out the carridge returns ("\>"). In fact, learn C&P. It’s your friend; trust me. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/44 "2001-04-21T14:47:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sealemon88 \* > \*\*What’s up with typing “noone” for “No one”? Is this some sort of inside joke, like typing “manny” for “many”? > \*\* Just a thought, but it might have something to do with how people say “nobody” instead of “no body”. Nobody, noone . . . just a thought, as I said. I tend to use alternatives, myself. BTW, isn’t the phrase “carriage returns”, not carridge? ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/45 "2001-04-21T15:34:06Z")
I use cite as a noun, frequently and unapologetically. I read “Cite, please,” as “Provide a cite, please.” When other people make grammar mistakes, they’re illiterate morons. When _I_ make a grammar mistake, I’m evolving the language, 'cause I know the difference. ; ) ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/46 "2001-04-21T15:54:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Podkayne \* > When other people make grammar mistakes, they’re illiterate morons. When _I_ make a grammar mistake, I’m evolving the language, 'cause I know the difference. ; ) You aren’t part German, by any chance, are you? D&R ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/47 "2001-04-21T16:11:24Z")
Iampunha, 1. The reason why “me and my brother” is incorrect is that the speaker is supposed to defer to others in speech. The speaker is also supposed to give precedence to the individual to whom spoken. Incorrect: > [@](#): > > Hey, Jane! What do you think about me, John and you going to the mall this afternoon? Correct: > [@](#): > > Hey, Jane! What do you think about you, John and me going to the mall this afteroon? 1. When someone asks me if I’m “German, by chance,” my answer is: > [@](#): > > Not by chance; by birth. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/48 "2001-04-21T16:17:34Z")
Monty, I’d go with “you, me and john”, myself. But that’s just me. Did I just violate about five rules? ---
**Author:** ![Sparklo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Sparklo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparklo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2001, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/49 "2001-04-21T19:14:53Z")
Something I’ve only noticed recently: confusion regarding the words ‘lose’ and ‘loose’. After you lose weight, your pants may be loose. You can’t loose your keys; you’re not a looser if you drive a minivan. Argh…I guess it could just be typos…every single time! ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/50 "2001-04-22T11:18:17Z")
> [@](#): > > ## quote: > > Originally posted by Primaflora > “Everybody has taken their fair share of ice cream” is in fact incorrect. > > ## The possessive refers to the shares, not to the everybody. Everybody is more than one, but each person got a singular share. > > Actually, I don’t think the issue with this example is whether it should be their or his/her/its (which is another current debate I won’t go into now), but whether or not ‘Everybody has taken’ is correct. ‘Everybody’ is plural, indicating a number of people; however, ‘has taken’ is singular. ‘John has taken his share of ice cream.’ To me, this sentence would read better as ‘Everybody took their fair share of ice cream’ or ‘Everyone has taken his/her/its fair share of ice cream.’ Pick yer poison. Sigh. “Everybody” is singular in form, and should take a singular verb. Nouns or possessives in the same clause referring to the subject “Everybody” should also take singular form. However, nouns and possessives that refer back to “everybody” in a subsequent clause or sentence should be plural. “Everybody took his fair share of ice cream” may be an example of the sexist nature of the English language, but it is grammatical. Hijack BTW, if you want a really sexist language, try French. French has masculine and feminine forms for the word “they”, but no gender-neutral word. The masculine is used for groups of boys or men, the feminine for groups of girls or women. All mixed groups use the masculine form, even those consisting of, say 1 boy and 99 girls. End Hijack My own personal grammar pet peeves. 1. If you are telling me about your relationship with God, you are not “witnessing”, you are “testifying.” To witness is to observe. To tell what you have witnessesed is to testify. 2. You cannot hold someone responsible. You can, however, hold someone accountable. 3. The word “media” is plural; it takes a plural verb. Its singular form is medium. The media have (not has) been too intrusive into people’s private lives. The television medium (not media) is pervasive. 4. My sister-in-law, who graduated with honors from an Ivy League school, once referred to herself as “an alumni”. Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhh. She is, in fact, an alumna of her school. My brother is an alumnus. Together, they are alumni. She and her sorority sisters are alumnae. I knew that someday, I would get to put my Master’s degree in English to some use. Writing this post has given a purpose to 2 years of study at a cost of nearly $15,000. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/51 "2001-04-22T14:14:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Number Six \* > 4. My sister-in-law, who graduated with honors from an Ivy League school, once referred to herself as “an alumni”. Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhh. She is, in fact, an alumna of her school. My brother is an alumnus. Together, they are alumni. She and her sorority sisters are alumnae. And alumni and alumnae are pronounced THE EXACT SAME WAY! ALUMNAE= alum-neye. NOT “alumnay” or “alumney”. ALUMNI=alum-neye. NOT “alumneey”. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/52 "2001-04-22T14:56:29Z")
[ul] [li] between you and I (are you talking to I?..)[/li][li] aren’t I? (yes, and I are, too…)[/li][li] that’s him (oh, him looks great!..)[/li][li] that’s it’s drawback (and you’s, too…)[/li][li] I feel badly (and you write careless…)[/li][li] two brushes or less (and a gallon or fewer of paint…)[/li][li] we’re effecting ignorance (and with splendid affect…)[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/53 "2001-04-22T17:06:00Z")
I felt so proud of Michaela yesterday. She (at one month shy of five years old) actually said, “I am pretty, am I not?” ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/54 "2001-04-22T17:11:11Z")
Wow! Very impressive! ---
**Author:** ![Primaflora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Primaflora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Primaflora)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/55 "2001-04-22T20:45:33Z")
Libertarian if it isn’t 'aren’t I" what verb do you use in place of the aren’t? I’d like an explanation of why feeling badly is wrong. Isn’t badly an adverb there so why would bad be right? Umm sorry if I’m displaying my ignorance here. I went through school in NZ and Australia in the glory years where they taught NO grammar at all. Whole language was the go! ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/56 "2001-04-22T20:58:07Z")
“Ain’t I” is more correct than “aren’t I”, since “ain’t” is derived from “am not”. But Kaylasdad’s daughter had it right. “Am I not”?. Think about it, if “aren’t I” is correct, then so is “I are”. As to “I feel badly”, think about it this way: it isn’t _how_ (adverb) you feel, but _what_ (adjective) you feel. If you say you feel badly, you are commenting on your sense of touch (as in I feel carefully), or else some emotional state (as in I feel strongly). ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/57 "2001-04-22T21:03:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Primaflora \* > \*\*Libertarian > > if it isn’t 'aren’t I" what verb do you use in place of the aren’t?\*\* You use “am I not.” Geez, a kid could figure that out! 😉 > [@](#): > > **I’d like an explanation of why feeling badly is wrong. Isn’t badly an adverb there so why would bad be right?** Ah, but “bad” is also an adverb, and it’s correctly used in this sense. To illustrate: I feel badly = I have no sense of touch. I feel bad = I am queasy, sad, or remorseful. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/58 "2001-04-22T21:57:34Z")
> [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally posted by Number Six > > 4. My sister-in-law, who graduated with honors from an Ivy League school, once referred to herself as “an alumni”. Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhh. She is, in fact, an alumna of her school. My brother is an alumnus. Together, they are alumni. She and her sorority sisters are alumnae. > > And alumni and alumnae are pronounced THE EXACT SAME WAY! ALUMNAE= alum-neye. NOT “alumnay” or “alumney”. ALUMNI=alum-neye. NOT “alumneey”. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, alumni is pronounced with a long i sound (a-lum-neye), and alumnae is pronounced with a long e sound (a-lum-nee). They are _not_ pronounced the same. However, you missed the point of the rant. A single person cannot be an alumni (or an alumnae) because that word is plural. Regardless of the pronunciation of alumni/alumnae, what she should have said is that she is an alumna. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/59 "2001-04-23T02:40:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Number Six \* > According to the American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, alumni is pronounced with a long i sound (a-lum-neye), and alumnae is pronounced with a long e sound (a-lum-nee). They are _not_ pronounced the same. > > However, you missed the point of the rant. A single person cannot be an alumni (or an alumnae) because that word is plural. Regardless of the pronunciation of alumni/alumnae, what she should have said is that she is an alumna. > \*\* I did not miss the point of the rant, #6, I assure you:) Eighteen thousand years of Latin taught me the proper plurals of alumna/us. I guess pronunciation depends on the circle you’re in. My parents and I, with . . . crap, something around 15 years of Latin schooling, have pronounced them “alum-neye” for some time now. In Latin, actually, alumni is pronounced “alum-ni”. As in "ni! ni ni ni! We are the Knights . . . " you get the point. Alumnae as “alum-nee”? Uh . . . the alternate pronunciations I’ve heard are basically “alum-nay”. That long E is a new one. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571/60 "2001-04-23T02:58:15Z")
> [@](#): > > In Latin, actually, alumni is pronounced “alum-ni”. As in "ni! ni ni ni! We are the Knights . . . " you get the point. You know, I’ve often wondered about that point, given that I’ve always been told that each vowel in Latin (in most languages, actually) is assigned one, and only one, phoneme. What the heck are we doing, pronouncing so many plurals with a long “I” at the end? So is it, in reality, “hippopotam_ee_”? How about “rhinocer_ee_”? Or even “rhino_k_er_ee_” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cites-on-that-website-are-quite-a-sight/62571.md?page=4)