Koffee Kup, et al.
Man, it’s difficult to even type that without gritting my teeth…
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, enter “quote” in the dictionary thing.
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.
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?
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. ; )
You aren’t part German, by any chance, are you?
D&R
Iampunha,
- 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:
Correct:
- When someone asks me if I’m “German, by chance,” my answer is:
Monty, I’d go with “you, me and john”, myself. But that’s just me.
Did I just violate about five rules?
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!
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.
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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.
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You cannot hold someone responsible. You can, however, hold someone accountable.
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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.
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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.
And alumni and alumnae are pronounced THE EXACT SAME WAY! ALUMNAE= alum-neye. NOT “alumnay” or “alumney”. ALUMNI=alum-neye. NOT “alumneey”.
[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]
I felt so proud of Michaela yesterday. She (at one month shy of five years old) actually said, “I am pretty, am I not?”
Wow! Very impressive!
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!
“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).
You use “am I not.” Geez, a kid could figure that out! 
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.
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.
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, “hippopotamee”?
How about “rhinoceree”?
Or even “rhinokeree”