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Google, that ultimate research tool
Apr. 21st, 2004 03:57 amIt's blank verse blog week, for those who didn't know. Nevertheless, I'm not posting this in blank verse, because I'm writing about a few particular constructions in English and transforming them into blank verse would, well, kill the point.
I've been trying to poke at the lexical meaning of the word inquire, and whether one can inquire something if one knows the answer already. This involved Googling for phrases like "though * already knew" or "although * already knew" appearing on the same page as "inquired".
What I learned is this: people ask things although they already know the answer. Mostly they do this in fanfiction. (In fact, I suspect people do it outside fanfiction; but the vast majority of my results were fanfiction.)
Terrific. I did find the construction in use, but I really, really hesitate to cite in a linguistics paper the sentence "Are you that sore back there from our lovemaking?" Xena inquired, although she already knew the answer.
I did find a few things I can cite, including the minutes of a town meeting in Cicero, Indiana, and a food critic's column from a New Hampshire newspaper. (And I am citing a few works of fanfiction.) But, man, I'll be happy when I can effectively search published literature for phrases instead.
I've been trying to poke at the lexical meaning of the word inquire, and whether one can inquire something if one knows the answer already. This involved Googling for phrases like "though * already knew" or "although * already knew" appearing on the same page as "inquired".
What I learned is this: people ask things although they already know the answer. Mostly they do this in fanfiction. (In fact, I suspect people do it outside fanfiction; but the vast majority of my results were fanfiction.)
Terrific. I did find the construction in use, but I really, really hesitate to cite in a linguistics paper the sentence "Are you that sore back there from our lovemaking?" Xena inquired, although she already knew the answer.
I did find a few things I can cite, including the minutes of a town meeting in Cicero, Indiana, and a food critic's column from a New Hampshire newspaper. (And I am citing a few works of fanfiction.) But, man, I'll be happy when I can effectively search published literature for phrases instead.