Linguistics

[tahnan]

Let me clear up a few things definitively.

If a pronunciation is listed in one's dictionary of record, and is listed without saying that it's a regional variant, it's not dialectal, it's not dispreferred, and it can be used freely in one's pursuit without any need for comment.

"Would give" is not the future tense. The subjunctive does not need preserving. "If I was king..." has been common, perhaps even standard, for hundreds of years. "If I were the teacher" and "If I be the teacher" are not synonymous.

Now. If people would kindly stop saying linguistically idiotic things on mailing lists I read, I might be able to get some [censored] work done.

Comments

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Well yes, but I disprefer certain pronunciations which may or may not be dialectical.

[bibliogirl.livejournal.com]

I like the subjunctive.

[elainetyger.livejournal.com]

So, then, I can just delete that whole thread and not miss anything?

--The one with 166 unread messages who is just happy if she remembers not to curse in front of people who pay her, let alone contemplate tenses. Seriously, I tend to rephrase and simplify when in doubt. Also, with my gutter Staten Island accent, I can't comprehend some of the phonetic discussions. I remember being shocked when a potential combiflatter rejected my phonetic curtailment of lemming/lemon as not a phonetic curtailment.

[rpipuzzleguy.livejournal.com]

"So, then, I can just delete that whole thread and not miss anything?"

Lord knows I did.

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, delete 'em, you're not missing anything.

[dougo.livejournal.com]

What I hate is the "sportscaster subjunctive", e.g. "if he catches that ball, it's a touchdown" (when discussing a recent incomplete pass). Whatever happened to good old past perfect tense?

[rubrick.livejournal.com]

This might be a good time to select one of the following options:

a) Learn to accept that most people believe, and feel strongly about, all sorts of linguistically idiotic things, and don't get too bent out of shape about it

b) Get a prescription for valium

c) Choose a new career

It's not going to get any better, I'm afraid.


P.S.: I'm rather fond of the subjunctive myself, but then, I also like liverwurst. No accounting for taste.

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

Er, well, thank you for your helpful suggestions, but I can't let people say, in public forums, linguistically idiotic things where they might actually be believed. Any more, I think, than you can let blatantly false statements about Apple computers stand without correction.