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When telemarketers call and ask for 'the lady of the house', I grandly say, "This is she...", prepararory to flicking them off....they feel less rejected that way, and probably just think I am a snobby old broad!
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Curmudgeon II
Hi,I have another question.
Which of the following is correct:
This course introduces teachers to a new teaching methodology.
or
This course introduces a new teaching methodology to teachers.
Thanks!
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Thank you. I just thought there might be a rule about using "introduce." I will use my second sentence. :-)
I think the second, because it is the teaching methodology that is being 'introduced' regardless of the audience. MTC (my two cents) :)
When you have dilemma like that, rewrite the sentence. "This course presents a new teaching method." "Methodology" is unnecessarily verbose, and seems to mean something like "the theory of methods." And of course, you're not going to present a new teaching method to bakers or electricians.
A grammatical quandary is a signal to take a new approach.
Forgive me for pontificating.
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David, thanks so much! I am glad I can turn to you all for help. :-)
A grammatical quandary is a signal to take a new approach.Thanks too, David. I can't tell you how many times this rule of thumb has saved me.
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Hi Debbie --All good, except for a muddy Internet connection. Where's the fabulous red dress photo?
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I've had the DT's since you took it down.
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Serendipitous, my dear, serendipitous.
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Also, red dress brings to mind "redress" and its dual meanings.
Another grammar question:Can whatsoever be substituted for whatever? I see signs like "post no material whatever" which just sound wrong to me but I'm seeing it more and more. Is this grammatically correct? I've been trying to think of another example but the only ones I can think of just have to be wrong like, "I will no tolerate bigotry whatever." No, no, no!
Whatever and whatsoever are very near interchangeable as far as I know. The trend lately has been to say more with less -- fewer sentences, fewer words, fewer syllables. My guess is that that's why we're starting to see whatever substituting for whatsoever. To me this is a style change, and it's fine to retain whatsoever, but not incorrect to use whatever.
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Now I have a question. I work with a couple of poets by email. We critique each other's poems. One poem this month as this phrase
I love how we have sat in a teepee.
Now that have sat just looks/sounds wrong to me. But seat-of-the-pants grammarian that I am, I can't say why it's wrong. Help!
"Post No Material" is best. The other words add nothing to the meaning."Have sat" is correct. It looks unusual because we normally contract it and say, "We've sat ..." in ordinary speech. It reminds me of "swum" being the perfect of "swim": I swim, I swam, I have swum. Odd, but correct.
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I think whatsoever sounds right, and "whatever" has a different meaning these days as in a dismissive exclamation....ie....(Parent)...."Could you please put a jacket on? It's cold outside." (Child)..."Whatever!"
Grammatically, it's correct. As a matter of style, it may sound wrong, but that's hard for me to determine because it's poetry, and there may be reasons I know nothing about why the author chose "have sat" over "sat". If it were prose, I would agree with you, Debbie -- to be sure, I feel more competent criticizing prose than poetry. So the poets here will have to look at the poem as a whole and judge the artistic merit by their own criteria.
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Post No BillsPost Anything Here and You're Dead Meat
Stick Paper Up Here, and My Dog Spot Will Bite Off Your Sorry Head
Advertisers Will Be Shot
May the Fleas of a Thousand Camels Devour the Poster
Go Do Your Posting In the Fifth Circle of Hell
Be Creative
David, I like your suggestions, although I suspect the government would get a whopping pile of letters if they chose any but the first one.Tyler, I agree that it doesn't add direct meaning but I think it adds emphasis. I concur that short and sweet is usually better but we have a rich, beautiful language for a reason: to use it. The important thing is to know when to be concise and when to wax poetic.
Hi,My colleague wants to invite a married couple to an event and wants to know if she should write "Mrs and Mr X" or "Mr and Mrs X" on the envelope. I told her to use the first, but now I'm not too sure. Is there a rule about this? What do you think?
Thanks!
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Thank you, Ruth, Debbie, and Newengland.
Mr. and Mrs. is customary because we live in a sexist society. Why not simply "the so and so's" if they have the same last name? (I'm guessing they do since it wouldn't be a question if they didn't.)
:-) Thanks, Kelly. So Mr. and Mrs. it is.
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"Hillary" is from ιλαριον, meaning "joyous." How inapt!
Hello everyone! I have another question:Do you "request for a particular book" or "request a particular book"?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you!
Nita
You "ask for" a particular book, but "request" a particular book. "Go," as Kurt Vonnegut says, "figure."
My colleague had an argument with her friend. She claimed that "the glue in the gluestick has got over." Her friend said that she should have said "the glue in the gluestick is finished" instead. I think the latter is right. Am I right?
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Language & Grammar
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No. I just turn the tables by asking, "and who is calling?"