It's definitely an adjective! Just one where the comparative should be "more fun" rather than the (funner) "funner". I mean, you'd say "it's rather fun" and stuff, right?
― Alba, Wednesday, June 13, 2012 12:37 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
but would you say, "so fun" (common in US, but not really accepted formally) or would you say it had to be "so much fun"?
"rather fun" is interesting, because the OED cites punch magazine saying something is "rather fun" even while denying it can be an adjective. i can't square that one, it's definitely used as an adjective there.
are there any other adjectives that take exactly the same form as the noun? i wonder if that's why the transition is incomplete and why "funner" and "funnest" sound so bad. (normal rule is supposedly one syllable adjective takes "er", two can go either way, more than two takes "more".)
― joe, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 00:53 (eleven years ago) link
shit.....
― too cool graham rix listening to neu (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 00:54 (eleven years ago) link
yeah, but we have shitty and shittier as alternatives if you don't want the ambiguity/awkwardness of "shitter". funny got co-opted by the comedians before "fun" started being commonly used as an adjective.
― joe, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 01:05 (eleven years ago) link
names that end in -s - always pluralize by adding -es? joneses, thomases, strausses...?
― now all my posts got ship in it (dayo), Thursday, 5 July 2012 14:32 (eleven years ago) link
Yes.
― pplains, Thursday, 5 July 2012 14:48 (eleven years ago) link
And that also goes to Mannixes, Martinezes, etc.
― pplains, Thursday, 5 July 2012 14:49 (eleven years ago) link
yes. this construction seems awkward as hell to me, but it is s.o.p. because what can you do?
― Aimless, Thursday, 5 July 2012 16:24 (eleven years ago) link
How do I make a plural out of dumplin'?
― Tom Crucifictorious (Leee), Wednesday, 11 July 2012 18:24 (eleven years ago) link
Sorry, that doesn't show up well, try this one:
dumplin'
― Tom Crucifictorious (Leee), Wednesday, 11 July 2012 18:25 (eleven years ago) link
DUMPLINGS!!
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Wednesday, 11 July 2012 18:26 (eleven years ago) link
But if I want to drop the "g"?
― Tom Crucifictorious (Leee), Wednesday, 11 July 2012 18:27 (eleven years ago) link
dumplins?
― rayuela, Wednesday, 11 July 2012 18:57 (eleven years ago) link
You spell it with the 'g', but then you don't pronounce the 'g'.
― Aimless, Wednesday, 11 July 2012 20:13 (eleven years ago) link
dumplins
― deems irreverent (darraghmac), Wednesday, 11 July 2012 22:33 (eleven years ago) link
dumplin's 'n' potato's
― Özil Gummidge (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Wednesday, 11 July 2012 22:57 (eleven years ago) link
is it not grammatically correct to use "or" in place of "i.e."?
for example:
These programs are required to be part of [jargon], or [things that explain that jargon]
These programs are required to be part of turtles, or those things in the sea that float.These programs are required to be part of turtles, i.e., those things in the sea that float.
I thought it was OK usage, but my boss keeps changing it, and google is not being my friend.
― rayuela, Thursday, 12 July 2012 19:35 (eleven years ago) link
Looks strange to me - it seems as if you're saying there's a choice rather than giving clarification.
― Özil Gummidge (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Thursday, 12 July 2012 19:41 (eleven years ago) link
(also programs can't be part of turtles)
― Özil Gummidge (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Thursday, 12 July 2012 19:43 (eleven years ago) link
Doesn't answer your question, but what about using "such as" instead of "or"?
― pplains, Thursday, 12 July 2012 19:43 (eleven years ago) link
i.e. = "id est" = "that is," meaning "that is to say" or "in other words..." So it wouldn't be correct to use it in place of "or."
― Neil Jung (WmC), Thursday, 12 July 2012 19:44 (eleven years ago) link
(xp) But then that's giving an example of one of many rather than explaining all
― Özil Gummidge (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Thursday, 12 July 2012 19:44 (eleven years ago) link
A nice mnemonic for i.e. and e.g.:i.e. = id est = in ether words...e.g. = exempli gratia = For egsample...
― Tom Crucifictorious (Leee), Thursday, 12 July 2012 20:04 (eleven years ago) link
hmm ok. i am placated for now but i may come back with more examples later if they arise. thansk!
― rayuela, Thursday, 12 July 2012 20:18 (eleven years ago) link
You can use use "or" to mean "also referred to as," but that doesn't correspond exactly with "i.e."
― Eyeball Kicks, Thursday, 12 July 2012 20:29 (eleven years ago) link
ok, yeah, i think that might be what i was thinking of...
― rayuela, Thursday, 12 July 2012 20:35 (eleven years ago) link
viz.to witnamely
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 12 July 2012 22:41 (eleven years ago) link
when doing a comparative, do you need to repeat the verb? is it just a stylistic preference or is one WRONG.
My cat is cuter than your cat.My cat is cuter than your cat is.
This cohort belongs to a higher socioeconomic class than the other cohort.
― rayuela, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 19:16 (eleven years ago) link
My feeling is that in cases where the specific wording COULD introduce ambiguity, keep the verb, but I don't think it's necessary?
― purveyor of generations (in orbit), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 19:19 (eleven years ago) link
hmm ok.
option A sounds so weird to me but maybe i have just brainwashed myself into thinking it sounds wrong?
A) The data suggest that cohort X were much more likely to complete Activity A, Activity B, and Activity C than their matched counterparts.
B) The data suggest that cohort X were much more likely to complete Activity A, Activity B, and Activity C than *were* their matched counterparts.
― rayuela, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 19:35 (eleven years ago) link
but then i start to think that option B is unnecessary. so i can't decide.
I'd go with A because I believe in simplicity and you don't seem to think it will interfere with comprehension.
― these albatrosses have no fear of man (La Lechera), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 19:36 (eleven years ago) link
ok. thanks you two!
― rayuela, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 19:39 (eleven years ago) link
http://www.ehow.com/how_2086393_use-raise-rise-correctly.html
When writing and speaking, people often misuse the words raise and rise. Raise is an intransitive verb meaning "to lift up, to exalt or to enhance," and rise is a transitive verb-a verb that takes a direct object-meaning "to move or pass upward in any manner, to increase in value or to improve in position or rank." The forms of the words are very similar but have distinct differences. Follow the steps to learn how to use the words raise and rise correctly.
last time i google grammar tips
― la goonies (k3vin k.), Tuesday, 18 September 2012 02:23 (eleven years ago) link
That's similar to lay and lie, at first glance? Sounds reasonable to me?
― purveyor of generations (in orbit), Tuesday, 18 September 2012 02:25 (eleven years ago) link
no, raise is transitive and rise is intransitive - "they raised prices" (prices = object) - "jesus rose from the dead"
― la goonies (k3vin k.), Tuesday, 18 September 2012 02:28 (eleven years ago) link
"Ethanol is a depressant, which lowers heart rate."
This is wrong, but how do I explain to a simpleton that it is wrong?
I think the thing that makes it wrong is that the writer has tried say two things (ethanol is a depressant; depressants lower heart rate) but has overstretched the word depressant to do so, trying to use it as both subject and object in two different statements. Is that accurate?
Also, can you think up a good example with the main words replaced that would really hammer home why this construction does not work (A is a B, which C)?
― Eyeball Kicks, Friday, 21 September 2012 13:23 (eleven years ago) link
Relative pronoun clauses (aka adjective clauses in this instance) should be able to be separated into simple sentences and still be true.Ethanol is a depressant. Depressants lower heart rate. If that's not the case, the sentence is a stinker.
― these albatrosses have no fear of man (La Lechera), Friday, 21 September 2012 13:34 (eleven years ago) link
I think those two statements are true, but still the sentence doesn't work. I think might have something to do with the singular/plural switch (i.e. you had to turn depressant into depressants in your second sentence). For example, "Some drugs are depressants, which lower heart rate" is fine. At the same time, you can say, on its own, "A depressant lowers heart rate". But I hear the original sentence as "Ethanol is a depressant. Depressant lowers heart rate" - i.e. Hulk-speak. Maybe I'm wrong.
― Eyeball Kicks, Friday, 21 September 2012 13:46 (eleven years ago) link
I guess I'd have to know who the writer is - native or nonnative speaker?
― these albatrosses have no fear of man (La Lechera), Friday, 21 September 2012 14:07 (eleven years ago) link
Native, though uninterested in the nitty gritty of grammar. It is a caption in an educational film. I think she understands that it sounds awkward but doesn't think it's a big enough deal to change it at the moment. To me it sounds awful.
― Eyeball Kicks, Friday, 21 September 2012 14:36 (eleven years ago) link
Native, though uninterested in the nitty gritty of grammar.This is most people, tbf. I'm not repulsed by the sentence in question, but it is clunky.
― these albatrosses have no fear of man (La Lechera), Friday, 21 September 2012 15:22 (eleven years ago) link
"Ethanol is a depressant that lowers heart rate.""Ethanol is a depressant, so it lowers heart rate."
― ledge, Friday, 21 September 2012 15:29 (eleven years ago) link
The 'wrongness' you sense is awkwardness, not flawed grammar. I like the suggestion of "Ethanol is a depressant, so it lowers heart rate", in that it is clearer, more natural and, if space were a consideration, fits easily in the same space.
― Aimless, Friday, 21 September 2012 18:26 (eleven years ago) link
"Ethanol is a depressant, lowering the heart rate."
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Friday, 21 September 2012 19:33 (eleven years ago) link
THANK YOU.
― purveyor of generations (in orbit), Friday, 21 September 2012 19:34 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, either that or ""Ethanol is a depressant; it lowers the heart rate" (replacing semi-colon with a dash if preferred)
― Alba, Friday, 21 September 2012 19:37 (eleven years ago) link
"Ethanol is a depressant; DRINK IT AND DIE"
― cake-like Lady Gaga (DJP), Friday, 21 September 2012 19:40 (eleven years ago) link
Yep, we're going with that.
― Eyeball Kicks, Friday, 21 September 2012 20:25 (eleven years ago) link
The comma before 'which' makes it a non-defining relative clause which refers to the whole previous clause, not just the noun. Compare:Old Trafford is a stadium which can seat more than 70,000 spectators ('which' = stadium)She said she found my cooking disgusting, which really took the edge off my evening ('which' = the fact that she said she found my cooking disgusting)
So "Ethanol is a depressant, which lowers heart rate." is a bizarre sentence - it doesn't mean that depressants lower heart rate, nor that ethanol lowers heart rate. It means that the existence of the fact that ethanol is a depressant somehow lowers heart rate.
― Mountain Excitement (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Friday, 21 September 2012 21:24 (eleven years ago) link
Ethanol is a depressant and lowers heart rate.
― quincie, Friday, 21 September 2012 21:58 (eleven years ago) link