I think I am as at least as likely to say whomsoever as whomever!
― Alba, Thursday, 6 February 2020 17:20 (four years ago) link
I'm a populist, I say "who-all's"
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Thursday, 6 February 2020 17:21 (four years ago) link
'm terrible at explaining grammar because I never learned all the proper terms, but here goes: "Whoever" is correct because while "I" is the subject of the sentence (I can help), "Whoever" is the subject of the clause "whoever is next" and the clause doesn't change. (It's possible I've used the word "clause" wrong here, but you get the idea.)― Lily Dale, Thursday, February 6, 2020 4:15 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
― Lily Dale, Thursday, February 6, 2020 4:15 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
I don't think that's correct. 'Whoever' is the object that the subject is helping, regardless of the clause. We say 'I can help her/him' not she/he. Technically whomever is correct, but no one says it because it sounds stupidly pedantic, like this post.
Another example is "there's loads of ..."
― lefal junglist platton (wtev), Thursday, 6 February 2020 19:30 (four years ago) link
I use a website for work which allows one to select 'more search options' or 'less search options' and the latter drives me fuuuuuuuucken crazy.</pedant>
― Sammo Hazuki's Tago Mago Cantina (Old Lunch), Thursday, 6 February 2020 19:36 (four years ago) link
we could've cured cancer by now if we didn't get distracted by pointless grammar issues
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Thursday, 6 February 2020 19:40 (four years ago) link
or should that be "hadn't"??
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Thursday, 6 February 2020 19:41 (four years ago) link
Correcting grammar is just another of the million ways we pretend that patting sand onto our orderly castle is going to keep the tides of chaos from wiping that fucker out.
― Sammo Hazuki's Tago Mago Cantina (Old Lunch), Thursday, 6 February 2020 19:43 (four years ago) link
I don't think that's correct. 'Whoever' is the object that the subject is helping, regardless of the clause. We say 'I can help her/him' not she/he.
Not quite. The entire clause is the object. "I can help whomever" is fine, I think, though you probably still shouldn't say it because it sounds weird. But once you make it "Whoever is next," it has to stay that way.
Think about another example: "I am going to punch whomever ate my sandwich." "Whomever ate my sandwich" is clearly wrong, and any sentence that requires you to say it is wrong.
Anyway, I wasn't trying to get this thread embroiled in a long grammar discussion, just pointing out that how frustrating it can be when retail-speak combines with hypercorrection.
― Lily Dale, Thursday, 6 February 2020 19:49 (four years ago) link
"pointing out how frustrating it can be" is of course what I meant to type.
― Lily Dale, Thursday, 6 February 2020 19:51 (four years ago) link
had to create 'work goals' for myself
decided fuck it and used the word 'onboarding'
― mookieproof, Thursday, 6 February 2020 21:56 (four years ago) link
i got sighted on that onboarding, mookieproof, and decided to give it a deep dive
― lefal junglist platton (wtev), Friday, 7 February 2020 20:57 (four years ago) link
Let me know once you’ve bottomed that out
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Friday, 7 February 2020 21:16 (four years ago) link
is it me or our nine out of people pronouncing the word pundits "pundiNts"?
― Suggest Banshee (Hadrian VIII), Friday, 7 February 2020 21:36 (four years ago) link
haven't noticed that yet, but have noticed people pronouncing tenets "tenants."
― Lily Dale, Friday, 7 February 2020 21:55 (four years ago) link
don’t be pedatic
― wee jim o’conor (wins), Friday, 7 February 2020 22:25 (four years ago) link
. be pedan✓
― BSC Joan Baez (darraghmac), Friday, 7 February 2020 23:28 (four years ago) link
Restauranteurs
― beelzebubbly (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 7 February 2020 23:44 (four years ago) link
Criteria instead of criterion
― lefal junglist platton (wtev), Saturday, 8 February 2020 08:58 (four years ago) link
oh FUCK yes
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Saturday, 8 February 2020 09:26 (four years ago) link
Always enjoy pulling out my Criteria Collection Videodrome
― ill fuckin put a paste on those (Neanderthal), Saturday, 8 February 2020 11:32 (four years ago) link
Videodome, I think you'll find
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Saturday, 8 February 2020 13:28 (four years ago) link
All That Jizz
― otm into winter (rip van wanko), Saturday, 8 February 2020 13:33 (four years ago) link
Levelling up
― lefal junglist platton (wtev), Tuesday, 11 February 2020 04:28 (four years ago) link
I blame Scott Pilgrim for that one
― sorry for butt rockin (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 11 February 2020 04:58 (four years ago) link
My organisation works with universities and we come into contact with consortia and alumni. For many of my colleagues these have now become the singular form of the words, and daily I hear people talking about "a consortia" and "an alumni".
― fetter, Tuesday, 11 February 2020 12:34 (four years ago) link
One of my favorite-ever Futurama jokes was that the idiotic Fry knows the correct usage.
https://morbotron.com/meme/S01E08/19419.jpg?b64lines=V293LCBJIGxvdmUKIHN5bXBvc2lhLg==
― Bougy! Bougie! Bougé! (Eliza D.), Tuesday, 11 February 2020 13:26 (four years ago) link
similar to how people will say "so and so is BIAS"
― sorry for butt rockin (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 11 February 2020 13:37 (four years ago) link
"bias" without the "ed" and "graduated school" without the "from" are my all-time least-favorite, most-annoying things
― Dan I., Tuesday, 11 February 2020 14:24 (four years ago) link
"Graduated school" or "graduated college" seem like very Midwestern/Great Lakes regional usages to me, along with eliminating the "to be" from phrases like "the lawn needs mowed" or "the clothes need washed." I've been hearing those all my life, so they never seemed unusual to me.
― Bougy! Bougie! Bougé! (Eliza D.), Tuesday, 11 February 2020 14:38 (four years ago) link
People are pretty pleased with themselves for using alumnus, alumna, and alumni correctly, but you can still sometimes zing them with alumnae.
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Tuesday, 11 February 2020 15:14 (four years ago) link
alumnopodes
― Alba, Tuesday, 11 February 2020 15:16 (four years ago) link
alumnopotamus
― High profile Tom D (Tom D.), Tuesday, 11 February 2020 15:37 (four years ago) link
alumninium
― beelzebubbly (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 11 February 2020 15:40 (four years ago) link
rock-ribbed
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 11 February 2020 16:03 (four years ago) link
don't say "effort" when you mean LP or CD or release -- "bryan ferry's first solo effort" -- bcz it makes you sound like a condescending smug and bad teacher who shd immediately fuck off
― mark s, Tuesday, 11 February 2020 20:29 (four years ago) link
^ otm
― kinder, Tuesday, 11 February 2020 20:54 (four years ago) link
"fell pregnant"
― conrad, Sunday, 16 February 2020 10:41 (four years ago) link
Sounds like a calque from the French 'tomber enceinte'.
― romanesque architect (pomenitul), Sunday, 16 February 2020 10:44 (four years ago) link
that annoys the shit out of me too
― conrad, Sunday, 16 February 2020 11:14 (four years ago) link
You fall pregnant like you fall ill. One for the babby thread?
― romanesque architect (pomenitul), Sunday, 16 February 2020 11:19 (four years ago) link
pleasing echoes of plump, ripe babbies dropping to the floor like apples in autumn
― babby bitter (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 16 February 2020 11:25 (four years ago) link
LET THE BABBIES HIT THE FLOOR
― romanesque architect (pomenitul), Sunday, 16 February 2020 11:33 (four years ago) link
eStork battery drained too quickly
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Sunday, 16 February 2020 12:08 (four years ago) link
Time to bring back, "She's got a bun in the oven".
― Load up your rubber wallets (Tom D.), Sunday, 16 February 2020 12:17 (four years ago) link
"We're pregnant" is worse
No, you idiot,
she
― they see me lollin' (Ye Mad Puffin), Sunday, 16 February 2020 12:43 (four years ago) link
"we've fallen pregnant" i think is ok
― conrad, Sunday, 16 February 2020 13:05 (four years ago) link
our bun's fallen into the oven
― kinder, Sunday, 16 February 2020 13:10 (four years ago) link
Great news, we're up the duff.
― Load up your rubber wallets (Tom D.), Sunday, 16 February 2020 13:24 (four years ago) link
(week-old xposts) a v occasional and tangential part of my job involves writing emails which go "dear x, as an alumn__ of the University of y you are eligible for..." and the alumnus/-a/-i thing bothers me a lot; picking the right ending can seem too fussy, and alas "alum" seems oldfashioned, but it does bother me seeing "alumni" used in the singular
I think I go with -us as a general singular regardless of gender but sooner or later a classicist/pedant is going to be mad at being misgendered
(but I'm not sure I'd particularly appreciate feeling like someone had taken the time and conscious deliberation to assign me the correct feminine ending either? and then there's the risk of guessing wrong)
― a passing spacecadet, Sunday, 16 February 2020 13:33 (four years ago) link
alumna is the correct neuter plural ending, use that if you want to rile literally everyone
― mark s, Sunday, 16 February 2020 13:36 (four years ago) link