Month: August 2015

Disputed Grammar

August 21, 2015

Grammar and usage aren’t always cut and dried. Here are some disputed points: Taller than I/me Most grammar books consider the following sentence an error: Mort is taller than me. The error here is the object pronoun “me.” It should be the subject pronoun “I”—Mort is taller than I— because what the sentence really says … More Disputed Grammar

Quote of the Day

August 18, 2015

“Following the Post Modernist route, we may indeed never arrive at meaning, but not because meaning is not there… only because we are lost in endless linguistic games that are entirely beside the point.” ― Massimo Pigliucci, Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk

Risk Aversion

August 18, 2015

I went into a men’s room in an office building today and noticed that all the urinals had signs on them that read  Non-Potable Water—Do Not Drink A warning sign like “Caution — Wet Floor” is there to protect the owner of the floor against legal action in case somebody slips and breaks an arm … More Risk Aversion

Political Dreams

August 17, 2015

I was twelve when I first realized that my mother didn’t know what she was talking about.  It was 1956, and my mother assured me that the rather colourless Democrat Adlai Stevenson would easily defeat the Republican war hero Dwight D. Eisenhower in the presidential election. Her logic seemed ironclad to me: blue collar people … More Political Dreams

Ad Nauseam

August 16, 2015

I have a curious—no, that’s not the right word—a tiresome tendency to retell stories. I have been retelling stories for years, so I don’t think it’s a sign that I’m in the early stages of dementia. Retelling stories isn’t so bad if you’re meeting a lot of new people all the time, but at this stage … More Ad Nauseam

Making Comparisons

August 16, 2015

I have evolved from being a pretty stringent prescriptivist in my grammar column writing days to having a much more lenient view of grammar and usage now. I have bought the rather compelling argument that if educated speakers regularly confuse lay and lie, or use the subject pronoun in phrases like “The boss invited my … More Making Comparisons

Parental Influence

August 15, 2015

Evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker believes that, beyond genetics, parents don’t have much influence on their children’s personalities, intelligence, or life outcomes. Pinker is, of course committed to a scientific worldview, so he hasn’t sucked this belief out of his finger (as the Poles say) but provides actual evidence. For example, identical twin studies have shown again … More Parental Influence