Mon Mar 06, 2017 9:01 pm Post
Wed Mar 08, 2017 3:06 pm Post
Thu Mar 09, 2017 3:06 pm Post
Dr Dog wrote:Ahab wrote:PJS wrote:Keith —
Please say No.
Phil
I second this motion.
Me too. (Looks like it's old-timer curmudgeon week ...)
Thu Mar 09, 2017 4:14 pm Post
Of course sir. Of course. We even let Mr K join the club once, that should prove we are not all that exclusive.xiamenese wrote:I'm an old-timer ... can I be a curmudgeon too, please!
Thu Mar 09, 2017 4:26 pm Post
Jaysen wrote:xiamenese wrote: I enjoy playing with words and do not want a pile of squiggles telling me I have to comply with a rule that destroys the rhythm of what I'm working on. "My voice", as others have often called the way an individual writer ... writes, should be unique to me and not some automate clone of grammar rules.
Thu Mar 09, 2017 5:42 pm Post
Thu Mar 09, 2017 6:22 pm Post
vic-k wrote:Wot's wrong with passive voices?Wish my in-laws had 'em!
Thu Mar 09, 2017 7:51 pm Post
Jaysen wrote:vic-k wrote:Wot's wrong with passive voices?Wish my in-laws had 'em!
Well... over here we all bully the passive person which means you need to "BE AGGRESSIVE! BE! BE! AGGRESSIVE!" to be noticed.
I wonder if that is as funny on your side of the pond. I fell off my chair laughing at my own joke.
Thu Mar 09, 2017 8:27 pm Post
I abhor aggressive behaviour, in all of its myriad guises, with every fibre of my being. Give me the subtly sadistic any day!Jaysen wrote:Well... over here we all bully the passive person which means you need to "BE AGGRESSIVE! BE! BE! AGGRESSIVE!" to be noticed.
Which begs the question, "Just what kind of woman was this 'Landlady'?xiamenese wrote:Having spent most of my life not wishing to be noticed—I have two titles for my autobiography if I ever write it ... "Taking the back seat", or better "Once more into the woodwork …"—I suppose I ought to invest in a suit of armour!
But, to go back to the topic, I find myself wondering how many times a day those who keep telling us that "the passive is too difficult to understand" actually use the passive in everyday speech ... it's so much a part of natural English grammar, as it is used (note the construction) for theme maintenance in discourse, that my guess is "Very often!"
And I am reminded (note the construction) of a wonderful occasion during the period when life had consigned me to trying to teach English to young Swiss, when the following conversation happened in class when I was having to try to teach them how to use the passive:
Student: Why are we wasting time learning the passive?
Me: We are not wasting time. What makes you say that?
Student: I asked my landlady (always an indication that rubbish is about to follow!) and she said we are wasting time because the passive is never used in English (my emphasis).
Being the nice guy I am really, I did not fall about laughing!
Mark
Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:52 pm Post
xiamenese wrote:But, to go back to the topic, I find myself wondering how many times a day those who keep telling us that "the passive is too difficult to understand" actually use the passive in everyday speech ... it's so much a part of natural English grammar, as it is used (note the construction) for theme maintenance in discourse, that my guess is "Very often!"
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