tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353086127312096609.post5612956745672027166..comments2023-10-09T12:23:39.596-04:00Comments on Spanky McSchmanky's Extraterrestrial House of Pancakes: Uninterested? Only If You're DisinterestedMABhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17476343623230573262noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353086127312096609.post-18990134052026783312011-05-15T19:01:11.217-04:002011-05-15T19:01:11.217-04:00"Literally" does not simply mean "a..."Literally" does not simply mean "actually". It means "I am not using a figure of speech." It is the opposite of "figuratively". <br /><br />One would say "I actually ate that whole sandwich." But one would not (or at least should not) say "I literally ate that whole sandwich." Because "I ate that whole sandwich" is not a figure of speech. <br /><br />The only time one should use "literally" is if one is expressing something that could be understood figuratively.MABhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17476343623230573262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353086127312096609.post-48820715117528644352011-05-11T08:49:20.124-04:002011-05-11T08:49:20.124-04:00"Literally," means "actually."..."Literally," means "actually."Mimihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15017592585596334313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353086127312096609.post-2052844453727001172011-04-09T07:39:04.474-04:002011-04-09T07:39:04.474-04:00I generally try not to worry too much about horrib...I generally try not to worry too much about horrible grammar - until it passes an invisible threshold.<br /><br />People are ignorant bastards. Chiding them for little mistakes just isn't feasible.Cokeheadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353086127312096609.post-78250318285231476712011-04-08T13:53:57.556-04:002011-04-08T13:53:57.556-04:00There's a pernicious flipside to "me and ...There's a pernicious flipside to "me and my brother", which I'm assuming is meant to refer to instances of me's use at the beginning of a sentence (i.e. as a subject pronoun).<br /><br />I find that "I" is misused as often as "me". Because some people are sensitive to me's misuse as a subject pronoun, they over-correct and misuse "I" as an object pronoun. All the time, particularly in the business world, I see e-mails asking to "send the analysis to Robert and I".<br /><br />NO NO NO NO NO! Douglas and I will send it to you and Robert. You and Robert will give your feedback to Douglas and me.<br /><br />My English teachers always asked us to remove the named person and ask ourselves if what remained made sense. You would never say "send it to I" (unless you were Bob Marley), any more than you would say "Me went to school".<br /><br />I = subject<br />Me = object<br /><br />Always.MABhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17476343623230573262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353086127312096609.post-15553228778231537852011-04-08T13:29:39.196-04:002011-04-08T13:29:39.196-04:00My latest obsession is the "people who/things...My latest obsession is the "people who/things that" problem. SO few people say "people who..." and it bugs the crap out of me. I'm also forever correcting my students' "me and my brother...."Mrs. Chilihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09814787474739856911noreply@blogger.com