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Pastimes : SI Grammar and Spelling Lab -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Edwarda who wrote (2239)	3/25/1999 6:51:00 AM
From: Rambi	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4711

Well, my insomniac's sojourn has led me here to find several of my favorite people! I loved this thread until I ran out of time to keep up with it in addition to trading. It always led me on fascinating, but time-consuming paths through the bookshelves. Pondering the abstract noun business and probably apropos of nothing: The British say "in hospital" and "at university", where Americans use articles to precede these. Moutaineering seems to be in a different class than resourcefulness-like scubadiving, skiing, boxing. Action nouns? Regarding the abstracts cited that then were made specific by adding the article: Is it really literary license to say a profound sadness? I think it's legitimate usage, not license, a specific objectifying of an abstract, as in finding one (a) love on which to focus all that generalized passion. And don't we add an article to dust when we say "sweep the dust from under the bed"? Singular of dust--a dust mote? I'm putting myself to sleep. Sleep. Think I'll have a sleep.

To: Edwarda who wrote (2239)	3/25/1999 2:25:00 PM
From: E	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 4711

The error for which I was reporting myself to this thread wasn't a punctuation one, though! (It's true that no one has ever criticized me for overuse of commas, I'll give you that.) It's this segment of the post quoted below: <<<And of course although it would take considerable rationality for any creature to rise above obstaclettes or to abdicate virtue, not to mention proclaiming anything at all, ....>>> And my crime as I see it was one I don't recall the term for, but someone will know it. It could be called something like unparallel members of a series, or apples and oranges, or some such thing, if i were to invent a name: This is what i have, egregiously if undetectedly (!) in number 3 below, said (implied) and recanted: 1)...for any creature to rise above obstaclettes or 2)...for any creature to abdicate virtue or 3)...for any creature to proclaiming anything at all. You can see that the shocking "for any creature to proclaiming anything at all," must be changed so that the series makes grammatical sense, and that no addition of commas, however felicitous they are, will cure the problem. My proposed substitution for number 3 of "not to mention to proclaim anything at all" was an attempt to bring into alignment the three members of the series. Isn't this fun? ------------------------------------------------------------------ To: Edwarda (2228 ) From: E Tuesday, Mar 23 1999 8:51PM ET Reply # of 2243 Message 8478497 <<<And of course although it would take considerable rationality for any creature to rise above obstaclettes or to abdicate virtue, not to mention proclaiming anything at all, .... >>> I would like to take myself to task for this egregious error in what I believe is syntax but possibly it's only grammar. That should have read, "... not to mention to proclaim anything at all, ..." (one might ideally avoid two 'to's, of course.)