Examples of funny and/or annoying mississpellings, and other grammatical errors
Moderators: Calilasseia, ADParker
Fallible wrote:Wow! Thanks! I’ll have a proper read of that later.
don't get me started wrote:Fallible wrote:Wow! Thanks! I’ll have a proper read of that later.
On re-reading it, I felt it came over as a bit arrogant and preachy. Apologies for that. I do tend to play the pedagogue a bit when it comes to language....![]()
Actually, it is one of the things that annoys me about certain teachers that I meet. Because they have a captive audience in their classrooms (especially in a Japanese context where the Sensei is an unquestioned font of wisdom), they think that the turn taking and turn allocation rules that apply in their classrooms get transferred to the world outside the classroom....and that they have something important to say on every topic....poor social skills are the result.![]()
I sometimes catch myself doing this and try to nip it in the bud.
The_Piper wrote:I dunno, that all went over my head. Does it mean that "wouldn't a pizza be great?" should mean what I mean it to mean, that a pizza would be great?
don't get me started wrote:The_Piper wrote:I dunno, that all went over my head. Does it mean that "wouldn't a pizza be great?" should mean what I mean it to mean, that a pizza would be great?
You are right on the button there... 'Wouldn't pizza be great?' definitely indicates that the speaker has a preference for pizza. But, the use of the modal verb 'would' places the utterance as a tentative suggestion, and it indicates to the recipient that they (the recipient) has agency in the decision about what to eat, and the case is far from closed. It is all about recipient design and avoiding a face threatening act (FTA), that is, imposing on the other and denying them agency.
Consider the common way that children express themselves... (I want, I want, I want) There is no recipient design there and the child is not concerned with the preferences of other persons.
The negative polarity of this statement is different to the negative polarity of the 'Isn't it raining?' examples I gave up-thread. In those cases, a truth condition was the focus... raining now? Yes or No?
In the case of 'Wouldn't Pizza be great' , negative polarity with a modal verb placed in the 'past tense' form (will---would) is a well recognized formula for offering a suggestion that projects alignment and agreement in the subsequent turn.
A: 'Wouldn't pizza be great?'
B: 'Yeah, lets get pepperoni.'
Hermit wrote:
Pineapple on pizza is the best ever Canadian invention. If there were such a thing as the Nobel prize for culinary achievements, Sam Panopoulos would have been a shoo-in for it. Alas, the genius behind this utterly delicious creation died on the 8th of June 2017, so he will never receive his just deserts now. Ontario ought to build a statue in his honour to make up for it.
Hermit wrote:
I knew some pizza nazi would think that. I made sure to have a nearby door for a quick enough exit handy for that reason.
Ham and pineapple is among my top ten pizza combinations, #1 being Napolitana. With garlic, of course. And anchovy. Do I need to prepare for another quick getaway?
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