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Things we should do away with

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Killick, May 15, 2011.

  1. Killick

    Killick Well-Known Member

    Oh God, yes. If my sister forwards me one more goddamned thing that sounds a bit trite... and is proven so by a simple web search... I'm going to drive the four hours to Akron, walk in her front door and take a sledgehammer to her computer.
     
  2. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    Royal Families
    Royal Weddings
    Goldman Sachs
    Miracle Whip
    Jellyfish
     
  3. Mark McGwire

    Mark McGwire Member

    American English is not a Germanic language. It's a lingua franca with grammar rules appropriated from several languages. One of which is... A sentence cannot end in a preposition. Which is simply logical because prepositions require objects. If the sentence ends with a preposition, said preposition has no object and is, by definition, dangling.
     
  4. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Sock puppets.
     
  5. NickMordo

    NickMordo Active Member

    Clark Kellogg
     
  6. Mark McGwire

    Mark McGwire Member

    Go get me a cup of coffee, newb.
     
  7. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Avatars that are used as cheap shots against other posters.
     
  8. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    Sorry, but a story I'm editing darn well better have "something to believe in" instead of "something in which to believe." Less-stilted writing demands the former, which is understandable and acceptable to those we are trying to reach. The saw about no prepositions to end a sentence ends with Mrs. Fenwick in P.S. 30.
     
  9. Mark McGwire

    Mark McGwire Member

    Which is fine, Dools. Far from the only rule we break in the interest of readability. But the rule does exist and is obvious when you think about it.

    Put it's not a change up with which I shall not put.
     
  10. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    But they are a good Beatles tribute band:

    http://www.americanenglishbeatles.com/
     
  11. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    How's it being used?
    If a writer uses 'They need something to believe in' why not just change it to 'They need to believe in something'?
     
  12. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    Hell, even my college linguistics professor acknowledged that it is a silly and outdated rule.
     
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