Bob Wright
Hawkeye
This caught my attention on a YouTube video"
Old Movie Stars Who Died Young
Yep, that's what it said.
Bob Wright
Old Movie Stars Who Died Young
Yep, that's what it said.
Bob Wright
Say what?
- Thread starter Bob Wright
- Start date
Probably makes more sense taken in context. :wink:
coach
Hunter
It makes more sense than young movie stars who died old
Colonel Daddy
Buckeye
Suppose it depends on one's frame of mind! 8)
OP
Bob Wright
Hawkeye
Colonel Daddy said:
Yeah, I reckon you're right there. Sometimes my mind works in funny ways. Sort of like seeing a roadside sign saying "Men Working" and there's nobody in sight.
Now if that title had read "Old time movie stars who died young" it would have gone un noticed by me.
Bob Wright
OP
Bob Wright
Hawkeye
Snake45 said:
In reading such dialog, the term "movie stars" comes across to me as one word more or less.
Bob Wright
OP
Bob Wright
Hawkeye
And another thing: The TV announcer recently stated "Less people have contracted the virus.....
"
When obviously they meant "Fewer people...."
Bob Wright
"
When obviously they meant "Fewer people...."
Bob Wright
OP
Bob Wright
Hawkeye
Snake45 said:
Suppose the title had been "Pregnant Movie Stars............
Would pregnant obviously modify the noun movie?
:? :? :? :?
Bob Wright
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2012
- Messages
- 10,877
Almost every sentence or phrase can be taken at least 2 ways. It’s up to the reader to understand the context.
In spite of all the rules beat into us by our teachers. English is a flexible and changing language.
I grew up with a lot of native French speaking people their English was generally excellent. Sometimes their sentence structure made things funny.
My grandmother would say things like. “ Throw me down the stairs my pillow”. Or “Throw the horse over the fence some hay”
In spite of all the rules beat into us by our teachers. English is a flexible and changing language.
I grew up with a lot of native French speaking people their English was generally excellent. Sometimes their sentence structure made things funny.
My grandmother would say things like. “ Throw me down the stairs my pillow”. Or “Throw the horse over the fence some hay”
"Throw Mama from the train a kiss . . . "
https://genius.com/Patti-page-mama-from-the-train-lyrics
:wink:
https://genius.com/Patti-page-mama-from-the-train-lyrics
:wink:
OP
Bob Wright
Hawkeye
Snake45 said:
Judgement flees in the face of humor.
Bob Wright
Montelores
Buckeye
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2009
- Messages
- 1,345
A properly placed "-" in the YouTube title would have obviated this entire debate.
"Movie-stars" as a form of compound noun would have been acceptable.
Attention to proper punctuation is becoming a lost art.
"Let's eat, Grandma!" (Noun of direct address)
"Let's eat Grandma!" (Direct object)
Monty
"Movie-stars" as a form of compound noun would have been acceptable.
Attention to proper punctuation is becoming a lost art.
"Let's eat, Grandma!" (Noun of direct address)
"Let's eat Grandma!" (Direct object)
Monty
On the news the other night they were talking about a very bad accident that had occurred. In the accident there were no survivors and at the end of the news story the reporter said all of the victims had died and of the survivors some of those had died too. I wondered - if they had all died, how could there been any survivors and how could they have died if they were already dead?
Rick Courtright
Hawkeye
Snake45 said:
Hi,
I've forgotten much of what went on in the hours and hours dear old Mrs. Morse had us DIAGRAMMING sentences--wassat?--but I'd agree with Bob on this one that "old" modifies "movie stars" the way I'd do it. We would deconstruct the sentence's phrasing back to front: "What happens? Somebody dies. Who dies? Stars. What kind of stars? Movie stars. What kind of movie stars? Old ones." I don't know what it takes to be a "journalist" these days, but the ability to write the English language clearly and concisely must not be a requirement any longer.
I had a fun job last summer proof reading and editing a friend's doctoral dissertation. She's an English teacher, with close to 20 years of teaching under her belt, and she knows lots of words, all of which she puts on paper. Many of them are superfluous at best, and I teased her that she should pay attention to Mark Twain, who, when asked how to be a writer, is reputed to have replied something to the effect of "You put all the words down on paper, then take away the ones that don't fit." I think it's a takeoff from Michelangelo's advice on being a sculptor.
Anyway, I was sitting in the library one day, having finished my work, and there were two women sitting next to me whose conversation might as well have included me. One was about my age, the other about half my friend's age, and they were going through just about the same thing I was, with the older woman coaching the student on a paper.
The older woman was telling the student she had lots of good ideas, had obviously put a lot of research into the piece, but there was one problem: nobody could READ the paper (or would after a few sentences.) The advice from the mentor was "Take this home, and rewrite it. Keep your ideas, keep your sources, but make it READABLE!" The younger woman had a look on her face that indicated nobody had ever criticized her work, constructively or otherwise, but dried her eyes and took her work away. I wanted so much to thank the older woman for what I hoped was an invaluable lesson for her student but kept the thought to myself.
Sadly, there are thousands out there like the young student who've just never been taught what they should have learned!
Rick C
toysoldier
Hunter
Bob Wright said:
This has become one of my pet peeves about language. There is little appreciation these days for the difference between less and fewer. A simple illustration: A child's pail holds less sand than a gallon bucket. A child's pail holds fewer grains of sand than a gallon bucket. Less refers to non-countables, like sand or water. Fewer refers to countables, like grains of sand or episodes of flooding.
