JJMBallantyne
Joined: December 30, 2006 (email not validated)
Number of comments posted: 126
Number of votes received: 135
No user description provided.
Recent Comments
on: When did we start pluralizing prepositions?
"Backwards and forwards are standard in British English, tho...
on: Adverbial scope of ‘tomorrow’
"So basically what you are saying is that both are grammatic...
on: Adverbial scope of ‘tomorrow’
If you'll permit me, I think you're a bit guilty of overanal...
on: optimiSe or optimiZe ?
"I have found both terminations in verbs like optimiz(s)e, p...
on: “This is she” vs. “This is her”
There is no accusative form in English; you meant "objective...
on: “Literally” in spoken conversation
"I would certainly say something like, 'Boy, was I mad. I re...
on: “Literally” in spoken conversation
BJONES: "Fine, let's just change all the meanings of words ...
on: I’ve no idea
"I live in a country where English isn't the primary languag...
on: “Literally” in spoken conversation
I must side with Hamish here. The adverb "literally" is (an...
on: It had impacts on...
"Is it grammatically correct to say 'It had impacts on...'?"...
on: “Fine” as a complete sentence
Still at it, eh?...
on: “Fine” as a complete sentence
Still at it, eh?...
on: mines
It's clearly a regionalism/dialect form. It actually makes ...
on: I’ve no idea
1. "Is it a correct syntax to say: 'I’ve no idea' to shortc...
on: make it work
Well, "work" is the infinitive. The fact that it often requ...
on: Complete Sentence
"if in sentence hasn`t subject or oredicated it is fragment....
on: LEGOs — Is the Plural form of LEGO incorrect?
"I cannot stand how people in the USA say 'legos'. drives me...
on: LEGOs — Is the Plural form of LEGO incorrect?
If LEGO wishes me to "protect its brand name" in my private ...
on: Pronunciation of “Nova Scotia”
Typo: make that "weren't"....
on: Pronunciation of “Nova Scotia”
"but I speak as a Scot when I say that the Scottish version ...
on: “American”
"I'm argentinian and I actually think it IS offensive." S...
on: Pronunciation of “Nova Scotia”
Well, as one who has lived "Down East", I agree with "dougin...
on: of a
As for a "lucid argument", there's none to be made because n...
on: of a
"I have oft admitted that I am a pedantic old curmudgeon and...
on: of a
"The former is perfectly good english. The latter is not, an...
on: -age words
We've been coining "-age" words in English pretty well since...
on: “It is I” vs. “It is me”
Gosh, I would have thought this old argument had been flogge...
on: I’m home
“'I am home.' Does 'home' function here as a noun or an adve...
on: O’clock
Some interesting comments spanning almost seven years. The ...
on: “hone in” vs. “home in”
Surely the reason for this fairly humble mistake is obvious?...
on: Try and
Such substitution exercises are silly. They do not account ...
on: Verb, the process of being
"This is very interesting! keep it up" I think you are ju...
on: He was sat
In the spoken language, "Standard English" is a useful ficti...
on: He was sat
"Try watching or preferably listening to the BBC. They do it...
on: He was sat
If you ever find someone who speaks so-called "Standard Engl...
on: “Fine” as a complete sentence
"This does not tell me anything at all out of context..." ...
on: “Fine” as a complete sentence
Ah yes, dear old Noam Chomsky. "There are three things in...
on: “I says”
First, let me commend Eduardo for attempting to bring a bit ...
on: why does english have capital letters?
"English does not have capital letters. The script it uses h...
on: “Fine” as a complete sentence
dougincanada: Ah, I see that you're falling back on an ad...
on: “Fine” as a complete sentence
Oops! Looks like I had more than a couple of typos up there...
on: “Fine” as a complete sentence
"A sentence needs a subject and predicate." Not so. Yo...
on: make it work
"As a follow-up, why don’t we conjugate 'work' or keep it in...
on: that vs. if and whether
"From my experience, about 95% of english speaking people (e...
on: “Fine” as a complete sentence
Surely not. Doesn't a sentence require a subject and a verb?...
on: “Fine” as a complete sentence
Sure....
on: “would of” instead of “would have” or “would’ve”
"I think this goes right along with improper uses of 'your' ...
on: Plural s-ending Possessives
"I am making our x-mas cards and our last name is Gonzalez. ...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
"We have already established what is correct." Quite the ...
on: “American”
Speaking as a Canadian, I do not wish to be referred to as a...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
"Correct use of the language has nothing to do with any kind...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
"I revel in the fact that English is governed by 'Common Usa...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
"Every verb in Engish has a subjunctive tense." The subju...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
"The verb 'to be' is, I think, the only verb in English that...
on: “If I was” vs. “If I were”
"'If I was the Prime Minister. ...' said Ed Miliband, Britis...
on: “would of” instead of “would have” or “would’ve”
"Never seen the 'ov' form, but 'would ov' is no more correct...
on: “would of” instead of “would have” or “would’ve”
The "ov" form has been around for quite a while. It's actua...
on: “think of” vs. “think to”
"How much French is in him?" As a French speaker, I immed...
on: LEGOs — Is the Plural form of LEGO incorrect?
The use of "LEGOs" (or, for that matter, "Legos") to describ...
on: “This is she” vs. “This is her”
"Wow, I wonder if the original poster ever thought their que...
on: Impact as a noun
Oops! I meant "instance"....
on: Impact as a noun
Impact can be both a noun and a verb. However, at the ris...
on: “council” vs. “board”
One is spelled c-o-u-n-c-i-l and the other is spelled b-o-a-...
on: “I’ve got” vs. “I have”
Jim: "I’m mainly suggesting the words are interchanged so of...
on: “I’ve got” vs. “I have”
"And please don’t use the excuse that it’s normal communicat...
on: “I’ve got” vs. “I have”
"Is there not a redundancy in the use of 'got' with 'have'?"...
on: gifting vs. giving a gift
And, regarding "gift" as a verb, I agree with a few other co...
on: gifting vs. giving a gift
Obviously "seldomly" is a word; if it were not, it wouldn't ...
on: to-day, to-night
My guess is that sometime in the 20s-30s the hyphen was view...
on: Whom are you?
Use "who". "Whom" smacks of overcorrection (the tendency ...
on: Accepted spellings, punctuation, and capitalization of email
I use "email". On those occasions where this word starts a ...
on: Can every letter be used as a silent letter?
Dare I risk the label of being a pedant and propose that all...
on: “Anglish”
"Perhaps instead of being rude and insulting you could expla...
on: “she” vs “her”
"I was speaking to my administrator and explaining how I met...
on: Really happy or real happy
The idea that that "real" as an adverb might have a certain ...
on: “Anglish”
"Does anybody have an opinion or thoughts on “Anglish”…" ...
on: “and yet”
If it were redundant, it wouldn't be there, would it?...
on: 46 year old heated Caribbean debate
Life must be pretty good in Trinidad and Tobago if this is a...
on: Loose = Lose?
In summary then: it's simply a spelling mistake. Given th...
on: Try and
"I shall never accept that simple prevailing usage makes err...
on: Past tense of “text”
What does need have to do with anything?...
on: Past tense of “text”
Correction: my last should have been: I suggest that the...
on: Past tense of “text”
I suggest that the past form is pronounced "text'd". It s...
on: Pronunciation: aunt
Some say AHNT and some say ANT. There you have it. Nex...
on: Resume, resumé, or résumé?
"The accent above the last IS needed, without it the e would...
on: Let’s you and me/I
"'Let us you and I' is incorrect." Yes indeed. Gramm...
on: The Toronto Maple Leafs
It's "Maple Leafs." Period. End of discussion.* As for:...
on: “as long as” vs. “so long as”
Oops! Forgot to add: Both constructions are essentially ...
on: “as long as” vs. “so long as”
As John and AO indicated, the two constructions are essentia...
on: “This is she” vs. “This is her”
"To those claiming that 'it is I' or 'this is I' is correct:...
on: Believe as a noun
Well, the verb "tabler" does exist in French but, in general...
on: Me Versus I
"James, 'Deidre, Michelle and I presented to the board.' ...
on: As it were
The subjunctive is indeed incorporated into this expression....
on: When to use verbs with an s or without
"JJM, you're a real cowboy. Do you just say any ole stuff ju...
on: Reason Why
I should add as an example, "The Reason Why" which is the ti...
on: Reason Why
Yes, it's redundant. But it's not necessarily wrong. It'...
on: All negations don’t sound right to me.
"Logic is, by definition, not subjective." Er, no kidding...
on: Try and
For me, the modal "should" is doing all the subjunctive-cum-...
on: All negations don’t sound right to me.
"A few of you seem to forget that mathematics, specifically,...
May 9, 2013, 9:11am • 0 vote
on: “I says”
Yes, in fact the verb form "I says/I knows/I sits" etc. is a...