You can/may go out...

@JTT,

Quote:

permissableness

I have decided that I shall allow the word. Rolling Eyes

0 Replies

@JTT,

Where's my hobnailed boots? On second thoughts, I'll go barefoot among the shattered debris of my poor fragmented language.

Sledgehammers to crack a nut, butterflies broken on the wheel of misguided quasi-academic gobbledegook.

I notice JTT has not yet used a good dictionary to sort out his ideas about "may" and "might" (or at least has not given us the benefit of his reasearches yet).

Permissableness? Doubtful. I spell permissible this way, too.

2 Replies

@JTT,

Quote:

What might that word be?

[Is 'may' interchangeable here, McTag?]

synonym.

Yes, probably, although your example introduces an idea of the conditional, which is not present in all examples one might employ.

0 Replies

@McTag,

Quote:

Permissableness? Doubtful.

I guess you missed the '___'.

That 'appropriateness' also equates to 'permissableness',

Do you really want to go down that dismal path, McTag? I've always thought you were a more honest guy than that.

reasearches? Doubtful.

Quote:

I notice JTT has not yet used a good dictionary to sort out his ideas about "may" and "might" (or at least has not given us the benefit of his reasearches yet).

This is exactly what made the Peeves threads. A bunch of know nothings sitting around repeating drivel that they had heard from other know nothings who had repeated what they had heard from other know nothings when they might have simply gotten off their lazy asses to seek confirmation for the nonsense they were spouting.

['might' underlined above, used to point up that there was a miniscule chance of that ever happening]

Quote:

1.

a. Used to indicate a condition or state contrary to fact: She might help if she knew the truth.
b. Used to indicate a possibility or probability that is weaker than may: We might discover a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
c. Used to express a higher degree of deference or politeness than may, ought, or should: Might I express my opinion?

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/might_2

Quote:

might

1. used for saying that there is a possibility that something is true, or that something will happen, especially when it is not very likely

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/might

Quote:

may

Usage note: may

Both may and might are used for expressing the idea that perhaps something is true or that perhaps something will happen, but might is more common in conversation, and may is more common in writing.

Might is often used for suggesting that a possibility is rather unlikely or not at all definite: You might have an accident.

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/may

0 Replies

@McTag,

Quote:

Where's my hobnailed boots? On second thoughts, I'll go barefoot among the shattered debris of my poor fragmented language.

Sledgehammers to crack a nut, butterflies broken on the wheel of misguided quasi-academic gobbledegook.

"The linguists are at least forthright in their rejection of linguistic morality. Their opponents, the defenders of traditional values, are more deceptive. They talk a great deal about morality, but in millenarian tones, as if the rules of grammar were matters of revealed truth rather than the tentative conclusions of thoughtful argument."

I hope that one day you get back to those times where you actually made some thoughtful arguments, McTag.

1 Reply

http://gismonda.pagesperso-orange.fr/might.png

1 Reply

@Francis,

What point are you attempting to make, Francis?

1 Reply

@JTT,

Joking, JTT, about the length of threads that usually end leaving the OP in his initial perplexity ..

1 Reply

@Francis,

When nonsense about language gets trotted out, it can hardly leave the OP in a more perplexed state when those bits of nonsense get demolished, Frances, and demolished they were, by their own hand.

But I agree that it is truly amazing at how such a silly canard could have so many supporters.

It saddens me to say that such is the state of ESL/EFL in many parts of the world precisely because there are so many brain dead people who just repeat the same nonsense over and over, with no thought given to reality.

1 Reply

@JTT,

Hopefully some of us (ESL), being able to separate the wheat from the chaff, will end up with a decent level of English..

1 Reply

@Francis,

Given what I suspect is your age, you've likely been asked to shoulder many a bag of chaff, Francis. At least with this thread, for some ESLs, two exceedingly dumb pieces of chaff have been swept away by the wind.

Here's a hint that will help you separate the wheat from the chaff; as soon as you hear a "commentator" speak in millenarian tones about how they are attempting to preserve the language, mark that post chaff.

1 Reply

@JTT,

JTT wrote:

Given what I suspect is your age,

Old birds are not caught with caff...

1 Reply

@Francis,

I could have sworn that, recently, you were chiding Spendi for being deceptive, for not clearly addressing the issues, Francis. Am I mistaken in this?

1 Reply

@JTT,

Yes, I was chafing him a bit..

1 Reply

@Francis,

Well, you seem to have a penchant for the same when it comes to language threads, Francis.

1 Reply

@JTT,

I have quite a few penchants but they are mostly harmless..

1 Reply

@Francis,

Are the ones that seem aimed [please correct me if I'm wrong] to add more confusion to the threads where you suggest less confusion would be in order for EFLs harmless?

Many ESLs have to operate at the academic/business/professional level where extended and often difficult discussion takes place. In classes [where it was appropriate] I often purposefully described things in language that was not simplified because my students were research scientists who were frequently exposed to those same situations mentioned above.

Ms Tan is not a beginner in English and she too needs to be exposed to all levels of English usage. I encourage all ESLs to speak up and ask about anything that is presented in these pages.

0 Replies

@JTT,

I have made a few enquiries of people I know who know stuff.
We opine that may and might are the same.
You cannot slip a cigarette paper between them.
One may be heard more often in certain situations, the other might be heard in others.
But they are the same, for all practical purposes, except maybe for academic papers from researchers who have nothing better to do than to dream up linguistic complications for others.

Minuscule, by the way, is spelled like that.

1 Reply

@McTag,

Quote:

Minuscule, by the way, is spelled like that.

Please stop parading your ignorance, McTag. It does you a grave injustice.

Quote:

I have made a few enquiries of people I know who know stuff.
We opine that may and might are the same.

You've been opining since forever. See where that has gotten you.

Quote:

One may be heard more often in certain situations, the other might be heard in others.
But they are the same, for all practical purposes, except maybe for academic papers from researchers who have nothing better to do than to dream up linguistic complications for others.

Brilliant, simply brilliant. How does the above differ from you and your friends who know stuff differ from your opining?

Maybe you should go back to giving millenarian addresses.

1 Reply

@JTT,

Oh dear. You are making less sense than ever, now.

1 Reply

You can/may go out...

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know