@contrex,
Talk about reaching, C. Because it's not a natural collocation. I wasn't able to drum up a single hit with names included and I limited my search to very famous people.
Quote:Come on! You're getting a bit desperate here.
I was merely pointing up just how silly your desperate reach was. I've not suggested that my idea is common, only that it is possible.
Quote:I don't know about you, but where I come from, an arrangement is usually a bunch of sheet music,
You didn't spend much time painting that red herring, did you? But you did what you always do, ignore the language questions and focus - no, not 'focus', a terrible choice to describe your mental meanderings - you headed off on an inane tangent. The likelihood of bringing you back is nil so ... .
Quote:...the dead guy alleged to have inspired other linguists to restore a role for the application of common sense in the study of language. So what happened in your case?
Contrex:
Now I know you're crazy
Hmmm.... I agree with the sentiment but recoil from your nutty vehemence. More Adderall needed.
Now there's a lot of common sense specifically pointed to the study of language, C. Good job. Take a look at your whole posting. There's nothing from you that remotely resembles even common sense, let along "a study of language.
Surprise, surprise, eh?
JTT: Descriptive grammars are valuable sources of information.
Contrex: But not (I reiterate) holy writ (except to nutty, obsessive people.)
You don't have to reiterate anything. Your replies all too often illustrate that you likely haven't ever so much as cracked a descriptive grammar. Your style is the style manual, full of nice simple little guidelines in bite size pieces, pieces that your brain can handle.
But again, you miss it big time because you lack a real understanding. Of course native speakers, including linguists, can make mistakes in describing how people use language. It's exceedingly difficult stuff.
But because descriptivists use how people use language as the basis for their judgments, it stands to reason that they will be right with far greater frequency than those who simply make up "rules" for language, you know, the go to guys for simple minded "teachers" like you. This last post of yours stands as yet another testament to that.
