Jump to content

Demonstone's and Flaubert's English Grammar for Demonlanders 101

Neil Crompton
in Melbourne Demons

Featured Replies

I cringe at "I could care less", which indicates that the speaker has at least some level of care.

Surely "I couldn't care less" (I have no care) is what they mean.

  • Quote
    • Like 6
     
    11 minutes ago, Winners at last said:

     

    I'm just warming up.

    Same, Bingers. I’m a bona fide logophile, word nerd, grammar nazi, whatever the title. 

    Just a few of my pet hates:

    who’s/whose 

    born/borne

    everyday/every day

    (somebody slap me)

    loath/loathe

    A while/awhile 

    Stationary/stationery

     

    And anyone apart from cockneys who pronounces ‘th’ as ‘f’ 😡

     

  • Quote
    •  
    11 minutes ago, Demonstone said:

    I cringe at "I could care less", which indicates that the speaker has at least some level of care.

    Surely "I couldn't care less" (I have no care) is what they mean.

    ‘That’s a whole nother thing’. 
    I’ve not seen it written. But I hear it all the time. 

  • Quote

    There's no such thing as "prior opportunity".  You either had an opportunity to do something or you didn't. There's no prior.

    Edited by one_demon

  • Quote
    • Like 1
    • Love 1

    "Forward planning" is also a tautology.  You can't plan retrospectively.

    Another bugbear of mine (and we can probably blame Kurt Cobain!) is people thinking that "never mind" is one word.

  • Quote
    • Like 1
     

    As this thread seems to have branched out into words / terms not exclusively used on DL I'd like to know how the hell people over here decided that the surname Strachan should be pronounced as Strawn. 

    Also the Elgin Hotel in Hawthorn should be pronounced with a hard 'g' . I grew up 50 miles from the town Elgin. Lord Elgin was the guy that pilfered the Greek sculptures known today as the Elgin Marbles. 

    Edited by Rab D Nesbitt

  • Quote
    • Like 2

    Elgin saved the marble friezes that were mostly smashed and laying around the acropolis. If it hadnt been for his love of art the friezes would have been lost forever. The Greeks weren't interested in a pile of rubble. 

    They are interested today because of the tourism/money factor.

    Typical .

  • Quote
    • Haha 1

    On 7/23/2022 at 6:34 PM, Demonstone said:

    I would also advise that posters don't use a big word when a singularly unloquacious and diminutive linguistic expression will satisfactorily accomplish the contemporary necessity.

    At this stage, I should put my hand up and confess that I sometimes use big words that I don't know the meaning of in an attempt to sound more photosynthesis.

    Sesquipedalians (hope I spelt it correctly) do my head in🤯

  • Quote
    • Like 1
    • Love 1

    What about...."between you and I"  etc.

      And..........He said it to "you and I"   .

    It's becoming so commonplace to misuse the first person pronoun, that I fear it will become acceptable grammar.

     

     

    Edited by Jumping Jack Clennett
    embarrassing typo

  • Quote
    • Like 1
    25 minutes ago, Jumping Jack Clennett said:

    What about...."between you and I"  etc.

      And..........He said it to "you and I"   .

    It's becoming so commonplace to misuse the first person pronoun, that I fear it will become acceptable grammar.

     

     

    What's the correct use here:

    "I am tall, but my brother is taller than..."

    Is it "I am" or "me"?

    I'm not being tricky - I don't know the answer. That's why I'm asking Demonland. It seems to better at grammar and spelling than any other available resource.

    And what about Viney? (Added solely to include a football reference to ensure the thread remains allowed on this board.) 

  • Quote
    • Like 1

    3 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

    What's the correct use here:

    "I am tall, but my brother is taller than..."

    Is it "I am" or "me"?

    I'm not being tricky - I don't know the answer. That's why I'm asking Demonland. It seems to better at grammar and spelling than any other available resource.

    And what about Viney? (Added solely to include a football reference to ensure the thread remains allowed on this board.) 

    I am tall, but my brother is taller than me.

    And as for Viney, I daresay he’s taller than me, too. 😁

  • Quote
    • Author
    27 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

    I am tall, but my brother is taller than me.

    And as for Viney, I daresay he’s taller than me, too. 😁

    WCW, just saw a post of yours in another thread, and have a question:

    - do you make minced meat out of them? or

    - do you make mince meat out of them?

    Or because they are Pies, who GAF, as long as they are dead meat?

  • Quote
    • Haha 2
    2 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

    ‘That’s a whole nother thing’. 
    I’ve not seen it written. But I hear it all the time. 

    Americans.

     

    They have alot to answer for.

     

    😉

  • Quote
    • Haha 2

    I've noticed that many players use "myself" instead of "me".

    For example, they'll say something like "The coach had a word with myself about kicking for goal".

     

  • Quote
    • Like 1
    11 minutes ago, Neil Crompton said:

    WCW, just saw a post of yours in another thread, and have a question:

    - do you make minced meat out of them? or

    - do you make mince meat out of them?

    Or because they are Pies, who GAF, as long as they are dead meat?

    I always go with minced meat as opposed to mince meat. It’s the same with iced coffee. Many say ice coffee. 

    And I’m all for sticking with dead meat. ❤️💙

  • Quote

    25 minutes ago, Neil Crompton said:

    Or because they are Pies, who GAF, as long as they are dead meat?

    It's a challenge not to be condescending to Collingwood supporters.

    On the off chance any Magpie fans are reading this thread, "condescending" means to talk down to.

  • Quote
    • Haha 6
    1 hour ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

    I am tall, but my brother is taller than me.

    And as for Viney, I daresay he’s taller than me, too. 😁

    It should more traditionally be “I”, as you are effectively saying “my brother is taller than I am…” 

    i.e. “he is taller than I am”

    hence “he is taller than I…”

    but “me” seems to be the more commonly used these days. 

    https://onlinewritingtraining.com.au/than-i-versus-than-me/

  • Quote
    • Thanks 1
    12 minutes ago, Demonstone said:

    I've noticed that many players use "myself" instead of "me".

    For example, they'll say something like "The coach had a word with myself about kicking for goal".

     

    Yes, it is a worrying trend. And not just by footballers.

     

    1 hour ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

    What's the correct use here:

    "I am tall, but my brother is taller than..."

    Is it "I am" or "me"?

    I'm not being tricky - I don't know the answer. That's why I'm asking Demonland. It seems to better at grammar and spelling than any other available resource.

    And what about Viney? (Added solely to include a football reference to ensure the thread remains allowed on this board.) 

    There is an easy answer to work out whether it should be "I" or "me". Say the sentence removing the other person's name ... e.g If it's "Abercrombie & I" just repeat the sentence deleting "Abercrombie &" ... Same with "Abercrombie & me". Try it ... 

    https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/style-and-usage/when-to-use-i-or-me-in-a-sentence.html

     

     

  • Quote
    • Like 2
     
    11 minutes ago, Demonstone said:

    It's a challenge not to be condescending to Collingwood supporters.

    On the off chance any Magpie fans are reading this thread, "condescending" means to talk down to.

    It doesn't mean a prisoner going back to jail, which is what I'm sure they'd be thinking.

  • Quote
    • Like 1
    • Haha 4
    3 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

    Same, Bingers. I’m a bona fide logophile, word nerd, grammar nazi, whatever the title. 

    Just a few of my pet hates:

    who’s/whose 

    born/borne

    everyday/every day

    (somebody slap me)

    loath/loathe

    A while/awhile 

    Stationary/stationery

     

    And anyone apart from cockneys who pronounces ‘th’ as ‘f’ 😡

     

    Incorrect use of:

    Set up vs setup 

    in line vs inline 

    Also:

    “Im going to lay down for a while” should be lie down. You can lay a towel down to lie on, but you don’t lay down. 

  • Quote

    • Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

    Guest
    Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
    Reply to this topic...
    Go to topic listing

    Featured Content

    • NON-MFC: Round 15

      As the Demons head into their Bye Round, it's time to turn our attention to the other matches being played. Which teams are you tipping this week? And which results would be most favourable for the Demons if we can manage to turn our season around? Follow all the non-Melbourne games here and join the conversation as the ladder continues to take shape.

        • Haha
        • Like
      • 276 replies
      Demonland

    • REPORT: Port Adelaide

      Of course, it’s not the backline, you might argue and you would probably be right. It’s the boot studder (do they still have them?), the midfield, the recruiting staff, the forward line, the kicking coach, the Board, the interchange bench, the supporters, the folk at Casey, the head coach and the club psychologist  It’s all of them and all of us for having expectations that were sufficiently high to have believed three weeks ago that a restoration of the Melbourne team to a position where we might still be in contention for a finals berth when the time for the midseason bye arrived. Now let’s look at what happened over the period of time since Melbourne overwhelmed the Sydney Swans at the MCG in late May when it kicked 8.2 to 5.3 in the final quarter (and that was after scoring 3.8 to two straight goals in the second term). 

      • 3 replies
      Demonland

    • CASEY: Essendon

      Casey’s unbeaten run was extended for at least another fortnight after the Demons overran a persistent Essendon line up by 29 points at ETU Stadium in Port Melbourne last night. After conceding the first goal of the evening, Casey went on a scoring spree from about ten minutes in, with five unanswered majors with its fleet of midsized runners headed by the much improved Paddy Cross who kicked two in quick succession and livewire Ricky Mentha who also kicked an early goal. Leading the charge was recruit of the year, Riley Bonner while Bailey Laurie continued his impressive vein of form. With Tom Campbell missing from the lineup, Will Verrall stepped up to the plate demonstrating his improvement under the veteran ruckman’s tutelage. The Demons were looking comfortable for much of the second quarter and held a 25-point lead until the Bombers struck back with two goals in the shadows of half time. On the other side of the main break their revival continued with first three goals of the half. Harry Sharp, who had been quiet scrambled in the Demons’ first score of the third term to bring the margin back to a single point at the 17 minute mark and the game became an arm-wrestle for the remainder of the quarter and into the final moments of the last.

      • 0 replies
      Demonland

    • PREGAME: Gold Coast

      The Demons have the Bye next week but then are on the road once again when they come up against the Gold Coast Suns on the Gold Coast in what could be a last ditch effort to salvage their season. Who comes in and who comes out?

        • Haha
      • 138 replies
      Demonland

    • PODCAST: Port Adelaide

      The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 16th June @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we dissect the Dees disappointing loss to the Power.
      Your questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show.
      Listen LIVE: https://demonland.com/

        • Thanks
        • Like
      • 33 replies
      Demonland

    • POSTGAME: Port Adelaide

      The Demons simply did not take their opportunities when they presented themselves and ultimately when down by 25 points effectively ending their finals chances. Goal kicking practice during the Bye?

        • Like
      • 252 replies
      Demonland
    View All