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

[Demonstone 22,316]

[DeelightfulPlay 2,543]

I'm not rapt with the amount of posters who keep on describing themselves as (gift) wrapped lately...!

[layzie 33,752]

2 minutes ago, DeelightfulPlay said:

I'm not rapt with the amount of posters who keep on describing themselves as (gift) wrapped lately...!

Yeah they're so wrapped up in themselves!

[monoccular 17,413]

On 8/21/2022 at 12:30 PM, layzie said:

I tried comma sutra once but found it very stop-start. 

Ten you need grammatical lessons - not stop start, but just the briefest of pauses allowing one to catch one’s breath. 

On 8/26/2022 at 2:38 PM, Demonstone said:

Is that the ATM machine of vulgar common parlance, or, more correctly, the AT machine?

On 8/27/2022 at 4:19 AM, Deemania since 56 said:

Glad you enjoyed it. It is the absolute circumstance (of years ago) when one attempted to balance the scales of social interaction and pursuit by selecting either a weekend at Hotham or going to the footy. Leaving the 'G, a great fondness of the MFC was nurtured across the years in wintry conditions as the platform of Richmond Station approached, the throngs of rowdiness abated significantly for all travelling (from Platform 10?) to the SEastern suburbs on the Glen Waverley line whence, as the empty clouds of black and white diminished in a directional sense, dreams and visions of an eventual win for the Dees were nourished, scrutinised and confessed across what became incessant time. 

Glen Iris Station, hey? Its underpass footpath, Driver Bus Lines, the fish 'n chips shop, the tram terminus in High Street -  all memories. Stan Alves worked at the Real Estate Agents on the southern corner at the intersection of High St/Lower Malvern Rd. Good Demon ground ... a hive and breeding ground of discriminating footy supporters. 

Surely the ante penultimate word could be better expressed as discerning 

[Demonised 1,338]

11 hours ago, DeelightfulPlay said:

the amount of posters

The *number* of posters.

[Fritta and Turner 4,345]

4 hours ago, Demonised said:

The *number* of posters.

Like the players do posters have numbers?  Whats mine?

[Demonstone 22,316]

Your number is up.  

[Timothy Reddan-A'Blew 5,074]

I'm confident most, if not all, posters herein call in again from time to time, so, to you all, thank you for the laughs.

And, I am building up the confidence to join in...

[sue 9,096]

4 hours ago, Demonised said:

The *number* of posters.

Sadly the amount has overwhelmed the number, particularly in the last year or so.    (Good luck critiquing that sentence.)

[Cyclops 504]

5 hours ago, Demonised said:

The *number* of posters.

Correct, my pet hate is using "amount" in place of "number". That is, an amount of money reached by having a number of coins.

Another is using the collective noun "bunch" for everything.

[DeelightfulPlay 2,543]

Certainly the amount of confidence needed to post here is uncountable but number of posters on DL is countable!  (Mea culpa!)

[Jumping Jack Clennett 1,778]

I've forgotten whether it has been mentioned in this thread, but a common fault which crops up repeatedly is the following.....

 "I can't underestimate his value to the team".  

Really one can't OVERestimate his value to the team, if you think he's really good!

He must be useless if you can't UNDERestimate his value!

Have other pedants noticed this?

[DeelightfulPlay 2,543]

 

1 hour ago, Jumping Jack Clennett said:

I've forgotten whether it has been mentioned in this thread, but a common fault which crops up repeatedly is the following.....

 "I can't underestimate his value to the team".  

Really one can't OVERestimate his value to the team, if you think he's really good!

He must be useless if you can't UNDERestimate his value!

Have other pedants noticed this?

Yes, the more educated sibling of the good ol' could not / could care less debacle!

[layzie 33,752]

I can't stand the name 'amount' 

[Guest]

Not a lesson in grammar, but for all you fellow-logophiles: have a crack at this…

PS: no googling! That’d be cheating. 

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,693]

12 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Not a lesson in grammar, but for all you fellow-logophiles: have a crack at this…

PS: no googling! That’d be cheating. 

I'll have the answer to this momentarily.

[Guest]

30 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

I'll have the answer to this momentarily.

Pray tell you’re not looking it up online!

[Guest]

Got anothery…

 

NEW DOOR

 Can you make one word out of this? ⬆️ 

[Guest]

56 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Not a lesson in grammar, but for all you fellow-logophiles: have a crack at this…

PS: no googling! That’d be cheating. 

@Timothy Reddan-A'Blewand @Demonstone both got the first one right. Demonstone alone has the second one right. 

[Timothy Reddan-A'Blew 5,074]

19 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

@Timothy Reddan-A'Blewand @Demonstone both got the first one right. Demonstone alone has the second one right. 

Not strictly true (you know what I'm saying!)

[Demonstone 22,316]

27 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Demonstone alone

It's pretty close to the truth, Timothy.  

 

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

Not strictly true (you know what I'm saying!)

Soz Tim! I didn’t spot your PM until now. And yes, you’re correct. 🙂

edit: I didn’t spot your PM coz THERE ISN’T ONE! Not with the second answer anyways. So Demonstone is still alone in having solved it. 

Edited November 2, 2022 by WalkingCivilWar
Caught Tim out trying to claim a correct answer. 🤣

[Timothy Reddan-A'Blew 5,074]

30 minutes ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

Soz Tim! I didn’t spot your PM until now. And yes, you’re correct. 🙂

edit: I didn’t spot your PM coz THERE ISN’T ONE! Not with the second answer anyways. So Demonstone is still alone in having solved it. 

Wasn't talking about 'solved'; was talking about 'make' 😉

[Guest]

40 minutes ago, Timothy Reddan-A'Blew said:

Wasn't talking about 'solved'; was talking about 'make' 😉

Not following, Tim. 🙃

[Deemania since 56 6,609]

On 10/13/2022 at 1:36 PM, Cyclops said:

Correct, my pet hate is using "amount" in place of "number". That is, an amount of money reached by having a number of coins.

Another is using the collective noun "bunch" for everything.

Language changes - sometimes annoyingly. These days, there seems to be heaps of challenges in this regard.