Basic English

[thirteenbyseven]

...which leads to the eternal question of whether a person was hanged or hung? :biggrin1:

Astounding as it seems, I come from an extended family filled with university professors and post-graduate professionals who occasionally use phrases such as "exact same" and mix-up the comparative tense- the greater of the two verses the best of the three.

 

[lopo2000]

Here's a corrected version:

I once asked my friend whether or not I could use a credit card in a particular shop in my place, and he answered, "Credit card is accepted..."

I notice some people make this mistake. [Of course, now that I have corrected it, there is no mistake!]

Or is it correct? I'm not a native speaker. Enlighten me if the sentence can be used. [Better: "Tell me whether such a sentence can be used."]

Thank you Calboner...

 

[lopo2000]

Oh, actually it was the "excepted" part that I wanted to know whether or not it's correct.

 

[Calboner]

Could someone please explain why "caregiver" and "caretaker" mean the same thing?

Well, they don't mean the same thing. A caretaker takes care of a building or a place of some sort; a caregiver takes care of a human being. I wouldn't call someone who looks after an invalid that person's "caretaker," and I certainly wouldn't call a janitor the "caregiver" of a building. I would call the former a caregiver and the latter a caretaker.

Oh, actually it was the "excepted" part that I wanted to know whether or not it's correct.

You were right to think that it is wrong.

 

[RawDog]

Good point. I used to use them interchangeably.

 

[D_Gunther Snotpole]

"I couldn't care less" is just as concise and expressive, and has the advantage of making sense. "I could care less" is just stupid.

If you interpret them literally, then only one makes sense.
But why would you interpret an idiom literally?
Doing so is, well, "just stupid."
And personally, I find the more literal "I couldn't care less" a bit less expressive than "I could care less."
To each his own ...

 

[D_Tyrone_Tittickler]

My otherwise literate mother always says "couldn't hardly" instead of "could hardly." (E.g., "You couldn't hardly see.") This is someone who would never, ever use a double negative, say, but she fails to see the confusion in adding "not" where it doesn't belong. It drives me nuts, but I don't correct her because doing so has no effect.

And may I state, Cal, that you are a wise man because you exercise restraint otherwise there would be some effect caused by a well intentioned, but unwise, correction!

 

[thirteenbyseven]

Could someone please explain why "caregiver" and "caretaker" mean the same thing?

I think of a caretaker as something property related, while a caregiver is like the television commercial family who is trying to make Sunday lasagna from scratch with the elderly relative who forgets who the hell they are. YouTube - Aricept

Question: why can't they just take the old girl out to a restaurant?

 

[D_Tyrone_Tittickler]

...which leads to the eternal question of whether a person was hanged or hung? :biggrin1:

Astounding as it seems, I come from an extended family filled with university professors and post-graduate professionals who occasionally use phrases such as "exact same" and mix-up the comparative tense- the greater of the two verses the best of the three.

Hanged
to put to death by suspending by the neck from a gallows, gibbet, yardarm, or the like.
to suspend (oneself) by the neck until dead: He hanged himself from a beam in the attic.

One of the most memorable bloopers regarding the misuse of the word hanged occurred during a radio broadcast of Gunsmoke. Parley Baer, who played the part of Chester, once commented during a broadcast to the judge of Dodge City, that he could always tell a criminal who had passed through his court because, "he was always well hung!"

 

[Sassy]

"Can you borrow me some?" (You're borrowing, I'm lending)

My sister with a doctorate always says the above. I hear it all the time. Irksome!:irked:

Hanged
to put to death by suspending by the neck from a gallows, gibbet, yardarm, or the like.
to suspend (oneself) by the neck until dead: He hanged himself from a beam in the attic.

One of the most memorable bloopers regarding the misuse of the word hanged occurred during a radio broadcast of Gunsmoke. Parley Baer, who played the part of Chester, once commented during a broadcast to the judge of Dodge City, that he could always tell a criminal who had passed through his court because, "he was always well hung!"

^^^Too funny! Was this edited out or left in the aired episode? :biggrin1:

 

[D_Tyrone_Tittickler]

My sister with a doctorate always says the above. I hear it all the time. Irksome!:irked:



^^^Too funny! Was this edited out or left in the aired episode? :biggrin1:

Actually, Sassy, this faux pas was blurted out during a live broadcast back in the early 1950's. William Conrad, who played Marshall Dillon, was talking about the gaff on a talk show years ago and he said the entire studio froze for a second and then they proceeded with the show. Apparently the writer made the mistake and the script from which they all read had the word "hung" instead of hanged. During that era I am sure that this would have been edited from the tape. I did search for it among several websites but I could not find the original dialogue.

People commonly use hung today and it is accepted. It still sounds ridiculous, but if aint can appear in the dictionary.........

 

[lopo2000]

I have one question for you guys.

"Likely" is an adverb or adjective?

 

[Calboner]

I have one question for you guys.

"Likely" is an adverb or adjective?

It can be either.

Adjective (predicative): "It is likely that Lopo will ask more questions"; "Lopo is likely to ask more questions."

Adjective (attributive): "A likely story!"

Adverb: "It is gone and likely forgotten."

A word that modifies a noun is an adjective; a word that modifies a word or expression of any other kind is an adverb.

Most adverbs end in "-ly" and most words ending in "-ly" are adverbs, but there are adverbs that do not end in "-ly" ("now," "soon") and words ending in "-ly" that are not adverbs ("seemly," "ugly," "miserly").

 

[lopo2000]

Thank you Calboner.

You have helped a lot.

I hope you don't mean it by your first example sentence though

 

[Calboner]

I hope you don't mean it by your first example sentence though

I did, but I was thinking of your "English learning thread."

 

[ManchesterTom]

What about the word alot ??

Every time I read a post and someone has this word alot, I can't help wondering if English is their first language.

Alot and alittle do not exist as one word. Should be two words.

A lot and a little

 

[Calboner]

(The mention of "alot" suggested this to me

"Awhile" is a word, but it is only an adverb, not a noun phrase. "We stayed awhile" is correct (as is "We stayed a while"); "We stayed for awhile" is not.

 

[novice_btm]

What about the word alot ??

Every time I read a post and someone has this word alot, I can't help wondering if English is their first language.

Alot and alittle do not exist as one word. Should be two words.

A lot and a little

In related news... "Words that should exist, but don't..."

allittle - When you're apportioned a very tiny amount.

See? Because "allot" means to generally apportion, and... oh, nevermind. :tongue: