Jump to content

What grinds your gears then?


Henry David

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 7.9k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

But somehow this one looks wrong to me. Shouldn't it be "When I get home from work the dishes better be done, and don't tell me you did them when you didn't." Because the comma the way it was used in the example appears to be a comma splice. Or maybe I'm just missing something in the general conversation that's happening.

Because the sentence begins with a prepositional phrase, that modifying clause should be separated by a comma. If the prepositional phrase ended the sentence, the comma would not be necessary. "The dishes had better be done when I come home."

The "and" in Pinkstone's example sentence was simply awkward since it was not used as a linking conjunction for either the subject or object series of activities. Compare: "The dishes had better be done and put away." (linked activities, whereby "dishes done" and "telling me" have no activity link.

The word "and" is arguably the most overused-to-misuse word in the English language simply because we misuse it so much conversationally. With little consideration to grammar, we sometimes tend to transfer that misuse while writing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree that knowing proper spelling/grammar/punctuation is not a useless endeavor, but outside of the classroom, I've never had anyone ask me what the predicate of a sentence is. LOL

I have asked and still ask myself that quite often when I'm worjing on my translatons.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Beth, don't leave us hanging. Tell us more about the trip to the store.

Well, since you asked so nicely, after I got to the store, I got a shopping cart and started walking around putting food into it. I KNOW. Then when I was done, I went to the checkout counter, paid for it all, then left.

SO EXCITING.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In case anyone is curious, the predicate of a sentence is everything that follows the subject. If your sentence is "I walked to the store", the subject is "I" and the predicate is "walked to the store."

I hate that I know this crap. LOL

Everybody should know this. the most simple thing on Earth. I wonder if there's people who don't... :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm a professional writer and there's no way in hell that I could quote any rules or even the parts of a sentence. :crazy:

Everybody should know this. the most simple thing on Earth. I wonder if there's people who don't... :P

*ahem*

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, since you asked so nicely, after I got to the store, I got a shopping cart and started walking around putting food into it. I KNOW. Then when I was done, I went to the checkout counter, paid for it all, then left.

SO EXCITING.

There should be a comma after the word around. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, and look, at, what, happened! A French-Canadian, give's a goofy English lesson, and, all, hells break's, loose and get's, and, weird, up in, and, here! :laughing:

You are right about the "is" & "are" thingy though, Sammy. My bad. :doh:

The comma seems up for debate & people are doing just that! :laughing:

As for the apostrophe after b*stard... whatever... I rarely attended school. It wouldn't have helped my english anyhow, as I went to a french school! :jester:

You may resume your rants... :rockon:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Soooo I'm relaxing on the couch and super hero hubby comes in and says "Oh wow, let me get that huge spider that's crawling up the wall behind you".....so he grabs a tissue, yeah that's right a tiny little tissue and then goes in for the kill....so I asked "Well, did you get it?" and super hero hubby says "Um no, I think I missed it, and I don't know where it went."....Grrrr....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

In mid-May every year, students across the US (and some internationally) enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) courses take final, standardized, college-level exams to test how well you learned the material and to see if you have earned "Advanced Placement" in college. The scores reported are out of 5, and most colleges will accept a 4 for credit, but some courses/colleges will only accept a 5.

This may, I took 4 of these exams (and they're not cheap either: $89 each!): Psychology, English Language and Composition, United States History, and World History. The scores begin to be released to students tomorrow. Early access is given to different geographical areas one day at a time, and the East Coast gets it first: A 24-hour period starting at 5 am tomorrow. (The scores will be officially available for EVERYONE at 5 am on July 8.)

So what grinds my gears? That I've had to wait this long. That I always feel that I did horribly on standardized tests leading up to the scores. When I took my SATs in June (for the 2nd time) I was so afraid that my score would stay the same or drop from December, but they didn't. It went up 300 points, from 1650 to 1950.

I would love to have all this anxiety and see four 5's on that score report tomorrow, but I'm not getting my hopes up: My Psych class was a f**king joke (I self-taught myself most of the material), English Language is very difficult to score a 5 on, US History is possible, but the essays threw me a bit, and I'm royally screwed for World History.

But what can I do but wait for 12 and a half hours?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Not so much a gear-grinder, but more sad. Our dog hasn't been eating much for at least a week. Since she is allergic to grain, I've been shying away from table food, but we have tried grain free canned food, treats, different flavors, but nothing has worked. I am taking her to the vet today to see if they can recommend some regular food to give her. She also has bad hips and since she won't eat, she won't take her pills so she can barely walk. We are prepared for the worst.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Our dog was 14, and we found out her kidneys were shot. There was nothing we could do for her, so we had to let her go. My daughter was OK with the loss, the dog was more my MIL's than ours, was 5 when Sam was born and didn't live with us permanently until about 4 years ago.

She was getting really bad, and due to her age, we were prepared for everything, so it wasn't devastating. Now we will take a break and just take care of our fish for a while.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...