GalacticCactus Forum

Author Topic: Fix my Engrish [sic], please.  (Read 5726 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline JNSB

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 29
    • View Profile
Fix my Engrish [sic], please.
« Reply #25 on: May 28, 2005, 03:55:57 PM »
Quote
You asked for criticism. It's a mistake to take criticism as condescention.
Annie, you misspelled condescension. Perhaps you should take more time to post before defending someone else's criticism by criticizing.

Now do you think what I just said was condescending? Because I was trying to be all condescending in a very subtle way.  :tongue:   ;)

As to PC's "...I do on instict [sic]", I, like rivka, would like to know whether it should be "by instinct" or "on instinct". I've seen it both ways. My intuition tells me that in this case it should be "by instinct". However, I have heard people say and write many times that they "go on instinct". Help me, Jon Boy! You're my only hope!  
« Last Edit: May 28, 2005, 04:06:26 PM by JNSB »

Offline Jonathon

  • Evil T-Rex
  • Administrator
  • Übermember
  • *****
  • Posts: 24,673
  • This is the darkest timeline
    • View Profile
    • GalacticCactus
Fix my Engrish [sic], please.
« Reply #26 on: May 30, 2005, 02:19:21 PM »
"On instinct" returned about 97,000 hits on Google, while "by instinct" returned 156,000. I think you're safe either way.
You underestimate my ability to take things seriously!

Offline rivka

  • Linguistic Anarchist
  • Übermember
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,142
    • View Profile
Fix my Engrish [sic], please.
« Reply #27 on: June 02, 2005, 05:52:30 PM »
Pfft. Google doesn't mean it's right, just that it's common. "ain't" gets 8,620,000 hits!
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
-Aaron Kunin

Offline Jonathon

  • Evil T-Rex
  • Administrator
  • Übermember
  • *****
  • Posts: 24,673
  • This is the darkest timeline
    • View Profile
    • GalacticCactus
Fix my Engrish [sic], please.
« Reply #28 on: June 02, 2005, 06:05:19 PM »
As far as I know, there is no "rule" governing which preposition one should use for that phrase. I assume it's much like the "by accident"/"on accident" thing.
You underestimate my ability to take things seriously!

Offline rivka

  • Linguistic Anarchist
  • Übermember
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,142
    • View Profile
Fix my Engrish [sic], please.
« Reply #29 on: June 02, 2005, 07:14:42 PM »
In that case, it's simple. "by accident" is correct; "on accident" is just silly. ;)
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
-Aaron Kunin

Offline Annie Subjunctive

  • Hausfrau
  • Übermember
  • *****
  • Posts: 10,921
    • View Profile
Fix my Engrish [sic], please.
« Reply #30 on: June 03, 2005, 12:15:02 PM »
with accident? from accident?
"It is true, however, that the opposite of Little Rock, Arkansas is Boulder, Colorado." - Tante

Offline Jonathon

  • Evil T-Rex
  • Administrator
  • Übermember
  • *****
  • Posts: 24,673
  • This is the darkest timeline
    • View Profile
    • GalacticCactus
Fix my Engrish [sic], please.
« Reply #31 on: June 03, 2005, 01:38:10 PM »
"To accident"?
You underestimate my ability to take things seriously!