English language expert (stop laughing)
So, since my native language is English and my brain works in English (though I'm mostly communicating with others in Greek unless I'm talking with people back Stateside these days), I get called on from time to time to deliver The Expert Opinion On The English Language.
Things like the possessive of a noun or name ending in "s", like "James": is it correct to say "James's wallet" or "James' wallet"?
The problem cropped up because one of the Senior Partners has at least one child taking lessons in English, and the teacher, being a teacher, is used to his or her statements being taken as Received Wisdom. Thus, the teacher will take points off for stuff written in a way that doesn't conform with what the teacher taught. Even if the subject is still unsettled.
Like that possessive "s" thing I just mentioned. Did you know that you can't even get a straight answer out of the United States Supreme Court? They've published opinions using both forms, as I had to point out to the Senior Partner, annoyed that her child was being marked down for something that was perfectly correct.
I've actually had to point that sort of thing out a few times, now and then: my choice in style is not necessarily the One Right Choice. I'll advise if something feels stylistically awkward, or ambiguous, but it's been mentioned to me that I've been giving fewer style corrections as time goes on (probably because I'm letting my reading of stuff for editing go beyond simply "how would I write this" to "is this clear and understandable").
On to today's argument: how does one pronounce "behind"?
I, personally, pronounce it with a long "e", but the Senior Partner told me that someone was insisting that pronunciation was Wrong. She produced her iPhone, which spat out the word pronounced with a schwa - "buh-hind" - and then got on the phone with someone so she could demonstrate that a native New Yorker pronounces the word with a long "e", and all the while, I was insisting that there are a whole lot of incredibly varied accents in the United States, and while I may pronounce it the way I do, there's probably somewhere in the States where it gets pronounced like it was on her iPhone...
...there's got to be, right?
This entry is cross-posted from http://bktheirregular.dreamwidth.org/586014.html. Feel free to comment here, or on Dreamwidth using OpenID (
comments).
Things like the possessive of a noun or name ending in "s", like "James": is it correct to say "James's wallet" or "James' wallet"?
The problem cropped up because one of the Senior Partners has at least one child taking lessons in English, and the teacher, being a teacher, is used to his or her statements being taken as Received Wisdom. Thus, the teacher will take points off for stuff written in a way that doesn't conform with what the teacher taught. Even if the subject is still unsettled.
Like that possessive "s" thing I just mentioned. Did you know that you can't even get a straight answer out of the United States Supreme Court? They've published opinions using both forms, as I had to point out to the Senior Partner, annoyed that her child was being marked down for something that was perfectly correct.
I've actually had to point that sort of thing out a few times, now and then: my choice in style is not necessarily the One Right Choice. I'll advise if something feels stylistically awkward, or ambiguous, but it's been mentioned to me that I've been giving fewer style corrections as time goes on (probably because I'm letting my reading of stuff for editing go beyond simply "how would I write this" to "is this clear and understandable").
On to today's argument: how does one pronounce "behind"?
I, personally, pronounce it with a long "e", but the Senior Partner told me that someone was insisting that pronunciation was Wrong. She produced her iPhone, which spat out the word pronounced with a schwa - "buh-hind" - and then got on the phone with someone so she could demonstrate that a native New Yorker pronounces the word with a long "e", and all the while, I was insisting that there are a whole lot of incredibly varied accents in the United States, and while I may pronounce it the way I do, there's probably somewhere in the States where it gets pronounced like it was on her iPhone...
...there's got to be, right?
This entry is cross-posted from http://bktheirregular.dreamwidth.org/586014.html. Feel free to comment here, or on Dreamwidth using OpenID (
comments).