In spite of their professed enthusiasm for grammar, they entitled their post, "Who do you think you are kidding, Mr. Hitler?"
Ahem,....the correct pronoun would have been 'whom'. This mistake is not nearly as egregious as the improper use of 'whom' when 'who' is called for. I often let this sort of error go by, but at a site dedicated to proper usage? ( I took this screen print of that page just in case they correct it after they see my comment on their blog------I'm so petty).
8 comments:
Haha It's so good to know that you are, in fact, my mother.
Haha, this is my friend kerfuffler (spelling wobbly) but who shares very similar traits with you
love, your actual mother, though pleased you were momentarily confused
your mother,
Mom
Oh, and Kefuffler, it should be, I believe, "Grammar Nazis." So there. Unless I'm missing the possessive somewhere, in which case it becomes "Grammar Nazis'," (proper position of that last comma varies) unless there is but a single antisemitic cry in the dark.
Apparently I am old-fashioned. The tradition used to be to use an apostrophe before the 's' to form the plural of acronyms. The New York Times maintained that usage until nearly the end of 2007, so I guess I just wrote it the way I had so often seen it. Frankly I had no idea that the rule had been changed. I thought other people were being sloppy. (So much of linguistic evolution involves the gradual incorporation what were once considered mistakes.)
Usually I am conservative regarding linguistic evolution, but in this instance I'll be glad to change my ways; using so many apostrophes is way too challenging for someone with my limited typing ability.
Btw, djinn, your spelling of my moniker was correct in your first comment in this thread-----the time when you doubted your spelling.
Ah, my dear kerfuffler, I was so thrilled that I was able to challenge you on a grammar rule that I did not consult, uh, say, Fowlers (or even my beloved OED.) Still, the small thrill!
Oh. Whoops.
Oh, and pettiness is often a true joy!!!!
Two points:
To all but the most dedicated anachronistic pedants (in which group I would claim membership), "Who do you think you are kidding" is perfectly acceptable.
In this case it's a direct quote so it would have been inappropriate to change the wording.
Post a Comment