Comments on: Verbs Like “Know”

By: Clare Lynch

Clare Lynch — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:55:13 +0000

Good for you, Maeve. You can’t be a blogger and not offend anyone. That’s what healthy debate is all about.

By: Maeve

Maeve — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:36:47 +0000

Great discussion, guys.

Clare,
You’ve seen through me! That barrage of hate mail on the pronunciation post really shook me, but I think I have developed a thicker skin since then. Just this morning I received a comment informing me that I and my entire nation suffer from a low IQ and it didn’t faze me.

You are right. It’s time I stopped pussy-footing around these things: If I’d know this years ago. is just plain WRONG.

Chad,
Yes, it should be well-known and I’ll go back and correct it. And to think that I recently wrote a post on that very point!

Grace,
The reader who submitted the comment did not specify, but I’d guess that it was overheard and not read. Your theory is reasonable. Unless something drastic happens to change the trend, literacy in a standard form of English is on its way to becoming the preserve of a specialized class of teachers and scribes.

Thanks for all your thoughtful comments.

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:24:12 +0000

Oh, I see; I can see how you get that if you add a comma: “still, [all] in all, he’s an excellent cow dog …”

(Though google does turn up definitions of “still and all” (Roget, American Heritage, Merriam Webster) — seems to be an Americanism; nothing for “still in all”, though)

By: Grace S.

Grace S. — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:04:14 +0000

Peter, “still in all” would carry the meaning of “Despite all the things I have just mentioned, it is still true that . . .” For example, I could tell you that my dog runs off to the neighbor’s farm at least once a week, chases my chickens, swims in the pond and then rolls in the dirt, and chews on things that are not meant as chew toys. Still in all, he is an excellent cow dog so we keep him around.

I don’t think the expression is used much anymore; it could be considered idiomatic, I suppose, and may be regional.

Thanks for the link to the song lyrics Web site. I didn’t have time to explore too much, but it definitely makes the point about heard vs. read wording.

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 14 May 2009 06:33:28 +0000

“still and all” (should be “in”) Really? I can't make sense of that either way. What's it supposed to mean? I am convinced these writers/speakers have not seen the expressions correctly written down, but are using what they assume is correct based on what they have heard. Yes; there are a lot of those. "A long road to hoe" comes to mind (although I don't think people who say that really say "to hoe", since the concept of hoeing obviously isn't what they have in mind). (There's a website devoted to misheard song lyrics, some of which are rather funny)