I struggled with English in high school and college, much to the surprise of many who know me today. For the life of me, I couldn't execute the basic principles of grammar - my participles dangled dangerously and my prepositions far too frequently found themselves hanging off the end of sentences.
In days of yore, I would have written about yesterday's walk on the beach ... Walking along the beach, Christmas trees littered the shore for as far as the eye could see, which of course would mean that we have walking Christmas trees on the east end which I assure you we don't. Those pesky participles just attach themselves to the first element in a sentence that they could possibly modify, even if it creates nonsense. So today I'd scribble, Walking along the beach, we found Christmas trees littering the shore for as far as the eye could see.
You might be asking about now, how, in heaven's name, did she even think to write about this today? Well you can blame Winston Churchill. Today's quote, delivered to my homepage, was:
"This is the sort of pedantry up with which I will not put."
I certainly recognized the grammatical crime having had teacher after teacher drum into my head, "Never end a sentence with a preposition!" But what did Churchill mean? In what context did he say this and to whom? And most importantly, was Churchill advocating exceptions to the rules?
Meaning first: Pedantry is "pedantic application of knowledge" according to my good friends at Merriam-Webster. Defining a word with a derivative of the same word makes me want to scream, but press on I did, so: pedantic means "of or related to being a pedant". There they go again! Finally, all is revealed, a pedant is "one who makes a show of knowledge, ... [and] who unduly emphasizes minutiae in ... the use of knowledge". I'd paraphrase and say a pedant is a snobbish stickler for the rules.
Well, as the story goes, a civil servant wrote a memo to Churchill objecting to ending a sentence with a preposition and to using dangling participles in official documents. Churchill's arrogant retort, wrapped in succinct superiority and penciled in the margin was, "This is the sort of pedantry up with which I will not put." Ouch!
So does this mean I can or can't end a sentence with a preposition and dangle a participle or two upon occasion? Churchill obviously took the position that he could. Where do you weigh in? Are rules rules, unbendable and rigid, or can we bend them and allow one or two of these infractions from time to time?
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Posted by: Smoopaymn | Sunday, February 05, 2012 at 11:03 AM
In case you've not heard the story told....a cowboy was walking on Beacon Hill and approached a resident with this query: "Scuse me but could you tell me where the Public Garden's at?" ....the very proper Bostonian advised him that in Boston "one does not end a sentence with a preposition!" The cowboy thought a moment and asked..."Well, could you tell me where the Public Garden's at, A..hole!?"
Sometimes pointing out misplaced modifiers can be fun...in other times it's just rude and pretentious. Guess it depends on the audience.
Here's one you will like. My Banquet Manager just came and asked me what a traditional 4th of July meal would be. Of course my preliminary response was Burgers. She told me she said that to a client and the client was appalled!!! I said "Don't tell me....she wants Salmon and Peas." My astonished manager just nodded and said how did you know? So I told her I had encountered that only once in my life and that she should ask the client if peach ice cream would fit in OK. :-)
Posted by: Charlie | Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 10:13 AM
If we always followed the rules and did not push the envelope, then would we have ever made it to the Moon or would we still consider the world flat? The list could go on and on. Are those that do not wish to bend a rule (that is legal)afraid of change? Somewhere in my childhood, I remember hearing so clearly "rules are meant to be broken"!
Posted by: Sally | Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 07:20 PM
Churchill did say "never, never, never, give in" some say he said "quit", but it still applies here in looking for those darn participle answers, dangling or otherwise. Enjoy your musings immensely.
Posted by: Barbara | Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 02:17 PM
I've always relied on my "reader's ear." When I read, I hear the words as though they were being spoken. (Not sure if that is normal!) So, if something written makes sense to me as spoken, I go with it. In that context, Churchill's statement sounds mighty awkward, (even if he was British!)But I do "get where he was coming from."
Posted by: Debra Cobb | Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 12:04 PM