The Funny Pages - Tickle Me Elbow - The Original

[nikki-uk]

  elye said:

Participle-dangling diplomats sound quite awful...but I was hoping you'd be wondering more about what these guys look like when dangling....It's quite something.

Well..... ....I did wonder

[tom]

  CarlaB said:

Where did they get that pre-celiac picture of you anyway?

LOL!

That comm'l is on tv so you should replace 'picture' w/ 'video', and heyyyyyyy I *never* had a double-chin!!!!

<i'm aware i've lobbed a softball here for whomever wants it>

Do the grammar-cops appreciate my "whomever"? (Uh oh I hope it's correct!)

[CarlaB]

  tom said:

That comm'l is on tv so you should replace 'picture' w/ 'video', and heyyyyyyy I *never* had a double-chin!!!!

<i'm aware i've lobbed a softball here for whomever wants it>

Uh oh, Nit-wit Spice is back ... did you sneak some soy into your diet? Picky, picky, picky.

[nikki-uk]

  CarlaB said:

Uh oh, Nit-wit Spice is back ... did you sneak some soy into your diet? Picky, picky, picky.

*Snort*

[Mtndog]

  nikki-uk said:

*Snort*

Double snort!

[tom]

  Mtndog said:

Double snort!

LMAO

Ya, ok, Nitwit Spice makes it a Triple!

And tho I mentioned this on OMG already, I may as well cover all the bases.

This coming Sunday, I get to meet Momma Goose, broncobux and mouse!!

It'll be SUCH fun!!

[elye]

  tom said:

Do the grammar-cops appreciate my "whomever"? (Uh oh I hope it's correct!)

Sorry, Tom...no appreciation here. I'm on the Grammar Cop beat (perpetually, I fear)...and I'm gonna let you go with just a warning this time. One needs "WHOever" in this instance, as the word needs to be in the subjective form. Right word, wrong case. Hey, at least we're not having to deal with you dangling your participle in front of us. Whew!

[CarlaB]

  tom said:

And tho I mentioned this on OMG already, I may as well cover all the bases.

This coming Sunday, I get to meet Momma Goose, broncobux and mouse!!

It'll be SUCH fun!!

That will be fun! You haven't been here that long (since right after Memorial Day, shall we reminisce? ) ... and you're meeting so many.

I haven't met anyone here, but did meet someone from Lymenet.

[Mtndog]

  tom said:

This coming Sunday, I get to meet Momma Goose, broncobux and mouse!!

It'll be SUCH fun!!

That's awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm SO jealous! Just DO NOT dangle your participle in front of them, OK?

[nikki-uk]

  elye said:

I'm on the Grammar Cop beat (perpetually, I fear)...and I'm gonna let you go with just a warning this time. One needs "WHOever" in this instance, as the word needs to be in the subjective form. Right word, wrong case.

Oh I'm just loving Miss Emily's English class (BEV !!! I LOVE yours too)

  elye said:

Hey, at least we're not having to deal with you dangling your participle in front of us. Whew!

I am indeed grateful for this

[Mtndog]

If you must dangle your participle, do so diplomatically!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[elye]

Hear, Hear! Dangle like a Diplomat!

[DingoGirl]

  elye said:

......Uh huh.....

Don't quite get what's wrong with the brilliant, concise, grammatically sound "my fault". Own up and move on, absolutely, and please do it while following the most basic of our fundamental grammar rules: NO ADJECTIVES WHERE A NOUN SHOULD BE!!

...my apologies....I've just had too many diplomats dangling their participles during my advanced grammar lessons. So much correcting! Gad... There, it's outta my system. Carry on!

I so WANT to be in agreement with you, but "my bad" has now become quite funny to me...when you think of the English using it. economy

I mean, Nik feels like she's swearing when she uses it.

  elye said:

Participle-dangling diplomats sound quite awful...but I was hoping you'd be wondering more about what these guys look like when dangling....It's quite something.

and what DO they look like? are they hot?

  elye said:

Sorry, Tom...no appreciation here. I'm on the Grammar Cop beat (perpetually, I fear)...and I'm gonna let you go with just a warning this time. One needs "WHOever" in this instance, as the word needs to be in the subjective form. Right word, wrong case. Hey, at least we're not having to deal with you dangling your participle in front of us. Whew!

She is SO right. It's like a second sentence, and the "who" would be the subject......a bit tricky, that one.

I, too, am titillated by our English lessons and parsing of things.

UPDATE!!!!

Mommy is fine, better than fine, it went swimmingly and she is fabulous. Went home today.

But.....sad news. My young friend Jenn....she's only 28, like a little sister to me.....I know this is our silly thread but....Jenn's mom most likely is not leaving the hospital. :( I have never witnessed a human go through so many things, all in one body.......my heart is broken. Many prayers needed for my Jenn and her family.......liver cancer and failure, following decades of Hep C, is the worst thing I have seen yet. There have actually been HORROR FILM aspects to her situation.....I will spare you the details.

okay.....Dingy out.......more reports to do!!!

[tom]

  elye said:

Sorry, Tom...no appreciation here. I'm on the Grammar Cop beat (perpetually, I fear)...and I'm gonna let you go with just a warning this time. One needs "WHOever" in this instance, as the word needs to be in the subjective form. Right word, wrong case.

oh!! DANG!! I thought I had it right.

So . . . . . 'whomever' would be correct if I'd left off the "wants it" ?

  elye said:

Hey, at least we're not having to deal with you dangling your participle in front of us. Whew!

. . . . . must . . . . .resist . . . . . .

<it's hard but it's best to leave it alone in a roomful of women>

(that doesn't count as a response btw!)

[tom]

  DingoGirl said:

I so WANT to be in agreement with you, but "my bad" has now become quite funny to me...when you think of the English using it. economy

Yes!

(And a quick to Emily)

  DingoGirl said:

She is SO right. It's like a second sentence, and the "who" would be the subject......a bit tricky, that one.

Gah! That double-reverse of the split sentence rule got me. . . . . . . . .once.

Never heard of it before and ignorance was indeed bliss.

Now I feel like I have a lifetime of looking for whomever/whoever violations ahead of me. Thanks a TON Emily! Like I needed another language pet peeve!!

  DingoGirl said:

Mommy is fine, better than fine, it went swimmingly and she is fabulous. Went home today.

  DingoGirl said:

But.....sad news. My young friend Jenn....she's only 28, like a little sister to me.....I know this is our silly thread but....Jenn's mom most likely is not leaving the hospital. :(

So sorry to hear that.

That Jenn is the one who resembles J. Love Hewitt?

('scuse me - I need to go call Mom . .. . .)

[tom]

  CarlaB said:

That will be fun! You haven't been here that long (since right after Memorial Day, shall we reminisce? ) ... and you're meeting so many.

And NO Carla! I'm against reminiscing on those 1st few days!! (What a poor excuse for a Lymebrain you are btw, remembering my 1st stupid post! ) About a week or so in - THAT I can reminisce on. You're fine w/ paragraphs containing more than 2 or 3 sentences now, aren'tcha?

  Mtndog said:

That's awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm SO jealous! Just DO NOT dangle your participle in front of them, OK?

Behind them is ok then?

<ack!! I wasn't going to comment on this nonsense!>

  nikki-uk said:

I am indeed grateful for this

Wouldn't wanna sc...... <NO!! STOP Riiiiiiiiight THERE MISTER!!>

  Mtndog said:

If you must dangle your participle, do so diplomatically!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ohhhhhhh boy . . . . .bringin' diplomacy into it now are we? Can't help but think of Teddy Roosevelt. I'll have to work on my soft walk.

<methinks c.spice is trying to get me in trouble>

  elye said:

Hear, Hear! Dangle like a Diplomat!

Hey that's got a ring to it in a "Walk Like an Egyptian" sort of way!!

[CarlaB]

  tom said:

<it's hard but it's best to leave it alone in a roomful of women>

Tom, I really think you set yourself up like this on purpose ... definately leave your participle alone in a room full of women.

Susie, sorry about your friend's mom. I'm glad everything went well for yours.

[CarlaB]

  tom said:

(What a poor excuse for a Lymebrain you are btw, remembering my 1st stupid post! ) About a week or so in - THAT I can reminisce on. You're fine w/ paragraphs containing more than 2 or 3 sentences now, aren'tcha?

No, my clear-headed bliss went away. I've backslidden (okay, made up that word, LOL) to where I was at the beginning of the summer. It was the Cipro that had cleared my head and made me feel better; we know that now. So, I'm waiting for my insurance to authorize the new med ... in the meantime, lymebrain (except for selective memories ).

It's because we're dealing with another infection altogether ... but the rest of the story is for the OMG thread.

[nikki-uk]

Try this !!

How smart is Your Right Foot??

It is from an orthopedic surgeon...........

This will boggle your mind and you will keep trying over and over again t o see if you can outsmart your foot, but you can't. It's preprogrammed in your brain!

1. WITHOUT anyone watching you (they will think you are GOOFY......) and while sitting where you are at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right ha nd .

Your foot will change direction.

......weird........

[elye]

Okay, too many things on too many posts to respond to (Gad, it's what you get for having a life part of the day)...so, bear with me because I'm too lazy to do the delete thing on the quote option:

Great news about your mom, Susan! Now you must be there for your friend and her mom...hep C is a nightmare that few of us can imagine.

Tom: I must peruse your profile and see your first post, as it got by me, unless you'd like to sum it up for me? Curiousity greatly peaked! And now that I've got you possessively co-policing with me for grammar infractions, I must tell you of the one error that drives me perhaps crazier than "my bad", and I go insane because it is EVERYWHERE...in advertisements, in editorials, in reports. The placing of "everyday" where "every day" should be:

"At McDonald's, we've got a special on everyday".

AAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Now, Tom, I hope you notice those with the irritating regularity that I do.

...And dangling one's participle behind is indeed not okay. Got eyes in the back of my head, remember? And you are absolutely right..."Dangle Like a Diplomat" is SO musical. Tom, you must run with this....take this phrase, and write lyrics around it. I see an incredible song, an anthem, in the waiting. It could be about love lost (perhaps due to very poor grammar) and refound as our hero meets a travelling ambassador who has this one little linguistic quirk when he (or she) struggles with the English language...

I've learned to.....dangle like a diplomat,

He does this every time we chat.

Participles must modify!...

But I still love him, and I dunno why.

There's your first stanza... Go, Tom, go!

[nikki-uk]

Excellent Emily , you nut !!

[CarlaB]

Tom's first post Open Original Shared Link

He called himself "Murph" back then. That's why I call him Nit-wit Spice. He went to the trouble to register just to correct me on how many the Speedway seats! He was right ... but people in Indiana will go on forever saying it holds 500k.

Tom, with friends like me, who needs enemies!

[tom]

What the heck? That's someone w/ some other name!!

How bad WAS the Lymebrain back then, dearie?

[Darn210]

First of all, let me say that I'm a long-time listener and a first-time caller. I'm a big fan of the show.

But I have to ask . . .

  CarlaB said:

He called himself "Murph" back then. That's why I call him Nit-wit Spice. He went to the trouble to register just to correct me on how many the Speedway seats! He was right ... but people in Indiana will go on forever saying it holds 500k.

Tom's registered in '04 and Murph registered in '07 . . . Are you saying he registered under another name just to give you grief? And how did you discover it was Tom?

[tom]

  nikki-uk said:

Try this !!

How smart is Your Right Foot??

It is from an orthopedic surgeon...........

This will boggle your mind and you will keep trying over and over again t o see if you can outsmart your foot, but you can't. It's preprogrammed in your brain!

1. WITHOUT anyone watching you (they will think you are GOOFY......) and while sitting where you are at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right ha nd .

Your foot will change direction.

......weird........

But . . . . .but . . . . .what does it say that my foot doesn't change direction?

It does slightly stray from its path, but that's it.

I also tried foot CCW and drawing a 9. Same deal. Maybe left foot works. HEY! It does!!

weird .. . . .

  elye said:

. . . . . Curiousity greatly peaked! And now that I've got you possessively co-policing with me for grammar infractions, . . .

WTH is this? Training wheels for the Jr Grammar Cop? Some sort of initiation test?

Or is it possible the Grand Poohbah of Grammar for our sillythread has an episode of well-deserved embarrassment coming her way?

Stay tuned if I've PIQUED your interest!!

(Actually that Grand Poohbah title might be up for grabs, now that I think of it. Dingy's pretty good w/ this stuff. In my first week, I said how much tv ppl saying "AN historical" bothered me and that it made as much sense as saying "AN history test", and she went into a whole explanation w/ words like glottal. And I knew immediately not to mess w/ this one!)

  elye said:

And now that I've got you possessively co-policing with me for grammar infractions, I must tell you of the one error that drives me perhaps crazier than "my bad", and I go insane because it is EVERYWHERE...in advertisements, in editorials, in reports. The placing of "everyday" where "every day" should be:

"At McDonald's, we've got a special on everyday".

AAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Now, Tom, I hope you notice those with the irritating regularity that I do.

Oh, believe me it isn't just starting now. Ridiculous misuse of the language has irritated me for decades.

Interesting that you bring up "everyday/every day". One of my more recent additions to the long list of language pet-peeves is sort of the opposite.

I've settled on calling it 'decompounding', tho I believe I can eventually come up w/ something more clever.

I see it ALL THE FREAKING TIME!

Every where

Some thing

Pick up (as in the truck)

Out doors

Fire man

Birth stone

Black list

On & on & on . . .

It's insane how often I seem to see this.

  elye said:

And you are absolutely right..."Dangle Like a Diplomat" is SO musical. Tom, you must run with this....take this phrase, and write lyrics around it. I see an incredible song, an anthem, in the waiting. It could be about love lost (perhaps due to very poor grammar) and refound as our hero meets a travelling ambassador who has this one little linguistic quirk when he (or she) struggles with the English language...

I've learned to.....dangle like a diplomat,

He does this every time we chat.

Participles must modify!...

But I still love him, and I dunno why.

There's your first stanza... Go, Tom, go!

Have I been assigned homework???

Teachers . . . . . I tell ya . . . . . .

Ok ok I can give it a shot later, but I think my problem is that I don't actually KNOW much in the way of actual rules! I just believe I know what sounds right most of the time. (Except, apparently, in a split-sentence whomever/whoever scenario)

e.g. I have ZERO idea what to call the tense that makes "if it were" the correct way, it just is. Don't even know if it's the same word for the tense that makes "I wish I were" the proper way, even tho it seems awkward.

Writing "tense" in consecutive sentences somehow makes me think of "Intensities In Ten Cities"!! Anyone know what that's from w/out looking it up? (Added the "w/out looking it up" for you Carla! More than once you've implied I need to google! (or even downright accused me of same!))