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"Life be Silent!"
shouldn't that be punctuated:
"Life, be silent!"?
unless it's some kind of subjunctive that faldage
just went into and which i'll try
to understand over the next few weeks!
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"Life be Silent!"
An admonition ?
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william comments: some kind of subjunctive that faldage just went into and which i'll try to understand over the next few weeks!
And I thought I was being perfectly clear. Ah, well; as they say, "The only thing thats *perfectly clear is a vacuum."
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Other examples of the subjunctive would be "if he be here he can defend himself".
At weddings one still occasionally hears "If there be anyone present who knows of any reason these two should not be joined in wedlock, let him* speak now or forever hold his* peace."
Followed, one hopes, by a long and silent pause.
*May be replaced with them/their, I suppose (see other thread).
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shouldn't that be punctuated:
"Life, be silent!"?
My Sweet william, there are people in the States who, when
they say this, would mean what I would say as Life is silent.
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shouldn't that be punctuated:
"Life, be silent!"?
My Sweet william, there are people in the States who, when they say this, would mean what I would say as Life is silent.
Jackie, yeah but that would be *without the comma (see Ebonics post above). With the comma, as William correctly punctuated it, the sentence becomes imperative (as in "be quiet!").
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old hand
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>shouldn't that be punctuated:
>"Life, be silent!"?
The sentence had no comma which is why I thought "be" meant "is" and wondered whether it could.
Maybe they just forgot the comma.
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Avy, I meant what you meant.  You be correct.
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Flatlander comments At weddings one still occasionally hears "If there be anyone present who knows of any reason these two should not be joined in wedlock, let him* speak now or forever hold his* peace."
Followed, one hopes, by a long and silent pause.
Completely off topic, when a friend of ours married another friend some twenty-odd years ago, we "friends" formed a conspiracy. When the minister asked the question above, we coughed, muttered and shuffled and looked around "guiltily". Got a laugh, anyway.
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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speak now or forever hold his* peace
Further to CK's story, there is an apocryphal story concerning a guy getting married, who had been guilty of many severe practical jokes at his friends stag nights and weddings. He told none of his friends about his own wedding, fearing some terrible reprisals. All went well until the minister asked the question "Does anyone know any just cause or impediment..?" etc.. A voice from the back of the church boomed out "I do!", and the whole congregation turned in shock to watch the protester make his way slowly up the length of the aisle to the bride and groom. Having arrived, he stared first at the bride and then at the groom and said "Dreadfully sorry, wrong church" and made his way out again.
Rod
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