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Oh, but "collection" is singular, and is the subject, whereas "of ex-presidents" is only the modifier. If you drop the modifier, are you still comfortable? "...the only people that know are the collection we have." I guess I fell into the trap there. Now I feel very uncomfortable!  No, the subject is "the only people" for which the correct form of the verb is 'are.' And 'collection' is the object. The people that know are the collection of presidents.
Last edited by The Pook; 01/27/09 02:37 PM.
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Carpal Tunnel
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reverse the syllables and it is a victory cry (of sorts):
Tada!!
----please, draw me a sheep----
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Oh, but "collection" is singular, and is the subject, whereas "of ex-presidents" is only the modifier. If you drop the modifier, are you still comfortable? "...the only people that know are the collection we have." I guess I fell into the trap there. Now I feel very uncomfortable! No, the subject is "the only people" for which the correct form of the verb is 'are.' And 'collection' is the object. The people that know are the collection of presidents. Okay, this is why this type of phrase bugs me! I'm never sure what's correct, or why; some things just sound wrong. But that doesn't make them wrong, I realize. There are some that are correct, and I know it, but still sound wrong to me, and many others. For example: "Join Mr. Rogers and me for a walk around the Neighborhood". Many think this should be "Join Mr. Rogers and I...", but this can be demonstrated as incorrect by removing Mr. Rogers from the equation to reveal "Join I..." which sounds wrong to most people, and is wrong. Although I am no youngster, I missed the era of sentence diagramming, hence my apparent gaps in grammar ability. Your correction, Pook, still sounds wrong to me! And by the way, why haven't any tennis players dropped dead yet?!?!? For pity's sake, it was 142 (yes, one hundred forty two) degrees on center court yesterday!
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[quote=The Pook][quote]For pity's sake, it was 142 (yes, one hundred forty two) degrees on center court yesterday! Using the when in Rome principle one could say that it was 61 degrees on centre court yesterday. Since few countries still use Fahrenheit that's probably also more informative to a wider audience of Wordsmith's non-US readership.
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And by the way, why haven't any tennis players dropped dead yet?!?!? For pity's sake, it was 142 (yes, one hundred forty two) degrees on center court yesterday!
Are you sure you haven't mis-read 42C as 142F? I can't find any news reporting that it was over 105F.
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And by the way, why haven't any tennis players dropped dead yet?!?!? For pity's sake, it was 142 (yes, one hundred forty two) degrees on center court yesterday!
Are you sure you haven't mis-read 42C as 142F? I can't find any news reporting that it was over 105F. That would make sense. News reports on Djokovic's default all say the temperature was about 33C. That makes an on-court temperature between 40C and 50C very likely, as in other matches on that day but 61C seems improbable.
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Well, I was watching it live, and they kept saying 142, and showing the thermometer, which only went to 60C, and the needle was past that... Besides, this was the temp on center court, in the sun, not the reported temp at the airport (or where ever they measure it). :0)
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And by the way, why haven't any tennis players dropped dead yet?!?!? For pity's sake, it was 142 (yes, one hundred forty two) degrees on center court yesterday!
Are you sure you haven't mis-read 42C as 142F? I can't find any news reporting that it was over 105F. Quite right. Even Melbourne in high Summer doesn't get that high! 142F would be 61C!!! Even Death Valley isn't that hot. Djokovic would have expired, not just retired! Nevertheless, it was the hottest week in Melbourne for 100 years, and the Australian Open organisers are going to revamp the whole complex (apart from Rod Laver arena which doesn't need it) to provide more shade on the non-centre courts in future, which is where it's mostly needed as most of the day matches occur in the earlier rounds - the finals are almost all in the late afternoon-evening. The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam event that has an extreme heat policy, btw.
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Okay, so either you're saying I'm lying, or that someone at the Open rigged a thermometer to show 60+ degrees on camera, and paid the ESPN commentators to lie about the temperature being 142 degrees. Which is it???
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Okay, so either you're saying I'm lying, or that someone at the Open rigged a thermometer to show 60+ degrees on camera, and paid the ESPN commentators to lie about the temperature being 142 degrees. Which is it??? I never said anyone was lying. But it was not 61 degrees C (142F) in the shade, which is how air temperature is measured. The hottest on record in Australia is just under 130F. I suppose it may conceivably have been that hot if you put a thermometer in the sun on the court surface of one of the outside courts earlier in the tournament. But probably not yesterday - it was not the hottest day of the tournament so far. Quote from Sydney Morning Herald: "As the players hit up to begin the match the temperature on court was merely 28C - 10 less than forecast. Though it warmed a little thereafter - hitting 32 - the roof was open, the temperature too low to trigger the tournament's heat policy." There are other reasons for Djokovic's inability to cope with the heat, such as his 3am finish in his five setter two nights earlier. Roddick, who has been super fit lately, didn't have the same difficulty and didn't think it was particularly hot that day on centre court.
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