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#147887 09/14/05 04:57 AM
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I find the superiority complex (so nicely demonstrated by what you wrote on the bumper sticker) intrinsic to prescriptivism particularly repulsive. Prescriptivism makes no sense logically, and makes otherwise nice people behave in a churlish and mean-spirited manner.


#147888 09/14/05 05:12 AM
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Superiority, repulsiveness, illogicality, churlishness and a mean spirit are among my many other faults. Psalm 51:3 says: "For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me." Part of the way that my sins remain ever before me is that, when I fail to concentrate on them sufficiently myself, some other kind soul is always willing to point them out to me. For this, I am, of course, grateful.


#147889 09/14/05 07:36 AM
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Father Steve, I congratulate you on the aplomb with which you've handled the tirade from the grumpy old coot calling himself Max. To think that some people think I'm testy!


#147890 09/14/05 07:45 AM
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Aside from the transitive / intransitive debate (where I agree "graduate" is both), I'll admit that I straightaway interpreted the bumper sticker text as meaning something like "the truly educated are those who never stop learning" (graduate = finish the stage of "formal" education, put it behind you and move on).

I may be naive, but I'd think this meaning more fitting for a bumper sticker than the other. No?


#147891 09/14/05 07:56 AM
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In reply to:

I'll admit that I straightaway interpreted the bumper sticker text as meaning something like "the truly educated are those who never stop learning"




Which is why I went postal on our poor pacifist padre. The meaning is so obviously that which you give above, and yet prescriptivism demands that its slaves pretend not to see the meaning because of perceived infractions of "the rules". Gnats and camels, methinks.


#147892 09/14/05 08:49 AM
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and here I thought Max was giving us some serious irony...



formerly known as etaoin...
#147893 09/14/05 10:51 AM
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Graduate has been being used since the early 19th century as an intransitive verb, and is defined (without censure) as such in the first edition OED. Fowler's first MEU has nothing to say about it. Merriam-Webster's DEU mentions that the controversy began in the USA in the late 19th century by a couple of prescriptivists.

[Fixed typo.]


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
#147894 09/14/05 10:52 AM
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> couple of prescriptivists

husband and wife team?



formerly known as etaoin...
#147895 09/14/05 11:42 AM
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The use of graduate that I abhor is "I graduated high school."

A\I always have the urge to ask how far apart the graduations were but I'm reasonably certain a person who would mouth that obscenity would not understand.



TEd
#147896 09/14/05 01:24 PM
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The M-W DEU mentions that "John graduated high school" types of sentences have only been around 50 years or so, but mainly in informal, spoken English.



Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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