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xkcd again, but now on linguists and their weird habits (mander.xyz)

submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

27 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I feel slightly offended. Because it's true.

(Alt text: "Do you feel like the answer depends on whether you're currently in the hole, versus when you refer to the events later after you get out? Assuming you get out.")

xkcd source

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Yeah with english the answer is usually "both are correct but this way sounds better."

Basically how english works... go with what sounds right, and if it isn't right the linguists will eventually declare to be right anyway.

And don't feel bad, I once met an asian woman that said "an Irish guy that works at the restaurant gave me a list of common english expressions, but some of them don't look right and I'm not sure if he was just joking around, can you take a look?"

First thing on the list was:

I'm tired -> "I've been laying around flicking the bean all day."

So I had to explain what "flicking the bean" actually meant to a woman I just met that was just learning English. Thanks, Ireland!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

Man, what kind of asshole does that to a lady who is just learning a language?

[–] feedum_sneedson 1 points 10 months ago

That's a good one, damn. Flick the bean off, what a great phrase.