Thursday, May 29, 2008

Syntax

I think the point of the question asked at last night's Church Council meeting was to establish my status in the whole complex business of appointing a new Rector. So the question was intended to be, 'What about people like Steve?' It came out as 'Do people like Steve...' and the very slight pause while the rest of the sentence was being carefully thought through before delivery was enough for someone to respond, 'I don't know; shall we vote on it?' Brilliant.

Grammar lesson of the day. Don't say 'like' when you mean 'such as.'

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