{"id":2104,"date":"2016-01-12T14:14:47","date_gmt":"2016-01-12T20:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=2104"},"modified":"2020-11-25T11:14:54","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T17:14:54","slug":"aint-that-a-shame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/definitions\/aint-that-a-shame\/","title":{"rendered":"Ain’t That<\/i> a Shame"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are gratified that our readers are uncompromising about the English language. Over the course of fifty articles annually, we get our share of lectures, challenges, and rebukes. We welcome all your comments, but before you write, keep in mind the final edict in last week\u2019s Stickler\u2019s Ten Commandments<\/a>: Be sure you are correct before you cry foul.<\/p>\n

\u2022 One correspondent admonished us to replace over<\/em> with more than<\/em> in sentences like the package weighs over ten pounds<\/em>. This myth has been around a long time, but few if any language scholars take it seriously. In an article titled \u201cNon-Errors\u201d the eminent grammarian Paul Brians says, \u201c \u2018Over\u2019 has been used in the sense of \u2018more than\u2019 for over a thousand years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 When we wrote \u201cformulas,\u201d a reader said that the correct plural is formulae<\/em>, and those who write \u201cformulas\u201d are \u201cthe same lazy folk who would use \u2018octopuses\u2019 rather than \u2018octopi.\u2019 Please, don\u2019t be lazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

While it is true that formulae<\/em> is preferred in scientific contexts, formulas<\/em> is most writers\u2019 choice in other applications. The Associated Press Stylebook<\/em> does not even acknowledge formulae<\/em>. As for octopi<\/em>, it is listed in most dictionaries, but that does not make it correct. In his book What in the Word?<\/em> Charles Harrington Elster states that octopuses<\/em> is the right choice: \u201cBecause octopus<\/em> comes from Greek, not Latin, the Latinate variant octopi<\/em> is inappropriate and is frowned upon by usage authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 But the biggest tiff of 2015 was over the use of that<\/em> in sentences like She is a woman that likes to laugh<\/em>. There is nothing grammatically wrong with a woman that likes<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Oh, but try telling that to all the readers who wrote in insisting that that<\/em> must never be used to refer to humans. In 2014 we ran two articles which we hoped would put this dreary matter to rest forever (you can read them here<\/a> and here<\/a>). We\u2019ll say it again: The pronoun that<\/em> applies to humans as well as nonhumans. You may not care for how it sounds. You may not like how it is used nowadays. But rules of grammar transcend our personal preferences.<\/p>\n

Most of the correspondence on this topic included some variation on \u201cthis is how I was taught.\u201d Well, maybe so, but as the years pass, sometimes the memory plays tricks. And teachers are not infallible. Even the best ones harbor their own opinions, biases, and delusions, which might slip out in the classroom and be taken as fact by a callow student.<\/p>\n

Too many of us cling to cherished misconceptions out of loyalty, sentiment, nostalgia\u2014or sheer force of habit. If Albert Einstein\u2019s theory of relativity were disproved tomorrow, would any reputable scientist disregard the overwhelming evidence because of his allegiance to Einstein?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pop Quiz<\/strong><\/p>\n

Correct any sentences that need fixing.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. That basketball player is over seven feet tall.<\/li>\n
  2. I prefer people that don\u2019t tell everything they know.<\/li>\n
  3. A couple dollars is all that place charges for a great taco.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Pop Quiz Answers<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. That basketball player is over seven feet tall. CORRECT<\/strong><\/li>\n
    2. I prefer people that don\u2019t tell everything they know. CORRECT<\/strong><\/li>\n
    3. A couple of <\/em>dollars is all that place charges for a great taco.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      We are gratified that our readers are uncompromising about the English language. Over the course of fifty articles annually, we get our share of lectures, challenges, and rebukes. We welcome all your comments, but before you write, keep in mind the final edict in last week\u2019s Stickler\u2019s Ten Commandments: Be sure you are correct before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,33,37,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-definitions","category-prepositions","category-spelling","category-who-vs-which-vs-that"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2104"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2104\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}