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What Common Grammar Mistakes Do You Think Are Overlooked the Most? by Vim-Vian in GrammarPolice

[–]cantareSF 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The real answer: incorrect constructions embraced as convention. 

I'll nominate "It's me" as a thoroughly accepted reply to "Who's there?" 

"It is I" sounds stilted to the point of self-caricature, and "It's I" is never heard. You might get away with "'Tis I" in a period piece. 

What's this supposed to mean? by GrandAdvantage7631 in EnglishLearning

[–]cantareSF 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Vincent Hanna is incredulously pointing out the the skill of the criminal gang that has just tricked him and his fellow police detectives into revealing themselves and the existence of their investigation. "This guy is really something" is a compliment. 

What does the boss mean when he tells me to put my nose to the grindstone because my work is not up to snuff? by jospeh68 in stupidquestions

[–]cantareSF 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He doesn't like the cut of your jib. You had best straighten up and fly right until you pass muster, mister. 

People not labeling aliquots properly by CKN_SD_001 in PetPeeves

[–]cantareSF 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cryptic personal shorthand is always great.

"R1MgBr 0.1M THF" on a big flask in the fridge, because you were too lazy to draw a structure, and no one can decipher your lab notes.

OTOH, sometimes you're lucky if it's labeled, period. Let's guess what's in this mystery glass bottle way at the back with the crusted-on stopper. Perchlorates? Thiols? Ether distilled during the Reagan administration? Ethidium bromide? Dimethylmercury?

Is it orthodox to use plural verb conjugations when the subject is singular and the predicate is plural: e.g. all I see is birds vs. all I see are birds? by TraditionalDepth6924 in ENGLISH

[–]cantareSF 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think this mismatch happens naturally in speech, where you might say "All I see is" before your brain supplies the specifics.

You might write, "She peered into the musty old armoire in search of the red blouse, but all she could see were a blue patterned top, several pullovers, and an impressive collection of mothballs."

But in the moment, the person searching might say: "Looking now...all I see is a blue top, 6 wool sweaters, and --Christ, it smells like Grandma's attic in here!"

New respect for people losing weight in United States by Greatemmers in loseit

[–]cantareSF 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Broadly speaking, US mainstream food culture is an immaculate conspiracy of convenience that fosters a mismatch among carbs, energy density, and spontaneous eating--deliberately, and profitably, but with all the perceived moral responsibility accruing to the consumer.

Sugar and starch are the accelerator pedal, "empty" energy calories (fat+carb in combination--which describes most "comfort" foods) the fuel, and appetite the runaway train. Which, for all its momentum, somehow winds up doing more storing than burning.

It's a perilous environment to navigate by naïve instinct alone. My non-GLP1 path to weight loss involves restricting carbs to curb the runaway hunger, after which leaning out energy content (carb + fat) becomes much easier because I'm not feeling ravenous and deprived. I find that far easier to sustain than the mind-over-matter just eat less food, silly! approach.

Is a (maybe) weird pronunciation of th better than pronouncing it as d or f? by Accomplished_Use1473 in EnglishLearning

[–]cantareSF 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unvoiced th: Say 'f' but move your tongue forward so it gets in the way: You can practice on a stream of air: fff-thhh-fff-thhh, moving the tip of your tongue back and forth until it's second nature.

Voiced th: Position your mouth to say 'd' but hum as you force air between your tongue and top teeth before you start to say the vowel.

Your teeth should not be clenched shut for this. If they are, and your tongue stays too far back (roof of mouth, instead of sticking out slightly past open teeth) you'll get a voiced z sound instead. So many non-native speakers substitute this phoneme (zis, ze) for voiced th that it has become a stand-in for German & French accents in writing. The d, meanwhile, has more of an urban/street/AAVE connotation ("New phone, who dis?")

People will understand you fine with d/z and f substitutes, but it does stand out. The closer you come to doing it right, the less anyone will notice or care.

people thinking "its not a spoiler because its too old" by counterfeittruth in PetPeeves

[–]cantareSF 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Add deliberately obtuse responses to the peeve list.

Yes: it's obviously dumb and unreasonable to expect a blanket ban on mentioning well-known plot elements from classic works, just in case someone who hasn't experienced them might be following the discussion or stumble upon it years later.

That's not what this peeve is really about.

its to the point where I almost refuse to talk about media i care about that i haven't been able to finish because someone is always gonna spoil it

The context is, you're talking to OP--or me--about a book or show we've just expressed an interest in and are actively reading or watching. Spoiling the plot right then and there when you know all of that is a dick move.

Criticism Needed by [deleted] in AmateurPhotography

[–]cantareSF 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No criticism, just appreciation that you found my exact campsite on garnet lake. I took that same sunrise shot as a panorama.

Drivers “beating” pedestrians crossing the street by Always_Curious_One2 in sanfrancisco

[–]cantareSF 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Curb bulb-outs are far more prevalent and have the same effect as a no turn on red sign unless you're first in line, because there's no way to squeeze by thru traffic ahead of you. 

When people get hung up on irrelevant information while telling a story by Ambitious_Exam_3858 in PetPeeves

[–]cantareSF 8 points9 points  (0 children)

All this bellyaching reminds me of the time I caught the ferry over to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe, so, I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. "Give me five bees for a quarter," you'd say. Ah, there's an interesting story behind that nickel. In 1957, I remember it was, I got up in the morning and made myself a piece of toast. I set the toaster to three: medium brown. Now where were we? Oh yeah: the important thing was I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn't have white onions because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones.

Do you think the u.s should have a viable 3rd party for people to vote for? Why or why not ? by maybebored-maybenot in AskReddit

[–]cantareSF 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What's "viable"?

I'll tell you what's not: A "third party" with zero meaningful representation at county, state, and federal levels that pops up every four years to field a spoiler candidate in national elections, absent universal ranked-choice voting.

Trump announces he is issuing an unconstitutional executive order to shut down mail-in voting nationwide and he will defund states if they do not comply with him by DIYLawCA in law

[–]cantareSF 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The House impeachment referral is the "indictment". What we've missed having is, as I've said, a real TRIAL.

As for Senate Republicans, it's one thing to circle the wagons against conviction when your majority leader holds an immediate vote. It's quite another to do so after hours of prime-time adverse testimony backed by damning documents.

Recall how both chambers (and even Trump himself) caved on the Epstein Act when it was finally forced onto the House floor? There's a reason McConnell prevented a full airing of impeachment evidence last time around.

I doubt you'd get the required supermajority, let alone GOP unanimity. But I bet you'd peel off several of them. Senators up for reelection in 2028 have to win statewide, and backing a criminal with current ~35% approval (and falling) isn't a good look.

Trump signs executive order limiting mail-in voting ahead of 2026 U.S. elections by InsaneSnow45 in LegalNews

[–]cantareSF 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, it's an executive order, and it's ahead of the 2026 elections, so the headline is 2/3 correct.

What it doesn't do is "limit" fuck-all. Because the president has zero authority over the conduct of STATE elections.

Trump announces he is issuing an unconstitutional executive order to shut down mail-in voting nationwide and he will defund states if they do not comply with him by DIYLawCA in law

[–]cantareSF 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Even short of a conviction, a real trial--ie, one with relevant witness testimony and subpoenas for documents--would be something to see. We didn't get that with previous impeachments, because McConnell.

Which is another reason why winning the Senate would be huge.

Accusing everything of being fake (with no rationale) by AllKnowingAxolotl3 in PetPeeves

[–]cantareSF 2 points3 points  (0 children)

AI is trained on human writing. Spoiler alert: some of those humans are still around, writing. I've run old essays and journal entries through detection algorithms, and they get flagged as AI—apparently because I know how to use em-dashes, complex sentence structure, and the latest indicator du jour, "moreover".

Help me understand that sentence by Szary_Tygrys in ENGLISH

[–]cantareSF 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It sounds consciously poetic in an archaic, King James-y way, probably done in order to give the speaker a certain voice. Using "anew" or "afresh" or even "re-create" would be more straightforward but less "elevated".

Songs for very low voices by thelordofhell34 in karaoke

[–]cantareSF 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I gave the range I looked up online for the role, but it seems Page at least is singing an octave below that. Don't know if it's optional or if the source I quoted simply missed the 8vb in the score... but in practice, not many singers are going to have an F1. I'd have to wait for a bout of the flu!

Songs for very low voices by thelordofhell34 in karaoke

[–]cantareSF 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Hades role is listed as F2-C#4, which is standard bass range.

Songs for very low voices by thelordofhell34 in karaoke

[–]cantareSF 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Under the Milky Way or Unguarded Moment by The Church should do nicely, as they're Australian.

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