Clover

paddy Free

Recent Comments

  1. about 5 hours ago on Peanuts Begins

    Charlie dropped his pen, I think.

  2. 4 days ago on B.C.

    It’s impossible to say which foot she kicked, and which foot she’s holding!

  3. 10 days ago on B.C.

    That would be an interesting experiment! Not that I’ve ever read War and Peace…

  4. 18 days ago on Peanuts Begins

    Is that Schroeder’s first time on the piano?

  5. 18 days ago on Peanuts Begins

    Schroeder is a prodigy matching Mozart himself!

  6. about 1 month ago on Calvin and Hobbes

    > “That’s an excuse that a lot of people give to excuse themselves of poor grammar.”

    I’ve never heard that used as an excuse. But the fact is that English changes all the time. In my mere six decades of life, there have been interesting changes.

    Think about it — your ancestors, if they took your approach, would be turning in their graves at the way you speak. For example, do you pronounce “knight” as “nite”? They would be horrified! They’d tell you that it’s pronounced “k-nig-it”. Grammar, too, is in constant change.

    Life changes. We either get upset about it or accept it.

  7. about 1 month ago on Calvin and Hobbes

    > “we really should just ditch the silly rules.”

    French has rules. They have the Académie Française, which defines what is and what isn’t French. It’s a declarative language; the dictionary defines French.

    English doesn’t have rules (despite what our teachers drilled into our heads when we were kids). English is a descriptive language; the dictionary describes English.

    In other words, French is what some official body tells you is French, while English is what people actually use. (It’s a tad more complicated, obviously, especially as there are roughly 160 recognised English accents, and probably quite a few unrecognised ones. But that’s the core of the issue.)

  8. about 1 month ago on Calvin and Hobbes

    “Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. You understand it better but the frog dies in the process.” — E B White

  9. about 1 month ago on Calvin and Hobbes

    Yes, it certainly used to be, as that’s the subjunctive. But English is (as always) in the process of change, and it’s no longer required.

  10. about 1 month ago on Peanuts

    Correct. Dogs evolved alongside humans, and they need more than just meat in their diet (although, of course, meat is their primary intake).

    However, dogs aren’t omnivores as is commonly believed; they are facultative carnivores. (Cats are obligate carnivores.)