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If Siri Was a Waitress

Steven_Draker

By Steven_Draker
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Sigh.... No one can remember to use the subjunctive any more. It's "If Siri were a waitress"... "If Siri was a waitress" means that "if Siri used to be, but no longer is, a waitress." Grand soupir...

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marylander1940 Grand Master

marylander1940

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Sigh.... No one can remember to use the subjunctive any more. It's "If Siri were a waitress"... "If Siri was a waitress" means that "if Siri used to be, but no longer is, a waitress." Grand soupir...

 

Steven speaks several languages, one of them is English and is understandable he made a mistake many Americans do every day.

 

Very funny video!

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deej Grand Master

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Steven speaks several languages, one of them is English and is understandable he made a mistake many Americans do every day.

 

Particularly since he was just repeating the title on the video posted by YouTube user "Jimmy Kimmel Live".

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Steven speaks several languages, one of them is English and is understandable he made a mistake many Americans do every day.

 

Very funny video!

 

Yes, I know. Jimmy Kimmel made the same mistake. Not a criticism of Steven. When native speakers can't speak correctly, how can one expect those for whom English is the 3rd language? It's just a sigh on my part...

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deej Grand Master

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Yes, I know. Jimmy Kimmel made the same mistake. Not a criticism of Steven. When native speakers can't speak correctly, how can one expect those for whom English is the 3rd language? It's just a sigh on my part...

 

And a valid sigh.

 

In spanish I know and use the difference between "fue" and "fuera" (was and were in english), but I'm not so careful in my native language. Native speakers bow to common usage frequently.

 

It can be fun to point them out (and some can be outright howlers) but it can also be taken the wrong way.

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marylander1940 Grand Master

marylander1940

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Particularly since he was just repeating the title on the video posted by YouTube user "Jimmy Kimmel Live".

 

I'm sure an intern wrote it, it will be corrected soon.

 

Yes, I know. Jimmy Kimmel made the same mistake. Not a criticism of Steven. When native speakers can't speak correctly, how can one expect those for whom English is the 3rd language? It's just a sigh on my part...

 

I have dyslexia and I need to stop, take a short break and read what I just wrote a couple of times before clicking send/enter.

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doya66 Newbie

doya66

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I remember the day that I learned I'd been using the subjunctive incorrectly my whole life (20 years at that point). It was a college French class. We were learning it in French, and I was asked to translate a sentence. I never will forget the professor saying, "Your French is good, but your English is terrible." I was mortified. How did I make it all the way through high school without learning how to speak?

 

When the subjunctive is used incorrectly in spoken English, I still don't register it as an error, although I generally get it right these days myself. In writing, I notice it, but agree that if the natives break the rules, the rules must be changing. Whom should we blame for that situation?

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marylander1940 Grand Master

marylander1940

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ABC and the show itself had it as "If Siri Was a Waitress" (watch the clip again)

 

If I knew "were" was the correct use, I would have changed it in the title.

 

Here blaming my English professors at school for not teaching me the proper use.

 

Sorry, Unicorn.[/color]

 

your professors did a great job, and you're a fast learner.

 

I we Americans were as polyglot as you're are. My grandparents spoke Gaelic at home but refused to teach it to their sons, at that time Irish Catholics were called the "N" word and monkeys.

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quoththeraven Grand Master

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I didn't know the subjunctive case existed until I took high school Spanish. I'm used to using it now but so many people don't know about it that there's no point to shaming them over it.

 

I'm wary of grammar Nazi behavior anyway. Most of it comes across as a way of showing off at the expense of other people. I care most about whether what's being communicated is understandable; it's grammar errors that lead to confusion or a lack of clarity, like mixing up tenses or pairing a singular verb with a plural noun (or vice versa) that bug me the most.

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jakeleyman Enthusiast

jakeleyman

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Could I further distract this thread to take the grammar thing a step further...my daughter just graduated near the top of her class from a private high school, which is highly rated in my area (not a lot to brag about considering the area's educational standards) and she insists on continually saying "Me and her are going out" and similar. To me, this is unbelievable; however, when I bring it up, it not only causes disruption between us, but she defends herself by saying "No one cares about grammar anymore."

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quoththeraven Grand Master

+ quoththeraven

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Could I further distract this thread to take the grammar thing a step further...my daughter just graduated near the top of her class from a private high school, which is highly rated in my area (not a lot to brag about considering the area's educational standards) and she insists on continually saying "Me and her are going out" and similar. To me, this is unbelievable; however, when I bring it up, it not only causes disruption between us, but she defends herself by saying "No one cares about grammar anymore."

 

Although this doesn't really fit into my "lack of clarity" category, I find it equally as obnoxious as you do. No doubt you've pointed out that she'd never say (at least I hope she'd never say) "Me is going out" or "her is going out," so why use "Me and her are going out"?

 

Maybe I should add another category: illogic, which is what this is.

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gp0560 Community Regular

gp0560

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ABC and the show itself had it as "If Siri Was a Waitress" (watch the clip again)

 

If I knew "were" was the correct use, I would have changed it in the title.

 

Here blaming my English professors at school for not teaching me the proper use.

 

Sorry, Unicorn.

 

If I knew "were" was the correct use, I would have changed it in the title."

 

If I had known "were" was the correct use, I would have changed it in the title.

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  • 3 months later...
honcho Grand Master

+ honcho

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I'm taking a music history class semester. The instructor is British, quite literate and has used the term "affect" as a noun,

possibly derived as a contraction of affectation but without the negative connotation, suggesting more "conventional gesture".

 

Otherwise the coffee cup is really brilliant :)

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