I find people who actually study language are more tolerant toward different pronunciations and informal speech and colloquialisms and less likely to be grammar nazis.
Probably because they understand that all language is made up and they all change constantly. There’s no hard and fast rules.
Language science/grammar/etc are all just observations of a natural phenomena, they are not laws to dictate.
See description vs prescription for anyone interested
Fell down a hole implies that the hole is vertical and going downwards
Is there a similar implication for stairs when people fall down them?
I’ve fallen up the stairs, and i’ve fallen down the stairs. I’ve also fallen upstairs and fallen downstairs.
In that case, does “I fell in a hole” imply that the hole is horizontal and going sideways?
That’s how my best friend accidently got my girlfriend pregnant.
Tie your damn shoelaces people!
Obligatory alt text:
“Do you feel like the answer depends on whether you’re currently in the hole, versus when you refer to the events later after you get out? Assuming you get out.”
XKCD should always include the alt text, imho. It’s often the better punchline (as in this case, imho.)
See also “fell into a hole”.
To me, if you partially fall into a hole, ie. foot falls into a small pothole, you’ve fallen in it but not down it.
If I’m walking around in a hole and stumble, I’ve also fallen in a hole (but not into/down)
Yes, although I think that’s parsed differently-- you’ve [fallen] [in a hole] not [fallen in] [a hole]
Yeah. I feel like fell down implies you travelled some not insignifcant distance while falling.
Well this changes that Alice In Chains song for me 🕳️
But this is something that makes English both frustrating and fascinating!
All language is like this. It’s a large part of why communication is actually very difficult.
This is awesome. I only know some of one other language but am not as fluent in it. This is good to know, thanks!