• lemillionsocks@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    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.

    • SuiXi3D@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Probably because they understand that all language is made up and they all change constantly. There’s no hard and fast rules.

      • bdonvr@thelemmy.club
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        1 year ago

        Language science/grammar/etc are all just observations of a natural phenomena, they are not laws to dictate.

    • letsgo@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Is there a similar implication for stairs when people fall down them?

      • deo@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        I’ve fallen up the stairs, and i’ve fallen down the stairs. I’ve also fallen upstairs and fallen downstairs.

  • blindsight@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    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.)

  • Feathercrown@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    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.

    • MBM@lemmings.world
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      1 year ago

      If I’m walking around in a hole and stumble, I’ve also fallen in a hole (but not into/down)

      • Feathercrown@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Yes, although I think that’s parsed differently-- you’ve [fallen] [in a hole] not [fallen in] [a hole]

    • rbits@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Yeah. I feel like fell down implies you travelled some not insignifcant distance while falling.

  • rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Well this changes that Alice In Chains song for me 🕳️

    But this is something that makes English both frustrating and fascinating!