[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Boomer

Geez. Next thing I know, you people will be trying to get me to explain lie and lay.

Boomer

Thank heavens us retired cheerleaders don't have to understand the difference between lie and lay but I think most people lie when they get ................

Oh. nevermind. Was that supposed to be capitalized?

...they all have enough stencils.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGWiTvYZR_w[/ame]

[Boomer]

Tal,

That video you put here just made me laugh out loud. I almost snorted coffee out my nose. (most unladylike of me, and most certainly quite unattractive) The last time I was in TV, I ran into the same issue that Weird Al has in your video clip. At the time, I thought for sure Mr. Tony was the culprit, trying to set me up. Maybe I will have to go find that post and relive the horror of it all.

And, GG,

This post of yours makes me wonder. I have long noticed that even though you say that you are a retired cheerleader, you are known to come up with comments that show definite insight into things like character motivation, a. k. a. human nature. That is exactly the kind of thing that English majors do. So I am thinkin' -- thinkin' maybe -- I am thinkin' that this is an AHA! moment. You sure are talking like an English major in this one. English majors know this stuff about characters, and not just the ones in books....

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Thank heavens us retired cheerleaders don't have to understand the difference between lie and lay but I think most people lie when they get ................

Oh. nevermind. Was that supposed to be capitalized?

And now, back to that cartoon posted here by Mr. Tony, Mr. Admin, Sir....

Has anybody wondered if the guy in the cartoon who is blindfolded and holding the apostrophe is being set up by the others standing around? You know, when its is a possessive pronoun, there is no apostrophe. And that is confusing because we are used to apostrophes showing possession.

Sooooo, could it be that this is not a party game at all, but some elaborate hazing ritual where the real English majors are trying to establish if the blindfolded guy is a real English major or not? A real English major would know whether that apostrophe goes there or not. Even blindfolded.

The point is -- that guy could be somebody who is just trying to crash the English majors' party because he has heard how wild they are. Take another look at the cartoon and you might see a little more there. Everything is not always on the surface. Ask any English major about that -- uh....if you can find one I mean.

Boomer

[tony]

For somebody that is not an English major, Boomer know a lot about characters and apostrophe's.

[bkcunningham1]

Originally Posted by tony

For somebody that is not an English major, Boomer know a lot about characters and apostrophe's.

The last word in your sentence doesn't possess anything, isn't a plural possessive and it isn't a contraction. Should it have an apostrophe?

[getdul981]

What's all the hoop-la about a British Army Officer?

[tony]

AHA! Another possible English major!

[graciegirl]

I like a person who has majored in engineering. They stare at their shoes.

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I like a person who has majored in engineering. They stare at their shoes.

I understand what you are saying, GG, but…..but….what about trying to have those lovely, deep, meaningful conversations from time to time? How does shoe-staring work for those?

I guess it must be a lot like trying to have a lovely, deep, meaningful conversation with a pilot. The only remote (and I do mean remote – at best) shot you got at that one is if you are inside. Outside…..pilots keep looking up at the sky.

Of course, all this dialogue this morning reminds me of yet another story. (Imagine that.)

In our younger days, another English teacher friend of mine had a thing for drag strip racers. She loved to hang around the drag strip track and she finally cut a lawyer loose from her social calendar to spend more time with her drag strip driver.

I asked her one day, “But aren’t drag strip drivers totally focused on their racing all the time? I bet they just want to talk about RPM’s and octane and, ‘Hey baby, could you get me a new set of tires for my birthday. You don’t have to wrap ‘em.’ – Wasn’t the lawyer more interesting to talk to? Doesn’t talking about racing all the time get really boring?”

Well, my English teacher friend quickly answered my barrage of questions, answered in one sentence, resting her case. She said, “So when did I say I wanted to talk?”

Boomer

[Pturner]

Originally Posted by tony

For somebody that is not an English major, Boomer know a lot about characters and apostrophe's.

It's, "For somebody who's not an English major".

[chuckinca]

Me thinks it's about time to set up a members only English Major thread like the Political board.


.

[bkcunningham1]

Originally Posted by Boomer

I understand what you are saying, GG, but…..but….what about trying to have those lovely, deep, meaningful conversations from time to time? How does shoe-staring work for those?

I guess it must be a lot like trying to have a lovely, deep, meaningful conversation with a pilot. The only remote (and I do mean remote – at best) shot you got at that one is if you are inside. Outside…..pilots keep looking up at the sky.

Of course, all this dialogue this morning reminds me of yet another story. (Imagine that.)

In our younger days, another English teacher friend of mine had a thing for drag strip racers. She loved to hang around the drag strip track and she finally cut a lawyer loose from her social calendar to spend more time with her drag strip driver.

I asked her one day, “But aren’t drag strip drivers totally focused on their racing all the time? I bet they just want to talk about RPM’s and octane and, ‘Hey baby, could you get me a new set of tires for my birthday. You don’t have to wrap ‘em.’ – Wasn’t the lawyer more interesting to talk to? Doesn’t talking about racing all the time get really boring?”

Well, my English teacher friend quickly answered my barrage of questions, answered in one sentence, resting her case. She said, “So when did I say I wanted to talk?”

Boomer

That was a good one Boomer. Priceless.

[BaylorBear]

We English majors are masters of the wicked barb -- done in perfect grammar, of course!

[uujudy]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I like a person who has majored in engineering. They stare at their shoes.

Gracie, only the shy engineers stare at their shoes.
The outgoing engineers stare at YOUR shoes.

[K9-Lovers]

Originally Posted by chuckinca

Me thinks it's about time to set up a members only English Major thread like the Political board.


.

Oh yes, yes, please, pretty please? We could even have a 3-word game for phrasal verbs . . . oh my!