It really should be spelled that way in the thread title. Any greens around?

Stop nitpicking the title its perfect!

Would it have killed you to read the first post in the thread? I realize it's a long long thread and you don't have time to cram through it all, but I have to imagine that someone -- like you -- who cares about the correct use of the word 'literally' might somehow summon the strength to just read post #1. Just the first one. And maaaaaybe find the answer to this question.

It's a fair cop gov! I feel a tad foolish now. I posted this in the sports entertainment forum but it is more appropriate here.

Jamie Redknapp after seeing a striker dribble past a defender: 'He left him for dead, LITERALLY'.

Reading this thread has made me realise that my grammar is substandard . I have written a novel which has just been snapped up by an agent although the intended readership is of the brick-laying and job-seeking variety .

This phrase made me laugh.

A thread in SMP reminded me of this, but I see the mistake all the time, and it's pretty damn annoying. I'm sure many of you guys know the difference, but for those who don't:

The parts compose the whole.

The whole comprises the parts.

The whole can be composed of the parts, but it can never be comprised of the parts.

I should know this but I think it's one of my leaks.

I sometimes have a problem with pronouns as direct objects. For example, say Maria loves tacos and I just think they're okay. I believe you'd say, "Maria likes tacos better than I."

But if I was saying that Maria didn't like me very much, and would rather eat Mexican food than hang out with me, I believe you'd say "Maria likes tacos better than me."

Is that right? I'm essentially leaving out the verb portion of the implied phrase -- another way would be to say "Maria likes tacos better than I [do]." And "Maria likes tacos better than [she likes] me."

So whether you use 'I' or 'me' as the direct object in those sentences totally changes the meaning. The problem I have is when there is no alternate meaning but 'I' still sounds worse than 'me.'

For example, "David is shorter than me" sounds right. But "David is shorter than I" would be the correct usage in accordance with the above, as you'd say "David is shorter than I [am]."

I don't know. Maybe I'm just confusing myself. Little help?

Isn't "likes tacos more" the correct way of phrasing that, either way? Greater amount of like, as opposed to a superior method of liking?

This link explains the issue pretty well.

Both "me" and "I" are defensible in the sentence "David is shorter than ____," because it's not entirely clear whether "than" acts as a conjunction or preposition in that sentence. So if you think "me" sounds better than "I" (I agree it does), then I don't see a major problem with using "me."

But if you're concerned that someone in your audience might view "me" as an error, why not just write "David is shorter than I am"? Sounds perfectly fine to me.

Edit: To explain my thoughts more concisely: I would never use "I," because I think it's too jarring to readers. As between "I am" and "me," it's a close call that may depend on how formal the setting is.

They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning
No one you see, is smarter than he

It wasn't just a tv show about a dolphin, it was educational.

11111, that link discusses it clearly but the bottom line in that article is that it's best to avoid the "prepositional" use (e.g., "he's taller than me") in formal settings because people may react badly to it, thinking you're making a mistake; to me that argues that, for the time being anyway, it is a mistake. As long as there are many of us who think me in that sentence is sloppy usage, it's best to use I.

I admit I slip on this one a lot in my own speech. I should do better.

god i can't imagine what kind of grammar nits you must traffic with where you're seriously concerned about this. if i ever say a sentence like 'maria likes tacos better than i', i'd hope i would walk right into an open sewer after saying it.

also fly sounds like he's right

Yeah Fly is right that 'more' sounds better than 'better.'

But I think in cases where the meaning is obvious, I'll still be saying "David is shorter than me."

But when there are two distinct meanings, I'll continue to try to say "Maria likes tacos more than me" and "Maria likes tacos more than I" or "more than I do."

I generally agree with all this, which is why I said the choice between "I am" and "me" would largely depend on how formal the setting was and the extent to which I could expect a critical audience. But don't you agree that adding the verb sounds a lot better than using "I" by itself (e.g., "David is taller than I am" OR "Maria likes tacos more than I do")? Offending nitty readers is not good, but jarring less nitty readers with awkward-sounding sentences (no matter how "correct") might be just as bad--at least if you have a correct but natural-sounding alternative.

Yes, in general adding the verb works fine; it can also serve to clarify some sentences that would be ambiguous to someone who didn't recognize that you're being precise with your pronouns ("... more than I do" versus "more than she likes me" — "more than I" and "more than me" should suffice, but with many audiences it won't).

I agree and I think it's also jarring to listeners. This is the same reason I will never use "whom", which seems to be bordering on the archaic to me

Just wanted to bump this old post because I love it and the misuse of "that's why they call it X" has become so prevalent for some reason.

Another random question: Do you say "an historic day" or "a historic day?" I think both are probably technically correct, but the latter feels more natural for me and the former very stiff and pedantic. Ruling?

EDIT: Just found the answer on the great site http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/

"a" for me.
"an" is like saying in high school you had to write an history report.

"an historic day" obviously sounds better than "an history report" but I don't like either

What is the difference between ' and "?

A local news program has a slogan that reads...

"MORE NEWS. LESS REPEATS."

I wish I could have snapped a photograph. For all the times an apostrophe is added when it is not needed...

Bumper sticker

WERE HIRING
1-888-XXX-XXXX

The ' is for a quotation inside a quotation. For example:

John said, "My favorite Oscar Wilde quip is 'Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious,' but I'm not sure it's true."

I honestly don't think I've ever seen this word spelled out so I, too, would have spelled it "segway". Glad you posted this.

If you have never seen the word written out you should not feel dumb, imo.

Segway always reminds me of persay.

Segue per se.

The site you linked to seems to have its facts right.

When we had these things at English lessons (like ten years ago) I remember that the difference is about the first letter you pronounce after the a/an.
Therefore "a historic day" is correct because the "h" is pronounced. "An honest effort" is also correct because the "h" in "honest" is silent and not pronounced.

E: Ah, there's a page on this; http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/a.html.