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Topic: Will Iran Follow N. Korea's Suit?
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unionist
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 11323
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posted 27 June 2008 04:48 AM
Please change the thread title - it's ungrammatical.While doing so, maybe consider replacing "Iran" by a country that (a) actually has nuclear weapons and (b) a history of committing aggression against other countries [neither of which applies to Iran]. You have lots of choices: - U.S.
- Russia
- U.K.
- France
- Israel
- Pakistan
- India
- China (if you include the war with Viet Nam - can't recall who started that one) Not sure why we should meekly follow in the footsteps of the U.S. and its allies by focussing on the wrong countries.
From: Vote QS! | Registered: Dec 2005
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unionist
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 11323
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posted 27 June 2008 08:08 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Sven:
Okay, clue me in. Why is it ungrammatical?
Maybe "ungrammatical" is the wrong word - "unidiomatic" perhaps. "Follow suit" is an indivisible expression. It comes from bridge, whist, similar card games where a player either "follows suit" or not. I suppose you could say "you have to follow the dealer's suit", but I've never heard that - you'd say "play to the dealer's suit". You could say "will Iran follow N. Korea's example", or "N. Korea has complied - will Iran follow suit", or some variation of the above. If you appoint me Head of Proper Usage, I'll just issue a directive and resolve this. Otherwise, I do admit the possibility that I may be wrong - I've just never seen your particular usage, which may just mean I don't get out enough...
From: Vote QS! | Registered: Dec 2005
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Sven
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 9972
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posted 27 June 2008 10:10 AM
quote:
Originally posted by unionist:
Maybe "ungrammatical" is the wrong word - "unidiomatic" perhaps. "Follow suit" is an indivisible expression. It comes from bridge, whist, similar card games where a player either "follows suit" or not. I suppose you could say "you have to follow the dealer's suit", but I've never heard that - you'd say "play to the dealer's suit". You could say "will Iran follow N. Korea's example", or "N. Korea has complied - will Iran follow suit", or some variation of the above. If you appoint me Head of Proper Usage, I'll just issue a directive and resolve this. Otherwise, I do admit the possibility that I may be wrong - I've just never seen your particular usage, which may just mean I don't get out enough...
Thanks for your elaboration. I had a very poor grammar education as a kid, which was at a time when schools were in a phase where kids were to "learn at their own pace" and "do their own thing"--so, I couldn't diagram a sentence if my life depended on it. I really wish that I knew the mechanics of sentence structure better...as it is, I'm left to my own intuition as to what "feels" or "seems" to be correct grammatical usage.
From: Eleutherophobics of the World...Unite!!!!! | Registered: Jul 2005
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