True. What AG said was past tense. I should have said "voice" after
"passive" in my response so as not to imply passive tense.
Learn something every day on this list. I thought pernickety was a typo on
your part, which with anyone else I would have let pass. You, alas, were
not to be let off the hook. <wink> But, out of an abundance of caution, I
checked pernickety and found another of your infernal Brit spellings. We
all know it's persnickety. Sounds better. The addition of the sibilance,
y'know? But then before I pass final judgment (judgement) I shall wait
until I'm back in the Motherland, when I can listen to the pronunciation(s)
of pernickety. <g>
True confession time: I would be hard pressed to identify by name various
tenses, voices, moods, etc. They never stuck in my head, and will not stick
now. Any expertise I bring to the Language Police is based primarily on an
"ear" for the written word, most likely buttressed by 14 years a
journalist. That, and a fairly substantial list of personal bugaboos that
set my teeth to grinding.
I suppose I should not have placed "ear" in marks, because while studying
linguistics as part of my degree in anthropology, I learned we do possess
an ear for written language, and, though it seems wrong, we tend to
pronounce nuances in spelling when reading that we ignore while speaking.
The example that comes to mind is complement and compliment. When I speak,
I do not differentiate in pronunciation. When I read, my mind makes the
first "e" a long one, whereas in compliment, the "i" gets more of an "ah".
--Bob Whitmire
Certified Neanderthal
On Thu, Dec 24, 2015 at 12:51 PM, Piers Hemy <piers@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Well if you are going to get pernickety, you should do the job properly,
> Bob!
>
> "Passive" and "Active" are voices, not tenses.
>
> Whereas "Indicative" and "Subjunctive" are moods.
>
> But you knew that.
>
> Piers
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: olympus
> [mailto:olympus-bounces+piers.hemy=gmail.com@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
> Of
> Bob Whitmire
> Sent: 24 December 2015 17:05
> To: Olympus Camera Discussion
> Subject: Re: [OM] Active Voice instead of Passive
>
> Nah. Past tense. Passive would have been "No subterfuge was intended, old
> chap."
>
--
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