Timeline for I've just been bitten by a rattlesnake; how, exactly, do I "keep calm"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
17 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jan 17 at 19:15 | comment | added | ab2 | Continued from previous comment: BTW, even the Latinists agreed that it was OK to split an infinitive if the splitting word was to be emphasized (e.g., "rigidly" in the example above). Why am I writing this, you may ask? My driveway is impassable because of ice, and I have too much leisure. | |
| Jan 17 at 19:14 | comment | added | ab2 | This popped up from the remote past. I cannot not comment on split infinitives. The horror about splitting an infinitive is the result of a relatively recent attempt (1800s or late 1700s) to torture English grammar into Latin grammar. In Latin, the infinitive is a ending to the verb. Ciido, cidere: I kill, to kill. Amo, amare: I love, to love. Thus, it is impossible, actually impossible, to split an infinitive in Latin. Because all educated people worshipped Latin, English grammar as it was being standarized had to rigidly be tortured into the rules of Latin grammar. | |
| Mar 27, 2017 at 23:07 | comment | added | Hot Licks | Another thing you can do is silently "sing" a song in your head. Some sort of slow ballad is best. Of course, you want something simple, so you don't stress over not knowing all the words. | |
| Mar 23, 2017 at 23:05 | vote | accept | ab2 | ||
| Mar 14, 2017 at 8:35 | comment | added | Joel | Oh, and don't forget to tell yourself that rattlesnakes aren't actually very poisonous. Fatality rate less than 1%. | |
| Mar 13, 2017 at 19:40 | comment | added | Erik | Hey! How did you know that my job was mundane..... ;) | |
| Mar 13, 2017 at 0:56 | comment | added | Isaac | Loosely related, but when I snapped my calf in half (greenstick fracture, leg was flopping about, could see the bottom of my foot... jesus the memories), sure I swore my head off, but one of the first thoughts that came to my mind was "sweet, more computer time" and this calmed me right down | |
| Mar 10, 2017 at 15:29 | history | edited | cobaltduck | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Removed weak attempt at humor that was being taken wrong.
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| Mar 10, 2017 at 4:29 | comment | added | Ivan Krivyakov | > The trick is to not try to tell yourself not to think about the bad things > A double negative used properly. Yes, but for the price of a split infinitive. :) | |
| Mar 10, 2017 at 4:15 | comment | added | user5559 | @sgroves I don't know how you can't not use them improperly. | |
| Mar 10, 2017 at 0:54 | comment | added | corsiKa | @cobaltduck Wow, thanks. You don't even want to know what song popped in my head. But I'll tell you it's one that every time you hear it you think "oh I better think of something, anything else" GAH | |
| Mar 10, 2017 at 0:20 | comment | added | Steve Jessop | Strictly speaking it's not even a double negative, merely a sentence that contains two negatives, applied to different things. Just saying. "Don't tell yourself to not do X" is different from "Don't not tell yourself to do X", and the latter, which is a true double negative, happens also to be a poor excuse for a sentence ;-) Whereas the former contains a split infinitive. | |
| Mar 9, 2017 at 20:06 | comment | added | user428517 | @cobaltduck of course. but it's still based on the misconception that double negatives are somehow bad. they're not. | |
| Mar 9, 2017 at 19:07 | comment | added | user428517 | "properly" is subjective anyway. Proper according to whom? Some style guide somewhere? In language we should strive first and foremost to be understood. Double negatives are fine as long as they're clear. | |
| Mar 9, 2017 at 15:15 | comment | added | ab2 | I cannot argue that your ELU colleagues will not be proud of your double negative used correctly. +1 for the good advice. | |
| Mar 9, 2017 at 15:10 | comment | added | user11609 | Great answer. You've just described the equivalent of the 2nd brain part telling the first "Wet Paint Don't Touch", or "Don't Look Down". Cause you know what's gonna happen... But your English teacher might have something to say about your double-negative! LOL | |
| Mar 9, 2017 at 14:51 | history | answered | cobaltduck | CC BY-SA 3.0 |