technically correct subject-verb agreement

[Wilson Gray]

On Dec 28, 2004, at 10:18 PM, Arnold M. Zwicky wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>
> Subject:      technically correct subject-verb agreement
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> J. L. King, On the Down Low (Broadway Books, 2004), p. 33: correct
> (plural) agreement with expletive "there", but it still sounds a bit
> weird to me:
>
>  Going to his house was what I lived for. There were liquor, music, and
> a strong desire for my body.
>

Same here. Because they're non-human, perhaps? Does "There were Tom,
Dick, and Harry" sound any better? It's hard to tell.

-Wilson