"certain" inThe First Noel

[Jonathan Lighter]

I agree completely with James.

  Also, I like sheep too, and wombats, but that doesn't mean I'd "date" one. You guys are too weird.

  JL
James Harbeck <jharbeck at SYMPATICO.CA> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: James Harbeck
Subject: Re: "certain" inThe First Noel
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I used to teach test prep for the GRE, GMAT and LSAT, and in their
logic questions, they would often refer to "a certain man" or "a
certain town" or what have you. I used to joke that there were no
uncertain people or places in these tests, just as there were no
uncertain answers (every answer will stand up in a court of law if it
has to, as they sometimes do). But it is to my ear a well-established
usage, the older and more formal equivalent of the casual "this" as
in "there was this guy..."

James Harbeck.

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