Cool malapropism/eggcorn

Dennis R. Preston preston at MSU.EDU
Wed Feb 7 16:15:50 UTC 2007


This "which" clause will not dangle or float if one substitutes
"determine" for "do." Isn't it possible that the spaker's short-term
memory lost track of the fact that that verb (or some other) was not
already uttered in the preceding? ("...whether or not WE HAVE
DETERMINED if there's been a...")

I'm not denying that unattached "which" clauses are out there, but we
need to be careful in identifying the "real" ones and the processing
lapses.

dInIs

>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       "Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>
>Subject:      Re: Cool malapropism/eggcorn
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>On Feb 7, 2007, at 7:15 AM, Geoff Nathan wrote:
>
>>  Reported on the CNN site, as said by Gen. Peter Pace, Chairman of
>>  the Joint Chiefs of Staff:
>>
>>>  ... "At this point and time, I do not know whether or not it is
>>>  the law of averages that caught up with us or if there's been a
>>>  change in tactics, techniques and procedures on the part of the
>>>  enemy, which is what the investigation will do," Pace said.
>
>cute.  not in the ecdb.  i get 63,000 hits for "at this point and
>time", almost all looking relevant.
>
>arnold
>
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Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
15-C Morrill Hall
Michigan State University
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Phone: (517) 353-4736
Fax: (517) 353-3755
preston at msu.edu

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