nomconjobj: MWDEU

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 1:48 PM, Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at stanford.edu> wrote:
>
> the discussion here about nomconjobj has begun from scratch, with
> people offering opinions and judgments as if the topic had never come
> up before.  i understand that people can't be expected to have read
> the items in the two lists of references i've posted, or to have
> unearthed the many ADS-L postings over the years on the subject, but
> one thing is inexcusable: no one has thought to look at a standard
> reference on the subject, namely MWDEU's excellent entry on "between
> you and I".  no one should be posting here on a topic that's treated
> in MWDEU without first consulting that reference work.
>
> whenever i say this, people whine piteously that IT'S NOT AVAILABLE ON-
> LINE, as if they're incapable of gaining access to the volume.
>
> i've said this before, and i'll say it again: IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN
> ENGLISH GRAMMAR AND USAGE (at least to the point of posting to ADS-L
> on the subject) YOU SHOULD HAVE YOUR OWN COPY OF MWDEU -- AND CONSULT
> IT.  it's cheap and it's easy to get (unless you're in China or the
> like).

And if you're in the U.S., at least, you can see it in Full View on
Google Books:

http://books.google.com/books?id=2yJusP0vrdgC&pg=PA181

Not sure how visible that is to people in other parts of the world.

--Ben Zimmer

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org