Margaret Thatcher Quotes

[Bill Palmer]

Now  I would have said "family *was*". But I hear all kinds of collective
nouns now, with plural verb forms.  Fearing the "prescriptivist" label, I am
reluctant to ask which is correct.  What say the professors about this whole
thing?

Bill Palmer

----- Original Message -----
From: "david hughes" <dth10 at HOTMAIL.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, June 12, 2010 7:26 AM
Subject: Re: Margaret Thatcher Quotes


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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       david hughes <dth10 at HOTMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Margaret Thatcher Quotes
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> When Norman Fowler returned to government in 1992, as Tory Party chairman,
> it was said that his family were sick of him and ordered him to return to
> politics.
>
>> Date: Sat, 12 Jun 2010 11:53:08 +0100
>> From: djh514 at YORK.AC.UK
>> Subject: Margaret Thatcher Quotes
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>
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>> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster: Damien Hall <djh514 at YORK.AC.UK>
>> Subject: Margaret Thatcher Quotes
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> > 2. British politician Norman Fowler wrote in his resignation letter to
>> > Thatcher, Jan. 4, 1990, that "I have a young family and for the next
>> > few
>> > years I should like to devote more time to them." Thatcher responded,
>> > "I
>> > am naturally very sorry to see you go, but understand ... your wish to
>> > be
>> > able to spend more time with your family." Was this really the first
>> > instance of a resigning politician referring to spending more time with
>> > his or her family as an excuse for resigning?
>>
>> That was certainly about when it became a cliché in UK politics. Granted,
>> I
>> was only 15 at the time, so Thatcher's resignation and the events leading
>> up to it are my first major 'where were you when' time - I wouldn't
>> necessarily remember any previous occurrences. Since then, however, that
>> phrase has certainly been one of the choice ways of referring to a
>> recently-former Government official being out of office, or of hinting
>> that
>> such a person might soon have to consider resigning: commentators say
>> things like 'She might find herself spending more time with her family'.
>>
>> Damien
>>
>> --
>> Damien Hall
>>
>> University of York
>> Department of Language and Linguistic Science
>> Heslington
>> YORK
>> YO10 5DD
>> UK
>>
>> Tel. (office) +44 (0)1904 432665
>> (mobile) +44 (0)771 853 5634
>> Fax +44 (0)1904 432673
>>
>> http://www.york.ac.uk/res/aiseb
>>
>> http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/lang/people/pages/hall.htm
>>
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