[Ads-l] "than how"

[Dan Goncharoff]

Hmmmm...

I need to know whether you can delete it.

I need to know your plan for fixing this, whether you can delete it or
no(t).

DanG
On Jan 27, 2015 11:34 PM, "Wilson Gray" <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "than how"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Tue, Jan 27, 2015 at 9:37 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> wrote:
>
> > He also consistently uses "what" comparatives, e.g. "he's a more =
> > efficient passer than what he used to be". Most recently:
> >
> > "To me, the punishment for the Patriots and/or Bill Belichick has to be =
> > more severe than what the punishment was for the Saints."
> >
>
> Somehow, these seem to be perfectly okay, whether the "what" is added/not
> deleted or not.
>
> FWIW, I was taught in high school that "or not" is redundant when used with
> "whether." Somehow, I was never able to internalize that one. My own belief
> is that you *always* use "or not," but there are times - e.g. "regardless
> of whether ... (or not)" - when you can delete it, if that's your bag.
>
>
>
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
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