[Ads-l] neither/either avoidance

[Jonathan Lighter]

Didn't we discuss "Me either / neither" some years back?  "(N)EYE-thur"
seems impossible there.

JL

On Sat, Nov 11, 2017 at 6:55 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
wrote:

> > On Nov 11, 2017, at 2:52 PM, Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at GMAIL.COM>
> wrote:
> >
> > The word “either” does not particularly bother me, though it can be
> stressed in a way to make it sound pretentious.
>
> Stressed, or vocalized?  For some, the EYE-ther and NYE-ther
> pronunciations are felt to be pretentious (or British, if that’s different)
> while the EE-ther and KNEE-ther pronunciations aren’t so felt.
>
> LH
>
> > For “neither one,” see my follow-up e-mail. BB
> >
> >> On 11 Nov 2017, at 11:47, Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >>
> >>> The word “neither” sometimes sounds affected or literary in a way
> >> inappropriate for normal     > conversation.
> >>
> >> How does "(n)either _one_" sound?
> >>
> >> On Sat, Nov 11, 2017 at 12:05 PM, Barretts Mail <
> mail.barretts at gmail.com <mailto:mail.barretts at gmail.com>>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> I have a definite dispreference for “neither” though I don’t think I
> would
> >>> go that far in avoiding it. The word “neither” sometimes sounds
> affected or
> >>> literary in a way inappropriate for normal conversation. Certain
> >>> constructions like “neither of them” don’t sound too bad but often can
> be
> >>> avoided by using “either” with a negative verb.
> >>>
> >>> Benjamin Barrett
> >>> Formerly of Seattle, WA
> >>>
> >>>> On 11 Nov 2017, at 05:30, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> >>> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>> Ivan Watson, CNN:
> >>>>
> >>>> Both sides were not able to come to [sic] a time for a bilateral
> meeting.
> >>>>
> >>>> Normal:
> >>>>
> >>>> Neither side was able to come up with a time for a bilateral meeting.
> >>>>
> >>>> JL
> >>>>
> >>>> On Tue, Nov 7, 2017 at 8:31 AM, Jonathan Lighter <
> wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> >>> <mailto:wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com <mailto:wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>>>
> >>>> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> Call me crazy, but I've noticed that CNN employees don't want to use
> >>> these
> >>>>> words.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Ex.: a short time ago a correspondent in South Korea spoke of
> Northern
> >>>>> threats to test missiles near Guam and detonate an H-bomb over the
> >>> Pacific.
> >>>>> He said,
> >>>>>
> >>>>> "Both of those things have not happened yet."
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Somewhat similarly, instead of saying, "That hasn't happened either,"
> >>> the
> >>>>> almost universal preference is, "That hasn't happened as well."
> >>>>>
> >>>>> While perfectly understandable, these constructions sound as weird
> to me
> >>>>> as positive "anymore" once did.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> JL
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org <
> http://www.americandialect.org/>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> -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
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org <
> http://www.americandialect.org/>
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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