
What's the stupidest thing you've ever done to yourself?
We're keeping this one open for two weeks to allow you to get up to stupid stuff and send it in.
( , Thu 20 Dec 2007, 12:36)
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"Uncle Jack", if that is how he is referred to, could be the entire object
subj + verb + direct obj + indirect object is one entire clause, so there's no need to split it with commas.
ie.
I ate a pie with a fork.
NOT
I ate a pie, with a fork.
so
I helped my Uncle Jack off a horse - is correct.
If you simple refer to him as "Uncle", however, and wish to give his name as extra information, you treat "Jack" as non-defining relative clause and place it in between commas.
I helped my uncle, (who is called) Jack, off a horse.
I'd suggest that difference in meaning between helping someone dismount a horse and helping some masturbate a horse simply comes from whether the 'j' in Jack is capitalised or not. (simsfreq, it should read "uncle" with a lower case letter unless you refer to your uncle as "Uncle")
Anyway, this is all beside the point. I won lunch and a beer of a colleague by proving my theory that -
people on B3TA think bad grammar is a worse crime than rape.
Cheers guys!
( , Fri 28 Dec 2007, 11:55, Reply)
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