Quick question for our British friends. - Page 3

pdurrant · 10-07-2011, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VydorScope

Not sure I agree, but I am not nor wish to claim to be an expert and accept the possibility of being wrong. Having is not a complete verb, it needs a complement to finish the action, and in this case its church.

No. No more than "We are having bananas here" makes bananas a verb. The other verb you're looking for is "to be" in the present plural form "are".

HarryT · 10-07-2011, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VydorScope

Not sure I agree, but I am not nor wish to claim to be an expert and accept the possibility of being wrong. Having is not a complete verb, it needs a complement to finish the action, and in this case its church.

No. The verb "to have" can act as an "auxiliary verb", acting as part of another verb, eg "I have gone away on holiday" - in that case "have gone" is a past tense of the verb "to go". But it can also act as a "normal" verb, and that's the way it's being used in this case. In the sentence "we are having church here", "we" is the subject, "are having" is the verb, and "church" is its direct object.

Dr. Drib · 10-07-2011, 07:28 AM

It's possible you may be confusing that sentence with the present continuous tense, which takes (as an example) the form of

Subject/auxiliary verb/ main verb [+ -ing]

as in this example sentence:

“We are playing football.”

“We,” of course, is the subject. “Are” is the auxillary verb and “playing” is the main verb.

One can ask the question: “What are [we] doing?” Answer: “We are playing.” Since “playing” is descriptive of an action, then “playing” becomes [or one could say is] the verb.

"Having," in the example that was mentioned a few posts back, is not descriptive of any kind of action taking place.

Don

Mr Whippy · 10-07-2011, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's not a verb, any more than "we are having dinner here" makes "dinner" a verb; it's a noun.

Harry T is quite correct here; "church" and "dinner" in these contexts are nouns, in US or British English. I've never heard 'church' used as a verb, though.

In the US there is a habit of making nouns into verbs, for example to 'summit' a mountain. There's nothing incorrect about it, it's just a new usage. Yet it sounds clumsy if you're not used to it. It happens in British English too, but I can't think of examples now.

HarryT · 10-07-2011, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Whippy

In the US there is a habit of making nouns into verbs, for example to 'summit' a mountain. There's nothing incorrect about it, it's just a new usage. Yet it sounds clumsy if you're not used to it. It happens in British English too, but I can't think of examples now.

One fairly recent example in British English is the use of "access" as a verb, as in "I accessed the file".

VydorScope · 10-07-2011, 09:58 AM

Ok

Dr. Drib · 10-07-2011, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

One fairly recent example in British English is the use of "access" as a verb, as in "I accessed the file".

Another example of how language is a "living" thing is the word "Google."

It's quite common now for one to mention "googling" in the context of an search one performs on a computer, thus changing a noun to a verb.

Don

Mr Whippy · 10-07-2011, 01:13 PM

And a moment ago I read a US poster ask if he could "gift" an ereader. I find this to be an ugly use of language, but it's all part of a language which evolves; the fact that I find it ugly is mere prejudice, with no basis in grammar.

Likewise, prejudice in some English people who told me they found the US "gotten" to be infuriating. I pointed out that they themselves used the word " forgotten" from just the same lexical roots. The US version 'gotten' was carried over the Atlantic in a crappy sailing ship in a form which was current then, and it stuck. Of course those people resented me for pointing out the facts, as people do. 'Gotten' is valid.

Well I've gotten that off my chest.

VydorScope · 10-07-2011, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Another example of how language is a "living" thing is the word "Google."

It's quite common now for one to mention "googling" in the context of an search one performs on a computer, thus changing a noun to a verb.

Don

Esply since if I recall correctly, google is actually a number.. 1 followed by 100 zeros if I recall right. Followed by a googleplex which is 1 followed by a google zeros.

ekster · 10-07-2011, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VydorScope

Esply since if I recall correctly, google is actually a number.. 1 followed by 100 zeros if I recall right. Followed by a googleplex which is 1 followed by a google zeros.

Googol is actually the number, and it is 1 followed by a 100 zeroes. And the other is googolplex, 10 to the power of 10 to the power of 100... (at least from what I remember)

VydorScope · 10-07-2011, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ekster

Googol is actually the number, and it is 1 followed by a 100 zeroes. And the other is googolplex, 10 to the power of 10 to the power of 100... (at least from what I remember)

...which is the fancy way of saying 1 followed by a googol zeros

ekster · 10-07-2011, 02:04 PM

Hah, now that I look at it, I see it. I just had the 10^10^100 stuck in my head for some reason. 10 to the power of googol is much easier to remember!

Mr Whippy · 10-07-2011, 02:48 PM

But Google/googol is a word from Irish literature in English, by James Joyce in Finnegans Wake where he speaks of googol.

So we're back to language - first, then numbers after. The mathematicians got it from Joyce.

DMB · 10-07-2011, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SmokeAndMirrors

I
In the UK, "college" usually means what we would consider the latter half of high school (6th form, in the UK, typically for students 16-18 years old).

That's not universally true. The two oldest universities in the UK, Oxford and Cambridge, are collegiate universities. You can't join the university as an undergraduate without joining one of the colleges. See this. Durham also has colleges. The University of London also has colleges but many of them are effectively universities in their own right.

I might ask someone, "Will you be in College when I visit Oxford next week?"

Note that some of the English public schools (not really "public" in the modern or American sense of being funded by the taxpayer) are known as "colleges". They are typically 13--18 schools.

For example, Eton and Winchester.

dworth · 10-10-2011, 10:49 AM

Americans seem to misuse the word momentarily, and use it to mean 'in a moment' rather than 'for a moment'. It does seem to crop up a lot in military themed books/films/games/ so maybe its restricted to military jargon.

"Reinforcments will be arriving momentarily" actually means "Reinforcments be arrving for a moment and then going somewhere else" not "Reinforcements will be arriving in a moment."

10-07-2011, 07:28 AM	#33
Dr. Drib Grand Sorcerer Posts: 45,442 Karma: 59592133 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Peru Device: KINDLE: Oasis 3, Scribe (1st), Matcha; KOBO: Libra 2, Libra Colour	It's possible you may be confusing that sentence with the present continuous tense, which takes (as an example) the form of Subject/auxiliary verb/ main verb [+ -ing] as in this example sentence: “We are playing football.” “We,” of course, is the subject. “Are” is the auxillary verb and “playing” is the main verb. One can ask the question: “What are [we] doing?” Answer: “We are playing.” Since “playing” is descriptive of an action, then “playing” becomes [or one could say is] the verb. "Having," in the example that was mentioned a few posts back, is not descriptive of any kind of action taking place. Don Last edited by Dr. Drib; 10-07-2011 at 07:35 AM.

10-07-2011, 01:13 PM	#38
Mr Whippy Enthusiast Posts: 27 Karma: 300008 Join Date: Oct 2011 Device: kindle	And a moment ago I read a US poster ask if he could "gift" an ereader. I find this to be an ugly use of language, but it's all part of a language which evolves; the fact that I find it ugly is mere prejudice, with no basis in grammar. Likewise, prejudice in some English people who told me they found the US "gotten" to be infuriating. I pointed out that they themselves used the word " forgotten" from just the same lexical roots. The US version 'gotten' was carried over the Atlantic in a crappy sailing ship in a form which was current then, and it stuck. Of course those people resented me for pointing out the facts, as people do. 'Gotten' is valid. Well I've gotten that off my chest. Last edited by Mr Whippy; 10-07-2011 at 01:16 PM.

10-07-2011, 02:48 PM	#43
Mr Whippy Enthusiast Posts: 27 Karma: 300008 Join Date: Oct 2011 Device: kindle	But Google/googol is a word from Irish literature in English, by James Joyce in Finnegans Wake where he speaks of googol. So we're back to language - first, then numbers after. The mathematicians got it from Joyce. Last edited by Mr Whippy; 10-07-2011 at 02:50 PM.

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10-07-2011, 09:58 AM	#36
VydorScope Wizard Posts: 3,418 Karma: 35207650 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: iPad	Ok

10-07-2011, 02:04 PM	#42
ekster Currently without a title Posts: 203 Karma: 3209914 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Canada, Qc Device: Kobo Touch	Hah, now that I look at it, I see it. I just had the 10^10^100 stuck in my head for some reason. 10 to the power of googol is much easier to remember!

10-10-2011, 10:49 AM	#45
dworth Zealot Posts: 140 Karma: 2094632 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Bradford, UK Device: kindle pc	Americans seem to misuse the word momentarily, and use it to mean 'in a moment' rather than 'for a moment'. It does seem to crop up a lot in military themed books/films/games/ so maybe its restricted to military jargon. "Reinforcments will be arriving momentarily" actually means "Reinforcments be arrving for a moment and then going somewhere else" not "Reinforcements will be arriving in a moment."

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