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| re: Grammar in "Left in the Dark" | |
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fallingtofly 03:20 pm UTC 02/01/07 |
| In reply to: | re: Grammar in "Left in the Dark" - Vin 06:35 pm UTC 01/26/07 |
| It is- if we're talking in old/middle English. I have a large archive of journals and diaries and receipt (that's receipt as in RECIPE not as in the slip of paper saying what you bought) books dating back a couple of centuries, and goodly appears quite often. "Withe the flat of the Blade crush ye a goodly amount of henbane, yarrow and motherwort..." > But furthermore, why the Hell isn't "goodly" a word????? > > > Needing her "bad" wouldn't necessarily mean that he needed > > her to be a bad person. It could refer to THE DEGREE OF > > NEEDING, as opposed to the ACTUAL ACT OF NEEDING, which is > > what the adverb "badly" modifies. > > > > Example: > > > > Hey, dude, how do you need her? > > > > I need her bad. ("Bad," in this case, having the > > colloquial/contextual meaning of "a lot.") > > > > "I need her badly," while gramatically correct, as you > > point out, technically means, "I'm not good at needing > > her." > > Its pretty safe to assume that this is not what Jim's > > speaker means in LitD. > > > > Another example: > > > > "The man dying in the desert needed water bad." (He > > didn't need bad water. And there surely is nothing wrong > > with his ability to need the water; he's needing it just > > fine. Its the degree to which he needs the water that is > > being described.) > > > > And this chestnut from Jim's own catalog probably best > > illustrates the difference: > > > > "Tonight I really got it bad." > > > > Is Jim saying that the way in which she obtained it is > > sub-par? No, because that would be "Tonight I really got > > it badly." He's describing the degree to which she got > > it: "bad." > > > > > > Not that I honestly give a shit. Language is a mutable > > body of work, most of us butcher the rules routinely, > > accidentally or otherwise, and as long as we effectively > > communicate, it doesn't really matter. If we butcher the > > rules long enough, the butchering becomes the rule, so > > there. > > > > Still, I've always had a soft spot for debating minutiae. > > > > > > > > > Badly is correct. It describes how he needs her. If he > > > needed her bad then bad being an adjective would say that > > > he needs her to be a bad person... or a naughty person. > > > For an adverb you ask does it desc ribe the verb. How did > > > he need her? He needed her badly. > > > > > > > Listening to LitD this morning, and this line struck me: > > > > > > > > I needed you oh so badly tonight > > > > > > > > "Badly" being an adverb, doesn't this mean that the > > > > speaker is doing a poor job of "needing." > > > > > > > > Shouldn't this properly be "needed you oh so bad" ? | |
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