Yes, this is an actual email exchange. Only the names have been changed to protect the geeky...I mean guilty.
From: McSmartAss Smurf
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 1:40 PM
To: Mockette
Cc: Scornette
Subject:
While we're Mocking and Scorning, this should say "This week (apostrophe!)s TGIF cover..." and "... a show neither of us watch", not "watches". -- McSAS
“This weeks TGIF cover - it was interesting researching and writing about a show neither of us watches, but I think we captured the essence of the show. If you actually watch the show - let us know how we did.”
From: Mockette
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 1:40 PM
To: McSmartAss Smurf
Cc: Scornette
Subject: Re:
Smartass...ok...I'll fix it : /
...and I went back and forth on the watch - vs - watches.
From: Scornette
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 2:01 PM
To: McSmartAss Smurf
Cc: Mockette
Subject: Re: RE:
My vote: "neither watches," Neither being a pronoun meaning "not one
OR the other" - the "us" is just the object of the preposition, not
the subject of the clause.
As for the apostrophe - oops. Well, we're entitled to a mistake
occasionally - it keeps the haters pacified MCSAS!
From: McSmartAss Smurf
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 2:21 PM
To: Scornette
Cc: Mockette
Subject: Re: RE: RE:
Well, that inspired an absolute FLURRY of activity, with n00bs and curmudgeons alike vehemently arguing their respective positions.
Since the sentence changes tense in the middle (from past tense to present), that also compounds the problem. We finally agreed that the sentence should be written in such a way as to avoid the problem, thusly: "...A show neither of us have (has?) ever watched..." – MCSAS
From: Scornette
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 2:31 PM
To: McSmartAss Smurf; Mockette
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE:
The singular / plural issue would be the same in the rewritten sentence. I'm still going with the singular - has.
Even so, I'm not entirely convinced we can say that the sentence "changes" tense in the middle; rather, the clause "neither of us watches" is an adjectival clause describing show (with the relative pronoun "that" omitted, but understood) and is thereby not constrained by the tense of the independent clause. The fact is, we researched (in the past) a show that neither of us (continuously) watches.
But perhaps I'm grasping at straws here. Ask a curmudgeon; I'm sick of the evolution of language for the moment. Friggin "texters!"
From: McSmartAss Smurf
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 2:31 PM
To: Mockette; Scornette
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE:
I will defer to your learnin' on the subject, but can't resist arguing... How do you determine the singularity or pluralness of has and have? I have and we have, but she has? I'll have to agree with our editor "The Brick" who, while not even in the building, would demand we write around the problem altogether, perhaps using "... a show we have never watched". -- McSAS (insert Chief Inspector Dreyfus twitch here)
From: Scornette
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 3:01 PM
To: McSmartAss Smurf; Mockette
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE:
Third person:
Singular (he/she/it) = has
Plural (they) = have
Right? Am I totally making stuff up now? I wouldn't put it past me.
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