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Mary Mitchell

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Am I unusual in screaming inwardly when I hear, "It was so fun"? In this instance, "fun" is a noun. "So" is an adverb. Problem. Inner scream.
 

Albedo

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Am I unusual in screaming inwardly when I hear, "It was so fun"? In this instance, "fun" is a noun. "So" is an adverb. Problem. Inner scream.
Is fun not adjectival in that sentence, or am I confused? 'It was very bad'. 'It was vastly overrated'. 'It was so blue'.
 

Mary Mitchell

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I guess I'm thinking of it as in, "It was sugar," or "It was glue". Most dictionaries define "fun" as a noun, although some allow its "informal" use as an adjective. I guess I'm just not that informal. But, like, whateverrr ;).
 
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Maryn

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Fun times, fun party, fun read... I have no problem with fun being an adjective.

Maryn, pretty loose
 

Mary Mitchell

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Well, there you go. I'm outvoted. I guess the answer to my question is yes, I'm unusual. :) (still bugs me mumble mumble natter natter scream)
 
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Maryn

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I had fun once. Good times, good times...

Maryn, tongue firmly in cheek
 

Mary Mitchell

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No. I never have fun. (Which is used as a noun there and would be okay with me, BTW). But no, never.
:ROFL: :roll: :hooray: :partyguy: :banana: :wag:
 

Maryn

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Well, you come sit between me and Matera. We have mimosas and croissants. Breakfast is fun!
 

Maryn

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Allow me to start pouring, in that case. Oh, by the way, it's fine to put your feet on the coffee table so long as you take your shoes off first.

This isn't quite an internet grammar thing, but Mr. Maryn and I have gotten some eye-rolling laughs over a local TV reporter's style of pronouncing certain words with a D or T sound near but not at the end. She doesn't say "little" but li-ul, not "certain" but sir-uhn, eliding (is that the word?) right past the consonant sound without saying it. Depending on what the news story is, this gets ridiculous. We were unable to stop laughing at her story about the state fair's annual butter sculpture having no bidders, and how she'd also seen dairy cattle and their udders. We joke about sending her a pretty mug and a sealed box of tea with a little note saying she needs to pronounce her Ts. (She already has some DDs*. [Cringe])

Anyway, last night there was a new weather person, yet another pretty-enough busty young woman--with the same speech style. We could expect that patter of rain on the roof overnight, and were reminded to avoid driving through puddles in construction areas...

Maryn

*And don't get me started on all the female on-air reporters being really pretty and pretty busty, and the men being really qualified and uniformly not good-looking.
 

Yzjdriel

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"I am in my 12nd year as an educator."

That was a good one.

And I'm not sure if there's a thread for funny things you found in places you had no business being, but I was going through the source code of a program yesterday and I found a comment line that simply read "Is the program broken? No. So what the everliving fuck are you doing in here? Get out, before you break something!!"
 

Maryn

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I would buy that programmer a drink.
 

Maryn

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Well, isn't that what artists want, their work to be seen?

Maryn, too clever for words
 

MaeZe

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Well, there you go. I'm outvoted. I guess the answer to my question is yes, I'm unusual. :) (still bugs me mumble mumble natter natter scream)
Grammar Girl has an answer easier for me to cite than to restate it.
Some nouns often act like adjectives, some only do it sometimes, and others rarely or never act like adjectives. To make matters even more confusing, some words are both nouns and full adjectives....

Attributive Nouns Can Cause Ambiguity
Sometimes though, using the attributive noun or the adjective can cause ambiguity. Both “silk” and “wood” are nouns, full adjectives, and have the adjective forms “silken” and “wooden.” Sometimes “silken” or “wooden” is the best choice, and sometimes “silk” or “wood” is the best choice.

For example, if I talk about a silken blouse, I could mean a blouse that is made of silk or a blouse that just feels like silk. In that case, if it’s really made of silk, it is better to call it a silk blouse.

On the other hand, if I’m talking about a bench made from wood, it’s better to use the longer adjective form “wooden” and call it a wooden bench. If I called it a wood bench, you might think it is a bench for woodworking.

So as you can see, with nouns, attributive nouns, and adjectives, the choice is up to you (there’s nothing wrong with the phrase “wool sweater”), but you have to consider your words on a case-by-case basis and make sure your meaning is clear.

Nouns That Aren't Used as Adjectives
As a final aside, I also thought it was fascinating to consider nouns that are never used attributively. A few that Gove mentioned were “abyss,” “accomplice,” and "abdomen.”



"I am in my 12nd year as an educator."

That was a good one....
Heard on the radio years ago, a teacher objecting to implementation of competency tests for teachers: "People don't think so but we're articulated here [in her rural town]..."
 

Matera the Mad

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:ROFL:

We're pretty articulated here in Wisconsin, too. Also a bit old-fashioned in our polite ways, I guess.
Old WSS photos from various caves in Wisconsin curtsy of **** *****

Of course we might want to give the benefit of some etymological doubt, seein' as how "curtsy" (or "curtsey") is derived from "courtesy" through syncope, which might be defined by some as "increasingly sloppy pronunciation." Ah, me, when the bow breaks....
 

Maryn

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In Wisconsin, don't "pictures curtsy of" come in some kind of Germanic historical costume?

Maryn, ducking
 

Mary Mitchell

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Saw this dubious adage:

"More talk, more mistakes. Less talk, less mistakes."

I blame express checkout lanes, which seem to universally say, "8 items or less". Although I suppose one could (maybe, barely) argue that they're viewing the 8 items as some sort of singular collective noun.

Okay, less bitching, fewer bitches, Mary.
 

Maryn

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Earlier today I saw hugh and cry online.

Pick your favorite Hugh, I guess. I'll take Laurie.