Daily Frolic 7: The discombobulating pronoun

November 7, 2014December 25, 2014 / annanolan2014

“This British law – I can’t work it out.”

“Why? I think Britain has quite good laws, actually.”

“But isn’t it a bit harsh?”

“Harsh?”

“I mean, capital punishment is bad enough, but …”

“But we don’t have capital punishment!”

“Sure, but that’s even worse.”

“Worse?”

“I think so, trying to pursue people beyond the grave like that.”

“Beyond the grave? What are you on about?”

“This – in The Independent; look what they wrote.”

“More than 100 Britons have been assisted in their suicide in Swiss clinics. Not one has been successfully prosecuted.”

“Oh dear!”

“Exactly! I mean, even if they don’t succeed, it’s still …”

“No, no, this ‘one’ is …”

“Very lucky, if you ask me.”

“No, no, they are notorious.”

“Your authorities – they must be.”

“No, no, pronouns!”

“Pronouns? What have pronouns got to do with anything?”

“Everything: in this sentence, ‘one’ is a pronoun.”

“Of course it is.”

“But a pronoun makes no sense without a noun.”

“Sure.”

“But ‘Britons’ is the wrong noun!”

“Are you saying they meant a different nationality?”

“NO!!! Look, what they were trying to say is this.”

Not one of the helpers has been successfully prosecuted.

“You reckon?”

“Yep.”

“This British law – it’s not too bad, after all.”

8 thoughts on “Daily Frolic 7: The discombobulating pronoun”

jennieharborth

November 7, 2014 at 11:32 am

Haha! Just the sort of tale for Halloween – suicides being sued after the fact.

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- annanolan2014
  
  November 7, 2014 at 11:39 am
  
  Yep, I couldn’t stop laughing when I read the offending sentence in The Independent.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
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Rajlakshmi

November 7, 2014 at 12:37 pm

hahaha talk about reading between the lines!!

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- annanolan2014
  
  November 7, 2014 at 12:41 pm
  
  Indeed; when one reads British press, one has to do this a lot! Thank you so much for taking the time to comment.
  
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  Reply
Maria Bradley

November 7, 2014 at 4:05 pm

Reblogged this on Book it and commented:
This displays Grammar in a whole new way! Not boring, but Hilarious! Check it out for yourself!

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- annanolan2014
  
  November 7, 2014 at 4:15 pm
  
  Millions of thanks, Maria! I have been researching English usage for decades and have amassed thousands and THOUSANDS of examples – many of them unintentionally hilarious. I do try to entertain my readers and am delighted with every single ‘like’; thanks again. xxx
  
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Dave Heinaman

November 7, 2014 at 6:59 pm

Great giggles for a Friday!

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- annanolan2014
  
  November 7, 2014 at 7:32 pm
  
  Delighted with the giggles!
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply

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Flaming English by Anna Nolan

Flaming English used to make points about English grammar, punctuation and usage but now features humorous, sometimes satirical, verses

Daily Frolic 7: The discombobulating pronoun

“This British law – I can’t work it out.”

“Why? I think Britain has quite good laws, actually.”

“But isn’t it a bit harsh?”

“Harsh?”

“I mean, capital punishment is bad enough, but …”

“But we don’t have capital punishment!”

“Sure, but that’s even worse.”

“Worse?”

“I think so, trying to pursue people beyond the grave like that.”

“Beyond the grave? What are you on about?”

“This – in The Independent; look what they wrote.”

“More than 100 Britons have been assisted in their suicide in Swiss clinics. Not one has been successfully prosecuted.”

“Oh dear!”

“Exactly! I mean, even if they don’t succeed, it’s still …”

“No, no, this ‘one’ is …”

“Very lucky, if you ask me.”

“No, no, they are notorious.”

“Your authorities – they must be.”

“No, no, pronouns!”

“Pronouns? What have pronouns got to do with anything?”

“Everything: in this sentence, ‘one’ is a pronoun.”

“Of course it is.”

“But a pronoun makes no sense without a noun.”

“Sure.”

“But ‘Britons’ is the wrong noun!”

“Are you saying they meant a different nationality?”

“NO!!! Look, what they were trying to say is this.”

Not one of the helpers has been successfully prosecuted.

“You reckon?”

“Yep.”

“This British law – it’s not too bad, after all.”

8 thoughts on “Daily Frolic 7: The discombobulating pronoun”

Leave a Reply to Rajlakshmi Cancel reply

“This British law – I can’t work it out.”

“Why? I think Britain has quite good laws, actually.”

“But isn’t it a bit harsh?”

“Harsh?”

“I mean, capital punishment is bad enough, but …”

“But we don’t have capital punishment!”

“Sure, but that’s even worse.”

“Worse?”

“I think so, trying to pursue people beyond the grave like that.”

“Beyond the grave? What are you on about?”

“This – in The Independent; look what they wrote.”

“More than 100 Britons have been assisted in their suicide in Swiss clinics. Not one has been successfully prosecuted.”

“Oh dear!”

“Exactly! I mean, even if they don’t succeed, it’s still …”

“No, no, this ‘one’ is …”

“Very lucky, if you ask me.”

“No, no, they are notorious.”

“Your authorities – they must be.”

“No, no, pronouns!”

“Pronouns? What have pronouns got to do with anything?”

“Everything: in this sentence, ‘one’ is a pronoun.”

“Of course it is.”

“But a pronoun makes no sense without a noun.”

“Sure.”

“But ‘Britons’ is the wrong noun!”

“Are you saying they meant a different nationality?”

“NO!!! Look, what they were trying to say is this.”

Not one of the helpers has been successfully prosecuted.

“You reckon?”

“Yep.”

“This British law – it’s not too bad, after all.”

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8 thoughts on “Daily Frolic 7: The discombobulating pronoun”

Leave a Reply to Rajlakshmi Cancel reply