******* "Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions. ~Dalai Lama
August 08, 2014, 18:03
Geoff
Oy! I'm still struggling with the first one!
August 09, 2014, 10:10
Kalleh
That's the time to learn them.
Funny, but the article brought up a grammar question for me. I'd say, "Then he dove into..." However, I do see that dived is acceptable as well. What would you use?
August 12, 2014, 02:19
BobHale
dived
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
August 15, 2014, 19:58
Kalleh
Ah well, you're a little bit weird. Anyone else?
August 16, 2014, 00:24
arnie
Dived.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Dive, which was originally a weak verb, developed a past tense dove, probably by analogy with verbs like drive, drove. Dove exists in some British dialects and has become the standard past tense especially in speech in some parts of Canada. In the United States dived and dove are both widespread in speech as past tense and past participle, with dove less common than dived in the south Midland area, and dived less common than dove in the Northern and north Midland areas. In writing, the past tense dived is usual in British English and somewhat more common in American English. Dove seems relatively rare as a past participle in writing.
Straight into the river Kwasind Plunged as if he were an otter, Dove as if he were a beaver,
Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman, in Origins of the Specious, said that "Longfellow must have had second thoughts, since he changed "dove" to "dived" in later editions. Coward!"
Grammarphobia and BoldFace both review Origins of the Specious and The New York Times printed the first chapter (May 24, 2009).This message has been edited. Last edited by: tinman,
August 20, 2014, 07:28
bethree5
"Straight into the river Kwasind Plunged as if he were an otter, Dived as if he were a beaver, Stood up to his waist in water, To his arm-pits in the river, Swam and scouted in the river, Tugged at sunken logs and branches, With his hands he scooped the sand-bars, With his feet the ooze and tangle."
I suspect Longfellow's revision was about the tom-tom-like repetitious sound he's after, rather than grammar.
August 20, 2014, 07:34
bethree5
The excerpt from Origins of the Specious printed in the NYT was great reading. One would certainly expect that a colony remote from its motherland would develop a dialect based on the tongue as spoken when the colony was established. But it's fascinating to get so many specifics.
August 20, 2014, 19:43
Kalleh
Ah well, I guess I am wrong.
August 20, 2014, 23:29
tinman
quote:
Originally posted by Kalleh: Ah well, I guess I am wrong.
If, as M-W says, both are correct, how could you possibly be wrong?
August 21, 2014, 20:31
Kalleh
It sounds like most people use dived. That's all I meant.
August 22, 2014, 08:06
BobHale
Wasn't suggesting "dove" is wrong, just that the form I use is "dived".
And Kalleh, I resent that. Retract the "little bit" immediately!
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
Anyone else?