50 points

I find people who actually study language are more tolerant toward different pronunciations and informal speech and colloquialisms and less likely to be grammar nazis.

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25 points

Probably because they understand that all language is made up and they all change constantly. There’s no hard and fast rules.

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9 points

Language science/grammar/etc are all just observations of a natural phenomena, they are not laws to dictate.

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3 points

See description vs prescription for anyone interested

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30 points

Obligatory alt text:

“Do you feel like the answer depends on whether you’re currently in the hole, versus when you refer to the events later after you get out? Assuming you get out.”

XKCD should always include the alt text, imho. It’s often the better punchline (as in this case, imho.)

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27 points

Fell down a hole implies that the hole is vertical and going downwards

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1 point

In that case, does “I fell in a hole” imply that the hole is horizontal and going sideways?

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2 points

That’s how my best friend accidently got my girlfriend pregnant.

Tie your damn shoelaces people!

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1 point

Is there a similar implication for stairs when people fall down them?

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2 points

I’ve fallen up the stairs, and i’ve fallen down the stairs. I’ve also fallen upstairs and fallen downstairs.

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16 points

See also “fell into a hole”.

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15 points

To me, if you partially fall into a hole, ie. foot falls into a small pothole, you’ve fallen in it but not down it.

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5 points

If I’m walking around in a hole and stumble, I’ve also fallen in a hole (but not into/down)

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3 points

Yes, although I think that’s parsed differently-- you’ve [fallen] [in a hole] not [fallen in] [a hole]

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4 points

Yeah. I feel like fell down implies you travelled some not insignifcant distance while falling.

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