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Not really. bayerrr said to icc97: > As a German, you could not be more wrong [...] bayerrr claimed that icc97 was German (this is how this grammatical constr

• icc97 9y ago
  There is an inferred "Speaking as a German", so the author is a letting me know they're German. But also as you pointed out it makes no sense for them to assume I'm German, but it does make sense if they are German. So I'd just assume the version that makes sense.
  • dozzie 9y ago
    > There is an inferred "Speaking as a German", so the author is a letting me know they're German. Yes, there is the "speaking" part inferred, but the grammar still does not work like that. As a supposedly educated English native speaker, you should know better. If I said: "As an idiot, you're wrong", I could not possibly claim that I called me an idiot. Why suddenly the subject would change in the very same sentence structure?
    • yesenadam 9y ago
      [Opinions expressed may not be those of the author] As a lover of respectful exchanges on here, there's something slightly objectionable about your tone in this thread. As a rather tiresome pedant, you should stop hassling and lecturing people over nothing. Yes, the original construction "As a German" was kinda awkward, but everyone seems to know what they meant, so why go on about it. Not sure what your problem is. As an intruder to this thread, it's not really my business anyway. As a participant, it's more your domain. As a reader, half of what you say is pretty confusing to me. As an HN-ite, I'm sure you can do better in the future.