3 ms·
This pales when compared to my favorite grammatical annoyance, a common perverse construction, for example "... similar effect to ..." when "... effect similar
by lutusp 1y ago
This pales when compared to my favorite grammatical annoyance, a common perverse construction, for example "... similar effect to ..." when "... effect similar to ..." is actually intended. This misordering is so common that, in a Web search, it appears to outnumber the canonical ordering.
I acknowledge that terms like "canonical" argue for a nonexistent language authority, and that an acceptable word ordering is any one that conveys what the speaker intends.
- School-Cotton 1y agoI don’t follow, can you give examples of what you mean?
- lutusp 1y agoOne might say, "benzodiazepines have a similar effect to alcohol", or "benzodiazepines have an effect similar to alcohol." The second construction is clearer in its meaning.
- School-Cotton 1y agoI don’t really get why one is in the wrong order? Maybe we’re parsing them differently somehow. The meaning reads identically to me although the parse tree is different. Benzodiazepines have a similar effect to [the effect of] alcohol Vs. Benzodiazepines have an effect [which is] similar to [the effect of] alcohol.