Author Topic: Are "you" "your friend"? (Read 10921 times)

lls · « **on:** November 17, 2010, 10:30 PM »

Facebook - not without active help of bloggers themselves of course - is peppering blogosphere with millions of thumb-up buttons accompanied by the following sentence:

Be the first of your friends to like this.

Does this sentence make sense? Are "you" "your friend"?

cranioscopical · « **Reply #1 on:** November 18, 2010, 08:10 AM »

Certainly not! I'm my own worst enemy…

nosh · « **Reply #2 on:** November 18, 2010, 08:22 AM »

Apparently not.

Eóin · « **Reply #3 on:** November 18, 2010, 08:50 AM »

Not sure about friends, but I the conversation seems to be more intelligent when it's with myself.

tomos · « **Reply #4 on:** November 18, 2010, 09:43 AM »

... I the conversation seems to be more intelligent when it's with myself.
-Eóin (November 18, 2010, 08:50 AM)

Renegade · « **Reply #5 on:** November 18, 2010, 03:18 PM »

Am I my own friend? Sure~!

The more telling question is

Possibly NSFW

Are you your own friend with benefits?

KynloStephen66515 · « **Reply #6 on:** November 18, 2010, 05:12 PM »

Im not my friend atm as I hurt my knee

haha @ Renegades "PNSFW" spoiler

4wd · « **Reply #7 on:** November 18, 2010, 06:33 PM »

Im not my friend atm as I hurt my knee
-Stephen66515 (November 18, 2010, 05:12 PM)

Just remember:

A friend in kneed is a friend to feed.

KynloStephen66515 · « **Reply #8 on:** November 18, 2010, 06:36 PM »

Im not my friend atm as I hurt my knee
-Stephen66515 (November 18, 2010, 05:12 PM)

Just remember:

A friend in kneed is a friend to feed.
-4wd (November 18, 2010, 06:33 PM)

Would have been more appropriate if this was a bread baking related injury?

Shades · « **Reply #9 on:** November 19, 2010, 01:19 PM »

Im not my friend atm as I hurt my knee
-Stephen66515 (November 18, 2010, 05:12 PM)

Just remember:

A friend in kneed is a friend to feed.
-4wd (November 18, 2010, 06:33 PM)

[villain mode]
A friend in kneed is a friend to bleed.
[/villain mode]

nosh · « **Reply #10 on:** November 20, 2010, 01:38 AM »

A friend in kneed is a friend to bleed.

Sweet!

lls · « **Reply #11 on:** November 20, 2010, 01:31 PM »

To tell you the truth, my intention was not to bring about neither a tongue-in-cheek nor philosophical discussion. What I really wanted to know was whether "Be the first of your friends to like this" is a linguistically and logically correct sentence.

Shades · « **Reply #12 on:** November 20, 2010, 03:53 PM »

Ok, on-topic:

First, to be clear, English is not my native language, but I consider myself reasonable adept with the language. The sentence the OP mentions sounds wrong to me. But a lot of English does, since the "curse" of SMS text messaging reared it's ugly head.

That and the general lack of interest of people nowadays show for the language results in the above sentences being accepted.

My English teacher always subtracted one full point out of a maximum of 10 (A+) for every (grammatical) mistake in each of his tests. Against that I learned the language, so I feel that I have put in a lot more effort to learn than a lot of native speakers. A waste if you ask me, but hey...get of my lawn!

cranioscopical · « **Reply #13 on:** November 20, 2010, 08:52 PM »

get of my lawn!
-Shades (November 20, 2010, 03:53 PM)

Another grass-roots problem?

Renegade · « **Reply #14 on:** November 20, 2010, 09:58 PM »

My English teacher always subtracted one full point out of a maximum of 10 (A+) for every (grammatical) mistake in each of his tests. Against that I learned the language, so I feel that I have put in a lot more effort to learn than a lot of native speakers. A waste if you ask me, but hey...get of my lawn!
-Shades (November 20, 2010, 03:53 PM)

Heh! I had teachers like that!

They really do their students a good service by cracking the whip.

This is something that's rather sad - that so many people never learn to speak their own language properly.

KynloStephen66515 · « **Reply #15 on:** November 20, 2010, 10:12 PM »

This is something that's rather sad - that so many people never learn to speak their own language properly.
-Renegade (November 20, 2010, 09:58 PM)

~~engliss i speek gud nd itz mah furst langwage~~

Right...I was going to leave that as my post, but it didn't feel right, so I thought I has to end on something with half decent spelling, because, if nothing else, if a new user drops by, and this is the first post they see, I will look slightly stupid otherwise haha

Shades · « **Reply #16 on:** November 22, 2010, 04:40 PM »

get of my lawn!
-Shades (November 20, 2010, 03:53 PM)
Another grass-roots problem?
-cranioscopical (November 20, 2010, 08:52 PM)

As I originate from Holland...what do you exactly mean with grass?

cranioscopical · « **Reply #17 on:** November 22, 2010, 07:04 PM »

get of my lawn!
-Shades (November 20, 2010, 03:53 PM)
Another grass-roots problem?
-cranioscopical (November 20, 2010, 08:52 PM)

As I originate from Holland...what do you exactly mean with grass?
-Shades (November 22, 2010, 04:40 PM)

It helps you not to feel for lawn?

Target · « **Reply #18 on:** November 22, 2010, 07:46 PM »

This is something that's rather sad - that so many people never learn to speak their own language properly.
-Renegade (November 20, 2010, 09:58 PM)

the curious thing about this not that they never learn proper language skills, rather that they can actually communicate at all

clearly with such an impressive grasp of linguistic nuance the poster is destined for a career in the media...

Renegade · « **Reply #19 on:** November 22, 2010, 08:52 PM »

This is something that's rather sad - that so many people never learn to speak their own language properly.
-Renegade (November 20, 2010, 09:58 PM)

the curious thing about this not that they never learn proper language skills, rather that they can actually communicate at all
-Target (November 22, 2010, 07:46 PM)

Hahahaha~! And I thought *I* was cynical~!

Target · « **Reply #20 on:** November 22, 2010, 09:16 PM »

Hahahaha~! And I thought *I* was cynical~!
-Renegade (November 22, 2010, 08:52 PM)

what can I say, it's one of my superpowers...

cranioscopical · « **Reply #21 on:** November 23, 2010, 08:13 AM »

the curious thing about this not that they never learn proper language skills
-Target (November 22, 2010, 07:46 PM)