English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

[DaveReading]

Thinking back - with some difficulty - to "O" Level English, I think that there are some verbs which can be qualified by an adjective (or an adjectival phrase) rather than an adverb. There must be a name for this which I've forgotten or never learnt.
...

I can't think of how adjectives can qualify verbs in Standard English.

Was that about usages such as:
The bike looks good.
?

There are a whole bunch of what are sometimes referred to as "linking verbs" which take either an adjective or noun as their complement.

For example:
The casserole smelled good
The book became a bestseller
etc

But I don't think you can really describe the complement as "qualifying" the verb, so I'm not sure if that's what is being referred to here.

[Bmblbzzz]

A verb which can be followed immediately by an adjective is called in the jargon a copular verb. Most of them are verbs of perception, such as look, sound, smell, feel.

[thirdcrank]

A verb which can be followed immediately by an adjective is called in the jargon a copular verb. Most of them are verbs of perception, such as look, sound, smell, feel.

Thanks for your erudition.

I think that's the starting point for anybody declaring that "go extinct" is incorrect usage.

[DaveReading]

A verb which can be followed immediately by an adjective is called in the jargon a copular verb. Most of them are verbs of perception, such as look, sound, smell, feel.

Thanks for your erudition.

I think that's the starting point for anybody declaring that "go extinct" is incorrect usage.

Go extinct is grammatically correct.

That said, it's a very odd usage of "go" (in the sense of "become") when applied to a group/family/species.

[Audax67]

A verb which can be followed immediately by an adjective is called in the jargon a copular verb. Most of them are verbs of perception, such as look, sound, smell, feel.

Thanks for your erudition.

I think that's the starting point for anybody declaring that "go extinct" is incorrect usage.

Go extinct is grammatically correct.

That said, it's a very odd usage of "go" (in the sense of "become") when applied to a group/family/species.

I have a vague idea that it's Transpondian. Here's a nice ngram: (clicky).

It takes off around 1970. Interesting to see the humps in the "become extinct" graph in the 19th century - people haggling over geology, natural selection etc.?

[sjs]

When I raised this subject I made no claim that it was grammatically incorrect, only that it did not "sound right" to me. But that is no doubt true of many changing usages to those used to the traditional ones. We become-extincters are ourselves in danger of going extinct.

[Bmblbzzz]

Thanks for your erudition.

I think that's the starting point for anybody declaring that "go extinct" is incorrect usage.

Go extinct is grammatically correct.

That said, it's a very odd usage of "go" (in the sense of "become") when applied to a group/family/species.

I have a vague idea that it's Transpondian. Here's a nice ngram: (clicky).

It takes off around 1970. Interesting to see the humps in the "become extinct" graph in the 19th century - people haggling over geology, natural selection etc.?

Could be Transpondian, but switching between American and British English it seems to take off very slightly earlier in British English.

[thirdcrank]

When I raised this subject I made no claim that it was grammatically incorrect, only that it did not "sound right" to me. But that is no doubt true of many changing usages to those used to the traditional ones. We become-extincters are ourselves in danger of going extinct.

AIUI, when Graham started this thread, he was asking about things people found irritating and "go extinct" is as good an example as any, and one which would have attracted no comment from me. I don't think it would have even attracted my attention. Different things irritate different people, which is surely what might be expected.

But, there are times when some posters cannot resist pontificating. And then, some other posters :oops: cannot resist a bit of comment.

In this instance, all sight of the real problem - in this case imo the loss of species - is lost through futile quibbling

[mattheus]

In this instance, all sight of the real problem - in this case imo the loss of species - is lost through futile quibbling

Glass half-full view:

This is the most promotion that species loss has ever had in a language pedantry thread!

[richardfm]

A BBC journalist reporting on Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to the USA this morning on the Today Programme said he would be "returning back" to Kyiv.

[Manc33]

"He scored a brace".

This is being said in football a lot these days, but it was never uttered one single time in the past. They are just trying to sound clever, knowing most of the fans have to look up this word to see what it means.

I don't care if it's a real word. I don't care if it means a pair, or two. So they are basically saying someone scored a pair of goals? That's stupid.

There's this thing called two! It's a number!

[Bmblbzzz]

An objection that makes sense, as long as you also object to hat trick. And for that matter love, deuce and advantage in tennis, along with par, bogie, eagle, etc in golf.

[Jdsk]

"He scored a brace".

This is being said in football a lot these days, but it was never uttered one single time in the past. They are just trying to sound clever, knowing most of the fans have to look up this word to see what it means.

I don't care if it's a real word. I don't care if it means a pair, or two. So they are basically saying someone scored a pair of goals? That's stupid.

There's this thing called two! It's a number!

My emboldening.

"The term dates back to the 19th century, where the phrase 'scoring a brace of goals' started to gain popularity."
https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/what-is ... p0xl5lhb48

Jonathan

[Manc33]

Hat trick has been said in football for many decades. Brace - maybe 1 year. It's a fad, it will go away again.

[Mick F]

............ let alone the demise of twice and now replaced with "two times".

The demise of thrice has happened in my lifetime, but what was "four times" called?
Fice or quice?