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Index of Subjects You are better than I sounds right too. There is an insurance ad on TV these days that says "You drive better than her". To me, the correct statement, "You drive better than she", sounds stilted. It does sound better to my ears if the ad said "You drive better than she does". Don Don MacNeill donmacneill@eastlink.ca ----- Original Message ----- From: "Elizabeth Doull" <edoull@ns.sympatico.ca> To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca> Sent: Monday, December 01, 2008 4:44 PM Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Canso Area Nov 29th NSBS Walk Stephen Yes, what you have explained made it sense... One good example, which we often see, is "You are better than me". I guess people drop 'am' after 'I'. After all, English and other languages, visual and spoken, are evolving... Once again, I am not a writer or linguist, but am fascinated with English... Cheers, liz > I'd side with Dave not Liz. > Ignoring whether 'pickier' is even an appropriate word to use in genteel > writing > like this on NNS, "pickier than I" would be the conventional English > language > contraction of the lengthier but correct "pickier than I [am]": omission > of the > "am" would be well understood as normal usage by an experienced English > writer. > Even today, you can't write "pickier than me am". > Regrettably, Liz's comment is also appropriate in one way -- almost > 'anything > goes' these days. The broader picture is that language evolves and that > good > dictionaries try to reflect current usage, so that "pickier than I" may > soon be > declared archaic outside the confines of Wolfville. > I've left in at least two adjectivalized nouns and a mixture of single and > double quotation marks to allow someone to set me straight on proper usage > there. There is no last word on language... > Steve >
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