For the longest time I have used strait, as in continue strait on to the other side, not knowing it was incorrect. Why did it take so long for someone to correct me? So just in case anyone else has been using the wrong straight, I thought I would post this. Here is another one. I thought their selves was proper in some cases, but I guess only themselves is. However if I was writing dialog for a southerner, I think I would use their selves. I think that is how they talk. And lastly, what do you think about nowhere, and anywhere? I could find it nowhere. I couldn't find it anywhere. I believe both are acceptable. Wouldn't I couldn't find it nowhere, be a double negative, and thus would not have the same meaning?
I think 'I couldn't find it anywhere' is better grammar, but most people would probabaly still be able understand you if you said 'I could find it nowhere'. Personally, I just use 'I could find it anywhere'.
I think both of the sentences you wrote are technically correct, but the 2nd one sounds better. I agree that "I couldn't find it nowhere" is a double negative.
Which is actually a bit odd; lots of the romance languages use double negatives without a problem, regarding it as something of an intensifier. English just picked up this finicky aversion somewhere. Mind you, when your language is literally made up of everyone's favorite bits from old French and Anglo-Saxon germanic, with liberal sprinklings of pretty much every other language thrown in for spice, you end up with some pretty bizarre and esoteric grammar rules. Also, for what it's worth, I've never heard anyone say "theirselves," and I've lived in the South my whole life. Might be something from deeper in Dixie, I suppose...
I agree. I think that, I couldn't find it anywhere, sounds better. The only time I think I would use nowhere in this context, is in dialog. I think it would fit well for some personalities.
Ah, thanks. I will have to keep that in mind. I have heard a few people use it in voice chat, and they had what sounded like a southern accent, at least to me. Next time I hear someone use it I am going to ask where they are from.
Strait and straight are often misused. I'll point it out in a review, but usually manage to sit on my hands when I see it elsewhere. The most common misuse I see is straight jacket. The correct term is strait jacket. But I do often see strait used to mean in a direct line or forward, which should be straight.
Not just the Romance languages. Russian also negates all portions of a clause to create a negative. Ya ne xochu nichego is literally I [do] not want nothing, but means I don’t want anything.
Oh, and just to interject some randomness, there is also the internet jargon in gay chatrooms where the spelling str8 is used as the opposite of gay.
if you don't want nothing, then you do want something! awkward and old-fashioned, but grammatical... correct and commonly used... yes, it is and no, it doesn't... technically, it would mean you could find it somewhere... but it's also just one example of poor grammar that's used by so many... another is saying 'i could care less' when one really means 'i couldn't care less'... as in 'i don't give a flying fleep'... if you could care less, then you'd have to be caring somewhat, right?
