So Many Weird Grammar Moods Give Me the Blues

Weird moods such as…

As do weird modern remakes of classic Moody Blues mood music…

#newisnotalwaysbetter

 

12 thoughts on “So Many Weird Grammar Moods Give Me the Blues”

  1. Woah, that video, though! Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” twisted art scenes come to mind, along with some of the more psychedelic 1970’s Sesame Street clips. Good choice of song to cover, so drastically changed as it is.

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  2. And as for the grammar moods, I have never heard of any of that. I just write and don’t think much about the names of the tools. “Hand me that screwdriver. No, not the one with a flat tip, the one with a plus-sign tip.”

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  3. I think it’s odd. We admonish writers to find their voice, and grammar apps try to strip that voice away. Now I have to go cleanse my eyes and ears from ten seconds of that video. Desecrating a Moody Blues song? Unthinkable.

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  4. This is putting me in a mood.

    The funny thing is that if they just called them grammar MODES, it would make more sense to me. Anyone who’s studied other languages has had to grapple with figuring out these modes (well, some of them, at least) in those languages. It’s only in your native tongue that you do it without thinking and therefore it’s easy to assume the types don’t matter. But if someone uses the wrong one on you, it will definitely sound wrong, even if you have no idea what grammar term to call it.

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    • Intellectuals such as yourself always seem to prefer more specific/precise terminology; hence your preference for modes instead of moods. Whereas less-than-intellectuals such as myself always seem to prefer more general/vague language. It gives us much more wiggle room to hide our intellectual deficits. Also, I just think it’s fun that grammar is so weirdly moody. 🙂

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      • Funny, I didn’t think of that as being about the precision (although you’re right about my love of specific terminology, lol). It’s just weird that grammar has *moods* as though it cares about whether something was happening or it about to be happening or would have happened if not for some other circumstance. It makes grammar seem much more artsy and angsty than I normally think of it. More… French, somehow.

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  5. It’s a long list, but the pseudointerrogative absolute is missing.

    She says “Would you like to visit my parents over the long weekend?”

    He displays his understanding of this tricky mood/mode by voicing instantaneous assent.

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