All of a sudden...

[auronlu]

... I learn that I have been using the wrong form of an idiom since childhood. I'm guessing that my mostly-southern family says "all of the sudden" for the same reason that we use "y'all" as second person plural. Either way, it's a very peculiar idiom, since "sudden" is not usually a noun.

mneme_forgets pointed out my error. Being a stubborn little wench, I had to go and research the matter to assure myself that she was correct.

I found an amusing blog entry on the subject which I'm preserving for future reference. I like the way this person writes.

Note to self: sooner or later, I need to hammer out my use of "which" and "that" once and for all, and decide whether I'm going to follow MLA or APA format for quoted phrase + comma/period.

Comments

[mneme-forgets.livejournal.com]

Aww, I looked at it myself and wondered if people maybe said it both ways. But I just corrected it cause that's how I am accustomed to seeing it. :)

[auronlu.livejournal.com]

No, that's great!

I learned somethin'. :) Yes, both ways appear in print, but the version I knew seems to be slang, not standard.

[mneme-forgets.livejournal.com]

I wrote that blog entry and you're right it was quite amusing. I have no doubt that this saying leaves 2nd language English speakers cursing the language all the time. It really doesn't make any sense.

[auronlu.livejournal.com]

You wrote it?

I have guilt issues about English on behalf of all my non-native-English-speaker online friends (saharasnow et alia). Its irregularities and vast vocabulary are cruel and unusual punishment.

[mneme-forgets.livejournal.com]

*laughs* oh good lord NO. I will have some blog writer killing me now. I meant I READ it *brains has obviously come unhinged. *is sheepish.*

Yes, I know. English is crazy. And yet knowing it doesn't make it easier to learn other language unfortunately. Heh.

Quoth This English Major

[muggy-mountain.livejournal.com]

Grammar in English is such a slippery thing. Whom/which/that will always trip me up, no matter how many times I correct myself. It's like a math concept I can't grasp.