The reason you weren't (1) doing well (2) is because (3) were (4) got bitten (5) by the bee across (6) the creek (7)?

English class has scarred me.

I was actually considering "'cause" to be a sort of contraction (although heck, it fits in this context), but if one considers it in a strictly technical sense, then that's eight things total.

Hint: The other thing is not a grammatical error per se, but rather a semantic one.

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Check out Funny When Drunk's facebook page, too! Just wade through all the groups that actually involve alcohol to find it . . .

Hell, I'm on there as well - look for Raptorial Talon if you're interested.

Ooh, it's an English challenge. I accept!

The reason you weren't (1) doing well (2) is that (3) you were (4) bitten (5) by the bee across (6) the creek (7)

Do I get my decoder ring now?

Sure!*

The missing one I had in mind is the semantic difference between "bite" and "sting" . . . bees really don't bite to defend themselves - they sting. People routinely confuse this matter (and then they go and say they were "stung" by a spider when spiders *bite*).







*No.

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Check out Funny When Drunk's facebook page, too! Just wade through all the groups that actually involve alcohol to find it . . .

Hell, I'm on there as well - look for Raptorial Talon if you're interested.

Second panel reminds me a lot of the Grapes or Wrath, well, how they talked in the novel. I hope noone continues making a fool of themselves by continue tlaking like that.

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"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."
-Anon.

I'm sure that's a dialectal difference in some parts of the country . . . not that it sounds any "smarter" for it.

And I hear individual cases of stuff like this all the time, even though hearing it all together is rare(r). All too common, really.

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Check out Funny When Drunk's facebook page, too! Just wade through all the groups that actually involve alcohol to find it . . .

Hell, I'm on there as well - look for Raptorial Talon if you're interested.

Well, different writing styles CAN sound smarter, and dialectal differents as well.
Especially comparing old Norhtern style with the old Southerner style.

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"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."
-Anon.

Well yeah. We all have certain prejudices as to what sounds more "educated" or sensible or articulate or what have you.

The hardcore redneck-hillbilly linguistic complex is not one that sounds more "intelligent" to most English-speakers, which is probably partly due to the simple grammatical errors that pervade it and partly due to a mental association of that kind of speech with the stereotype of Southern/rural people being less educated and "with it" in general.

And it's true, the older "Southern gentleman" type of speech sounds way more couth and sophisticated to our ears than do (many of) its modern relatives. Probably because it takes more care with its own grammar.

Ain't that right, y'all?

--
Check out Funny When Drunk's facebook page, too! Just wade through all the groups that actually involve alcohol to find it . . .

Hell, I'm on there as well - look for Raptorial Talon if you're interested.