End of ADS-L Digest - 9 Oct 1995 to 10 Oct 1995 *********************************************** There are 32 messages totalling 874 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. as it were (4) 2. go up to (4) 3. Ornery 4. mrs 5. mrs/miz'/gazz (3) 6. ornery (3) 7. Who's got the right one, baby (UH-HUH)? 8. oj and chocolate (2) 9. the dictionary of stereotypes (2) 10. Terrorism vs. sabotage (2) 11. Ornery Kathleen (3) 12. zapping (2) 13. zapping, zappers & binger-bongers 14. If I was (2) 15. LJP Issue #2 is Now Available for Web-Browsing ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 11 Oct 1995 00:21:55 -0400 From: "H Stephen STRAIGHT (Binghamton University, SUNY)" Subject: Re: as it were Of course William H. Smith is right, and I am wrong: The use of "was" in place of "were" is no less subjunctive, in the limited grammatical status of that mood in English. If I would have been more careful to think before I speak, I wouldn't have muddied the waters about the "loss" of a distinctive subjunctive mood in English. Sorry. On Tue, 10 Oct 1995, William H. Smith wrote: > I have read have a dozen postings saying that the subjunctive does/doesn't > exist, on the evidence of "If I was.." The anti's say that the subjunctive > has given way to the indicative past, but no one has noted that "If I > was/were..." is not past, it is present: > "If I were now as I once was..." If the subjunctive _were_ dead, we would > say, "If I am..." > Bill Smith > Piedmont College Best. 'Bye. Steve H Stephen STRAIGHT Binghamton University (SUNY) Anthropology & Linguistics LxC Box 6000, Binghamton NY 13902-6000 Dir, Langs Across the Curric VOX: 607-777-2824; FAX: 607-777-2889