Editing 1108: Cautionary Ghost
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
| β | This comic is a parody of {{w|Charles Dickens}}'s ''{{w|A Christmas Carol}}'', where Scrooge is replaced with | + | This comic is a parody of {{w|Charles Dickens}}'s ''{{w|A Christmas Carol}}'', where Scrooge is replaced with a "grammar Nazi" and speaks to the irrelevance of correcting people's speech. |
| β | In "A Christmas Carol" | + | In "A Christmas Carol" the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future awaken the main character in the middle of the night to show him the negative causes and effects of his selfish and uncharitable behavior. Where in this comic the ghost wakes up a "Grammar Nazi" who is intent on correcting people's usage of the word literally. People often use literally as emphasis to a figurative statement. A statement like "I literally ate 40 lbs of chocolate" might be said when what was intended was "I ate like 40 lbs of chocolate!". |
| β | + | A ghost awakens the main character in the middle of the night to show him the effects of correcting people's usage of the word literally. He shows the protagonist two futures, one where he keeps correcting people, and one where he stops. That the two "different" futures are exactly (i.e., literally) the same suggests that the man's struggle to get people to stop using "literally" incorrectly will have no meaningful effect on the world, and so the man (and by extension, everyone else) may as well stop wasting time and energy on it. | |
Ironically, the title text indicates that a second apparition encouraged the man to continue the fight on a different grammatical issue, the use of the phrase "if it were," which is frequently incorrectly substituted with "if it was." "Were" is correctly used in a hypothetical condition, when referencing something that may not be true. The ghost of subjunctive past references the ghost of Christmas past and the {{w|English subjunctive#Use of the past subjunctive|'Subjunctive past tense'}}. The following sentences illustrate the correct usages: | Ironically, the title text indicates that a second apparition encouraged the man to continue the fight on a different grammatical issue, the use of the phrase "if it were," which is frequently incorrectly substituted with "if it was." "Were" is correctly used in a hypothetical condition, when referencing something that may not be true. The ghost of subjunctive past references the ghost of Christmas past and the {{w|English subjunctive#Use of the past subjunctive|'Subjunctive past tense'}}. The following sentences illustrate the correct usages: | ||
