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Usenet Posted 18 years ago
Usage
"One of those ... who is ..."
To the English-usage newsgroups
I hope this isn't a FAQ ... I'm not a regular follower of this newsgroup. In Louis Auchincloss' 2007 book, The Friend of Women and Other Stories , on page 96, in the midst of otherwise impeccable and elegant prose, I find:
"She was one of those tormented souls who is always unhappy and wants everyone around her to be as unhappy as she is."
Shouldn't this be:
"She was one of those tormented souls who ARE always unhappy and WANT everyone around her to be as unhappy as THEY ARE." ... ???
Is this kind of sloppiness (if that's indeed what it is) becoming common? Is it becoming so common that it's starting to be accepted as correct? I don't think I like that idea.. Thanks! Best,
Tom
I hope this isn't a FAQ ... I'm not a regular follower of this newsgroup. In Louis Auchincloss' 2007 book, The Friend of Women and Other Stories , on page 96, in the midst of otherwise impeccable and elegant prose, I find:
"She was one of those tormented souls who is always unhappy and wants everyone around her to be as unhappy as she is."
Shouldn't this be:
"She was one of those tormented souls who ARE always unhappy and WANT everyone around her to be as unhappy as THEY ARE." ... ???
Is this kind of sloppiness (if that's indeed what it is) becoming common? Is it becoming so common that it's starting to be accepted as correct? I don't think I like that idea.. Thanks! Best,
Tom
Top answer
[nq:1]To the English-usage newsgroups I hope this isn't a FAQ ... I'm not a regular follower of this newsgroup. " ...
- [nq:1]To the English-usage newsgroups I hope this isn't a FAQ ...
- I'm not a regular follower of this newsgroup.
- " ...
- [/nq] Nope.
- It's perfect as Auchincloss wrote it.
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66 Answers
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[nq:1]To the English-usage newsgroups I hope this isn't a FAQ ... I'm not a regular follower of this newsgroup. ... tormented souls who ARE always unhappy and WANT everyone around her to be as unhappy as THEY ARE." ... ???[/nq]
Nope. It's perfect as Auchincloss wrote it. The grammatical subject of the copula "is" is "who", a relative pronoun that refers to "one", which takes the complement phr
Nope. It's perfect as Auchincloss wrote it. The grammatical subject of the copula "is" is "who", a relative pronoun that refers to "one", which takes the complement phr
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[nq:2]"She was one of those tormented souls who ARE always unhappy and WANT everyone around her to be as unhappy as THEY ARE." ... ???[/nq]
[nq:1]Nope. It's perfect as Auchincloss wrote it. The grammatical subject of the copula "is" is "who", a relative pronoun that refers to "one",[/nq]
Eh? Then which tormented souls was she talking about?
Tom's exactly right to object that "who"
[nq:1]Nope. It's perfect as Auchincloss wrote it. The grammatical subject of the copula "is" is "who", a relative pronoun that refers to "one",[/nq]
Eh? Then which tormented souls was she talking about?
Tom's exactly right to object that "who"
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[nq:1]To the English-usage newsgroups I hope this isn't a FAQ ... I'm not a regular follower of this newsgroup. ... of those tormented souls who is always unhappy and wants everyone around her to be as unhappy as she is."[/nq]
The dependant clause must refer to "those tormented souls" because otherwise it would be "She was one who is unhappy..." It should be "She was one who was unhappy", or "
The dependant clause must refer to "those tormented souls" because otherwise it would be "She was one who is unhappy..." It should be "She was one who was unhappy", or "
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[nq:1]To the English-usage newsgroups I hope this isn't a FAQ ... I'm not a regular follower of this newsgroup. ... of those tormented souls who is always unhappy and wants everyone around her to be as unhappy as she is."[/nq]
I have two questions (which at first I thought were related) that I was just thinking about. What about this one, from someone else's mouth of course, doesn't apply to m
I have two questions (which at first I thought were related) that I was just thinking about. What about this one, from someone else's mouth of course, doesn't apply to m
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[nq:1]"I am a tormented soul who am always unhappy and want everyone around me to be as unhappy as I am." That's correct, isn't it?[/nq]
No
No
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[nq:2]Nope. It's perfect as Auchincloss wrote it. The grammatical subject of the copula "is" is "who", a relative pronoun that refers to "one",[/nq]
[nq:1]Eh? Then which tormented souls was she talking about? Tom's exactly right to object that "who" is plural, and any ... if the relative clause did modify "one," surely it should be in the past. "Is" doesn't make sense either way.[/nq]
Righ
[nq:1]Eh? Then which tormented souls was she talking about? Tom's exactly right to object that "who" is plural, and any ... if the relative clause did modify "one," surely it should be in the past. "Is" doesn't make sense either way.[/nq]
Righ
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[nq:1]I heard a half hour show on the Antarctica in which even the "scientists" working on a project there pronounced ... scientific claims or any other statement about it made by those who don't even know how the word is pronounced?[/nq]
Perhaps they are traditionalists: "Ar(c)tic" originally lacked its middle "c", borrowed from an Old French word so spelt and not direct from Latin or Greek.
Perhaps they are traditionalists: "Ar(c)tic" originally lacked its middle "c", borrowed from an Old French word so spelt and not direct from Latin or Greek.
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[nq:1]To the English-usage newsgroups I hope this isn't a FAQ ... I'm not a regular follower of this newsgroup. ... becoming so common that it's starting to be accepted as correct? I don't think I like that idea.. Thanks! Best,[/nq]
It doesn't sound very wrong to me, but I would come down for the plural interpretation for these two reasons: "those tormented souls", and the present tense of "is
It doesn't sound very wrong to me, but I would come down for the plural interpretation for these two reasons: "those tormented souls", and the present tense of "is
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[nq:1]To the English-usage newsgroups I hope this isn't a FAQ ... I'm not a regular follower of this newsgroup. ... becoming so common that it's starting to be accepted as correct? I don't think I like that idea.. Thanks! Best,[/nq]
one ... is
one ... is
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[nq:2]Eh? Then which tormented souls was she talking about? Tom's ... be in the past. "Is" doesn't make sense either way.[/nq]
[nq:1]Right. Fowler covers this at Number (5). His first example sentence is "He is one of the best men that ... Though it is possibly a little unfair of him to say the "a moment's thought" would produce the right answer.[/nq]
Right. From my non-native-English poin
[nq:1]Right. Fowler covers this at Number (5). His first example sentence is "He is one of the best men that ... Though it is possibly a little unfair of him to say the "a moment's thought" would produce the right answer.[/nq]
Right. From my non-native-English poin
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