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Author Topic: Grammar nerd corner  (Read 503 times)

Offline thedrunkenmonkey

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Grammar nerd corner
« on: January 12, 2011, 03:50:53 PM »
I figured I needed a place to poke about at language with other people.

Grammar Problem:

"Who's world could you change?"

Is this right or wrong?

Stylistically I want to say it should be "Whose world could you change?", meaning the question is "What world, belonging to what person, could you change?"

However, it could also be construed as "Who has a world which you could change?", in which case it would be correct.

The reason: Washington State Lottery's headlines piss me off and their current version of "Who's world could you change?" is like reading fingernails encased in styrofoam on a blackboard.
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Offline Peter

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Re: Grammar nerd corner
« Reply #1 on: January 12, 2011, 04:13:02 PM »
It's wrong.  You're right.  It might as well be "Who haz cheezeburger?" as constructed.
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Offline Scix

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Re: Grammar nerd corner
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2011, 06:00:49 PM »
"Who's" for "Who has"  would only work if it said, "Who's a world..." which would be awkward and confusing, and still look like it means "Who is."
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Offline Count PuPPula

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Re: Grammar nerd corner
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2011, 06:37:00 PM »
By who has I think he means ownership. As in "Who's world" like "Charlie's world"...
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Offline Scix

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Re: Grammar nerd corner
« Reply #4 on: January 12, 2011, 06:54:27 PM »
Except that is "Whose."
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Offline LrsDude

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Re: Grammar nerd corner
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2011, 12:26:39 AM »
If you couldn't replace it with "who is" then you have to use "whose."

Obviously it shouldn't read "Who is world could you change?"

"Whose" is correct. And a glance at google would seem to suggest that they are implementing the correction.
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