Pronoun: The part of speech that substitutes for nouns or noun phrases and designates persons or things asked for, previously specified, or understood from the context.
Thanks to that last part, "understood from the context", the pronoun can be the most helpful or most dangerous part of speech. Helpful because sometimes we like to be vague ("we broke your window") and dangerous because sometimes people try to mislead us.
Imagine a guy approaching a female co-worker and saying, "Hey, we're going to happy hour. Can you make it?" Just exactly who is this "we"? Is he talking about himself and the 3 other people who live inside his head? Are other co-workers really going? Or is this a sly attempt to get the girl to have a drink with him?
If it's the 3rd possibility and the person asking is Itchy McScratchy (the office oddball), the girl will likely be on guard and ask who is going. That is how it should be. But if the person asking is the handsome, witty, single guy in her office, she might just say yes w/out checking. That could be bad--he could be the one with 3 other people living inside his brain.
So, when it comes to the use of pronouns, feel free to be vague when you need to be, but don't let others get away with it. ALWAYS confirm what's being implied. Don't be a pronoun victim!!!
PS - I hope to do a post soon on the ways in which I'm high maintenance, not bitchy. I don't want to rush that and paint the wrong picture. =)
I would most probably say "yes" to the other people living inside his brain. The handsome, witty, single man is.. A sham!
ReplyDeleteHahaha pronouns *can* be very tricky! I can't wait for your next post...... :)
ReplyDeletewww.clothedmuch.com
Pronouns sometimes a bane to a writer's existence! lol BTW who is RML?? I'm sure I know who it is but I'm super bad with abbreviations sometimes
ReplyDelete"Challenge accepted" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That was sooo Barney!!! Loved it!
ReplyDeleteDude, cannot BELIEVE you actually wrote a post on pronouns! Tsk tsk tsk... you've got waaaay too much free time in your hands! =P
Now I'm looking forward to your "I'm high maintenance, not bitchy" post!
haha I totally figured out who RML IS!! I agonized over it and slapped my forehead for my total brain fart lol
ReplyDeleteOh they definitely can be tricky ;)
ReplyDelete"Challenge accepted!" Love it ahahaha! Love love love How I Met Your Mother (even the opening theme makes me soooo happy!)
ReplyDeleteHey, we should do something like we (as in you, me and other bloggers haha!) challenge each other to do unique and "out of the box" posts! How say you? :D
*lol*
ReplyDeleteI'm so tempted to blurt out another weird topic but I'll let this one pass! *lol*
An actual entry on PRONOUNS!!! In fairness, you still had a point! :) Fine, fine, fine...You won the challenge! :)
It's so you ... "challenge accepted!" Anyway thanks a bunch for the explanation. Now I'm even more confused than ever ... hehehe!
ReplyDeleteYes, definitely need to confirm the uses of the pronoun!
ReplyDeleteI always use "they say" whenever I dunno who they are. Nobody questions me.
ReplyDeleteWhen somebody use "they say" when talking to me, I'll ask who they are.
Rules applied.
Re your comment:
What did I do?
Aha, that is sly. :)Am looking forward to you next lovely post :)
ReplyDeletehaha so true! I've learned to always figure out intentions first before agreeing :p
ReplyDeleteAww you want to do a post using my blog title?! So cool! haha what made you think of that idea?
*scratching heads*
ReplyDeletei cant believe i'm too tired to even make sense of this post. i'm sure in my less tired state i would totally laugh at this and say: bahahahhahahaha.
oh wait, that was just my laughter.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
But if the person asking is the handsome, witty, single guy in her office, she might just say yes w/out checking. ---> wrong!! she WILL say yes without checking hahahaha
ReplyDeleteMisleading people often works as an advantage. Haha.
ReplyDeletelol a pronoun victim! i'll remember that, thanks
ReplyDelete: )
oh man! i AM a pronoun victim. i will not ask what does "we" specifically mean. i just go along blissfully unaware that I could be going with a nut job. btw, there's nothing wrong with a pretty face being a secret loony. they're just good to look at, or maybe there's something hiding there. could be interesting!!! ;D
ReplyDeleteHaha... OIC! I've always been following your blog even if I wasn't an official follower. =)
ReplyDeleteI'm a noob. I didn't know how to enable the follower setting after trying and failing. I keep on seeing myself as following myself and decided to remove and not to try anymore. So just the other night, I was more determined to try again and I finally got it!