Mr Gwynne and grammar
- a good knowledge of grammar makes us think better, which in turn makes us happier.
- up until the 1960s, everything was more or less hunky-dory, and then the rot set in.
One example of Mr.Gwynne's grammar: singular they
- If anyone wants another cake, just help themselves.
- Should anybody ring while I'm out, can you take their name.
Mr.Gwynne's Telegraph grammar test
- Which is correct?
a. Do you see who I see?
b. Do you see whom I see?
- Which is correct?
a. He had fewer men than in the previous campaign
b. He had less men than in the previous campaign
- Which of these lists is more traditionally correct and technically perfect?
a. Firstly…, secondly…, thirdly…
b. First ..., secondly, ... thirdly
Mr.Gwynne, Sex and gender
But is this use of 'gender' to mean 'sex' really so modern?
- a kind, a sort
- a sex
- the grammatical term
Examples of ' gender' as 'sex' from the 18th and 19th centuries
Don Quixote translated by Tobias Smollet 1755
NB asses = donkeys
James Wilson 'Claudero' - Against low Dancing-schools 1765
Edward Ward - A Compleat and Humorous Account of All the Remarkable Clubs and Societies in London 1756
Fanny Burney - The Wanderer: or Female Difficulties 1814
The Lives and Exploits of Banditti and Robbers in All Parts of the World, Charles MacFarlane, London 1837
C.J. Apperley (aka Nimrod) - Nimrod in France 1842
Times change 1
Times change 2
Playing at being King Canute
- four about differences in the education of boys and girls:
- UCAS chief warns over 'worrying' university gender gap
- A-level results 2013: warning over exam 'gender divide'
- A gender gap that simply doesn't add up
- Splitting school PE lessons by gender 'damages girls'
- two about toys:
- All Marks and Spencer toys to be gender neutral by spring 2014
- Toys R Us to stop gender biased marketing
- and four about gender abortions - people deciding to have abortions based on the sex (or gender) of the child, something the Telegraph is running a campaign on.
A few more Ngram graphs - common collocations
Mr Gwynne's rather narrow window
Gender and sex. Part 2 - A different difference?
traditional concepts of gender
the members of one or other sex: differences between the genders are encouraged from an early age
Neville Gwynne and Gwynne's Grammar
- Gwynne's Grammar - Amazon
- The Telegraph - glowing review
- The Guardian - review
- The Independent - review
- Interview on Radio 5
- Interview on RTE News
- THe Stropp[y Editor - review
- Language Log
- Caxton -
The Telegraph grammar test
- Netspeak - collocations
- Just the Word - collocations
- Samuel Johnson: A Dictionary of the Englisih Language 1756 edition 1785 with note
- Noah Webster: An American Dictionary Archive.org 1828 facsimile Google Books 1834
- Google site search of The Telegraph
- Oxford Dictionaries Online - gender
- Online Etymology Dictionary - gender
- Online Etymology Dictionary - sex