Making Light:  Mail ::: April 15, 2004, 05:35 PM

The grammar test is pornography for us prescriptivists, and I
certainly got my jollies.  Being accused of deity was a big boost for
a moment, but I almost immediately started questioning my integrity.

The crisis was on number #6.  "Take" and "bring" mean different
things; either may be correct, mostly depending on whether the teacher
is in room 22 when she says it.  I selected "either" on that basis,
but I have come to reject that answer.  Only one word can be right,
depending on what the teacher is intending to say, so there is no
circumstance in which either would be correct.*  I now believe "take"
is correct, on the assumption that the teacher does not know whether
she is (any more than we know).

I immediately accused myself of crass testmanship, choosing my answer
for the grade rather than for outright perfection.  This tarnished my
godhead far more than being called a bastardization (sic) would have
done.  Now that I know that this kind of godhead is not as absolute
as I had assumed, I'm tempted to go back and see if I would have been
cast down for a better answer.

And no, I didn't notice the typo, either.  Some kind of god I'd make.
---------------------
* Well, hardly ever!  Imagine Chrissy not knowing where the teacher is
calling from:  the teacher could say "bring" or "take".  They are still
not equivalent utterances--one tells Chrissy where the teacher is and
the other doesn't--but they are both correct.  I wish I could remember
what a bungerhop is, because I feel that I'm matching slyness with
that teacher.