This isn't the first time I've caught the BBC on a technicality; the last time was "farther" and "further." Just for the record, farther applies to distance - the space between two points - as in, "Point B is farther from here than Point A." Hardly anyone ever gets that one right. The one that gets me is the saying, "The dollar doesn't go as far as it used to." It gets me because I can't figure out if the dollar goes farther or further. But it doesn't come up often, since I am broke and that only has one spelling.
Anyway, the BBC slipped-up again and this time, it's with sit and set. People and animals sit; inanimate objects set. That's the rule and, as far as I know, there are no exceptions. I suppose an argument could be made for, say, a robot maybe, but the general rule would be that if it is animate and could perform the action of its own volition (meaning it can choose to seat itself - or sit), then it would be sit.
What makes this one stick out is that it's about Albert Einstein.
No comments:
Post a Comment