Re: experiment iv - lyrics???

[as010b@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Scorpii)]

In <18307@umd5.umd.edu> jeffy@syrinx.umd.edu (Jeffrey C. Burka) writes:


>All that notwithstanding, writers, who by all accounts know better, do
>occasionally use incorrect grammar.  My favorite (and the most personally
>annoying!) example is Gabriels "Games Without Frontiers" in which he
>sings "If looks could kill they probably will."  There's an obvious 
>disagreement between "could" and "will."  The easiest correction, and one
>which scans, would have been "If looks *can* kill they probably will" and
>I'll never understand why Gabriel didn't use that.

Probably because, unless the proposition "Looks can kill" has an uncertain
truth value, the construct "if...[implied 'then']" demands the subjunctive
"could", and the rhyme demands "will."

So says the logical side of me...the poetic side of me likes your correction
much better! :)

>(who seems to have a completely worthless degree in English, but really doesn't

Don't tell me that; I'm going to get one along with what had better be a
useful degree in Computer Science!

Drewcifer
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