You are not the boss of me - Grammar help

[XeniA]

Did I miss something? Has anyone been abusive on this thread? The one post that appeared to be was actually not at all, and that was clarified by the poster himself.

Please, please, let's not close a discussion unless it's absolutely necessary because of a violation of site rules.

After all, there is ALWAYS the POSSIBILITY of hurt feelings. If they occur, then let's deal with it.

Here, here Suzy! I can add nothing other than my applause!

 

[XeniA]

"You are not the boss of me" is typically used by preschoolers.
When and why have you heard a 3-4-5 year old say this?

example: Mom is checking out groceries and a stranger standing behind your cart tells your child to sit down (meaning to stay seated in the cart seat) or tells your child not to touch stuff on the shelves in the checkout isle.

This child knows who is responsible for them (child) and who makes the rules for them.

What could they say instead: butt out!

I have to admit that I wouldn't like to hear this said from a child to an adult, certainly not a stranger. It strikes me as badly impertinent!

Child-to-child I buy, but as I'd tried to say before, to me it should be used to establish the "equalness" of two equals, so isn't appropriate child to adult or subordinate to boss.

Mind you, that really wasn't the question, was it?!

 

[Barbara L]

As long as the whole book doesn't go on like that!! (Reminds me of trying to read "Watership Down" where one has to learn bunny language to proceed. I think I read the first 10 or so pages several times, then left it for good. I guess I just don't do bunny ...)

I read "Watership Down" years ago and loved it (I want to read it again soon). The weird thing was that before I knew it, I could actually understand the bunny language!

Barbara

 

[XeniA]

I read "Watership Down" years ago and loved it (I want to read it again soon). The weird thing was that before I knew it, I could actually understand the bunny language!

Barbara

Well ... bless your twitching little whiskers, then, Barbara!! You're a far stronger bunny than I!

 

[GB]

LOL no Ayrton the book does not go on like that. What you read there is the extent of it.

Give Watership Down another chance if you feel up for it. It was on of my favorite books ever.

 

[suzyQ3]

So my wife and I were talking last night and the phase "you are not the boss of me" came up. I remember being a kid and all the kids would say that. We would always get corrected though and told it should be "you are not my boss" instead.

Well now that I am older and actually care about proper grammar, I would like to know what the reason is behind this. My wife asked me and I did not know. I felt kind of dumb actually because I started to question if it even was wrong or if the adults at the time were just teaching us incorrectly. You are not the boss of me just does not sound right to me ear, but is it actually grammatically incorrect and if so, why?

GB, I thought of you when I read a review in today's Los Angeles Times of a new book entitled -- ta-da -- "You're Not the Boss of Me," a wicked send-up of motherhood by Erika Schikel.

Since I think you have to be registered to access that part of the online LAT, here's a link to the book on Amazon: Amazon.com: You're Not The Boss Of Me: Adventures Of A Modern Mom: Books: Erika Schickel

 

[Constance]

If one of my children had said that to me, I would have slapped them in the face. Sometimes, there are just things you have to do.

 

[lulu]

I love you all, lol.

As regards patience and errors is posting on a forum (Skilletlicker's point) I feel that what we type here is in essence conversation. Using emoticons and incorrect sentence structure is a reinforcment of the feeling behind the words that, without absolute precision of word choice and grammatical usage, could risk being lost especially when you consider the number of people who particpate in a language that is not their mother tongue, ages, etc of posters. I frequently have moments posting when I am reminded that the Americans and the English (and indeed, the British) are nations divided by our common language. DH works for an American firm, with UK qualifications in an international setting. The firm standard is American English, his requirements are to write in UK recognised English, obviously remaining consistant. Thus, the poor, beleaguered Italian proof readers get headaches. I had formative education in both US and UK systems, and so there are times when I have to stop and think over simple words for spellings.

I was taught to ask "For what are you looking?" and probably still would with my parents or my husband's father but in conversation with my husband or contempories I would always say "What are you looking for?". I regret a general loss of the importance of choosing the right words and using them properly. English (all English, in all countries) is a remarkable language. I speak (badly) four languages now, and I am always amazed by the precision of the English language and the breadth of the vocabulary available to speakers of English. As I get older I regret my own lack of perfection and in daily usage strive to improve. All that said, online there are times when I feel abbreviations are more relevant and I rarely go back to change typos, they are the typing equivalent of stumbling over words or living language. I also heavily over use punctuation!!!!!

 

[karadekoolaid]

You're not the boss of me vs you're not my boss.
After teaching English as a Foreign Language for many years, I can assure you there's no grammatical difference as such. What we do have here is Usage and Abusage. The second version, which sounds most correct to the majority on this thread, is simply custom - called collocation in the(correct?) use of English grammar. It's like saying "black and white", instead of "white and black", or "Chips and Fish" instead of "Fish and Chips".

A comment on the preposition at the end of a sentence.
Again, it's usage which dictates the final result. Winston Churchill was once chided for using a preposition at the end of a sentence, to which he retorted:
" Sir, that is the sort of nonsense up with which I shall not put"...

The good thing about English is that it's a living language, unshackled by stuffy Academies or inflexible rules.

Now I'm quickly going kitchenwards post haste in order to egg-break and sausage-grill for the purpose of fattening up on...

 

[Half Baked]

Lol Clive....you always things in a nutshell put

I just can't tolerate, "My bad". It's hard not to jump up and choke the kid and now I hear adults using it....*run screaming out of the room*

 

[suzyQ3]

Oops, didn't mean to resurrect this long and comprehensive thread. I just thought GB in particular might find it amusing that a new book has that title.

Note to self: PMs are my friend.

 

[VeraBlue]

You know what???

Yes I am.

 

[QSis]

Oh, this is FANTASTIC!!! I absolutely LOVE having Grammar Police around, since so many spoken and written phrases drive me nuts!

SuzyQ, Robo and others: what's the deal with "gone missing"? Even newscasters are reporting that a person has "gone missing", instead of "has been missing".

Am I just behind the grammatical times?

Lee

 

[JDP]

Wow, I saw this thread earlier and never thought it would go this long. But in the immortal words of Rodney King, "Get along, can't we all?" I live in the land of sentences ending in preposisions and find them very funny. Such as:

Do you want to go fishing erno ( or no) ?
She/ He was so hot, nowatimsayin (you know what I'm saying)?

One thing that drives me nuts, and maybe this should be in the venting thread, is the complete misuse of the word myself. I have co-workers that use it regularly because they think it makes them sound smart. I also hear it from time to time from talk show hosts. The bottom line is we can all talk like hicks but cooking we love to do.

See ya in another thread,

JDP