how much explanatory power does this statement have?

[datasuspect]

"things just sorta happened."

[La Lioness Priyanka]

1. as much as "one thing leads to another"

[philosophie_en_rose]

2. or "it was God's will" or "it's all for the best."

[datasuspect]

4. god works in mysterious ways, or

everything happens for a reason.


DUH, of course everything happens for a reason, but sometimes the reason is rather mundane.

[philosophie_en_rose]

5. "everything happens for a reason" is my least favorite saying.

It's so smug. And, it's a passive aggressive way of referring to religion.

[pagerbear]

3. "Mistakes were made"

Grammarians call that the past exonerative tense.

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. It doesn't have any - it is a question.

[datasuspect]

7. "things just sorta happened."

seems like a statement to me.

maybe i'm missing something.

the post subject asks a question about a statement in the post body, not sure of your meaning.

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. It was a friendly barb about grammar.

(hopefully it was friendly...)

In "How much explanatory power does this statement have?", "this statement" implies the question itself, not the succeeding one. Using "the following statement" would have worked, or a colon at the end of the question leading into the phrase under question.


Anyway, it's not very funny on explanation. It's an arrogant joke for lovers of grammar, words, and language, and I probably shouldn't have offered it.

[datasuspect]

9. i can dig it

i generally do not apply grammar rules in non-scholarly or non-business writing.


internet posting for me is the intellectual equivalent of graffiti. it's fun.


now the ones that get me are the "cite your sources" types in forum arguments who think a google search constitutes actual research.


it's all in good fun. good timewasting fun.