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| Thread ID: 58957 | 2005-06-17 07:17:00 | Need help on clarifying some English words | Renmoo (66) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 364631 | 2005-06-17 07:17:00 | Hello folks, this morning in my Biology class, the teacher said the following to us: "Those of you who have researched and wished to write a report on wine-making, please hands up. Otherwise, we will continue our study on photosynthesis". There was only 1 person raised up his hand, so I said: "Majority speaks", as in majority speaks out what are we going to do this morning. A friend of mine commented and "corrected" me that it should be "majority wins". Who is right and who is not? Cheers :) |
Renmoo (66) | ||
| 364632 | 2005-06-17 07:30:00 | I think it is majority wins.... | techie (7177) | ||
| 364633 | 2005-06-17 07:43:00 | Yeah, but it seems that we are not voting for something | Renmoo (66) | ||
| 364634 | 2005-06-17 07:53:00 | You were not asked asked by the teacher to "speak" in response to a choice though, so the "majority speaks" response is technically wrong, in my view . The teacher asked for a show of hands, which is a silent form of voting . In any vote there can be a win, a loss or a tie . |
godfather (25) | ||
| 364635 | 2005-06-17 08:22:00 | I would have said majority rules and saved having the argument. | Cicero (40) | ||
| 364636 | 2005-06-17 08:23:00 | Both are grammatically correct (both have dropped a leading "the") - although you'll find that given the context, majority wins would be probably be more appropriate. Having said that, hit your friend next time you see him for stealing 5 minutes of your life. The difference doesn't warrant for his opinion to be expressed, IMHO (oh the irony). |
Growly (6) | ||
| 364637 | 2005-06-17 08:42:00 | Can't agree with Growly,one likes to have things right and I don't mind being corrected if I am wrong. | Cicero (40) | ||
| 364638 | 2005-06-17 08:42:00 | When I said: "Majority speaks", I do not actually mean what I said, although it is technically incorrect (according to godfather). What I meant was majority leads the way toward the obvious choice. Cheers :) |
Renmoo (66) | ||
| 364639 | 2005-06-17 09:09:00 | The beauty of English unlike many or even most other languages, is that a meaning can be conveyed in so many different ways, with no one way necessarily being absolutely superior, correct or preferential to another. In your example, both cases are perfectly intelligible as is Ciceros' 'rules' and Growlys' 'wins'. Anyway, New Zealanders are the last to ask about english, especially spelling and pronunciation :) |
Terry Porritt (14) | ||
| 364640 | 2005-06-17 09:16:00 | Geez James, don't worry about it. It's not an issue. As you can see from the above if you ask a bunch of (presumably) native english speakers they couldn't agree on it. Not because they're witless but because it's a matter of varaible usage (i.e. many 'correct' ways of expressing something with different language.) As suggested, 'majority rules' would also have been acceptable. As would've 'majority stands', and the use of 'the' before either is also acceptable. HTH..............m (ex TEFL teacher.) If you really want to bone up up on current english usage for non-native speakers get a copy of Swan. Can't remember the initials and dunno (whooooaa, fluent eh?) they title of his latest compendium but probably something like "current english usage'. Ring a language school or ask at a big bookstore. (Beside, being a presumably native Melayu-based language speaker, it's the prepositions and articles of english you want to concentrate on.) |
mark c (247) | ||
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