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Grammar pedants - help please.

95 watchers

Iron_Mum Jan 2022 9:55pm, 6 Jan 2022 5,398 posts	Quote Pin Iron_Mum Chris is right, and I don’t see any ambiguity. There are lots of things I say I am going to do but all I ever seem to is pay bills. Ah, I read too quickly. In that case, you're back on my people-to-go-to-lunch-with list
larkim Jan 2022 4:06pm, 7 Jan 2022 16,469 posts	Quote Pin larkim Ah good, I must have been lulled into ambiguity by I_M's response! I thought it meant bills were always paid, but I_M's apparent predilection for never allowing other people to pay the bill confused me!
Northern Exile Jan 2022 4:26pm, 7 Jan 2022 8,376 posts	Quote Pin Northern Exile She sounds like an expensive date to me
Iron_Mum Jan 2022 4:27pm, 7 Jan 2022 5,400 posts	Quote Pin Iron_Mum I have no idea tbh, can't remember the last time I actually went out for lunch... :-/
larkim Jan 2022 12:09pm, 10 Jan 2022 16,489 posts	Quote Pin larkim Australia's pandemic border rules ban foreigners from entering the country if they are not either double vaccinated or have a medical exemption from having the jabs. From bbc.co.uk "they are not" works fine for the double vaccinated clause but not "or have a". Is this a grammar crime? Or is there a tolerance for a verb preceding "either" to be able to be attached to one clause and not the other. (More elegant would have been "either doubled vaccinated or in possession of..." or something along those lines, or perhaps "if they are not double vaccinated. Medical exemptions can also be granted in some cases.")
Badger Jan 2022 12:16pm, 10 Jan 2022 14,620 posts	Quote Pin Badger It’s horrible. “Unless they are double vaccinated or have a medical exemption” would be better, though with a vague hint that that group are the minority. Or “neither double vaccinated nor holding a medical exemption” perhaps.
LindsD Jan 2022 12:27pm, 10 Jan 2022 52,178 posts	Quote Pin LindsD agrees
larkim Jan 2022 12:41pm, 10 Jan 2022 16,491 posts	Quote Pin larkim I'm glad my horror has been shared.
swittle Jan 2022 1:04pm, 10 Jan 2022 82,669 posts	Quote Pin swittle [One can picture great apes at keyboards churning out such misleading text.]
Dvorak Jan 2022 5:30pm, 10 Jan 2022 24,166 posts	Quote Pin Dvorak It doesn't seem that heinous to me, but might it be a case for neither/nor?