Month: June 2002

“hypothetical subjunctive”

Ashley Bischoff1 Comment

I'm on the mailing list for the American Dialect Society and one guy mentioned the “hypothetical subjunctive” tense. Yoiks, I don’t even know what that means, but I like the sound of it ;).

This seems to be a phenomenon that surpasses language boundaries: I have often wondered why german sportscasters shun the hypothetical subjunctive (Konjunktiv in German) of the “missed chance” type. They invariably say “Die Mannschaft musste noch ein Tor schiessen, statt nur das Resultat zu sichern" instead of “haette noch ein Tor schiessen muessen”. I have come to accept it as a marker of a specific functional style, particularly now that I learn it is the same in English.

Prof. Dr. Peter Lucko
Humboldt-Universit�t zu Berlin
Institut f�r Anglistik und Amerikanistik

US Open on NBC

Ashley Bischoff2 Comments

Thanks to NBC, now even golf lovers that don’t have full-time sports channels can watch the early rounds of the US Open. NBC’s schedule for its US Open Coverage:

  • Thursday, June 13 - 3:00 PM ET
    Golf: U.S. Open Black Course at Bethpage State Park, N.Y.: First-round coverage
  • Friday, June 14 - 3:00 PM ET
    Golf: U.S. Open Black Course at Bethpage State Park, N.Y.: Second-round coverage
  • Saturday, June 15 - 12:30 PM ET
    Golf: U.S. Open Black Course at Bethpage State Park, N.Y.: Third-round coverage
  • Sunday, June 16 - 1:30 PM ET
    Golf: U.S. Open Black Course at Bethpage State Park, N.Y.: Final-round coverage

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Ashley BischoffLeave a comment

Gray has been advocating Buffy to me for years, but now Hyatt is recommending Buffy as well. It’s not that I disregarded Buffy when Gray first mentioned it; in fact, I gave it a try. But, I recall that the particular expisode that I saw at the time seemed kinda cheesy, with stereotypical characters (the school principal antagonist, for instance) and lots of gratuitous vampires (yes, I realize that “Vampire” is in the title, but there were more than I expected <g>). But, maybe I’ll have to give it another chance.