Scroll down to \"Percentages, Odds and Ongoing\".

 

It's the grammar police

Or should I just call you sarge?

 

"Your Excellency" will suffice.

Better still, just throw money.

 

dam boy, u be's tough on da gramers.

I feel sure you can help me with that one.

Jumping off topic Bill: My friend and her Dressage Pony are now in your area.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by S2KFanatic
It's the grammer police

 

Your fame just keeps on spreading on an ongoing basis

 

Just curious, but what's wrong with saying "on a .... basis"? (I don't think I use the phrase, but I never heard that it's bad to do so.)

Jean

 

First, it's way too wordy: "on a daily basis" uses four words and six syllables where one word and two syllables - "daily" - would suffice. In this sense it pollutes the language.

Second, it makes everything sound the same: "on a daily basis", "on a continuous basis" (they usually mean "continual", not "continuous", but that's another problem), "on an as-needed basis", and so on. People seem to have lost the ability to use adverbs as they've homogenized the language into a sickly shade of beige.

Third, the word "basis" supplies nothing remotely close to its usual meaning in these phrases. "Basis" means "foundation" or "fundamental piece" or "building block" or, in mathematics, "a linearly independent set of vectors that spans a vector space". Ask yourself exactly what the word "basis" means in the phrase "on a weekly basis", and whether it comes anywhere close to these definitions. "He takes out the trash on a weekly foundation", and, "he takes out the trash on a weekly building block" don't make much sense, do they?

Imagine how the airwaves would sound if every song played had "shave and a haircut, two bits" tacked onto the end. This is how the phrase "on a <fill in your favorite adjective> basis" makes language sound.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by kneecapper