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Woolly-headed grammar question

Visit Beautiful English to answer a grammar question about the Woolly-Headed Boy post.

June 12, 2007 at 09:24 AM |

Comments

CraigC

What do I win?

Posted by: CraigC | June 12, 2007 at 12:06 PM

gail

FAME -- as a grammar nerd

Posted by: gail | June 12, 2007 at 12:08 PM

JJM

"Who he was and why his hair appears to be a clump of sheep's wool are unspecified."

Well, I'm wary of grammarians who are quick to make correct/incorrect usage judgments.

You could state it has to be "are" because there are two phrases ("who he was" "why his hair appears to be a clump") joined by "and" acting as the plural subject of the verb.

But it could just as easily be "is" based on the concept that the subject of "is" is the statement "who he was and why his hair appears to be a clump" as a whole unit.

Posted by: JJM | June 13, 2007 at 12:11 PM

gail

But the question uses "or," not "and."

Posted by: gail | June 13, 2007 at 12:13 PM

JJM

Obviously I wasn't paying attention when I read this.

I used the text from your "Woolly-Headed Boy" post.

Posted by: JJM | June 13, 2007 at 02:07 PM

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