A question for grammarians

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I wrote this as part of a missive sent to someone quite important earlier today. It read fine at the time but, maybe due to the lateness of the hour, it looks odd to me now. Is it grammatically ok?

"The responsibilty to look after their welfare lay with the teacher."

Or should I have gone with "The responsibilty of looking after their welfare lay with the teacher."

― Bodikin, Friday, 14 April 2006 21:03 (twenty years ago)

you should have spelt "responsibility" correctly, for a start.

and why not just write: "the teacher was responsible for their welfare"?

if you have to do it the way you suggest, then: "the responsibility for their welfare lay with the teacher" ... but still, eew.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Friday, 14 April 2006 21:12 (twenty years ago)

The wording clunks, and Grimly's reorganizations point toward better ways of going at it, but apart from the misspelling you're not so bad off here: your meaning is clear, and there's nothing about the sentence that's in flagrant grammatical violation. It's mostly just inelegant -- but I'm guessing from the content and the "important person" part that it was legalistic or public-service work stuff, in which ugly language doesn't exactly stick out.

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 14 April 2006 21:18 (twenty years ago)

What would be really great would be if you put commas before and after "to look after their welfare," capitalized the R in Responsibility, and then added a sentence immediately after that about how much the teacher enjoyed every second of it.

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 14 April 2006 21:20 (twenty years ago)

Thanks. You're in the right ballpark re legalistic. An anguishing note to write, as it happens, but that's a different story.
I did spell responsibility correctly on the day thankfully!

― Bodikin, Friday, 14 April 2006 21:29 (twenty years ago)

You should have a long, hard think about whether there's ever, ever a correct answer to this sort of shite.

(Clue: there isn't)

― Dogfight Giggle (noodle vague), Friday, 14 April 2006 21:38 (twenty years ago)

if i had the energy, i'd argue with you about this, NV. but i don't, and i can't be arsed, and i STILL have the washing-up to do.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Friday, 14 April 2006 21:41 (twenty years ago)

Can't you get a minion to do it?

― Alba (Alba), Friday, 14 April 2006 21:41 (twenty years ago)

no. but i can get one to kick yr skinny butt.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Friday, 14 April 2006 21:43 (twenty years ago)

Rilly G, if I was sober I'd want to have a good hard argue about why this shit didn't matter in the 18th century - when the English Language rocked bells - but does in the 21st - when it sucks chunks.

― Ich Haben Gepuken Like Ein Mutterfucken (noodle vague), Friday, 14 April 2006 21:47 (twenty years ago)

All the best Re: the situation that made you say an anguishing note to write, Bodikin.

― StanM (StanM), Friday, 14 April 2006 22:22 (twenty years ago)

Currently on the BBC News site:

But Mr Jaafari has repeatedly refused to stand aside and the alliance of Shia parties is yet to agree another candidate.

Are there some sort of fucked-up British grammar rules that make that clause okay, or is it just a careless error?

― pixel farmer (Rock Hardy), Sunday, 16 April 2006 19:31 (twenty years ago)

That looks alright to me! Except "is" for "has" maybe.

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Sunday, 16 April 2006 19:36 (twenty years ago)

"The responsibilty to look after their welfare lay with the teacher."

By the way, what happened then? Did they die?!?

― Gatinha (rwillmsen), Sunday, 16 April 2006 20:02 (twenty years ago)

six years pass...

"I can’t think of any politician who talks as good as Bill Clinton. "

...?

― Grimy Little Pimp (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Thursday, 6 September 2012 13:29 (thirteen years ago)

"...as well as..."

― Grimy Little Pimp (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Thursday, 6 September 2012 13:29 (thirteen years ago)

...?

― Grimy Little Pimp (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Thursday, 6 September 2012 13:30 (thirteen years ago)

"as well as". At least in UK English "as good as" sounds distinctly non-standard.

― This Is... The Police (dog latin), Thursday, 6 September 2012 13:33 (thirteen years ago)

That quote is from Joe Klein, professional writer. He might have been doing some jus' folks thing tho, idk.

― Grimy Little Pimp (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Thursday, 6 September 2012 13:37 (thirteen years ago)

Sounds like a US affectation. Wouldn't say it's glaringly wrong if going for a breezy/chatty style.

― This Is... The Police (dog latin), Thursday, 6 September 2012 13:39 (thirteen years ago)

To me that's not even breezy, that's like toddler speech.

― in orbit, Thursday, 6 September 2012 13:45 (thirteen years ago)

"talks as good" may imply a level of glibness/facility that wd be absent from "speaks as well"

― Une ville musulmane dans la Chine du Nord sous les Mongols (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 6 September 2012 13:49 (thirteen years ago)

"talks a good talk"

― This Is... The Police (dog latin), Thursday, 6 September 2012 14:02 (thirteen years ago)

"talks a good talk" - good is adjective (right!)
'talks as good' - good is adverb (wrong!)

this is basic grammar

― Eyeball Kicks, Thursday, 6 September 2012 14:08 (thirteen years ago)

(but obv Klein doing this for effect)

― Eyeball Kicks, Thursday, 6 September 2012 14:09 (thirteen years ago)

Klein was trying to be witty about Clinton coming from Arkansas, and about his ability to adapt a folksy manner, despite his Harvard/Oxford background. He did not expect anyone would think he was - heaven forbid! - so uneducated as to say such a thing unaffectedly.

― Aimless, Thursday, 6 September 2012 17:22 (thirteen years ago)

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