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| re: Higgins' grammatical "mistakes" | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 11:00 pm EDT 04/06/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Higgins' grammatical "mistakes" - StanS 11:53 am EDT 04/06/21 | |
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| "Yes, by all means, point out all the mistakes. It's interesting to know them. I only get angry when these types of mistakes are treated as an actual weakness, to say that Lerner wasn't doing his job. He did his job brilliantly. You agree that MFL is one of the greatest sets of lyrics. My point is that "I'd be equally as willing ..." is part of the reason for that greatness, not an exception to it." I don't understand and/or don't agree with your logic here. Lerner did his job brilliantly in the bulk of his writing for the show but NOT in those several sections when he put grammatical errors in the mouth of a character who, in my opinion, should speak with perfect grammar (and this also applies to the grammatical errors that Shaw wrote for Higgins in PYGMALION). The grammatical errors committed by Higgins in the songs of MY FAIR LADY are indeed an "actual weakness" in Lerner's work, in my opinion. For example, the overall concept and content of the line "I'd be equally as willing...." is indeed great, but the line would be far greater if the lyricist had tweaked it to make it grammatically correct. And you know what, during the course of this discussion over the past several days, I think I've pretty much fixed it with just some small modifications: "I would equally be willing for a dentist to be drilling as to ever let a woman in my life." Maybe that's not 100 percent perfect, and "I would be equally willing" arguably sounds better, but the version above scans with the music, and it's a lot closer to grammatical correctness than the line that Lerner settled for. |
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| re: Higgins' grammatical "mistakes" | |
| Last Edit: StanS 05:40 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
| Posted by: StanS 05:33 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Higgins' grammatical "mistakes" - Michael_Portantiere 11:00 pm EDT 04/06/21 | |
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| I've been away so this might be too late to be seen, but ... My basic point which you either miss or don't agree with is that poetic license allows even a noted professor of speech to make grammatical mistakes IN A LYRIC (not dialogue) as long as the line makes the effect it's supposed to make. Grammar just doesn't matter. Sorry, but your version of the line is not as good as Lerner's. "I'd be equally as willing" just sounds better than "I would equally be willing" and "than" makes a better effect than "as". I don't give a rat's ass that yours is more grammatically correct. My guess is that Lerner probably thought of your version and other more correct versions, but just knew his was better. For lyrics, effect trumps correctness, even for professors of speech. |
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| re: Higgins' grammatical "mistakes" | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 12:09 am EDT 04/11/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Higgins' grammatical "mistakes" - StanS 05:33 pm EDT 04/10/21 | |
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| ***My basic point which you either miss or don't agree with is that poetic license allows even a noted professor of speech to make grammatical mistakes IN A LYRIC (not dialogue) as long as the line makes the effect it's supposed to make. Grammar just doesn't matter.*** Yes, I do disagree strongly with that point, and I can't imagine why you would feel that grammatical errors would be acceptable in a lyric due to "poetic license," but not in dialogue. I can't wrap my head around that distinction -- and I have never known anyone but you try to make it. ***Sorry, but your version of the line is not as good as Lerner's. "I'd be equally as willing" just sounds better than "I would equally be willing" and "than" makes a better effect than "as". I don't give a rat's ass that yours is more grammatically correct. My guess is that Lerner probably thought of your version and other more correct versions, but just knew his was better.**** I'm pretty sure Lerner's version "sounds better" to you than mine because you've gotten used to it over a period of (I'm guessing) several decades. At any rate, when you start to make statements like "'than' makes a better effect than 'as,'" I know there's no point in continuing this discussion. As to your "rat's ass"phrasing, I'll restrain myself and simply quote Auntie Mame: "How vivid......" |
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| re: Higgins' grammatical "mistakes" | |
| Posted by: StanS 11:45 pm EDT 04/11/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Higgins' grammatical "mistakes" - Michael_Portantiere 12:09 am EDT 04/11/21 | |
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| You're absolutely right: there's no point continuing. | |
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| re: Higgins' grammatical "mistakes" | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 01:16 pm EDT 04/12/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Higgins' grammatical "mistakes" - StanS 11:45 pm EDT 04/11/21 | |
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| Right, no point continuing to argue with anyone who feels that "equally.....than," which is glaringly incorrect, "makes a better effect" than "equally.....as," which is correct. | |
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| re: Higgins' grammatical "mistakes" | |
| Posted by: StanS 02:43 pm EDT 04/12/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Higgins' grammatical "mistakes" - Michael_Portantiere 01:16 pm EDT 04/12/21 | |
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| Right, no point arguing with anyone who feels that grammatical correctness is necessary for effect. Are we in a battle to see who gets the last word before this thread goes off the board? |
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| I'll take the last word | |
| Posted by: Ann 03:01 pm EDT 04/12/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Higgins' grammatical "mistakes" - StanS 02:43 pm EDT 04/12/21 | |
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| Please. | |
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