Grammatical Case (was: that long subject) War of Roses/Holmes?Figg/Walpurga

sistermagpie sistermagpie at earthlink.net
Mon Jun 16 18:34:34 UTC 2008


Carol:
> Anyway, "That was she" is technically correct (although very formal),
> "that" being a demonstrative pronoun acting as the subject and "she"
> being a predicate nominative. "It is I" is a bit trickier since "it"
> is an expletive with no semantic meaning, only grammatical meaning (as
> in "it is raining"), but the constructions are so similar that most
> people wouldn't differentiate between them.

Magpie:
Totally random, but everytime I hear phrases like this I remember one 
time years ago when an assistant from a publisher in England was 
calling to talk to me at my publisher. Now, I don't know what anybody 
else says, or whether it's a regional thing or a national thing or 
what, but when she called I gave what to me was the standard response 
to identify myself.

She: May I speak to Sister Magpie, please?

Me: This is she.

Only this was totally incomprehensible to her, and my mind shut down 
and refused to give me any alternatives. I have no idea if the phrase I 
used is commonly used and if so, where. It's the only thing I've ever 
said. So since I was sitting there in silence, confused, she said again:

She: May I speak to Sister Magpie, please?

Me: (more clearly) This is she.

There followed another awkward pause. Finally she said again:

She: May I speak to Sister Magpie, please?

And this time, since my brain still refused to supply me with the 
proper alternative:

Me: Hold on, I'll go get her.

*holds phone in hand for a few seconds, then puts it back to mouth*

Me: (trying to sound slightly different) This is Sister Magpie.

She: (thrilled) Hi! This is So and so!

-m





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