I thought it was "wealth and fame IS ignored..."

Joined: 12 Nov 2004 Posts: 600

I have been wrong in the past, though.

Joined: 12 Nov 2004 Posts: 600

And now I have to leave.

Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 6:47 pm

COME BACK

WE ONLY WANT TO FEAST ON YOUR FLUIDS

IT WON'T HURT IF YOU'RE ASLEEP

Joined: 12 Nov 2004 Posts: 600

...which ones?

Joined: 12 Nov 2004 Posts: 600

I mean, if I were interested, which I'm not saying that I am.

Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 10:24 pm

WHATEVER FLUIDS

YOU HAPPEN TO BE EXCRETING

DURING "THE PROCESS"

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2005 7:34 pm

I guess both would kind of make sense. "wealth and fame is ignored" would mean that by keeping a secret identity, he shows a lack of concern for wealth and fame, while "wealth and fame, he's ignored" would mean that not only does he not recieve wealth or fame for his deeds, but in fact when he's not fighting crime, he lives a fairly inconspicuous and average life as a news photographer.

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2005 11:32 pm

But "wealth and fame is ignored" is bad grammar! Isn't it?

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2005 11:37 pm

It is, I think! You would say "cars and trucks are ignored", but not "cars and trucks is ignored".

Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2005 1:46 am

We need Beth!

This is kind of related:

Is it proper to say "A lot of shirts is on the floor."? Because it is "a" lot.

Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2005 3:00 am

People who write theme songs for television shows ain't needin' to be payin' attention to no grammar! Ok, maybe they do, but I assume penning the immortal lines "Is he strong? listen, bud, he's got radioactive blood!" would make up for that.

Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2005 9:52 am

Here's the thing though...if it was 'is', the song is pronouncing it "wealth and fame, ees ignored"

So if that's how you pronounce 'is' then fine, but it's most definitely he's.

Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2005 10:22 am

I thought it was "Wealthened fame is ignored"

heheh nah, I'm just kiddin'.

Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2005 10:26 am

Timefishblue wrote:

We need Beth!

This is kind of related:

Is it proper to say "A lot of shirts is on the floor."? Because it is "a" lot.

It gets tricky using collective nouns, like "lot", "group," "gaggle" or "army", because they're standardized differently, depending on where you live.
We might say "A platoon of shirts is on the floor," and in the UK we might say "A platoon of shirts are on the floor," and either could work.

Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2005 3:00 pm

I thought it'd be better if it was from Citizen Kane. The guy could say, "With wealth and fame, he's still the same," and then the girl says "I'll bet you five you're not alive if you don't know his name!" And then they make out. Hot.

Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2005 3:58 pm

I bet you've never even seen Citizen Kane. I bet you just heard it from that White Stripes song!

Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2005 5:03 pm

Oh man, are you just going to sit there and let a mere anonymous guest burn you that hard?

Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2005 5:04 pm

Maybe SimonBob knows it's true.

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 9:38 am

I'll have you know I did a presentation on the cinematography of Citizen Kane during my brief failed attempt at university! It's actually very interesting; besides the obvious use of deep focus, there's also the subliminal creation of triangular character layouts throughout the movie, used to underline the power of the relationships between the characters.

But the White Stripes song is cool too.

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 12:17 pm

Interestingly when I first heard that line in the context of the White Stripes song, I thought it was "I bet you're five and not alive if you don't know his name!", which makes no sense whatsoever. I hadn't seen Citizen Kane then. I still haven't seen Citizen Kane, but I hadn't seen it then either.

Joined: 11 Nov 2004 Posts: 1442

Uninterestingly, I thought "Hey, that's almost a White Stripes line" when I saw this thread, but didn't bother to click it because I didn't think anyone would bring the Stripes into it.

I have never seen Citizen Kane, but I have seen the adult film it was based on, "Citizen Came"

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 2:07 pm

And I saw the adult film based on the White Stripes! The title was unchanged.

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 2:58 pm

Ryan wrote:

It is, I think! You would say "cars and trucks are ignored", but not "cars and trucks is ignored".

Wealth and fame are not plural nouns like cars and trucks (they are collective nouns). However, you'd still say "are" because there are two things.