Korean Job Discussion Forums

Been There, Taught That

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/25/news/SKorea-Oil-Spill.php

I'm not posting this for the article, but it is a recent item and a recent example of bad grammar in a public forum. Hopefully teachers will get a chance to point this out, because it's one of those things that learners will be led to believe is right simply by the context and the forum it's presented in.

To me, anyway, South Koreans are more than one unit, but, South Korea is a single entity.

Even if this isn't agreeable to all, teachers are responsible for presenting general usage, and 99.9% of the time, the way this headline is presented is in conflict with everyday English.

cruisemonkey · Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 8:23 am Post subject:

What the hell is "it"? Rolling Eyes

Been There, Taught That · Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 9:38 am Post subject:

Sorry, you were right about that ambiguity. I was referring to the headline, the topic of the post. Hope I've made it clear now.

some waygug-in · Joined: 25 Jan 2003

About the article....it was painfully obvious who was responsible for the accident, but I couldn't help but notice that they were trying desparately to shift the blame onto the captain of the tanker....(if that were possible).

They just can't accept that there's no one to blame but their fellow Koreans.

bacasper · Joined: 26 Mar 2007

I believe there are differences between British and American English in agreement of plural nouns, e.g.

The government is/are planning a meeting on the issue.

cbclark4 · Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Location: Masan

If your going to be a grammar gestapo at least try to be correct when correcting others.

Also consider the grammar in headlines from western papers.

CentralCali · Joined: 17 May 2007