The problem is my own ignorance: like most native speakers I acquired English in a haphazard way. I was familiar with the transitive use of -ee but not the intransitive (which I had never encountered before coming to America, and which I didn't really get until just now). As a result, I always read standee and retiree as transitive, making the first bizarre and the second sadly often true. Do you know of a handy rule for deciding when to designate the subject with -er and when to use -ee? Should Bush have described himself as the decidee, I wonder?
Although I often make an arse of myself here, I usually end up benefiting from the experience. I crave yr indulgence.
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momijizukamori
no subject
Date: 2008-11-25 05:02 pm (UTC)Although I often make an arse of myself here, I usually end up benefiting from the experience. I crave yr indulgence.