Re: Help!

From: "John L. Leland" <CountSirJehan@...>
Subject: Re: Help!


> Thus:
> JFK may have been killed by L.Harvey Oswald. (The speaker is uncertain of
the
> past fact).
> If JFK had not been killed, he might have been reelected. (The possibility
> existed in the past, but no longer exists.)
> This distinction was observed in formal written English in my lifetime,but
> nowadays I
> frequently see "may"used in the second situation, which feels wrong to me,
> though if the usage has become sufficiently popular it may now be
standard. I
> regret the loss of the distinction, which I considered useful.
> John Leland
You're not the only one who would use it in this way.  I don't know what
kind of English I speak, really, but there are some distinctions (like this
one) that seem absolutely integral to me that no one else seems to even be
aware of.  Like, "If I was gonna do that, I'd be a bit safer." sounds
grating to me, but (at least around here in California), people don't have a
problem with it.  The level of gratingness would be up with, "I hit he with
a stick.".