19 Kids and Counting 2013 - The Duggars do Part 4

[Nerthe]

Is there only this really bad quality off TV filming on youtube or is there another version somewhere? :)

Could someone post a link plz?

[ljohnson2006]

Does it annoy anyone else that J'Chelle uses "Good" all of the time instead of "Well?" For example, she'll say "Anna did so good". It's well. Take some grammar lessons. You obviously don't know enough to be teaching your SOTDRT students.

[MrMattyMatt]

Does it annoy anyone else that J'Chelle uses "Good" all of the time instead of "Well?" For example, she'll say "Anna did so good". It's well. Take some grammar lessons. You obviously don't know enough to be teaching your SOTDRT students.

What do you expect from someone that is seriously hopped-up on mood-stabilizers?

It's obvious from the last season that:

- she never got over Jubilee

- she's having marriage issues with Dim-Bulb

- she now knows she won't be having anyone children

Let's face it her bubble has burst. The fame years are seriously nearing an end and now she had to deal with the reality that she has to live out her years watching her kids get married off. The odds are that a few of them will not conform to the brain-washed lifestyle and probably out her has a horrible mother.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

1. Good vs Well--yes, drives me crazy but the whole region does it. It's so normal I only correct my own children any more. "AnywayS" is another one that sets my teeth on edge.

2. Anna in DC--she'll do fine. I'm sure like any new-comer she'll be overwhelmed at first. But, honestly, going to the grocery store with 3 little kids is a pain anywhere you live and that's about all she gets to leave the house for anyway. I'm sure as another poster said, there will be SAHMs desperate for company and play dates that she'll be ok. Plus she and Joshie boy will likey leave the speaker phone function on all day in case she needs permission to go to the park or something radical like that.

3. Michelle......I think it's clear that #20 isn't happening--at least not soon and not with out some reproductive technolgy interventions. Sad but true. This uterus is closing down and that's her whole claim to fame.

[pega127]

I don't think Smuggar will have to pay rent or buy a home at all. I think he's being brought in to increase FRC's profile and put a "friendly" face on the organization, and part of that offer includes housing. After all, who's attacking a young husband who's support to a wife and three kids under 5? Awww. Their previous poster boy (Santorum) has been completely marginalized. I'm sure they think they're getting some adorable photo ops from Smuggar, Anna and the kids.

I already said I'm in for $20 that Smuggar will have an affair in DC. (I'm only sorry we'll probably never hear about someone having to give him remedial training on how to use a condom.) I'm in for $10 that Smuggar and Anna will be compelled to show up at a media event like FOX's table at the White House Correspondents Dinner, and someone will be tasked with coaching them and making sure they are dressed correctly. I'm also betting that Jim Boob and Mullet will be on their doorstep demanding an invitation as well.

Speaking of Anna, I'm wondering who's going to draw the short straw re: taking her to the beauty salon for a makeover, taking her shopping for a realistic wardrobe, and telling her that she will be wearing actual shoes and expected to make conversation with those who graduated from college at her husband's photo ops. She'll be told that she's wearing suits or an appropriate length dress with heels whenever she leaves the house. I'm betting the word "slacks with a low heel" gets mentioned, too.

Of course, all bets are off if Smuggar sticks his foot in his mouth on camera. I'm thinking there's a very high incidence of that happening.

Sadly, I agree Smugs will be tempted to be with another woman and probably at least kiss her (at which point, his ego will go off the charts!!!). He will, also, be tempted by alcohol and will succumb to that in a second. Smugs is weak and impressed easily!

[Boogalou]

Does it annoy anyone else that J'Chelle uses "Good" all of the time instead of "Well?" For example, she'll say "Anna did so good". It's well. Take some grammar lessons. You obviously don't know enough to be teaching your SOTDRT students.

Language evolves. If a whole region is saying something one way it's no longer wrong, it's just different English.

[JenniferJuniper]

Language evolves. If a whole region is saying something one way it's no longer wrong, it's just different English.

No. It just means the whole region is using grammatically incorrect language.

[Boogalou]

No. It just means the whole region is using grammatically incorrect language.

Really? At what point did saying you instead of thou become grammatically "correct" language? Language changes all the time. The only way something is right is because we all agree it's right. Why is one dialect considered incorrect and another correct?

[Mama Mia]

1. Good vs Well--yes, drives me crazy but the whole region does it. It's so normal I only correct my own children any more. "AnywayS" is another one that sets my teeth on edge.

2. Anna in DC--she'll do fine. I'm sure like any new-comer she'll be overwhelmed at first. But, honestly, going to the grocery store with 3 little kids is a pain anywhere you live and that's about all she gets to leave the house for anyway. I'm sure as another poster said, there will be SAHMs desperate for company and play dates that she'll be ok. Plus she and Joshie boy will likey leave the speaker phone function on all day in case she needs permission to go to the park or something radical like that.

3. Michelle......I think it's clear that #20 isn't happening--at least not soon and not with out some reproductive technolgy interventions. Sad but true. This uterus is closing down and that's her whole claim to fame.

1) Language changes. Language is fluid. Adapt.

2) I really don't see Anna as asking permission for anything, ever. Completely agree that three little kids anywhere is overwhelming. She might actually do better in a more suburban or urban environment, she will probably find more moms to hang out with.

3) I feel badly for Michelle. Menopause can be really difficult emotionally for many women, having your entire identity tied to your extreme fertility, and having the last pregnancy end with a loss - it must be extremely depressing.

[JenniferJuniper]

Really? At what point did saying you instead of thou become grammatically "correct" language? Language changes all the time. The only way something is right is because we all agree it's right. Why is one dialect considered incorrect and another correct?

Language doesn't change all the time; it evolves slowly over time. Just because people in some areas may be more inclined to say "She did (or done) good" rather than the correct "She did well" doesn't change the fact that their sentence is currently considered to be grammatically incorrect.

Do a spell/grammer check in Word for the phrase "If thou wish to reach me, please contact my assistant. She does good at her job." Maybe my settings are for Old Fashioned English, but "thou" in this context is fine; "good" on the other hand? Not so good.

[laura oz]

Does it annoy anyone else that J'Chelle uses "Good" all of the time instead of "Well?" For example, she'll say "Anna did so good". It's well. Take some grammar lessons. You obviously don't know enough to be teaching your SOTDRT students.

I think it's a regional thing. I do it too, and I know better, but it rolls off my tongue more naturally. :embarrassed:

[Boogalou]

Language doesn't change all the time; it evolves slowly over time. Just because people in some areas may be more inclined to say "She did (or done) good" rather than the correct "She did well" doesn't change the fact that their sentence is currently considered to be grammatically incorrect.

Do a spell/grammer check in Word for the phrase "If thou wish to reach me, please contact my assistant. She does good at her job." Maybe my settings are for Old Fashioned English, but "thou" in this context is fine; "good" on the other hand? Not so good.

Just because you consider something to be grammatically incorrect or something is considered grammatically incorrect in the area you live in does not make it universally incorrect, from a linguistics standpoint. I would ask how slow you prefer language to change before it becomes an actual change instead of just being incorrect but I notice you didn't answer any of my other questions.

[ljohnson2006]

J'Chelle should've stayed behind and watched Mike and Mack while Smugger and Anna went to have the baby. She has to make every situation about her. Even when it's not. I bet Anna's parents would've loved to see Marcus be born. Why can't J'Chelle let them have that experience for once? They haven't seen any of her births, and as she gleefully announced, J'Chelle has seen all three.

[JenniferJuniper]

Just because you consider something to be grammatically incorrect or something is considered grammatically incorrect in the area you live in does not make it universally incorrect, from a linguistics standpoint. I would ask how slow you prefer language to change before it becomes an actual change instead of just being incorrect but I notice you didn't answer any of my other questions.

Sorry, but what other questions did you ask me?

It ain’t about personal preferences. It's about Standard English usage. Anna Duggar and her friends and neighbors are free to use and teach their children all of the grammatically incorrect sentences and phrases they like, but when her kids head off to university they will almost certainly fail English 101 in Arkansas and anywhere else in the United States. Oh, wait....

[ljohnson2006]

This is why J'Chelle and Anna should never be teachers. They never learned the correct way to say things themselves. They did good in that aspect. Anna has a "Degree" from an unaccredited online college. I doubt that J'Chelle went to college. She married Boob right out of high school. I hope some of these kids learn proper grammar, and don't pass their bad habits and lazyness onto their kids. The cycle continues.

[Boogalou]

Sorry, but what other questions did you ask me?

It ain’t about personal preferences. It's about Standard English usage. Anna Duggar and her friends and neighbors are free to use and teach their children all of the grammatically incorrect sentences and phrases they like, but when her kids head off to university they will almost certainly fail English 101 in Arkansas and anywhere else in the United States. Oh, wait....

I bolded the questions.

Also, I'm not talking about formal written English. I'm talking about spoken English. There is also a big difference between what is standard English and what is proper or correct English.

[Dandruff]

I can't believe Michelle doesn't know when 'well' and 'good' are appropriate. She seems bright enough to pick it up. She's a published author. She has been in charge of the SOTDRT. She knows she has an international audience tuning in. I do believe she doesn't care enough to bother, so the kids probably won't either.

[sarahjames3]

J'Chelle should've stayed behind and watched Mike and Mack while Smugger and Anna went to have the baby. She has to make every situation about her. Even when it's not. I bet Anna's parents would've loved to see Marcus be born. Why can't J'Chelle let them have that experience for once? They haven't seen any of her births, and as she gleefully announced, J'Chelle has seen all three.[/quote

To the best of my knowledge, Michelle didn't ban Anna's parents from attending the birth? It actually wasn't addressed but the logical assumption would be that they are quite a distance from Arkansas and unable to make the trip for some reason or another. It's also logical to assume that since the paternal grandmother is a few miles away she would be there to witness the birth.

[JenniferJuniper]

I bolded the questions.

Also, I'm not talking about formal written English. I'm talking about spoken English. There is also a big difference between what is standard English and what is proper or correct English.

Your questions were answered.

1) I don’t know when in history “you†became more standard, although “thou†is apparently still okay. But I’m not sure what the point is as they’re words, not grammatical structures and English grammar has been far more stable and uniform throughout history than has its word stock. Words change much more frequently than do rules of grammar.

And

2) Once again, this is not about personal preferences. Something is either grammatically correct according to the Standard English of the country or it isn't.

Could you explain what you mean when you say there is a "big difference between Standard English and what is proper or correct English", because I don’t quite follow. American Standard English is what is taught in public schools everywhere in United States and students are expected to use it in class. It’s what you’ll find in US published dictionaries, grammar books, encyclopedias, etc.

Again, Michelle and Anna Duggar can say or write or dream using any sentence structuring they like, but saying “She did real good†is NOT grammatically correct in the context in which they are using it. And yes, there will be plenty of people who are going to think they sound uneducated and/or ignorant but as that’s apparently fine with them, it’s fine with me.

[snarkykitty]

It's not a "regional thing". It's not a dialectical preference.

"Good" is an adjective, used with a noun, and "well" is an adverb, used to describe a verb.

One describes things, the other describes actions.

For example:

I performed ______ on my test. "Performed" is a verb, so you'd use "well."

I earned a ______ grade. "Grade" is a noun, so you'd use "good."

[JenXer]

No. It just means the whole region is using grammatically incorrect language.

JenniferJuniper, you done gone and made this Linguistics and English major good and happy. :D

[JenniferJuniper]

JenniferJuniper, you done gone and made this Linguistics and English major good and happy. :D

Always happy to make a fellow English major happy. Us guys got to stick together these days. ;)

[Closed Womb]

I can't believe Michelle doesn't know when 'well' and 'good' are appropriate. She seems bright enough to pick it up. She's a published author. She has been in charge of the SOTDRT. She knows she has an international audience tuning in. I do believe she doesn't care enough to bother, so the kids probably won't either.

As an English professor at a major state university, I wholly believe that Michelle doesn't know when the words are appropriate; the vast majority of my students don't know when to use "well" instead of "good", especially when describing any state of how someone is "doing." Hell, even I say "I'm good" if the exchange is quick and I consciously try to use proper English because, y'know, those English degrees and all.

Although I correct student in written scholarly assignment*, I never correct the "he's good, she did good" speech pattern. It has obviously crossed over into acceptable usage, although it clearly grates on a few people. To me, it'd be like correcting slang (and it'd make me sound like a pompous ass.)

* I leave "she's good" type phrases alone in any fiction writing or informal assignments (ie, journaling, blogging), because that's the way people speak.

[Boogalou]

Your questions were answered.

1) I don’t know when in history “you†became more standard, although “thou†is apparently still okay. But I’m not sure what the point is as they’re words, not grammatical structures and English grammar has been far more stable and uniform throughout history than has its word stock. Words change much more frequently than do rules of grammar.

And

2) Once again, this is not about personal preferences. Something is either grammatically correct according to the Standard English of the country or it isn't.

Could you explain what you mean when you say there is a "big difference between Standard English and what is proper or correct English", because I don’t quite follow. American Standard English is what is taught in public schools everywhere in United States and students are expected to use it in class. It’s what you’ll find in US published dictionaries, grammar books, encyclopedias, etc.

Again, Michelle and Anna Duggar can say or write or dream using any sentence structuring they like, but saying “She did real good†is NOT grammatically correct in the context in which they are using it. And yes, there will be plenty of people who are going to think they sound uneducated and/or ignorant but as that’s apparently fine with them, it’s fine with me.

I snipped the giant quote tree, I hope you don't mind :)

Thou used to be the singular form of you and you was the plural form of you. So I see you becoming both plural and singular as a change in grammar, not just as a change in words.

What I mean by standard English is probably where we are losing each other :) I see standard English as formal writing, books, newspapers, dictionaries, official rules of grammar, and things like that. So standard English is what is expected, and taught, in school. I see correct English as basically any English dialect that is internally consistent. No one actually speaks Standard American English or Standard British English or standard whatever else English, everyone (casually) speaks their own dialect which is proper and correct, for the dialect. Newfoundland English is proper English, Boston Brahmin is proper English, African American Vernacular English is proper English, etc, (you get the point) because people who speak that dialect can understand what they say, they have internally consistent grammar, and internally consistent pronunciation. These dialects may (and do) deviate from the "standard" but that doesn't make them wrong, it makes them a dialect and dialects can include differences in grammar not just differences in pronunciation.

So, it's not about personal preferences, you're right. I think it's about dialects. Something can be grammatically incorrect according to Standard American English but grammatically correct in another dialect of English.

So Michelle and Anna (and I wager all of the Duggars and probably the vast majority of people who live around them) do not speak Standard American English and in that way they are not grammatically correct but they are within their own dialect. If people think they are uneducated or ignorant essentially because they were born in a place that has a certain accent then that is their prejudice to overcome, not Michelle or Anna's problem.

I drop all the g's of the ends of -ings and say gonna instead of going to. That doesn't make me uneducated or ignorant.

[HoneyBunny]

Good v. Well: it's fingernails on a chalkboard to me, but my valedictorian, advanced degree husband uses it all the time. He's from the South. There's something to that regional thing. But that's not the worst Duggar grammar fail:

- whenever instead of when

- try and instead of try to