<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> What I want to know is how do you turn "Steinway" into a dangling participle ?? <p>Stéphane Collin wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE><style></style> <font face="Arial"><font size=-1>Hello list.</font></font> <font face="Arial"><font size=-1>Let me also propose a spelling for the pluralization of Steinway.</font></font><font face="Arial"><font size=-1>My logical suggestion depends on what you mean when you say :"A Steinway", as this never appears to be clear.</font></font> <font face="Arial"><font size=-1>If you mean a member of the family called Steinway, like in this excerpt :</font></font>  <blockquote dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"><font face="Arial"><font size=-1>"And never forget you are a Steinway !"</font></font> <blockquote dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"><font face="Arial"><font size=-1>(Henrich Engelhard Steinweg to one of his sons, when dying in 1871)</font></font> </blockquote> </blockquote> <font face="Arial"><font size=-1>then, the plural should be something like :</font></font> <blockquote dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"><font face="Arial"><font size=-1>"And never forget you are Steinway bastards !"</font></font> <blockquote dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"><font face="Arial"><font size=-1>(Carl Bechstein (Bechsteinszoon's) when proposed to sell his company to some US market tenors)</font></font></blockquote> </blockquote> <div dir=ltr><font face="Arial"><font size=-1>But if you mean a grand piano of the famous make called after it's pattent owner, like in this excerpt :</font></font></div> <blockquote dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <div dir=ltr><font face="Arial"><font size=-1>"Careful with that Steinway, Bob !"</font></font></div> <blockquote dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <div dir=ltr><font face="Arial"><font size=-1>(Bob's mother)</font></font></div> </blockquote> </blockquote> <div dir=ltr><font face="Arial"><font size=-1>then, the plural definetly should be :</font></font></div> <blockquote dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <div dir=ltr><font face="Arial"><font size=-1>"Careful with those Steinway grand pianos, Bill !"</font></font></div> <blockquote dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <div dir=ltr><font face="Arial"><font size=-1>(Bill's chief purser)</font></font></div> </blockquote> </blockquote> <div dir=ltr><font face="Arial"><font size=-1>Please notice that neither the generic noun Steinway, nor the adjective grand get pluralized.  Only the common noun piano is, as only this refers to the thing that is actually pluralized.</font></font></div> <div dir=ltr> </div> <div dir=ltr><font face="Arial"><font size=-1>Best regards,</font></font></div> <div dir=ltr> </div> <div dir=ltr><font face="Arial"><font size=-1>Stéphane Collin</font></font></div> <div dir=ltr><font face="Arial"><font size=-1>(from the Académie Française)</font></font></div> <div dir=ltr> </div> </blockquote> <br>  <p>-- <br>Richard Brekne <br>RPT, N.P.T.F. <br>UiB, Bergen, Norway <br><A HREF="mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no">mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no</A> <br><A HREF="http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html">http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html</A> <br> </html>