To Be Or Not To Be There
I was listening to the Jackson Five's "I'll Be There." It's a beautiful song, but then we get to this line:
If you should ever find someone new
I know he'd better be good to you
'cause if he doesn't
I'll be there
"'Cause if he doesn't" what? Doesn't "be good to you"?
'Cause if he isn't.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:33 AM
4 Comments:
Nah, I like their version better. Say it out loud, rather than reading, and your version parses as "if he's not there, I will be," which is not what they're trying to say.
He'd better be good to you, because if he isn't good to you, I'll be taking over.
That's what they're trying to say.
What they end up saying is He'd better be good to you, because if he doesn't be good to you, I'll be taking over.
Well, really, it's not clear. I've taught in the public schools, and I think, "If he isn't be good to you, I'll be there" is considered correct.
(My secret word verification is "zonoroc". I just think that's cool.)
Someone gave me a calendar for 2008 that has common errors in English usage, one a day. Guess I'm starting one day early.
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