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Am I wrong again...?
Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 12:20 am
by brogine
"We had not forgotten that two years ago we were ignored." Shouldn't this read "two years earlier"? I see this construction a lot. It seems to me that from the point of view of the past, the word 'ago' is inappropriate. Opinions?
Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:02 am
by Perry
By all I read
here, and by what my gut reaction tells me, ago seems completely appropriate in this case.
Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:01 pm
by gailr
"We had not forgotten that two years ago we were ignored."
I would not give this sentence another thought.
"We had not forgotten that two years earlier we were ignored."
I would stop―especially if the sentence were out of context, as here―to wonder, 'earlier than what?'.
-gailr
my 2¢
Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:20 am
by sluggo
Either or either, but 'earlier' looks slightly more elegant to my ears. Agreed it is context-dependent, but actually 'ago' is in one sense more vague, begging the question whether two years before now, or two years before the time in the context, whereas 'earlier' seems to nail down the point of reference.
Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2007 11:12 pm
by melissa
To me there is no difference, ago means in the past, as does earlier. I might think 'ago' the better word, just for being shorter. If in a speech. Otherwise, would not worry.
Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 7:36 pm
by brogine
Thank you for your interest, but I still think that 'ago' means 'prior to this utterance.' Consider this:
"Everyone rose when Mr. Churchill entered the room. Two year ago that would have been unlikely."
Incidentally, Sluggo, I don't think you mean 'begging the question'...
Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 10:25 pm
by Perry
Reading your first and last posts, it seems that you have changed your thinking about the word ago.
Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 10:27 pm
by sluggo
Thank you for your interest, but I still think that 'ago' means 'prior to this utterance.' Consider this:
"Everyone rose when Mr. Churchill entered the room. Two year ago that would have been unlikely."
Incidentally, Sluggo, I don't think you mean 'begging the question'...
Ah, well then perhaps you didn't mean to beg opinions
?*
As the
Black Knight, then, we shall call it a draw.
*the original query was proffered some 2 months ago; however should we revisit this current exchange in a year, we would speak of the original as having taken place two months earlier than (I'd prefer prior to) the subject (this exchange), but 14 months ago. Different reference points.
Strangely, I was the only opinionator to agree with your original premise. I'm still in the same place six weeks later.
opinions- the first one's free...