Comment by _iie2
16 years ago
Using the word "is" is troublesome. It spares the writer of any need to explain his/her authority in making such a statement. eg "This article is not useful."
16 years ago
Using the word "is" is troublesome. It spares the writer of any need to explain his/her authority in making such a statement. eg "This article is not useful."
Your statement asserts fact! Have you read about E Prime?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Prime
How unfortunate that you couldn't avoid the troublesome word yourself when identifying its failings.
Besides, the underlying problem has more to do with the verb "to be" (from which "is" conjugates) and the assumption of universal identity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Prime