Re: Humor

Jonathan Robie (jwrobie@mindspring.com)
Fri, 18 Apr 1997 21:45:46 -0400

Q. How many Greek Gnomes does it take to change a light bulb?
A. Your question is probably insufficiently nuanced. "To change is an
infinitive"; the finite verb associated with this infinitive is "take"
(LAMBANW). "Does it take" has imperfective aspect, which signifies that the
speaker perceives the verbal idea as an event in progress. Significantly,
the term "light bulb" is not actually found in the earliest manuscripts, and
is not considered authentic by most modern textual critics, although the
Textus Receptus follows this reading...

Jonathan

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