Paul,
In some U.S. dialects, people “graduate from high school.” In others, they “graduate high school.” As linguists we can observe which dialects use which expression, and we can observe which is more widely used. If one usage is particularly widespread compared to the other, we might call it “standard,” but we can’t say that either usage is “illogical” or “wrong.”
As some of our fellow native New Yorkers might say, language doesn’t know from logical.
Cheers.
Dick Veit
________________________
Richard Veit
Department of English, UNCW
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the
Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Paul E. Doniger
Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2006
8:04 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: usage question
I grew up in NYC, where just about everyone dropped the 'from' in 'graduate from'. I had to learn the usage in school before I realized it was not possible (or illogical) for anyone to "graduate high school."
Paul D.
-----
Original Message ----
From: dabro <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2006 2:53:00 PM
Subject: Re: usage question
Thank you
Edmond for setting me straight . I've always thought that "graduate
college" was British usage and "graduate from" American. It's
only lately that I've been hearing "graduate high school" in
American English. As you correctly note, "graduate" is an IV.
That's why Larry is uncomfortable trying to form a passive sentence with it. From: Edmond Wright
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