A thread for all those sorts of discussions.
If it’s off-topic, it’s on-topic.
‘Is’ can be a copula, which I like, because “copula.”
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Dammit, that’s what I get for searching for a Wikipedia link on my phone:
So is “is” used to copulate the subject and the predicate? Or does the subject copulate with the predicate using “is”?
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Copulas are bad news, man.
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So far the net benefit from taking two semesters of formal logic was learning the term ‘copula.’
The term’s from the Latin copulare, ‘link,’ rather than ‘sexy time with words,’ alas. Except in my mind, where subjects are all “I’d copulate with that predicate.”
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Sure, but you could always derive a verb from that term, since “copulate” originally just meant “join together”.
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I’d totally derive a verb from that term, if you know what I mean. No wait, I don’t know what I mean.
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Well, this is all very conjugal.
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I think that being verbs function as a lazy shorthand for action verbs. Not unlike how many people use personal and demonstrative pronouns. Proper grammar I think prefers a being verb, such as “I do write” versus “I write”, but I find such practice completely superfluous. If a thing did not exist, it would not be doing or being. Lacking direct knowledge, it seems easier to simply describe that “I observe X” or “I posit Y” to assume some responsibility for the framing of my perceptions.
ETA: The only equally lazy verb in current common use is, I think, “have”.
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On the other hand, when Tarzan says “Me Tarzan, you Jane”, zero copulation takes place.
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well, no grammatical copulation takes place.
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Is that because talk is cheap? Or because people require a specific combination of words to begin sexytime?
And end them.
To Initiate Sexytime:
“Yes Please”
To End Sexytime:
Juliet Bravo!
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There’s a form of constrained writing that tries to excise forms of lazy shorthand language by excising copulae and other uses of “to be:”
I wrote some stories using it. It’s kind of fun. I don’t think it’s great for really improving clarity much but it’s an interesting challenge.
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I think grammatically speaking, everyone knows that copulation happened but you just don’t see it.
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Two things
Try the questions thread 
Second, fuck that noise.
(I’m a rude sob, but I really like you)
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Being verbs can be anything but lazy. Try using eres inappropriately in spanish class to refer to your state of being.
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