'I' before 'U', except in Brazil.
Sunday, June 28, 2009 at 08:58AM I note that when Republican Governor Mark Sanford held his confused press conference after reports emerged about his long-distance affair with a Brazilian woman, he apologised for the use of taxpayer funds during the time in which he confessed to having an affair with a "dear, dear friend" who he had initially been counseling "to get back with her husband for the sake of her two boys" because "not only was it part of God's law, but ultimately those two boys would be better off for it". Seems as though that bit backfired somewhat spectacularly!
His wife has confirmed that she originally believed that her husband had previously agreed to a 'trial separation' with "the goal of ultimately strengthening our marriage" and she had not known he had gone to Buenos Aires.
Sanford's was quoted as saying that "I made a mistake while I was there in meeting with the woman who I was unfaithful with."
That's where you are just totally wrong, Governor! Everyone accepts that, in normal usage, you should have said "I made a mistake while I was there in meeting with the woman with whom I had been unfaithful."
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Reader Comments (3)
Not necessarily, Mike. Apart from the misplaced preposition, his use of tense allows for a different meaning - that he was unfaithful with the woman when he was there.
Not to mention the fact that "meet" is transitive.
Brazil?
You do realise that Buenos Aires is in Argentina, don't you?