Pedants' Paradise

[LMcD]

I've just received an email from Uber, which has as the entry in the Reply To field in the header

no-reply@replies.uber.com

Can I reply or not, I wonder?
(I happen not to want/need to!)

You can try, but I don't think you'll get very far. If you're lucky, you might get a message telling you that the email address to which you wrote is not monitored.

[Pulcinella]

From Guardian online:

Downing Street has said the BBC is not corrupt nor institutionally biased, as the corporation comes under intense pressure for its coverage of a range of issues.

I'd write or, not nor, unless I added 'is it' (i.e., is not corrupt, nor is it institutionally biased).
Is this a case of what I think is called something like mistaken overcorrection?

[smittims]

Well, I don't think so. I say 'not... nor...' . ''Or..' I think of as positive, e.g. 'either this... or that...' ; 'nor' as a negative : 'neither this,... not that...'

I had it corrected to ' not.. or...' in drafts I prepared for others to sign (30 years ago...) , but I stand firm on this. I care not for Fowler..

[oliver sudden]

From Guardian online:

Downing Street has said the BBC is not corrupt nor institutionally biased, as the corporation comes under intense pressure for its coverage of a range of issues.

I'd write or, not nor, unless I added 'is it' (i.e., is not corrupt, nor is it institutionally biased).
Is this a case of what I think is called something like mistaken overcorrection?

It’s also a bit on the ambiguous side to my eye. Is the intense pressure just backdrop, or is it cited by Downing St as evidence for the preceding comment?

[Serial_Apologist]

Well, I don't think so. I say 'not... nor...' . ''Or..' I think of as positive, e.g. 'either this... or that...' ; 'nor' as a negative : 'neither this,... not that...'

I had it corrected to ' not.. or...' in drafts I prepared for others to sign (30 years ago...) , but I stand firm on this. I care not for Fowler..

"Neither...............nor..", as the opposite of "either....or", was what we were taught.

And while on the subject, does anyone say "Eether" or "Neether" these days, as opposed to "Eyether" and "Nyther"?

[smittims]

I still hear 'eether... neether' north of theTrent.

[Pulcinella]

Well, I don't think so. I say 'not... nor...' . ''Or..' I think of as positive, e.g. 'either this... or that...' ; 'nor' as a negative : 'neither this,... not that...'

I had it corrected to ' not.. or...' in drafts I prepared for others to sign (30 years ago...) , but I stand firm on this. I care not for Fowler..

I think of 'corrupt or biased' as a single expression, covered by the simple 'not'.
The carpet is not yellow or green; it's blue.
The carpet is neither yellow nor green; it's blue.

[french frank]

From Guardian online:

Downing Street has said the BBC is not corrupt nor institutionally biased, as the corporation comes under intense pressure for its coverage of a range of issues.

I'd write or, not nor, unless I added 'is it' (i.e., is not corrupt, nor is it institutionally biased).
Is this a case of what I think is called something like mistaken overcorrection?

Yes. The 'not' merely negates the adjective corrupt. It doesn't cast the entire sentence as a negative statement. It could say 'The BBC is not corrupt, nor is it ..." where the negative refers back to the verb in both clauses.

PS I say eye-ther.

[Pulcinella]

Actually, the heading of the section uses 'or'!

BBC not corrupt or institutionally biased, Downing Street says


Downing Street has said the BBC is not corrupt nor institutionally biased, as the corporation comes under intense pressure for its coverage of a range of issues.

I don't know how long this link will work as it's effectively rolling news:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/live/2025/nov/10/bbc-tim-davie-resigns-bias-panorama-donald-trump-latest-news-updates

[Pulcinella]

"Neither...............nor..", as the opposite of "either....or", was what we were taught.

And while on the subject, does anyone say "Eether" or "Neether" these days, as opposed to "Eyether" and "Nyther"?

I say both eether and eyether, depending on the following word, I think.

Eether one is acceptable.....but take eyether of them.
Isn't that strange?

[gurnemanz]

A phrase I do dislike is is 'me neether" instead of "Neyether do I".

[vinteuil]

... my idiolect uses 'eyether'

'Eether' is, as linguisticians would have it, in my competence but not my performance...

[Serial_Apologist]

A phrase I do dislike is is 'me neether" instead of "Neyether do I".

[Pulcinella]

A phrase I do dislike is is 'me neether" instead of "Neyether do I".

That's odd too; if you're happy with 'Me too', why not with its complement 'Me neither'?
Maybe (depending on context), 'Nor me'?

Think of 'Moi aussi' and 'Moi non plus', too.
I'm not sure what the equivalent expressions are for 'Ich auch' and 'Anch'io' (Anche io).

[Serial_Apologist]

That's odd too; if you're happy with 'Me too', why not with its complement 'Me neither'?
Maybe (depending on context), 'Nor me'?

Think of 'Moi aussi' and 'Moi non plus', too.
I'm not sure what the equivalent expressions are for 'Ich auch' and 'Anch'io' (Anche io).

"I also" or "I as well", except that we say "me too", as you point out, although presumably it's grammatically incorrect, "me" being accusative.