DH insists that this is incorrect English, is he right.

[bran]

Please tell me he's wrong.

We were talking about something and I said to DH "Fortunately, he paid you no attention".

DH insists that this is grammatically incorrect and that 'no attention' is meaningless. He tells me I should have phrased it "He didn't pay you any attention".

I think I will have to stop speaking forever if it turns out that my sloppily-spoken DH knows more about syntax than me.

Is he upset about some other small insignificant wrong and has chosen to take it out on your grammar?

*in at least one way, the second is definitely incorrect

Out of interest, if we had all piled on and backed him up, would we then be acknowledged as having marvellous lives, filled with insight?

I think he would like you to get off MN and give him a blowjob, am I right?

hell of a way to go about it, minty. think his seduction technique needs help, if so...

He's shrugging. He is asking why you said "I might not have a life" instead of "I might have no life" MB

This man NEVER loses an argument. Really. (He has just corrected me to 'never admits to losing an argument'.)

He is currently doing a bit of an about turn and claiming that he never said my statement was "incorrect" only that it would be better phrased a different way. He could have a great career in politics.

think he's right on his first correction - he has lost the argument, just not owned up.

he really doesn't like flexibility in grammar/syntax, does he?

Make him sleep outside in the shed. No sorry, make him sleep in the shed outside.

Why are you married to him? He sounds like a twit.

Oh well. Argument over. He says I'm making a big fuss over nothing at all (which is true-ish) and he's gone to bed. I didn't offer a blowjob.

I doubt there is anything underlying IwishIwasasleep. Usually I ignore his low-level twattery, but every now and then I push it to see if I can get him to say "I was wrong". I haven't heard it in 20 years of marriage, so I probably never will but it's good mental exercise, like Sudoku. It also winds him up which is a bonus.

You are right Ryuk. Although, tbh, it would be more annoying to be married to someone who really did know something about grammar and correctly criticised my syntax.

Nah. My Eng Lang professors were all about descriptive rather than prescriptive grammar. You'd be fine.