Soups, stews, chili and gumbo!

[mercysfree]

15 bean soup
Chicken corn soup and rolls
Venison stew and cornbread
Chili and cinnamon rolls--This combo is from my husband's old elementary school.
Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Yep.

[Bill Rushby]

"Is grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup a Mennonite cultural thing? I never heard of this combo until someone made reference to it. Pennsylvania Dutch maybe?"

"ARE grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup..."

[mike]

"Is grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup a Mennonite cultural thing? I never heard of this combo until someone made reference to it. Pennsylvania Dutch maybe?"

"ARE grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup..."

Thank you, sir.

[Bill Rushby]

I hope I didn't offend!

[mike]

I hope I didn't offend!

I doubt it. I don't usually correct people's grammar unless I'm being paid to do it, or unless it's a person I'm responsible for training like my children. Or if I'm feeling contrarian. But it's always enjoyable to find a fellow grammarian.

[ohio jones]

Stop writing alot.

I wouldn't want to say anything that might cause Bill to allot less of his time and energy to MN. I'd be happy to see him post a lot more.

[ken_sylvania]

"Is grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup a Mennonite cultural thing? I never heard of this combo until someone made reference to it. Pennsylvania Dutch maybe?"

"ARE grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup..."

I would defend the original as being grammatically correct. As written, the questioner is asking if the combination of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup is a Mennonite cultural thing. If the first part of the sentence is "corrected" as suggested, the remainder of the sentence would need to be corrected as well, as in "Are grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup Mennonite cultural things?"

[ohio jones]

"Is this a thing?" is an idiom questioning whether something exists as a repeating phenomenon and/or as an element of culture or subculture. In that sense, the idiom itself is a thing. When pluralized, "are they a thing?" takes on a different meaning about the relationship (usually romantic) between "things." Absent a relationship of that nature between the two items in question, the singular form may be more appropriate, even if grammatically awkward.

If forced to use the idiom, I would reword it "Is the practice of eating grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup together a Mennonite cultural thing?"

[mike]

"Is grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup a Mennonite cultural thing? I never heard of this combo until someone made reference to it. Pennsylvania Dutch maybe?"

"ARE grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup..."

I would defend the original as being grammatically correct. As written, the questioner is asking if the combination of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup is a Mennonite cultural thing. If the first part of the sentence is "corrected" as suggested, the remainder of the sentence would need to be corrected as well, as in "Are grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup Mennonite cultural things?"

The plot (and possibly the soup) thickens... Or is it thicken?

[ohio jones]

Reposted from FB:

Tonight I'm gonna have possum soup made from Himalayan possum, because I found Himalayan on the road.