Grammar is sweet!

James Hurford, author of "Grammar- A Student's Guide" (Cambridge UP 1994) has wittily dedicated this book:

"For Sue N. Davis,
superlative, perfect, proper,
active, positive, agreeable relative"

I wish I had thought of that dedication myself! (I wish I could write a book on grammar, too)
1- Think of what each word refers to.
2- Write a dedication using other grammar words. (Come on, it cannot be that difficult! I will try myself)

Sing standard English, man!

Songs are a great tool in the EFL classroom, all teachers know that. My point here is that they are great because they help our students resist our deep-rooted obssessive tendency to demand correct use of English when native speakers hardly speak "correctly" (in traditional prescriptive terms) at all.

Here are some examples (they may sound old-fashioned to you but you will surely provide up-dated examples of your own favourite bands). Comment on the forms that would surely be criticised by prescriptive grammarians:

Bob Marley: "no woman no cry"
Rolling Stones: "all the dreams we held so close seemed to all go up in smoke
Tracy Chapman: "I got no plans I ain't going nowhere" "You got a fast car
And I got a plan to get us out of here" "I been working at the convenience store"
"You see my old man's got a problem //He live with the bottle that's the way it is"
The Beatles: "when I'm home, feeling you holding me tight, tight"

Grammar is fun

What do you call Santa's Helpers?
Subordinate clauses!

What does Santa call his wife at tax time?
A dependent Claus

Why did Cinderella's soccer team always lose?

Because her coach was a pumpkin

Describe the processes involved in the words that make these jokes possible.