English language questions

[Tomas]

Feel free to insert your own.

My question for today:

Where do you put "ex-"?

ESPN had a headline today: "Ex-Sooners QB Davis killed in crash" and the header of the article even said "Ex-Oklahoma Sooners QB Steve Davis killed in plane crash."

Now, my own understanding of "ex-" is that it identifies 'what used to be but isn't anymore.' So, I think the correct sentence should be:

"Oklahoma Sooners ex-QB Davis ....", because he is a Sooner graduate (which continues even after he left the school), but he used to be a quarterback. Am I wrong?

[MRandall25]

The 3rd one just doesn't sound right. It still sounds like he's still at the university, but no longer playing football.

Saying he's an Ex-Sooner means he used to be on the team, but isn't anymore, IMO. Saying he's an ex-QB, to me, means he quit the team but is still taking classes (or something to that effect).

I would assume he hadn't been in school for a while, so saying he's an Ex-Sooner makes more sense here, as he no longer plays for the team. You can still be an alumni but be an Ex-(enter sports nickname here).

[viva la ben]

Does the Swedish chef actually speak Swedish?

[Rylan]

Its adjectives. Being an Ex Oklahoma Sooner QB describes who he is. The Ex goes at the beginning of the adjectives.

He was the Oklahoma Sooner QB. In this instance Oklahoma Sooner is an adjective. QB is also an adjective. Since they are describing the same person, it is meant to start out saying he was an ex Oklahoma Sooner QB because that is the full description of the person.

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

The correct English would be "former Sooners QB", but I assume they went with ex- to save space for a headline.

[Tico Rick]

Its adjectives. Being an Ex Oklahoma Sooner QB describes who he is. The Ex goes at the beginning of the adjectives.

He was the Oklahoma Sooner QB. In this instance Oklahoma Sooner is an adjective. QB is also an adjective. Since they are describing the same person, it is meant to start out saying he was an ex Oklahoma Sooner QB because that is the full description of the person.

Yes. And if you were to say Oklahoma Sooner Ex-QB, one could infer that he still played for the Sooners, but no longer at the QB position, which is not the case.

[PensHckyFan79]

I have never put this much thought into the english language. You people amaze me!

[count2infinity]

[tifosi77]

Fantastic. I remember a Gallagher bit from the 80s that was like that.

English is way harder to learn (especially as a second language) than almost every other language that isn't based on clicks and hoots. And if you learn English as your first language, it makes learning other languages unnecessarily difficult.