quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
I just assumed it was an expression coined by someone who was grammatically challenged.

I was discussing the question with an English major friend, and it was interesting to me that “local” just seemed wrong to both of us without any conscious analysis. As I told her, English teachers did have some effect on some of us after all.

Well then, here's another one you could discuss with her: Just do it.

I suspect "shop local" is actually based on (or, more likely, improperly analogized from) "buy local" ("buy American", vel sim), which is more grammatically correct, since buy is a transitive verb and therefore local, in that phrase, is fine as a substantive adjective, rather than an adverb.

While the typical misuse of an adverb seems reasonable, I think the existence of a very similar phrase within the same domain (commerce) was the origin.

If it is meant as an adverb, it is 'locally'.

quote:

Originally posted by Oat_Action_Man:
I think the existence of a very similar phrase within the same domain (commerce) was the origin.

I knew it was just a matter of posing the question on the forum to get an answer from a true authority.

I think you could consider "local" as a noun. You know, person, place or thing, in which case Shop Local is perfectly acceptable.

quote:

vel sim

Well, I learned a new phrase today.

quote:

Originally posted by NavyGuy:
I think you could consider "local" as a noun. You know, person, place or thing, in which case Shop Local is perfectly acceptable.

No. The word local is not a noun, it is an adjective.

The "ly"wouldn't fit on the bumper sticker.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Apple didn't help anything with their grammatically challenged "Think Different" ad campaign.

Ungrammatical ads go way back: "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should" is an example ("like" should have been "as", for those not woke to the grammar).

I am also annoyed by ungrammatical ads, because they are remembered and people learn to emulate them, just spreading the disease.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by NavyGuy:
I think you could consider "local" as a noun. You know, person, place or thing, in which case Shop Local is perfectly acceptable.

No. The word local is not a noun, it is an adjective.

How about "My friend Joe is a local." "Local" is a noun there.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
"Winston tastes good like a cigarette should" is an example ("like" should have been "as", for those not woke to the grammar).

I was thinking of that very ad and the controversy surrounding it when I was drafting this thread.

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
"Local" is a noun there.

Although like some of the comments here have alluded to, in that usage “local” is understood to be short for “a local resident,” and in that full context it’s an adjective.

^^ A "substantive adjective", e.g. "the Good, the Bad and the Ugly" or "Steal from the rich and give to the poor."

A common feature in most Indo-European languages.

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by NavyGuy:
I think you could consider "local" as a noun. You know, person, place or thing, in which case Shop Local is perfectly acceptable.

No. The word local is not a noun, it is an adjective.

How about "My friend Joe is a local." "Local" is a noun there.

flashguy

I was suggesting "local" was a place, which still seems logical to me, but yeah, same as an
English Pub or a Union, as in the Plumber's local.

Shop bigly.

I work for a small, family-owned business & when they 1st jumped on this bandwagon, we were expected to answer our phones with "Thank you for shopping local." I refused to do so & stayed with my usual professional wording as I found it irritating that they were not actually shopping with us yet. I get what the business was trying to do but it just seemed so awkward.