Speaking honestly,

[Untaught88]

Hi

Are there any mistakes in the following paragraph?
Speaking honestly, it really doesn't irritate me when XXX (my niece) weeps. But it annoys me when other kids cry. We only love our kids!

 

[MikeNewYork]

I would add "own" after "our" in the last sentence.

 

[emsr2d2]

However, your niece isn't one of your own kids. "Your kids" are only your sons and daughters.

 

[Tarheel]

Perhaps:

It doesn't bother me when some stranger's kid cries. If it's my kid, though, that's a different matter.


​

 

[tedmc]

Wouldn't 'honestly speaking' be better?

 

[Barb_D]

Move "only" to be after "love."

"Weeps" is probably too strong a word.

 

[Rover_KE]

Wouldn't 'honestly speaking' be better?

There's no difference.

'To be honest' would be better.

 

[MikeNewYork]

However, your niece isn't one of your own kids. "Your kids" are only your sons and daughters.

Technically, that is true. Emotionally, not necessarily.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Untaught:


James: Will you marry me?

Mona: May I speak honestly to you?

James: Of course, I always encourage people to speak honestly to me.

Mona: Well, dear James, honestly / frankly speaking, you do not make enough money to give me the life that I want.



NOTES:

1. As you can see, sometimes "honestly" is an adverb that modifies the verb.

2. Sometimes we can introduce a sentence with a so-called sentence adverb (some newer books call it a "disjunct") that refers to the whole sentence:

"Honestly / frankly speaking, I don't think that Mr. X has a very good chance to win the election."

a. "Honestly speaking" works better for me than does "Speaking honestly."

b. In fact, you could even drop the "speaking": "Honestly / frankly, I think that James is full of hot air (= he doesn't know what he is talking about)."



James

 

[Tarheel]

Wouldn't 'honestly speaking' be better?

Yes, "Honestly speaking" was supposed to be in there. How about:

Honestly speaking, it doesn't bother me when some stranger's kid cries. When it's my kid though, that's a different matter.

​

 

[Barb_D]

You have reversed the meaning. In the original, the crying of unrelated children is annoying. The crying of a child in your family is not annoying

 

[Tarheel]

You have reversed the meaning. In the original, the crying of unrelated children is annoying. The crying of a child in your family is not annoying.

You are right. I did reverse the meaning. (I didn't even notice that.) Interesting, isn't it?