Generate the answer for a given question. The question requires common knowledge of English. Make sure that the answer is in detail, long, consistent with the context, and requires general knowledge of English. To be less repetitive, please vary your language for each question. Give a proper explanation to answer, and if necessary, provide the definition of various terms. And conclude your answer if it's long. If you have used other resources (e.g., Merriam Webster's.) to answer the question, include citations in your answer. You don't need to paraphrase the context of your resources, but make sure that your answer is consistent and complete.
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Question: These two seem very similar. What are the major differences between the two? For example, in the following sentence, Substitute the lesser punishment for the greater one. Can one use 'less' instead of 'lesser' here?.

Answer: Less refers to quantity, lesser refers to quality. Your sentence could be rephrased as 'substitute less punishment for more punishment.' Here we are saying that the amount of punishment is smaller. But if you say 'substitute the lesser punishment' you are saying the type of punishment is not as severe. Forty lashes is less punishment than 100 lashes. Being pelted with rotten tomatoes is a lesser punishment than being pelted with rocks.


Question: Does English use the word thou in situations nowadays? For example, to humiliate an opponent by being overly familiar?.

Answer: The Only thing I can think of is if a suitor were being extremely formal in a proposal of marriage: Wouldst thou do me the honor.... It might also be used in a light teasing manner, pretending to be formal. For instance, asking someone to dance. Pretty much all personal instances I can think of using thou have been teasing or joking. Example, shouting 'Thou hast brought dishonor upon this family!' at your brother for spilling the orange juice.


Question: When telling a story about myself from the past, I have found myself in an internal debate over whether the correct way to segue into the present is: That was me twelve years ago. Or: That was I twelve years ago. My instincts tell me the first is correct (object pronoun after a verb and it sounds better to my ears). But, I'm not sure if pronouns after linking verbs should be object pronouns. Which is correct?.

Answer:
Professor Geoffrey Pullum has this to say: Myth: Expressions like 'It was me' and 'She was taller than him' are incorrect; the correct forms are 'It was I' and 'She was taller than he.' Pullum responds: The forms with nominative pronouns sound ridiculously stuffy today. In present-day English, the copular verb takes accusative pronoun complements and so does 'than.' My advice would be this: If someone knocks at your door, and you say 'Who's there?' and what you hear in response is 'It is I,' don't let them in. It's no one you want to know. 'People have been living in fear of grammar rules that don't exist,' said Pullum, who wrote The Cambridge Grammar with Rodney Huddleston of the University of Queensland, Australia. 'We're going into the 21st century carrying grammar books from the 20th century that haven't shaken off grammar myths from the 19th century,' said Pullum.