Mark Liberman (Language Log) collects three funny cartoons on this theme. Of course, and unrelated to Christmas, this reminds me of the classic joke:
A man is on his first visit to Boston, and he wants to try some of that delicious New England seafood that he’d long heard about. So he gets into a cab, and asks the driver, “Can you take me to where I can get scrod?”
The driver replies, “I’ve heard that question a thousand time, but never in the pluperfect subjunctive.”
Saturday, December 24, 2016
[Eugene Volokh] The Ghost of Christmas Future Imperfect + seafood
I'm pretty sure David Keohane had this (Language Log) at Alphaville but without the seafood course.