linguisticsgirl.com: ... In my mind, grammatical *form**(what a word looks like) is clearly separate from grammatical function (what a word does). From ODO: 2.1. Any of the ways in which a word may be spelled, pronounced, or inflected 4.2. [count noun] A set order of words; a formula:
When Michael J. Fox played 'Johnny B. Goode' as Marty McFly in 'Back to the Future' in 1985, he was just aping Chuck Berry's classic fretwork for the camera. (Along with some Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen and Pete Townsend guitar moves thrown in for good measure.) Today, Fox can really play the song.
Fox, who played Marty McFly, went on to become a major movie star, but the other actors who played relatives of Marty McFly, the wacky scientist Dr. Emmett Doc Brown and the bully Biff Tannen, remain recognizable faces. Click through to see where the cast of Back to the Future is now. Michael J. Fox.