A note on grammar
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Shatterhand
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Maybe PCB's means that the last vowel is long (i.e. /Pi.Ci.Bi:.s/). That would be dutch spelling, thoe [/recap]
"The only desire the Culture could not satisfy from within itself was one common to both the descendants of its original human stock and the machines [...]: the urge not to feel useless."
I.M. Banks, "Consider Phlebas" (1988: 43).
I.M. Banks, "Consider Phlebas" (1988: 43).
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professor ganson
- Posts: 5163
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Having recently completed grading a stack of papers, I will tell you that presentation does matter. You may have ideas as original as those of Wittgenstein. Nevertheless, if you fail to present your ideas in clear, well-formed English sentences, then your grade is likely to suffer. It just makes a bad impression if there are typos and other errors. It makes it seem like you just dashed the paper off, without any real care.
But as much as I hate poor grammar, I dislike unexplained jargon even more. I hate when students use terms like "absolute" and "subjective," as though it were clear what they were saying. I in fact use the term "subjective" in some of my writings, but I'm always careful to define the term in a straightforward, clear manner that any mature English speaker could understand.
End of rant.
But as much as I hate poor grammar, I dislike unexplained jargon even more. I hate when students use terms like "absolute" and "subjective," as though it were clear what they were saying. I in fact use the term "subjective" in some of my writings, but I'm always careful to define the term in a straightforward, clear manner that any mature English speaker could understand.
End of rant.
Last edited by professor ganson on Sat Apr 01, 2006 4:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
i hate youbloodflowers wrote:You're
Yeah I am kind of a spelling nazi, but I don't usually post to correct people, I just can't help but see it and it drives me crazy. Specifically the use of "u" or "ur", or the incorrect usage of "your"/"you're" or "their/they're". It just seems that while most people know the difference, their brain just reads either one and doesn't care which it is. While some, like myself, see it instantly as "your" or "you are". Once you see it, you can't un-see it, it will bother you for the rest of your days.
Even in IMs/IRC I will use "you" instead of "u" and "people" instead of "ppl". Sometimes the absurdity of using full words even in chat crosses my mind, but I dislike internets/AOL-speak enough that it's worth it.
Stuff like "u" and "ppl" are very easy to fix, like I said. You just enter a couple of word sensors and you'll never see them again in the forum.
What I would like to know is whether doing this would actually piss anyone off. I can't imagine anyone getting angry because they typed "u" and the forum automatically added the two missing letters.
What I would like to know is whether doing this would actually piss anyone off. I can't imagine anyone getting angry because they typed "u" and the forum automatically added the two missing letters.
Last edited by icycalm on Mon Apr 03, 2006 9:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
This poll is missing the option of "Tpying liek this maeks u look liek a dubmbfuck".
A small mistake like the ones mentioned by other forum members is perfectly forgivable. But someone who can't bother to make his posts resemble english written by a person who's not missing half his brain, really, really gets on my nerves. Now, not to be a smug jerk, but isn't it a bit ironic that foreigners like me and Shatter and Stormwatch sometimes can have better grammar and spelling that people who have been reading, writing and absorbing english all their life?
A small mistake like the ones mentioned by other forum members is perfectly forgivable. But someone who can't bother to make his posts resemble english written by a person who's not missing half his brain, really, really gets on my nerves. Now, not to be a smug jerk, but isn't it a bit ironic that foreigners like me and Shatter and Stormwatch sometimes can have better grammar and spelling that people who have been reading, writing and absorbing english all their life?
Don't hold grudges. GET EVEN.
It's ironic, but I don't think it's surprising at all - I noticed this phenomenon back when I hit the Internet chatrooms in '97.Specineff wrote:Now, not to be a smug jerk, but isn't it a bit ironic that foreigners like me and Shatter and Stormwatch sometimes can have better grammar and spelling that people who have been reading, writing and absorbing english all their life?
It's probably because we foreigners learn the language mostly from books and other written text, not so much from speech like native speakers. We never mix up "your" and "you're" because of this.No matter how good a game is, somebody will always hate it. No matter how bad a game is, somebody will always love it.
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Ironic, but not that weird. English has a so-called "deep" graphemic system: there are 40 phonemes (sounds) and possibly 1120 representations (graphemes, combinations of one or two letters). If a speaker relies on his diction to correctly write an English word, he may end up writing the wrong thing, as her* pronunciation is most likely to influence, in the wrong way, her spelling. A non-native speaker, on the other hand, learns the written words associating them to a fairly standard pronunciation, so eventual dialectal differences can't influence spelling.Specineff wrote: A small mistake like the ones mentioned by other forum members is perfectly forgivable. But someone who can't bother to make his posts resemble english written by a person who's not missing half his brain, really, really gets on my nerves. Now, not to be a smug jerk, but isn't it a bit ironic that foreigners like me and Shatter and Stormwatch sometimes can have better grammar and spelling that people who have been reading, writing and absorbing english all their life?
Beside that, there is a 10% possibility that a person is actually dyslexic, and thus has some serious problems in written production (not a fault of his own, in this case). Given the complexity of English writing system, it is easier to detect language disorders, though (more chances to make errors, and more errors = more chances to detect the problem).
* Yes, i am a "politically correct" nazi, so i always use the female pronoun, you bunch of misogynistic brutes!
"The only desire the Culture could not satisfy from within itself was one common to both the descendants of its original human stock and the machines [...]: the urge not to feel useless."
I.M. Banks, "Consider Phlebas" (1988: 43).
I.M. Banks, "Consider Phlebas" (1988: 43).
That reminds me iatneH... downtown next to this Chinese take-out place i go to all the time there are two stores with neon signs right next to each other. 'Pack n' More' and 'Massage'. I always wanted to break 'M' and 'age' out of the second sign.
Wouldn't it be more politically correct if we just said 'thier' instead of 'his' or 'her'? It would also be easier to follow than suddenly switching sexes in the middle of an explanation.
Wouldn't it be more politically correct if we just said 'thier' instead of 'his' or 'her'? It would also be easier to follow than suddenly switching sexes in the middle of an explanation.
Godzilla was an inside job
Their.circuitface wrote:Wouldn't it be more politically correct if we just said 'thier' instead of 'his' or 'her'?
No matter how good a game is, somebody will always hate it. No matter how bad a game is, somebody will always love it.
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I think "assage" would be cooler than "ass," personally.circuitface wrote:That reminds me iatneH... downtown next to this Chinese take-out place i go to all the time there are two stores with neon signs right next to each other. 'Pack n' More' and 'Massage'. I always wanted to break 'M' and 'age' out of the second sign.
More politically correct, yes; more correct, I don't think so. But there's no clear win for the "genderless individual" problem. "One" gets awkward, "it" gets even more awkward, and using a plural pronoun for a singular reference sucks and is, I think, inconsistent with most other languages.Wouldn't it be more politically correct if we just said 'thier' instead of 'his' or 'her'? It would also be easier to follow than suddenly switching sexes in the middle of an explanation.
"Can they really get inside my head?"
"As long as you keep an open mind."
"As long as you keep an open mind."