In The Sticks
Friend of Frank
Yup.
I've already commented that I did not understand the various parts of speech until I took Spanish because Spanish is relatively consistent.
Whatever happened to the Esperanto movement?
Can we PLEASE use the english language correctly?
- Thread starter Ronni
- Start date
I've already commented that I did not understand the various parts of speech until I took Spanish because Spanish is relatively consistent.
Whatever happened to the Esperanto movement?
Old Dummy
Who am I? Why am I here?
- Location
- In the backwoods of NYS
- Yup, even some of the so-called professionals write like crap nowadays. I think someone might have mentioned this above somewhere, but the best way to learn the language is to read books, magazines, columns, or anything else that is written properly. That's not as easy to find as it used to be.
- I subbed to a motorcycle magazine in the mid-'90s and the writing was so poor I couldn't read it. It was just too annoying.
- I've been online since 1994, and a handful of times I've run into posts where the writing had a few errors, but overall it wasn't all that bad -- better than what we might expect online. Then the poster started apologizing for their not-perfect English, saying they were from Europe (or wherever, don't remember) and that English was not their first language.
Ha, I always told them that their writing was BETTER than a lot of Americans. Hopefully that made them feel pretty good.
In The Sticks
Friend of Frank
I've worked for multi-nationals: French, German, Japanese. I've told them that the only thing they need to apologize for is having a better command of our language than most of the native speakers I know.- I've been online since 1994, and a handful of times I've run into posts where the writing had a few errors, but overall it wasn't all that bad -- better than what we might expect online. Then the poster started apologizing for their not-perfect English, saying they were from Europe (or wherever, don't remember) and that English was not their first language.
Ha, I always told them that their writing was BETTER than a lot of Americans. Hopefully that made them feel pretty good.
I don't think I could be a journalist. I always have to come back to what I've written with a fresh perspective, and often find that when I've rephrased something, I've introduced inconsistent verb tenses or so stupid subject agreement problem. I do it in these short comment sections. If I worked to a deadline and had to "Submit" to a deadline, I would also appear to be illiterate.
Old Dummy
Who am I? Why am I here?
- Location
- In the backwoods of NYS
Same here! I could NEVER write under pressure. Without time to massage it and then sleep on it, it would be . . . not good.
Old Dummy
Who am I? Why am I here?
- Location
- In the backwoods of NYS
I was just on another website and they were talking about the virus, and “heard” immunity. Sheesh. 
Have you ever heard of a buffalo herd having immunity?
Have you ever heard of a buffalo herd having immunity?
I like that one, too. Many doctors use that one when I ask them, "Doctor, who do so many people who got a flu shot get the flu?"I was just on another website and they were talking about the virus, and “heard” immunity. Sheesh.
Have you ever heard of a buffalo herd having immunity?
They'll answer: "Uh...well....um.....you see......it can't always prevent the flu, b-b-but it provides Herd Immunity."
Naturally, they're saying the same thing now about the future Corona Vaccine.
It's all this 'texting' and abreviating that is killing the beautiful language, and in my opinion (not IMO), it is down to sheer laziness. Our ancestors worked so hard for centuries to create a brilliant means of communicating, only for a few generations over a few decades to set about ruining it.
It isn't just how words are spoken. There is also a problem with how sentences are put together. I'm an avid reader and read books by both British and American authors. I assume that the literacy skills of the authors reflects their level of education. This suggests that the teaching of English is not standardised. Sentences are often put together very badly, and frequently don't actually make sense.
I won't name names, but one of my favourite authors is a qualified lawyer, so is highly educated, yet I get very frustrated at his poor literacy skills. I'm constantly mentally correcting his mistakes. Doesn't stop me enjoying his stories though.
I won't name names, but one of my favourite authors is a qualified lawyer, so is highly educated, yet I get very frustrated at his poor literacy skills. I'm constantly mentally correcting his mistakes. Doesn't stop me enjoying his stories though.
Camper6
Well-known Member
- Location
- Northwestern Ontario Canada
England. That's how the announcers speak. For instance they say Canader instead of Canada. And there are other words like idear.
Camper6
Well-known Member
- Location
- Northwestern Ontario Canada
Yes I heard it on the radio.I was just on another website and they were talking about the virus, and “heard” immunity. Sheesh.
Have you ever heard of a buffalo herd having immunity?
I accept people for who they are and what they are, it is not for me to find fault with how people pronounce or spell words, there could be many reasons for this.......just remember we are not all perfect.
By the way there are many words spelt differently in the USA to how we spell them in England.
A helicopter is often referred to as a chopper in England.
By the way there are many words spelt differently in the USA to how we spell them in England.
A helicopter is often referred to as a chopper in England.
Camper6
Well-known Member
- Location
- Northwestern Ontario Canada
I accept people for who they are and what they are, it is not for me to find fault with how people pronounce or spell words, there could be many reasons for this.......just remember we are not all perfect.
By the way there are many words spelt differently in the USA to how we spell them in England.
A helicopter is often referred to as a chopper in England.
I would never associate chopper with a motorcycle. There is a separate language for motorcycle enthusiasts. Chopper is common for helicopter.I just thought of another one.
When Kobe Bryant was killed, several headlines said it was a "Chopper Crash." Isn't it a "Copter?"
I thought a chopper was a custom-built motorcycle with an extended front wheel like the one in "Easy Rider."
Aunt Bea
SF VIP
- Location
- Near Mount Pilot
Devi
Well-known Member
- Location
- East WA USA
You know, I'm always afraid to respond to these types of questions, because there's just a chance that I'll misspell something -- and not notice it! Geez!
Old Dummy
Who am I? Why am I here?
- Location
- In the backwoods of NYS
I was just on another website and they were talking about the virus, and “heard” immunity. Sheesh.
Have you ever heard of a buffalo herd having immunity?
I guess you missed it.
"Herd immunity" is a legitimate term. "Heard immunity" is not.
JaniceM
Well-known Member
- Location
- still lost between two shores..
I purchased two hardcover books published by traditional publishing houses that were also in that category, but I've found errors are often extreme in self-published books. One was actually page after page after page of WEB LINKS!!!
Old Dummy
Who am I? Why am I here?
- Location
- In the backwoods of NYS
You know, I'm always afraid to respond to these types of questions, because there's just a chance that I'll misspell something -- and not notice it! Geez!
Don't worry about it!
Everybody makes mistakes! I've proofread stuff several times, posted (or emailed) it, then looked at it later and see a missing word or something.I hate auto-correct and have it shut off on all my devices. It is a huge part of the problem because it's often wrong. On the other hand (or OTOH!) spell-check is good and I have that on.
Aunt Bea
SF VIP
- Location
- Near Mount Pilot
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Old Dummy
Who am I? Why am I here?
- Location
- In the backwoods of NYS
The couple of times I got burned by self-published books from Amz, I did NOT go back and post a review. I should have, of course, and maybe I'll try to figure out which books they were and do it.
This thread is my motivation.
JaniceM
Well-known Member
- Location
- still lost between two shores..
What gets me on this topic is slang. Haven't seen it in major news, but locally it's enough to make you want to tear your hair out. One example from awhile back- the title of an article on a local news site included the term 'LUNCH-SHAMING." Naturally, I had to read the article to see what the heck it was about. Turned out some schools were trying to figure out how to deal with students who came to school without lunch money.
However- my first though was I would have been fired on the spot if I'd used slang when I was working for print publications. It didn't take long to occur to me, though, I'd probably be fired or lose clients even now. I tried to shrug it off because the person who wrote it was rather young, but that's not really an excuse. If a person is getting paid for writing, the material should be professionally-written. "LUNCH-SHAMING"?! Seriously?!
But in the end, what's important is that our meaning is conveyed, right?
More important than spelling, I think, is the proper use of commas. Placement can totally change meaning. For instance:
"Let's eat Grandma" as opposed to: "Let's eat, Grandma" or
"A woman without her man is nothing." vs "A woman, without her, man is nothing"
More important than spelling, I think, is the proper use of commas. Placement can totally change meaning. For instance:
"Let's eat Grandma" as opposed to: "Let's eat, Grandma" or
"A woman without her man is nothing." vs "A woman, without her, man is nothing"
In The Sticks
Friend of Frank
Or the proper use of apostrophe's.
But in all fairness, both of them are so small. They can't cost all that much and they take up so little room. So why not liberally sprinkle them?