Grammar Rocks

POSTED BY: maugwai
UPDATED: Saturday, October 30, 2004 01:32
VIEWED: 19692
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BARNEYT

Thursday, October 28, 2004 8:00 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Channain:
My fellow editors had a huge debate over whether it should be "over the last year" or "during the past year". "During" won, but by a teensy margin.

My thinking on this would be that it's context-dependent. If you're talking about the effect something has had over the period of the entire year (desperately trying to think of a useful example, but can't!) then it'd be 'over the last year', but if you're talking about something that's happened several times in the year then it'd be 'during the last year'

Of course, as with almost any discussion of grammar and the English language, I know what I'm trying to say but it's probably meaningless to everyone else! I have the same problem when people try to explain the difference between 'because of' and 'due to'...

There's a line from Buffy that helps in these situations: "I think I speak for everyone here when I say, 'Huh?'"

---
"I think the right place to start is to say, fair is fair. This is who we are. These are our numbers." Mr Willis of Ohio - The West Wing

BARNEYT

Thursday, October 28, 2004 8:04 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Channain:

So, anybody in here doing beta reading for the fan fic writers in our happy little blue realm?

Moving off the pedantry for a moment, it's been a while since I've been able to be a regular visitor to this board, but things are settling down a bit now. So, how does one volunteer to be picky about someone else's writing?

---
"I think the right place to start is to say, fair is fair. This is who we are. These are our numbers." Mr Willis of Ohio - The West Wing

GROUNDED

Thursday, October 28, 2004 10:16 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Zencat:
Oh, but a little dyslexia in consistently typing University as Unviersity.

That's not dylexia - that's attempting to type a word quickly that you're not used to typing.

& another thing. Personally I don't use & but if you find it easier then why not? I'm often in the situation where I'm communicating with several people at once, through different program windows, and it's not always possible, or indeed useful, to type out each word. Of course composing a forum post is another matter but I don't think 'net shorthand should be dismissed entirely.

GOJIRO

Thursday, October 28, 2004 11:13 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Ruxton:
Channain

But the use of Eye-tha (actually, they say Eye-ther) seems to be confined to Joss' universe.
And thanks for the improved phonetic spelling.

Ma.

...........Ruxton

I must live in Joss's universe, then!

(And it is "Joss's" not "Joss' " -- since we're talking about grammar and punctuation).

Actually, it's a regional thing. A lot of New Englanders say EYE-ther, especially the farther north you go.

While truly egregious spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors do tend to annoy me, I've come to accept it as just part of the territory ("But ya gotta know the TERRITORY! Whaddya talk, whaddya talk, whaddya talk, whaddya talk...").

The only thing that truly annoys me without fail is the people who ignore their shift keys. IE: "i am so pumped about this movie. joss is a god and my friend jane and i both love him to death." Come on, find the shift keys (conveniently located to the left of the Z key, as well as the right of the /? key). It makes it ever so easier to read your natterings, and the minimal extra effort it takes is well worth it.

For you hardcore linguists, I recommend Garner's A Dictionary of Modern American Usage. The introduction alone is worth the price of the book. Of course, if you're a truly hardcore linguist, you already own it.

gojiro

SHEPPARD

Thursday, October 28, 2004 12:15 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by gojiro:
While truly egregious spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors do tend to annoy me, I've come to accept it as just part of the territory ("But ya gotta know the TERRITORY! Whaddya talk, whaddya talk, whaddya talk, whaddya talk...").

(LOL) Ever meet a fellow by the name of Hill?

UNCHARTEDOUTLAW

Thursday, October 28, 2004 12:39 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Zencat:
Personally I don't use & but if you find it easier then why not?

Should I say it? Eh, what the heck! This sentence totally confused me for about four reads and I don't think it's the fact that it's 5.30am, I tell you what! <--I've seen a show about a guy named Hill.

Anyway, I just got a bunch of essays from my 10th and 11th graders. If I find any nuggets, I'll anonymously (for them, not me) post them here.

-Taylor

Uncharted Outlaw!

My ship's shiny than your ship. Now deal with it!

See my Firefly Store: http://www.cafepress.com/NorCalRiviera

SHINYHAPPYKLIN

Thursday, October 28, 2004 3:12 PM

There's a book called "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" that is on the best-sellers list now, and it is about the problems most people have with punctuation. I haven't read it, but want to. (hey, that's a preposition, isn't it? )

My biggest pet peeves? missplaced possessive apostrophe's (<--like that) instead of a simple "s" or "es".

I want to throw things when I read emails from my students that are rife with "u" and "ur", "dunno", and other horrid artifacts that carry over to formal compositions from IM usage. They just make my skin crawl!

"We gotta go to that crappy town where I'M a hero..."
Shiny stuff for Browncoats at: http://www.cafepress.com/outtotheblack

UNCHARTEDOUTLAW

Thursday, October 28, 2004 5:21 PM

There's also a book called English as a Second F*cking Language that's pretty darn funny!

-Taylor

The Uncharted Outlaw!
"I brought you some supper, but if you'd prefer a lecture, I've a few very catchy ones prepped...sin and hellfire... one has lepers."
See my Firefly Store: http://www.cafepress.com/NorCalRiviera

RUXTON

Thursday, October 28, 2004 8:29 PM

Gojiro,

Thanks for the regional clarification on Eye-ther vs. EE-ther.

BTW, three references tell me you are wrong about "Joss's" and I was right with "Joss' "

But I have some doubts. Can you name your reference? Mine are two "collegiate" dictionaries and a style manual. The problem seems to be with three "s's" in line.

Oh yes: The writer who wanted to say he/she didn't use an ampersand needs to learn punctuation to avoid all of us having to read his stuff 3x or 4x to figure out what he's/she's trying to say.

Another GREAT book on language is "The Writer's Art" by Kilpatrick.

.........Ruxton

GROUNDED

Thursday, October 28, 2004 8:33 PM

Sigh.

"& another thing. Personally I don't use & but if you find it easier then why not?"

It was supposed to be cute - read the preceding sentence in bold above. Of course it is necessary to have read the previous post mentioning ampersands...

Edit: Ok I just checked and there were about 10 posts between mine and the ampersand one so perhaps I was being a little oblique ;)

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