• WARNING: Tube/Valve amplifiers use potentially LETHAL HIGH VOLTAGES.
    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
    performed by someone who is thoroughly familiar with
    the safety precautions around high voltages.

Spelling, capitalization, and grammar.

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EC8010 said:
MJL21193: Time to fix that typo in your sign-off line...


Yes indeed!

It should read: "with yore fingers." This indicates that in the distant past your fingers existed and, it may be assumed from the previous information given, that they were in a different state than they will have been presently. This latest change in English usage literally kills two bird with one's stone and saves time as well. I believe it should be referred to as "Double Talk."
Of course, ye're allowed to refer to it in any manner you may have choiced.

Best Regards,
TerryO
 
I don't think we've really "done" the Oxford comma yet. In the examples I found by Googling it only seems to be of use in sentences with lots of "ands" where there is a possibility of ambiguity. There is no real ambiguity in EC8010's title so I feel the last comma is redundant. As to American prose style being superior to current UK usage, I think that's very much a matter of taste. There are some Americans who would be more "English" than the "English" and thus adopt a very old-fashioned style, or lard their prose with Latin or French tags (quite often, like HP in "The Absolute Sound" magazine, getting them wrong). It's a bit like wearing a three-piece woollen suit in a heat-wave.
 
I always use the oxford comma. It makes things much clearer to read, and using it in all cases removes the need to have yet another special case where you have to do things differently to avoid ambiguity.

Pork and beans, steak and potatoes, and bacon and eggs is a good example of the oxford comma reducing ambiguity.

I suppose you could bastardize it all with some brackets or something, but really don't need to if you just use the comma.

-Nick
 
Arx said:

I always use the oxford comma. It makes things much clearer to read, and using it in all cases removes the need to have yet another special case where you have to do things differently to avoid ambiguity.

I too. If it is used only intermittently and a potentially ambiguous instance omits it, the reader doesn't know whether the omission was deliberate or accidental; and so cannot resolve the ambiguity.

Regards.

Aengus
 

BHD

diyAudio Member
Joined 2004
I love the internet, but I hate what it's done to the English language.

One of the reasons I like this site more than any other of its kind is that there seems to be a higher standard here at diyAudio.com in both behavior and in what people post, so I don't see anything wrong with a higher standard in how they post it. I check everything I write before I hit the "submit reply" button. I don't think it's wrong to ask that people do this any moreso than asking someone to do a search before they ask a question. It's a simple matter of courtesy.

I for one can't stand reading garbage misspellings like "websight" and words that have been misspelled or misused because of spell checking so many times on the internet that they've wormed their way into popular usage, such as the interchange of words like "lose" and "loose". Sentences like "He's got nothing left to loose." are, to me, like hitting a speed bump at fifty miles an hour. Don't even get me started on using characters and numerals place of words. I simply ignore those posts.

A terrible result of all this is that it's infecting foreign people's use of English. I've had people from other countries use "U" for you and "4" in place of "for" in business correspondence! Granted, these were e-mails, but it just amazed me as this was honest to goodness business correspondence! I feel bad enough that English is insinuating itself into other culture's languages like a virus, but affecting others with our bad habits with our own language is really sad.

Another thing that amazes me in my business life and on the internet are high level professionals, people like doctors, lawyers and executives who couldn't put a decent sentence together to save their souls. I'm 40 and all I have is a high school education, but I'm relatively well spoken and well read. When I mention my education level to people I meet they're usually suprised. When they ask where I learned this or that I say three words:

"I read books."

Despite my lack of education I've managed to get a decent technically oriented job with a major company. One of the main reasons I was able to do this were my decent written and spoken communication skills.

But all is forgiven for those out there where English isn't their first language. I've taught myself some German and Russian, but I wouldn't dare post on a German or Russian audio board. My hat's off to anyone that takes that plunge.
 
I love the internet, but I hate what it's done to the English language.

The internet has done nothing to the English language per se, but it HAS exposed a disappointing level of semi-literacy among the general population. Fortunately, for the most part, semi-literacy usually means semi-intelligence and makes for a handy junk filter - specially on audio forums.

John
 
EC8010 said:
I think I'm ranting against laziness. My spelling is reasonably good but I still have the spell checker enabled in Firefox (oddly, I've just discovered that Firefox is a word it doesn't know). With the spell checker enabled, there's no need for me to make spelling mistakes. I have a typing finger on each hand, so it's not a problem to use the "shift" key at the appropriate time. All that remains is for me to check that what I have typed makes sense. I've just edited this post for the third time...
This is an amusing thread. As spellcheckers and Word and other programs are freely available, I find it odd that most people can't spend those extra few moments to check what they've typed before posting. For longer posts I always do, but admit I am guilty of posts with numerous typos and other errors especially if I'm typing in the dark. I am far from perfect in this regard, but at least attempt to put in some effort to making it presentable, readable English.

The one thing that I really have trouble reading is posts or emails with excessive reduction of words to single letters or numbers, or have no punctuation or capitalisation. I almost never text or SMS on my phone, and when I do it's not abbreviated.
I also hate more than one smilie per post; adding 20 of them makes me wonder if your not really an 11 year old.
gingertube said:
Right next to the "Land Rights for Gay Wales" poster.
Are all Welsh gay?
I think that should be whales, no? A friend on another forum once dared me to drive across Texas with 20 of those stickers on my car.
 
Ex-Moderator
Joined 2004
Some people love writing and treat it as a creative act not to be rushed. They like to edit, polish and generally improve their written work before releasing it for someone else to read. They tend to be repelled or offended by shoddy written work of others, possibly because they would never allow themselves to be like that.

Some other people don't particularly enjoy writing. They see it as a necassary evil and are glad when it's finished. Spelling is not important to them and neither is grammar, so long as the message gets through. They are not fussy about their written work and they regard those who are as pedantic. They cannot understand that others could find their writing offensive.

What both of these types have in common is the desire to communicate in an understandable way. It takes all sorts . . .
 
Arx said:


Pork and beans, steak and potatoes, and bacon and eggs is a good example of the oxford comma reducing ambiguity.


In this example, the 'Oxford' comma makes sense as it defines the list i.e. "pork and beans" is one item on the list not two. In the thread title it is incorrect.


barretter said:
I wonder how many people would use it if it were called the "Tooting Polytechnic" comma.
None!
 
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