Forum Spelling Correction Etiquette
- Thread starter JoeyA
- Start date
:thumbup: Thanks!
Arocdnicg to rsceearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pcale. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit pobelrm. Tihs is buseace the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
No, that would be inappropriate. Correcting punctuation or grammar in a quotation would be just as inappropriate. To "quote" is to copy exactly.
You're quoting exactly what the other person said not what he should have said or how he should have said it.
If you use some of the same words or phrases in your response, then write them correctly (but generally without any need to point out the "corrections").
How a person writes helps the reader know something about that person. For the reader to alter a quotation is to falsify something about the writer.
Something I have done on occasion, however, is to send a PM to the writer informing him of a mistake in his post and suggesting that he might want to edit it. An example would be a mistake in someone's name.
One reason that hasn't been mentioned so far for quoting without any changes is that the person you are quoting sometimes goes back and edits the original post (sometimes significantly) or even deletes it entirely. Your quote of his original post preserves it (in case you think it needs to be preserved). If you later agree that he was right to delete it, you can do likewise in your own post.
Pretty cool. I read that with no problem.
I see the first and last letters, the occasional "key" letter, and the word length. From that (and context) it's almost as good as having the correct spelling. Yours was actually easier to read that something with no mistakes--except for ONE WORD that's heavily butchered, because one is thrown by the single strange word.
good one, joew!
i was reading your post and thinking, 'who is this grammar pontificator with the mistake-laden paragraphs?'
then i read your close ... "btw -- how many mistakes can you find?" i had to laugh at myself!
i'm no academician, so i'm sure i am missing some of your traps. i did spot one typo, one uncapitalized word, one run-on sentence (i think!), three mistakes, a couple of truant commas and one wrong-headed word (i think!)
how close am i?
propriety is my life!
sunny
i was reading your post and thinking, 'who is this grammar pontificator with the mistake-laden paragraphs?'
then i read your close ... "btw -- how many mistakes can you find?" i had to laugh at myself!
i'm no academician, so i'm sure i am missing some of your traps. i did spot one typo, one uncapitalized word, one run-on sentence (i think!), three mistakes, a couple of truant commas and one wrong-headed word (i think!)
how close am i?
propriety is my life!
sunny
I would say this is about the only forum I've been on that doesn't (seem to) have a time limit for edits. Several forums I've posted on have, typically, a 30min time limit--because the posts are usually arguments/debates, and it's unfair if somebody goes back and changes what they originally wrote.
So surprising to be talking about grammar in a pool forum...I guess this vindicates the other thread that says we pool players are an intelligent bunch.
These are two of my favorites to use in both computer science and English classes:
The first is from a science fiction book. How many correct ways can you punctuate this:
is not is not not is
The other is from a children's verse. How many distinct meanings can you get from this:
Mary had a little lamb.
P.S.: If you've never seen it before, "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." is sure to drive you crazy.
---Joey, thanks for starting this thread.---
These are two of my favorites to use in both computer science and English classes:
The first is from a science fiction book. How many correct ways can you punctuate this:
is not is not not is
The other is from a children's verse. How many distinct meanings can you get from this:
Mary had a little lamb.
P.S.: If you've never seen it before, "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." is sure to drive you crazy.
---Joey, thanks for starting this thread.---
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9BallPaul
Banned
Exactly. But that should have been edited.
Then why do you spend so much time cutting and pasting stuff.
I have always thought you made mistakes on purpose, just so your posts would stand out.
I could never figure out why you wasted your time and energy doing it. :scratchhead:
I like your perspective a lot. Thanks for writing.
You're welcome Bob. It was really fun to see so many interesting perspectives and to hear some of the specialized knowledge that so many people in the forum seem to possess.
I'd love to hear some of the answers to the items you proposed.
With Mary, I could only get three distinct meanings. Are there more? You can PM if you don't want to give away the answers.
Best Regards,
JoeyA
Yeah, come on Joe. Give it up.
Guess it's time to actually post on topic--there's already an editorial tool for pointing out errors:
[sic]
From the above source:
"Sic – generally inside square brackets, [sic], and occasionally parentheses, (sic) – when added just after a quote or reprinted text, indicates that the passage is just as it appears from its original source. The usual purpose is to inform readers that any errors or apparent errors in the copied material are not from transcription – i.e. that they are reproduced exactly from the original writer or printer. Bracketed sics have also been used in humorous comments and for ridicule, typically by drawing attention to the original writer's mistakes."
Of course, overusing it is kinda sick.
[sic]
From the above source:
"Sic – generally inside square brackets, [sic], and occasionally parentheses, (sic) – when added just after a quote or reprinted text, indicates that the passage is just as it appears from its original source. The usual purpose is to inform readers that any errors or apparent errors in the copied material are not from transcription – i.e. that they are reproduced exactly from the original writer or printer. Bracketed sics have also been used in humorous comments and for ridicule, typically by drawing attention to the original writer's mistakes."
Of course, overusing it is kinda sick.
Remember, there are many foreign posters on (in? at? :wink
this forum. Knowledge about the english language shouldnt hinder people from other countries to post valuable info here. Not everyone are from Arizona.. Especially words like loose and lose, and other examples used by you JAM in another post, can cause difficulties for us.
JAM, I quoted your post because I really cant understand the logic behind you supporting the use of both comma and and.. as separators. It doesnt make sense to me to write "The flag is red, white, and blue." Whats the logic behind that? I can tell you for sure the Norwegian flag is red, white and blue :grin-square:
An affluent pool aficionado is sadly going to pass away next week. He wrote up his will and chose three people from this forum to leave his wealth to.
The pool aficionado left his life savings to JAM, pooladdict and JoeyA.
Since there is no serial comma between "pooladdict" and "JoeyA," JAM gets half of the pool aficionado's money. Pooladdict and JoeyA can split the other half.
What a shame that serial comma is missing. Otherwise the money would have been divided up in thirds. Without the serial comma, JAM gets half. :thumbup:
I have not been able to adapt to an ergonomic keyboard, though some of my work associates never leave home without them. I need a big Backspace key, and I want all the F keys to be the same size as the other keys. If you go to Micro Center, as an example, you would be shocked at the various keyboard layouts that exist today. I am very picky about my keyboards today. I need to fly like an Eagle on daily copy. :grin-angelic:
Proofreading is something that I actually have been doing a lot of recently. I am training a few folks to help me. Out of every 20 people who apply, only one knows what time of day it is. The rest just don't have the experience needed.
It is easy to do hard-copy typing, meaning keyboarding what you see written elsewhere, without having to think about how to spell words and/or punctuate. This is what separates the lions from the lambs in my world. Most people do not speak the same way you would read in a textbook, as an example. How to put their words on paper is an art form that can only be learned from being in the trenches. School doesn't cut the mustard for this skill set.
There is no right or wrong with some punctuation topics, like the serial comma. The key is to pick a reference source and stick with it. Academics like AP; I like the GPO Style Manual. Legal peeps like Gregg's Punctuation Manual and Lillian Morson's English Guide. The Chicago Manual of Style is another popular reference source, and there are others.
Another reference source to stick with would be a dictionary. It is amazing how words are spelled differently in various dictionaries. I use Merriam-Webster's, and when I am sharing jobs with others, I advise others to use the GPO Style Manual and Merriam-Webster's dictionary. That way, we are all singing from the same song sheet.
For *this* forum, I'm not too worried about typos or words spelled wrong. I figure I'm off duty when I post here. That said, I believe that I am the Efren Reyes of my world. After seeing what's out there in recent times, I'm confident that my work product is top shelf.
The most common blunders I see today, thanks to the variety of English styles taught in the United States, as brought up by JoeyA, is the serial comma and the quotation mark usage. The quotation marks in the United States should be outside the end punctuation mark, with the exception of the semicolon and quoted statement within a question. The Brits, South Africans, Aussies, Japanese, Canadians and any other country that is influenced by Great Britiain do it differently with the quotation marks going inside the end punctuation mark.
One spelling that I learned from this forum is the correct spelling of Philippines (one L and two P's) and Filipino (one L and one P). :thumbup:
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I understand what you are saying, and the last will example is probably why lawyers manage to make money even on the most straightforward and clear agreements.
However, the red, white and blue is not a description of quantity, so using a comma after "white" wouldnt change anything description-wise regarding the colours. So I still believe the second comma is obsolete..
To make this pool related, I can add that my favourite games are:
1-pocket, 10ball and fishing. No comma:wink:
Grammar and spelling errors are unimportant to this forum. At least that's what me thinks.