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Just me, crabbing about English again

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Posted by Overmod on Wednesday, April 29, 2020 9:16 AM

SD70Dude
You will surely recall a certain nearby city with a House that is now White.

A matter that, as I recall, was marked with a relative lack of butchery.  And that at least nominally was provoked by American messing with Canada.  (Specifically burning York, wasn't it?)

The butchery was elsewhere, for example that nasty Banastre Tarleton, or the death camps in New York during the early Revolutionary War.  

Americans usually are unfamiliar with much of the wide range of ways the British butcher their part of the 'common language' -- the original '20s Fowler goes into many of these in some detail.  

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Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 10:12 PM

With everyone sheltering in place, it seems that this thread is proof that Trains posters have a lot of excess time on their hands to hagle over grammar rules that I studied 66 years ago. It has been fun to read. Thanks.

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Posted by SD70Dude on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 8:04 PM

BaltACD
SD70Dude
And why am I not surprised that butchering the Queen's English is far from a new thing.

The Brits butchered more than just the Queen's English from time to time.

You will surely recall a certain nearby city with a House that is now White. 

You're welcome.

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

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Posted by BaltACD on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 7:34 PM

SD70Dude
And why am I not surprised that butchering the Queen's English is far from a new thing.

The Brits butchered more than just the Queen's English from time to time.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by York1 on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 6:21 PM

SD70Dude
It's hard to choose the best Zappa song, but the long version of 'Yellow Snow' always has been my personal favourite.

 

Mine was "Montana".

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Posted by SD70Dude on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 5:54 PM

Amazing that Moon Unit was only 14 when she recorded that.

And why am I not surprised that butchering the Queen's English is far from a new thing.

It's hard to choose the best Zappa song, but the long version of 'Yellow Snow' always has been my personal favourite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpNn1nht0_8

Greetings from Alberta

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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 5:42 PM

SD70Dude
ok boomer like omg lol, ive LITERALLY never heard any of my bffs say literally like, at all!!!!!!!

Boomer reply:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-LArv-sEQU

I could certainly picture her in a leather teddy!  Totally!

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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 5:36 PM

SD70Dude
For that service I don't think they will be heated.

They have to be.  Reptiles are poikilotherms.  

And the white boxcars with shackles were FEMA 1.0, before they got the additional funding for the articulated trilevels with built-in brainwashing facilities.

They store the hundreds of thousands of rounds of AP ball and WP and fragmentation grenades on the bottom level, where it has less deleterious effect on curve wear and potential string lining.  So it's really only two levels with the hardpoints.  Not sure why foamers don't recognize that; it's right up the alley for rivet-counters.

And of course those cars don't need windows, the systems have run Linux for decades now, since giving up on the purpose-coded stuff in Ada.

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Posted by SD70Dude on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 5:31 PM

Euclid
GERALD L MCFARLANE JR
As for listening to millenials speak, first you have to decide which language are they speaking,...

If it is millennials, they use the word “literally” in literally every sentence.

ok boomer

like omg lol, ive LITERALLY never heard any of my bffs say literally like, at all!!!!!!! LaughLaughLaughLaughLaugh

Greetings from Alberta

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Posted by SD70Dude on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 5:28 PM

Overmod

It's sorta important: do those heated reefers have shackle mounting hardpoints?  Very small reptile ones?

For that service I don't think they will be heated.

And while this isn't a spelling error, the FEMA boxcar conspiracy theorists really need to learn what a boxcar is.

FEMA Prison Boxcars : insanepeoplefacebook

Greetings from Alberta

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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 5:21 PM

NDG
Do Iguanas eat Potatoes in Idaho? or travel in Heated Reefers on the Head End behind UP F3s w plows on the SI so the cars are First Out and thereby be Iced in Canada forthwith??

F7s.  With Phase 3 winterization hatches, the later style of lifting rings, and double secret back transition relay logic probation.

It's sorta important: do those heated reefers have shackle mounting hardpoints?  Very small reptile ones?

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Posted by NDG on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 5:18 PM

 

 

Just a Thought.

Do Iguanas eat Potatoes in Idaho? or travel in Heated Reefers on the Head End behind UP F3s w plows on the SI so the cars are First Out and thereby be Iced in Canada forthwith??

Thank You.

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Posted by selector on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 5:16 PM

Euclid

 

 

 ...I could care less.

 

Thank goodness. 

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Posted by York1 on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 4:24 PM

Years ago I worked in the pressroom of a newspaper.  At that time, there was a "proofing" room, with the people working there proofreading everything.

The article was written by a reporter, checked by an editor, typed by the linotype operators, and then approved by the proofreaders.

Even at that, the pressmen would still catch mistakes once the presses had begun.  Nobody was happy when the presses had to be stopped to make a correction.

York1 John       

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Posted by Euclid on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 4:22 PM

GERALD L MCFARLANE JR
As for listening to millenials speak, first you have to decide which language are they speaking,...

 

If it is millennials, they use the word “literally” in literally every sentence.

 

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 4:21 PM

Well they say that America and England are two countries separated by a common language.

Semper Vaporo

Pkgs.

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Posted by GERALD L MCFARLANE JR on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 4:17 PM

Lithonia Operator

~snip~

A few months ago (I wish I had saved the mag, because I meant to ask you folks about it.) in Trains, there was a run-on sentence that I spent about ten minutes simply trying to figure out what the heck it was saying. I never could. And neither could my wife. I have a degree in Journalism. She has two college degrees. But we were stumped.

Free hall passes for all of you! Yes 

Most likely I still have that issue sitting on my floor right next to me, but it's one I possibly haven't read yet.  Knowing myself though, I'll read it as if the puncuation is there when it really isn't.

As for listening to millenials speak, first you have to decide which language are they speaking, the Queens English(which I doubt any Americans speak) or American English.  I know English isn't defined that way, but it should be because the two languages are far enough apart to warrant their own names.

Lithonia Operator
 
Deggesty 
54light15

What drive's me nut's is misplaced apostrophes. 

 

Is it now taught in schools that if an "s" is added to a word it must be separated from the word by an apostrophe? And that the historical possessive of "it" ("its") must be changed to "it's" (which was the contraction of "it is"? 

No, Johnny, nothing has changed as far as what is correct. It's still just as you learned it. But the teaching of English is failing.

 

 
However, the failing may not always be with the teaching, if someone is relying on a spell checker it's almost always going to flag a word with an s at the end as being wrong...so I've noticed.
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Posted by Euclid on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 4:13 PM

selector
 
Euclid

 

 
selector
 
54light15

What drive's me nut's is misplaced apostrophes. 

 

 

 

 

Oh..oh!!  I got this one!  "What drive's me nut's is misplaced apostrophes." should have the apostrophe before the S in apostrophes.  Right?

While I'm here, what's wrong with my, "I got this one!"

 

 

 

Overuse of exclamation point.

 

 

 

 

Well, yes, rather. Laugh

Also, the present tense of "to have" is "have", not "got".  Further, it is no better stated as "I have got this one,' which is also often seen.

 

The "have" in "I have got this one" seems bulky.  Saying "I have this one" fails to convey the urgency of providing a snap answer.  I would just go with "I got this one" and declare it to be an idiom, so it need not comply with grammar rules. 

I could care less.

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Posted by York1 on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 4:13 PM

BaltACD
The other thing I will add - let time elapse between proof readings - when proofing soon after the initial writing your eyes and mind - being intimately engrossed in what you have written will tend to gloss over your 'detail' mistakes as you are concentrating on your lofty ideas.  Time lets you look at it more critically and more objectively - both for content and detail.

 

It's also a good idea, if the writing is important, to have another person read what is written.

I have read over something several times, only to have someone else catch a mistake.

York1 John       

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Posted by Bruce Kelly on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 3:40 PM

What Balt added is absolutely right. The phrase "sleep on it" comes to mind. I'll always find points in my writing to polish further when I come back to it with fresh eyes and brain a day or so later. When that luxury of time is available.

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Posted by Deggesty on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 3:31 PM

selector

 

 
Euclid

 

 
selector
 
54light15

What drive's me nut's is misplaced apostrophes. 

 

 

 

 

Oh..oh!!  I got this one!  "What drive's me nut's is misplaced apostrophes." should have the apostrophe before the S in apostrophes.  Right?

While I'm here, what's wrong with my, "I got this one!"

 

 

 

Overuse of exclamation point.

 

 

 

 

Well, yes, rather. Laugh

Also, the present tense of "to have" is "have", not "got".  Further, it is no better stated as "I have got this one,' which is also often seen.

 

Yes, I learned, more or less, that "got" is the past tense of "get"--and you need the past perfect of "get" if you combine the verb with "have."

Ain't I crabby?Smile

Johnny

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Posted by selector on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 3:23 PM

Euclid

 

 
selector
 
54light15

What drive's me nut's is misplaced apostrophes. 

 

 

 

 

Oh..oh!!  I got this one!  "What drive's me nut's is misplaced apostrophes." should have the apostrophe before the S in apostrophes.  Right?

While I'm here, what's wrong with my, "I got this one!"

 

 

 

Overuse of exclamation point.

 

 

Well, yes, rather. Laugh

Also, the present tense of "to have" is "have", not "got".  Further, it is no better stated as "I have got this one,' which is also often seen.

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Posted by BaltACD on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 3:21 PM

Deggesty
 
Bruce Kelly

L.O., I fully agree.

Every day I come across misspellings and missing or misused words in the "professional" writing that's posted at news and feature outlets of every kind, including some of the largest players in the media business. Seems to happen less often in print, most likely because there's more time (and personnel?) allotted to properly proof and edit material that's going to be "etched in stone" (inked onto paper) within a matter of days or hours. It's a different story with web material, where it's all about getting the news up there and posted as quickly as possible, often within minutes.

A couple of months ago, a young journalist reached out to me for some advice as he headed toward a new postion with a fairly popular magazine. Among the more than 4,000 words of worn-out wisdom I game him was my strong recommendation to always read through a finished piece multiple times, mostly with the eyes, but at least once or twice with the mouth and ears, in order to both SEE and HEAR potential flaws before committing the material to public consumption. 

Bruce, good advice! I have found that I need to read what I have written before I send it on, to catch the wrong keys that I pressed as well as making certain that what I wrote means what I intended. 

One thing that I have long noticed is that people tend to imitate the way their parents and others around them talked as they were growing up. I have a good friend here where I live who talks in a manner other than that which I heard at home as I was growing up; I understand what he says, and say nothing about his grammar or usage.

The other thing I will add - let time elapse between proof readings - when proofing soon after the initial writing your eyes and mind - being intimately engrossed in what you have written will tend to gloss over your 'detail' mistakes as you are concentrating on your lofty ideas.  Time lets you look at it more critically and more objectively - both for content and detail.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Deggesty on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 3:18 PM

tree68

It doesn't help that the upcoming generations have been raised on tweets and LOL's.

Not to mention word processors.  With spel czech.

I'm sure very few of them have heard of the Government Printing Office Style Manual.  I will admit, I'm not sure where my copy is hiding right now...

 

I comprehend some of the abbreviations used by the people who use shirt pocket-sized communications devices, but I do find it easier to read words that are spelled out and not abbreviated.

As to spell czech, if I am in doubt about the spelling of a word that I post, I will copy it to my word processor which does understand words that are commonly used.

My wife worked as a copy editor for two publishers, and she often referred to the University of Chicago Manual of Style (or some such name). Usually, the author agreed with her corrections, but some would take issue with her. She did ask me a question or two about the proper name of this railroad or that railroad. 

Johnny

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Posted by Deggesty on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 3:07 PM

Bruce Kelly

L.O., I fully agree.

Every day I come across misspellings and missing or misused words in the "professional" writing that's posted at news and feature outlets of every kind, including some of the largest players in the media business. Seems to happen less often in print, most likely because there's more time (and personnel?) allotted to properly proof and edit material that's going to be "etched in stone" (inked onto paper) within a matter of days or hours. It's a different story with web material, where it's all about getting the news up there and posted as quickly as possible, often within minutes.

A couple of months ago, a young journalist reached out to me for some advice as he headed toward a new postion with a fairly popular magazine. Among the more than 4,000 words of worn-out wisdom I game him was my strong recommendation to always read through a finished piece multiple times, mostly with the eyes, but at least once or twice with the mouth and ears, in order to both SEE and HEAR potential flaws before committing the material to public consumption.

 

Bruce, good advice! I have found that I need to read what I have written before I send it on, to catch the wrong keys that I pressed as well as making certain that what I wrote means what I intended.

One thing that I have long noticed is that people tend to imitate the way their parents and others around them talked as they were growing up. I have a good friend here where I live who talks in a manner other than that which I heard at home as I was growing up; I understand what he says, and say nothing about his grammar or usage.

Johnny

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 2:15 PM

It doesn't help that the upcoming generations have been raised on tweets and LOL's.

Not to mention word processors.  With spel czech.

I'm sure very few of them have heard of the Government Printing Office Style Manual.  I will admit, I'm not sure where my copy is hiding right now...

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Posted by Bruce Kelly on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 2:07 PM

L.O., I fully agree.

Every day I come across misspellings and missing or misused words in the "professional" writing that's posted at news and feature outlets of every kind, including some of the largest players in the media business. Seems to happen less often in print, most likely because there's more time (and personnel?) allotted to properly proof and edit material that's going to be "etched in stone" (inked onto paper) within a matter of days or hours. It's a different story with web material, where it's all about getting the news up there and posted as quickly as possible, often within minutes.

A couple of months ago, a young journalist reached out to me for some advice as he headed toward a new postion with a fairly popular magazine. Among the more than 4,000 words of worn-out wisdom I game him was my strong recommendation to always read through a finished piece multiple times, mostly with the eyes, but at least once or twice with the mouth and ears, in order to both SEE and HEAR potential flaws before committing the material to public consumption.

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Posted by MMLDelete on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 1:02 PM

Yes, regular folks. Sure.

But today, you see many more errors from professional writers than you did in the past.

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Posted by zugmann on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 12:58 PM

Lithonia Operator
No, Johnny, nothing has changed as far as what is correct. It's still just as you learned it. But the teaching of English is failing.

It's been failing for generations, then.  I've seen people of all ages that make these common mistakes. 

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any

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Posted by MMLDelete on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 12:57 PM

zugmann

 

 
Lithonia Operator
Now, would you rather buy fresh fish or "fresh" (wink, wink) fish?

 

I'd more worried if they sold fresh "fish".

 

Big Smile Good one!

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