13 Αυγούστου 2008
Έλαβα ένα ενδιαφέρον ηλεκτρονικό ταχυδρομείο από έναν αναγνώστη που ονομάστηκε Todd, ο οποίος ερευνούσε για την ευπρέπεια της χρησιμοποίησης των κατασκευών περίπου πώς και λόγος για τον οποίο.
Απάντησα ότι η μεγαλύτερη αμαρτία τους είναι ο παντελής πλεονασμός τους. Πώς, λόγος και γιατί μπορέστε, ανάλογα με την πρόταση, να σταθείτε μόνοι τους και να κάνετε την εργασία σόλο. Περίπου πώς είναι επίσης μη συγκεκριμένος και επομένως ασαφής στις περισσότερες περιπτώσεις.
Todd ο ίδιος ταχυδρόμησε αργότερα μερικά καλά παραδείγματα, ενός από τα οποία θα επαναλάβω αδιάντροπα εδώ:
Αρχικός:
"Οι συνηθισμένοι ύποπτοι είναι μια ταινία του 1995 για το πώς πέντε εγκληματίες συγκεντρώνονται και αρχίζουν ένα ξεφάντωμα εγκλήματος, με μια συστροφή πλοκών σόου στο συμπέρασμα. «
Todd αναθεώρηση:
"Οι συνηθισμένοι ύποπτοι είναι μια ταινία του 1995 για πέντε εγκληματίες που συγκεντρώνονται και αρχίζουν ένα ξεφάντωμα εγκλήματος, με μια συστροφή πλοκών σόου στο συμπέρασμα. «
(Η πρόταση μπόρεσε περαιτέρω να κατασταθεί πιό αναγνώσιμη με τη διαγραφή και επιβιβαστείτε.)
Todd δεν παρείχε οποιους δήποτε λόγος για τον οποίο τα παραδείγματα, αλλά εδώ είναι ιδιαίτερα φοβερό:
«Ο λόγος για τον οποίο είμαι πεινασμένος είναι επειδή δεν έχω φάει σε δύο ημέρες.»
Πρώτα από, δεν μπορείτε να ακολουθήσετε ένα ρήμα σύνδεσης (είναι) με ένα επίρρημα (επειδή), έτσι ώστε ολόκληρο το μέρος είναι έξω. Δεύτερον, και πίσω στο κύριο σημείο μου, καθένα λόγος, επειδή ή γιατί είναι ικανοποιητικός από το.
Αναθεωρήσεις:
«Ο λόγος που είμαι πεινασμένος είναι ότι δεν έχω φάει σε δύο ημέρες.»
«Είμαι πεινασμένος επειδή δεν έχω φάει σε δύο ημέρες.»
Τόσο μεγάλο μέρος για τη διατροφή μου, EH; LOL
5 Αυγούστου 2008
Όρμηξα αυτήν την περιοχή στην ύπαρξη που αναλαμβάνει για τη γραμματική απορροφώ για μερικούς λόγους, ένας από τους που εξετάζουν τα υπολογιστής-δευτερεύοντα ζητήματα. Μετέστρεφα τους κεντρικούς υπολογιστές και θέλησα να αποσυρθώ τη γραμματική απορροφώ (και την χρησιμοποιήστε καθώς 301 επαναπροσανατολίζουν μόνο).
Κατά συνέπεια, αυτή η περιοχή μαζί και την πήρα επάνω γρήγορα. When it came to titling it, my official URL was and is GrammarSource, but that doesn’t say much about what the site is all about, even with a subtitle under it.
I came up with what I thought was a brilliant idea to create my own word to signify that this site was all about English writing and grammar usage, so I coined the word Englishapedia.
My first impulse was to use Englishipedia, copying Wikipedia, but I thought that would be too obvious a rip-off. Then I toyed with Englishopedia, morphing the generic word encyclopedia.
Now that I look at what I have wrought, and I hate the "a" version. The other two seem much more suited.
If anyone would like to influence my choice over the next few days, please just e-mail me.
August 3, 2008
Welcome to my new site, which takes over for Grammar Sucks.
The latter site was great and dates back to 1997 or so, but with sucks in the title, my e-mail box was constantly filled with every spammy sexual-perversion offer in the universe. I just got sick of it.
So, welcome to Grammar Source.
I should be back on track here soon with new and substantial postings. To make an excuse, I switched servers this past week, whichI thought that would take a day or less to do. It ended up consuming at least four days, and there are still glitches.
So, to solve the problem, I’m placed Grammar Source on an entirely new hosting service. Things should be fine from now on.
July 19, 2008
Six-month-old babies in TV ads who speak English like 35-year-old Harvard MBA graduates?
Dogs and other animals that can speak English as well (or as poorly) as your typically addled teenager next door?
(Or lizards that can dance?)
I’d rather see humans’ barking than dogs’ speaking English, or grown adults’ "mewling and puking" like infants rather than infants’ peorating about consumer products. At least it would more accurately depict the human condition.
June 30, 2008
Okay, I’ve gotten used to the use of the misspelled word judgement on Iron Chef. However, now it’s also being used on ESPN Sports Center.
I did a little dictionary research to see if judgement, the misspelling, has gained acceptability. The answer is yes and no. One dictionary lists the "e" spelling as an alternative, but then goes on to illustrate the use judgement by citing sentence examples using judgment, the correct spelling. It also defined judgement narrowly, saying it was "the legal document stating the reason for a judicial opinion."
Bottom line–judgment is the only spelling, deriving from the French word jugement (which does use an "e," curiously).
June 27, 2008
No one can ever accuse the authors of our Constitution of being grammar experts. Take the Second Amendment, subject of yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling. It reads:
"A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
Now, ignoring the fact that, in the 18th century, people often capitalized nouns for emphasis, the sentence still has structural problems. It should read, "A well-regulated militia’s being necessary…." Being is a gerund and thus must be preceded by a possessive. Also, the comma after Arms separates the subject from the verb and is a real no-no.
What about the amendment’s meaning?
Full Story »
June 20, 2008
In irony of ironies, considering how poor I am, I woke up this morning and opened the shutters in my living room to see the sun rising from the east and said outloud (yes, I do talk to myself), "The world is my oyster." Of course, it’s not, and actually I said, "The woild is my oyster," mimicking a Mafioso or someone from stereotypical New Jersey/New York.
That got me to look up the origins of the saying, and it is indeed something from The Bard in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Said Pistol to Falstaff therein:
Why, then the world’s mine oyster,
Which I with sword will open.
Maybe I’ll just fall on my sword. LOL
June 17, 2008
A site called the Drudge Retort, a liberal answer to the Drudge Report, was ordered by the Associated Press (AP) to cease and desist using snippets of AP articles in its own articles this past week.
Drudge II complied, but objected that copyright law permits the "fair use" of copyrighted material, in limited portions, for scholarly and academic purposes.
I doubt I’d consider either Drudge I or Drudge II scholarly or academic, but I defend their right to quote from published sources and comment on them. This is the meaning, to me, of a free press. I do it all the time here and on my other blogs.
Anyway, a spat ensued, and eventually AP backed away from its legal threat and said the organization "needed to rethink" matters.
What really galled AP, from what I can determine from reading between the lines, is that Drudge and other sites were using the quotations as tie-ins to advertising.
If that’s the case, then AP has a good argument.
June 13, 2008
Paraskavedekatriaphobia is a word formed from three Greek words: paraskevi (Friday,) dekatreis (thirteen) and phobia (fear or phobia), meaning "fear of Friday the 13th." Triskaidekaphobia means just "fear of the number 13."
There you go. Learn something everyday. Happy Friday the 13th!
June 9, 2008
I came across this site that lists the highest–and lowest–gasoline pump prices in each state and counties, parishes, areas, etc., within that state.
I checked it against my local knowledge, and while it was good, it didn’t list the stations that I know to consistently have the lowest prices. Still, it beats not knowing where to save money.
It’s called Gas Buddy.
PS Unless I’m mistaken, look for gas prices to reach $5 a gallon by the Fourth of July, or shortly thereafter. They’ll come down in September or October for the presidential election and then continue their upward march after the new president is elected.
