Fuzzbling Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 Sheesh, I thought there wasn't any school on weekends! You know, I find it fascinating that such petty things end up on people?s annoyance list. It creeps up in the weirdest places, like a few days ago when I was posting a message here trying to help someone out with a computer related problem. One reply to a post I made started off by making a gramical correction to my post. And then proceeded to run my post down, in a fashion that seemed to entail my post was not up to par with his or any one else?s. The point being, to many people get worked up over little insignificant things. You only live once, should you really give a rats ass that Joe blow over there can't spell alcohol? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDogsBed Posted December 14, 2003 Share Posted December 14, 2003 As to helping the poster, I actually thought that using a comma to separate items in a list was one of the most common (and easiest) uses. After all having a list of items without commas makes it look positively naked: We may have to agree to disagree here. I would strongly contest that the most common use of a comma, in everyday use at least, is for pause. To assist in the "flow" of the text, as you so rightly state. Don't get me wrong, I'm not contesting the importance of the use of the comma for listing items but rather I don't see it as a predominant use in everday text. As the poster claimed no knowledge of how to use the comma, I referred to the most common and most frequent use. So yes having a list of items without a single comma to mark them apart makes them look positively naked whilst a sentence without any commas makes for the most horrid experience as this sentence should demonstrate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xerox Posted December 14, 2003 Share Posted December 14, 2003 I don't mean to throw cold water on your proposal, but it is impossible to creat a forum for boosting Neowin members' English grammar and rhetoric, at least for the present, though this thread is well-advised. :) What exactly are you trying to communicate here? That you should know, because your linguistic skills are superior? And that the rest of us are beyond recovery? And what is "creat"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted December 14, 2003 Share Posted December 14, 2003 This is completely and utterly anal IMO. This site is about technical content, and not correct spelling/grammar. If I accidently post 'your' instead of 'you're' and it annoys you, I really couldn't give a toss. This is a forum, not a job application. If I post technical advice/details that are incorrect, by all means please correct me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danshome Posted December 15, 2003 Share Posted December 15, 2003 We may have to agree to disagree here. I would strongly contest that the most common use of a comma, in everyday use at least, is for pause. To assist in the "flow" of the text, as you so rightly state. Don't get me wrong, I'm not contesting the importance of the use of the comma for listing items but rather I don't see it as a predominant use in everday text. As the poster claimed no knowledge of how to use the comma, I referred to the most common and most frequent use. So yes having a list of items without a single comma to mark them apart makes them look positively naked whilst a sentence without any commas makes for the most horrid experience as this sentence should demonstrate. It looks like its open for argument. Either way, the comma is obviously important - so the question is: why do people see fit to neglect it all over the place? This is completely and utterly anal IMO. This site is about technical content, and not correct spelling/grammar.If I accidently post 'your' instead of 'you're' and it annoys you, I really couldn't give a toss. This is a forum, not a job application. If I post technical advice/details that are incorrect, by all means please correct me. Anal, yes. Irrelevent, probably not. You're dead right - this is a forum, a means of communication. Punctuation and grammar is often integral in order to convey what you are trying to say effectively. Sure, you can't give a toss - it's just in my opinion, a well-formed post is more likely to get replies than a sloppy one without punction, grammar or correct spelling. People are just more likely to respond to posts they can read easily. And more likely to berate those that they can't. The point I was making earlier was that it doesn't matter if it's a forum or a job application; you should still put at least some degree of care into your writing, otherwise why should anyone else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calidude Posted December 15, 2003 Share Posted December 15, 2003 they're/there/their - a common misused homonym to/too/two - another commonly misused trio People who place apostrophes (') in the wrong place People who use more than an ellipsis' worth (...) of periods when in transition of thoughts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paisley Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 I read co-worker's letter recently. He wrote, "Please feel free to contact Mr. Smith or myself..." :angry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaise Veteran Posted June 3, 2004 Veteran Share Posted June 3, 2004 6 months??!!! Lets not revive threads this old anymore okay. btw: Grammar Nazi's annoy me more than bad grammar closed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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