QFT
Note from a cranky editor
- Thread starter Greg Cox
- Start date
QFT
Same here. I also have problems getting the u-a order right in "guard".
Tru dat.
On a side note, I was born and raised outside of the U.S., and English is my second language. English was part of the curriculum from elementary school through college, with emphasis on writing and grammar. When I was growing up there in the '80s, American TV shows and cartoons were a lot more common, too.
I have a friend who has just directed his own web series. In the quasi-trailer that he is presenting at the International Sci-fi/Horror Film Festival this month, he describes it as being very "episodic." Now, correct me if I'm totally off base here, but I thought "episodic" means that the individual webisodes would all be separate stories. They're not. The 5 webisodes form one continuous story. Isn't that "serialized"? Isn't he using a word that means the exact opposite of what he intends?
Also, I've found many members of my generation using the phrase "in lieu of" in completely inappropriate ways. To my understanding, "in lieu of" means "instead of" but these people use it to mean "because of" or "due to."
Also, I've found many members of my generation using the phrase "in lieu of" in completely inappropriate ways. To my understanding, "in lieu of" means "instead of" but these people use it to mean "because of" or "due to."
You're right. They're wrong.
I still get confused between harass and embarrass...most of the time.
Love this thread. I'm an editor myself, so this stuff can drive me crazy. My fellow editors all have personal grammar "rules" they like to follow. Some people stick to things that are totally untrue and have no grasp of style or context. all of this just shows how complex and changing the English language is.
A couple of Star Trek-specific pet peeves... there's a book series called Myriad Universes, and lots of people either a) spell "Myriad" as "Myraid" or b) say "Myriad Universe." "Myriad" means either "uncountably many" or exactly 10,000; either way, it's intensely plural. So there's no such thing as "a Myriad Universe."
Then there's the false plural "omnibi" for "omnibus," as in an omnibus collection of a book series (another thing that comes up often in Trek). No. Omnibus is already a plural form in Latin. It's not the singular suffix -us attached to the root omnib-, but the dative (possessive) plural suffix -ibus attached to the root omn- (from omnis, "all"). In Latin, it's an adjective meaning "of them all." It's only in English that it becomes a singular noun (technically it's still an adjective, but "omnibus collection" gets shortened to "omnibus" so it functions as a noun), so it needs to be pluralized by English rules, viz. "omnibuses." (By analogy, "bus" is short for "omnibus vehicle," and the plural is "buses," not "bi.")
Then there's the false plural "omnibi" for "omnibus," as in an omnibus collection of a book series (another thing that comes up often in Trek). No. Omnibus is already a plural form in Latin. It's not the singular suffix -us attached to the root omnib-, but the dative (possessive) plural suffix -ibus attached to the root omn- (from omnis, "all"). In Latin, it's an adjective meaning "of them all." It's only in English that it becomes a singular noun (technically it's still an adjective, but "omnibus collection" gets shortened to "omnibus" so it functions as a noun), so it needs to be pluralized by English rules, viz. "omnibuses." (By analogy, "bus" is short for "omnibus vehicle," and the plural is "buses," not "bi.")
Definately a good thread.
What do you expect from a language that was created by peasants & the illiterate?
I have just read through this entire thread and NOBODY has mentioned the odious example I have seen so much here lately.
Then and than are NOT interchangeable.
I have seen that SO MUCH on the 'net lately and it drives me friggin' bonkers. I am sure it is the lazy way some young people speak these days. They are not actually pronouncing the actual words correctly in the first place. Thus when they come to write them they just use them interchangeably.
Makes my blood boil.
There is the old standard, usually only said by Americans, as well - "I could care less". I used to have to restrain myself when I heard that one but I have kind of given up the fight. When I see that written now I just usually discount ANYTHING written after it as the ramblings of an ignorant chimp.
Yeah, you may be right. I don't think I AM over it completely.
Of course, the FUNNIEST thing I see is when people put others down for "mispronounciation".
The sheer delicious irony of that is usually worth a chuckle.
Oh but the ALL TIME funniest was when I was at a religious meeting once and the speaker intoned, very authoritatively that,
"We must all be reprehensible before God!!!"
What made it funnier was that he said it over and over, getting more and more angry as he went on, slamming his fist on the lectern.
He and his "religion" were both full of shit.
Then and than are NOT interchangeable.
I have seen that SO MUCH on the 'net lately and it drives me friggin' bonkers. I am sure it is the lazy way some young people speak these days. They are not actually pronouncing the actual words correctly in the first place. Thus when they come to write them they just use them interchangeably.
Makes my blood boil.
There is the old standard, usually only said by Americans, as well - "I could care less". I used to have to restrain myself when I heard that one but I have kind of given up the fight. When I see that written now I just usually discount ANYTHING written after it as the ramblings of an ignorant chimp.
Yeah, you may be right. I don't think I AM over it completely.
Of course, the FUNNIEST thing I see is when people put others down for "mispronounciation".
The sheer delicious irony of that is usually worth a chuckle.
Oh but the ALL TIME funniest was when I was at a religious meeting once and the speaker intoned, very authoritatively that,
"We must all be reprehensible before God!!!"
What made it funnier was that he said it over and over, getting more and more angry as he went on, slamming his fist on the lectern.
He and his "religion" were both full of shit.
It actually is perfectly acceptable to pronounce them the same, despite the different spellings.
I understand what you're saying. I think it's more of a slurred, rushed pronunciation.
The way the vast majority pronounce it(including myself)would mean both words would be spelled "thn". I just wish, in actual writing, people could differentiate between the two different words.
The way the vast majority pronounce it(including myself)would mean both words would be spelled "thn". I just wish, in actual writing, people could differentiate between the two different words.
^Fair point about the "thn" spelling, it is often rushed. Just out of curiosity, which brand of English do you speak? I looked it up in an American dictionary (despite my being Canadian) and it showed in the pronunciation key that both words were said the same way. I wonder if it's technically different in England.
Australian.
As I said above, speaking it, both words could be pronounced identically and, within context, the listener would know exactly what you meant. Again, my main beef is people thinking it is perfectly fine to write,
"I like Next Gen more then Voyager."
or
"I will wait until it airs than I will tell you what I think."
PLEASE, for the love of GOD tell me neither is acceptable in Canada or the US. When I read those(and the "then" being used in the wrong context is much more common), I just want to scream.
As I said above, speaking it, both words could be pronounced identically and, within context, the listener would know exactly what you meant. Again, my main beef is people thinking it is perfectly fine to write,
"I like Next Gen more then Voyager."
or
"I will wait until it airs than I will tell you what I think."
PLEASE, for the love of GOD tell me neither is acceptable in Canada or the US. When I read those(and the "then" being used in the wrong context is much more common), I just want to scream.
Not naming names, but ...
I had this argument with a friend of mine when he attempted to write prose - his characters, as he wrote them, stuck diligently to the rules of English and sounded completely lifeless; I suggested that characters' speech, in general, is not bound by the rules, in the way that exposition is, and he, of course, insisted that characters also had to stick to every rule of spelling and grammar. I've since come to find there are many things my otherwise-intelligent friend is curiously - and narrow-mindedly - wrong about (mostly politics
).
"Adds," not "ads"; I see this quite a bit online, as well. Not as much as "alot," which drives me bonkers ...
Should this not simply be, "It helps keep us the humble and gentle people we are?" "As" seems out of place to me.
"Error-filled"
Without a comma after "so," that is a sentence fragment, not a sentence. "Even so I might use it in dialogue ... " - What follows this? my mind asks.
I had this argument with a friend of mine when he attempted to write prose - his characters, as he wrote them, stuck diligently to the rules of English and sounded completely lifeless; I suggested that characters' speech, in general, is not bound by the rules, in the way that exposition is, and he, of course, insisted that characters also had to stick to every rule of spelling and grammar. I've since come to find there are many things my otherwise-intelligent friend is curiously - and narrow-mindedly - wrong about (mostly politics
).
How so? They're not in any way interchangeable. Do you mean you're confused by "harass" and "embarrass?" I know I frequently forget the second "r" in embarrass, so I can easily understand that sort of confusion.
I think the only one that really bothers me (and it's a sci-fi example, hurrah!) is Anikin or Anikan for Anakin. Not when it's a typo, but when people consistently spell the name wrong. Really? Are you really not paying attention, or do you just think everyone else, including George Lucas, has it wrong?
Other than that, my grammar has been in steady decline since I graduated, so I don't think I have much cause to judge. Plus, my linguist girlfriend says I'm being overly-prescriptive about language if I start going on about grammar rules. I guess she's one of those hippy "let the people speak and spell as they want so language can evolve" sort of people.
Other than that, my grammar has been in steady decline since I graduated, so I don't think I have much cause to judge. Plus, my linguist girlfriend says I'm being overly-prescriptive about language if I start going on about grammar rules. I guess she's one of those hippy "let the people speak and spell as they want so language can evolve" sort of people.
What I meant was I get confused between how many "r"s each one has. Grrr.
Similar threads
