Post Counts and Length of Member(ship)

[jonb]

[quote author=DoubleMeatWhopper link=board=99;num=1058867203;start=0#16 date=07/23/03 at 11:43:03]Okay, as a Master of Arts in English Literature, I must admit that some misspellings make me cringe. A few have hurt my linguistic sensibilities critically. Most of them don't bother me much. What bothers me more are those posts that read like interminable run-on sentences they have no punctuation i see them and think wow that person's keyboard doesn't have any punctuation marks i can sometimes decipher them and figure out where to separate them however sometimes putting the appropriate mark in the wrong place can change the entire meaning of the sentence i don't always know which meaning the author intended i therefore tend to just skip those posts ... know what I mean?

Passive voice can be a useful construction. Sometimes, it's a necessary one. However, it can at times detract stylistically. For example, "The bull charged at the toreador," is more gripping than, "The toreador was charged at by the bull." Save passive voice for when you want to read like a news broadcast.[/quote]
Or in the laboratory.

Speaking of spelling, ever notice "the IRS" spells "theirs"?

 

[Pecker]

As a former substitute English teacher (a long, long time ago when "ain't" would get you a serious demerit) I've learned to ignore internet misspelling.

What would really get the hair up on the back of my neck would be writing in the form of normal conversation!

Can you imagine all the "you-know's," "like's" and "know what I'm sayin's" we'd have to wade through?

Jeez! Give me a few wrongly-spelled words anytime.

 

[13788]

AnonyMs: This is a great community that is ever changing. As I look back on my own posting history, it seems when I first joined, I posted up a storm. It was so novel an experience to be talking about large penises! (Oops, I think my small town girl upbringing is shining through!) Then after a while, the novelty wore off and my postings assumed the behavior it has now - sometimes, I post in spurts and sometimes, several days will go by with nary a post. Sometimes I post a thoughtful discussion and sometimes I post a quickie one liner, mostly for laughs (even if only for my own amusement).
Sweeetest Nene, I have so enjoyed your tag lines... they always make me smile because they are so imaginative. Your posts have a maturity to them that often belie your years. You have quickly become a valuable member of the board - you are a thoughtful and self aware woman and these sorts of things almost always balance in the end.

And a note to all you lurkers out there... we really would love to hear from you. There is something wildly liberating in contributing to this forum on a regular basis. We are not as good as we could be without your unique contribution.

 

[13788]

awellhungboi: I have my pet peeves concerning writing, just like anyone who loves the English language.  And we may have some posts here where you can tell the person has obviously not consulted the LPSG Manual of Style (for all you newbies out there, the Manual comes in the mail with the complimentary cockring/baseball bat doughnut).  Still, I think it's beautiful when people write how they think, when you can tell it's coming straight from the heart to the tips of their fingers, with no intermediate inner editor red-penciling anything along the way.  But I've never seen a truly non-grammatical post, i.e.: "Big penis my is.  Suck and fuck me to you want?"

Well, okay, maybe in the personals section . . . .

 

[13788]

H8Monga: LPSG has its own Strunk & White?!

I remember, I hardly said the word "ain't" until after middle school. I got the impression that "ain't" ain't a word for me to use... something about reflecting your upbringing... I use it now but not a part of my everyday vocabulary... curse words are in the same category... although I've been saying "shit" a lot to myself recently...  :-[

 

[13788]

awellhungboi: [quote author=Hapi Papi link=board=99;num=1058867203;start=20#24 date=07/24/03 at 22:31:11]LPSG has its own Strunk & White?![/quote]

Yeah, and the entry on dangling participle is a centerfold!

 

[13788]

H8Monga: Dr. Whopper or Donk? :

 

[13788]

Ineligible: I used to look down on misspellings, and now as I get older and my typing and proofreading both get worse, I find I am making more and more of them myself - an apt punishment.

 

[13788]

7x6andchg: Monstro -

For a second there you made me think Yoda had joined the LPSG and posted a personals ad.

For the most part I tend to try and be as gramatically correct as I can in my posts. I also generally try to respond only if I have something (and it might be a small something) to say - I won't necessarily respond to every thread. Also, as most of you know, I have a thing for parenthetical references...I think that's because a lot of the time I'm afraid people won't get my jokes, such as they are. ;D

Sometimes I find it hard to believe I have posted on this board almost 360+ times (at this time) in 9 months.

7x6&C

 

[13788]

throb919: [quote author=monstro link=board=99;num=1058867203;start=20#23 date=07/24/03 at 22:16:01]I have my pet peeves concerning writing, just like anyone who loves the English language. And we may have some posts here where you can tell the person has obviously not consulted the LPSG Manual of Style (for all you newbies out there, the Manual comes in the mail with the complimentary cockring/baseball bat doughnut). Still, I think it's beautiful when people write how they think, when you can tell it's coming straight from the heart to the tips of their fingers, with no intermediate inner editor red-penciling anything along the way...[/quote]
I couldn't agree more. We can figure out what they're saying. It's "communication" and nobody's being graded on it. Maybe that's why I winced a bit at Dee's spell-check recommendation.

On the other hand, as a lover of the English language, I'm concerned that a lot of typos aren't just typos: it's pretty appalling how many people nowadays simply don't know the difference between there/they're/their and its/it's (for example). I'm creative director for an advertising agency; I hire (and edit) copywriters. There are a lot of degreed college graduates out there (yes--English and Journalism majors) who would greatly benefit from the LPSG Manual of Style--before typing-up their cover letters or applying for a job as a writer! (And Dee--I'd hire you tomorrow, btw.)

Monstro--when is my style guide and cockring coming...? Do I have to "earn" another star and segment (===) first...? Sitting by my mailbox.

Paul (7x6&c)--you and Nene are king and queen of the parenthetical reference! Often the best thing going in a thread...

Tony
(hoping like hell there are no typos or subject-verb disagreements in this post)

 

[13788]

awellhungboi: I know exactly what you mean, Tony.  I'm just a temp in an office, but recently I was given the assignment of going through resumes we had received, from cross-country, for data collector positions in a multi-state study.  I'm glad I didn't have to pick somebody out from that crop of people.  Jeez.   Spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, overinflated 'I'm A People Person!' posturing, and assurances of paying attention to details while misspelling the adressee's name.  I said something to my supervisor about it, and he got all snooty, because after all, I'm just this college dropout who spends most of my time at work chasing certain young women around the copy machine.

As an aspiring novelist, however, (and an obsessive compulsive perfectionist to boot) I feel like I have to pay attention to the rudiments of grammar and spelling, simply to be taken seriously.

Oh, and the cockring should be coming just as soon as baseball season is over!

modified to correct 2,378 grammatical, spelling, and typing errors, as well as innumerable lapses in judgement and good taste