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Reply With QuoteI'm afraid it wouldn't work Clive. For you to perform your pedal antics you need a straight man (or woman). It would be like Morecambe without Wise. Sad, sad,sad.
With the triumphant introduction of "Land of a 1,000 dances" and "Geeks' Corner" to the CerocScotland Forum, should we not introduce a Pedants' (nice use of apostrophe there Clive) Corner?
Some suggested topics for endless debate
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Do you feel safe when you use Fabulous or Fantastic?
Correct use of:
- Loose/lose
- Affect/Effect
- There/their
- Uninterested/disinterested
Should we revert to the spelling of Chaucer or Beowulf?
Use of the semi-colon. Is it a relic of empire?
Is semi-colon hyphenated?
Punctuation marks in direct speech, In or Out?
Split infinitives.
Prepositional phrases. A lost art.
The comma. Why is it so small?
The subjunctive. Should we use it or is it best left ignored lest it do us harm?
Last edited by Clive Long; 28th-October-2005 at 09:44 AM. Reason: Mis-placed apostrophe !! Gaaaah !!!
I'm afraid it wouldn't work Clive. For you to perform your pedal antics you need a straight man (or woman). It would be like Morecambe without Wise. Sad, sad,sad.
Originally Posted by Clive Long
- too/to
- off/of
- bear/bare
although I don't know why I'm posting... I'm so pedantic that I've been known to take a biro to shop signs. But life's too short, I normally can't be a**ed any more.
She's like a clockwork bunny - just wind her up and let her go.
Also
- less/fewer
- compliment/complement
- your/you're
- its/it's
Good thread Clive!!
Thank-you for this opportunity...
Pretty much. But the word literally... That's a bug-bear.
Spelling is as the world makes it. Although there is a standard "correct" way to spell most words, I try hard not to frown too much when I see a word spelt incorrectly.
In a cartoon in the Metro last week two guys were saying how they never realised at the time, but once they left school they never used the semicolon again.
I will use it occasionally, hopefully correctly. As to the hyphen... It doesn't greatly matter, but my shorter oxford dictionary spells it as semicolon, and doesn't offer the hyphenated form as an alternative.
Depends on context, logic and aesthetics. No hard and fast rules here for me.
Not to ever be sniffed at. Just so long as it doesn't feel awkward.
Whatever...
Looks like I'm losing the will to be pedantic. Maybe it's too early in the morning.
Let your mind go and your body will follow. – Steve Martin, LA Story
Chains - gold, silver or platinum?
Crosses - only for Christians?
Oops! You said pedants... Never mind...
Right, let me try to liven you up a bit then.
Two exclamation marks? It may be cool, but it isn't English and it is superfluous, unless the sentence ends with a name such as Yahoo!.
Is a hyphen appropriate here? I think not.
Nor here.
An ellipsis at the end of a sentence requires a full stop, making four dots.
Well I reckon that's enough to get you kick started this morning. If you need your blood pressure raising at any other time, please feel free to contact me.
It's working!Right, let me try to liven you up a bit then.
TheyTwo exclamation marks? It may be cool, but it isn't English and it is superfluous, unless the sentence ends with a name such as Yahoo!.
they aren't
and
they are
surely?
I would also argue that two exclamation marks following a sentence written in English are also English - just not correctly construed English.
Pedantry... I love it really.
My turn.It's correctly construed. It's incorrectly constructed.
Same Latin root, same difference, surely? Grammar is usually spoken of as being construed rather than constructed. (Yes, I know, that last sentence wasn't correctly construed either.)
Don't care quite enough to Google for it today, it's Friday (hooray)!
I tried to stop this before it got started. Somehow I knew it wouldn't work :sigh: .It's working!
Let me clarify. In using 'it' I was referring to the use of two exclamation marks. So what I meant was ....They
they aren't
and
they are
surely?
I would also argue that two exclamation marks following a sentence written in English are also English - just not correctly construed English.
Pedantry... I love it really.
The use of two exclamation marks may be cool, but it isn't English and it is superfluous....
I would plead guilty to bad writing as my meaning was not made clear, but innocent of bad grammar (in this case, he says quickly, just in case).
And
* where/there
* under/the stair
* under/the stair
* right/there
AAARGH, I'm going to have that going through my head all day now!
English?
Here's a good one - the rules of sarcasm.
Hah, yeah, like I'd ever listen to that.
hear / here
I would have corrected the sign next to a collection tin inside starbucks in Edinburgh if it hadn't been behind plastic - "collection for the [insert name here] handicapped center"
loose/lose and your/you're are the most annoying I think
gah!
A little mouse with cloooogs on.
Well I declare,
Going clip, clippity clop on the stair,
That's Where?
Right there.
Oh yeah.
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Simple pleasures
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Had enough LMC? Tell us where you hid the money. Eh? Eh?
Vastly preferable to
"If I had a million dollars...."
Oops...
Dunno if it's still there, but the Fulham Ceroc noticeboard, usually to be found around the bar area, used to have a poster at the top saying:
Ceroc New's
.. and before anyone gets on my case, of course, I meant
"to be found in the bar area".
By the same token, "under the circumstances" gets my goat. I think I deserve an award for that, since you need to know a little Latin even to understand why it's wrong ...
Ah, the grocer's apostrophe
I thought the general rule for apostrophes was "if in doubt, leave it out", not "if in doubt, put it in".
I'll let someone else pick up the innuendo, I'm busy
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