Quote:
Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz
... a response for a student, an alumni or a mentor.
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Psst - Al - While we are on the subject of writing (or speaking) well, I would like to take a moment to remind our readers that a single, male graduate is an alumnus, not an alumni.
A female graduate is an alumna; and several of them together are almunae.
Whenever one is uncertain whether to use the plural or singluar forms of alum_, just test drive (in your head) substituting geese or goose into the sentence and let that tell you whether using the plural or singular form is correct.
Also, someone else brought up homonyms - Folks who have trouble properly citing something when they post messages on this site, need to notice that "cite" and "site" are not the same word.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Molten
... I still stand by a post I made long ago:
Engineers talk with math first, and grammar second. It is a fact of life. ...
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Then you know that one must understand and master grammar(s) in order to write/communicate mathematical concepts successfully.
English and other similar languages are a bit messier than pure math; but grammar is not something that separates them from mathematics.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Rotolo
... word usage ...
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Hey Don - Try using "use" instead of "usage" - It's easier to type, means the same thing, and doesn't sound like jargon
Attributed to Churchill: "Broadly speaking, the short words are the best, and the old words best of all."
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Now - After shooting my mouth off three times in quick succession here, I think I should avoid posting anything more for at least a month. The risk of slipping up and embarassing myself is far too high.
Blake