Use Of Punctuation In A Post And What Is Annoying or Confusing

[Molten]

Originally Posted by dlavery

It is your responsibility to make your message as clear and understandable as possible.

If only game hints followed the same rules...

Yes, I admit to grammatical errors. I tend to take the stance that I will write as I speak. I make sure I don't do anything too horrendous, but my sentences do get quite long sometimes. I tend to avoid breaking these sentences into several, instead I add () and ... to attempt to create some coherency. If my posts are ever less then clear, please ask for refinement. I will almost always oblige.

I still stand by a post I made long ago:
Engineers talk with math first, and grammar second. It is a fact of life.

Grammar is very important in coming acrossed as clearly to your readers. However sometimes improper grammar sounds clearer then proper grammar. That is when I tend to go away from the strict rules.

Side note: I still to this day can never remember the difference between effect and affect. If someone cares to enlighten me, feel free to. However, I've looked it up many times already and still can't seem to remember it. I tend to just use "effect" whenever I want to say either out of habit.

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Molten

Side note: I still to this day can never remember the difference between effect and affect. If someone cares to enlighten me, feel free to. However, I've looked it up many times already and still can't seem to remember it. I tend to just use "effect" whenever I want to say either out of habit.

I remember it with Affect is an action, effect is the end result.

Though effect can also be a verb. Just to confuse you.

[Karibou]

Originally Posted by Tristan Lall

The singular use of they is a somewhat reasonable way of expressing concepts that would otherwise be clumsy. English lacks a gender-indeterminate or -neutral singular pronoun that can refer to a specific subject (one doesn't work when the subject is identified). Granted, in the above example, one could have substituted "it" if one* didn't mind forgoing the implied personification of the "inner editor"; otherwise, the canonical way to express that would have been to employ "he or she", or to imply a particular gender (both of which could potentially distort the intended meaning).

*See how clumsy "one" can be, despite the sentence being conditional?

Precisely.

Originally Posted by Molten

Yes, I admit to grammatical errors. I tend to take the stance that I will write as I speak. I make sure I don't do anything too horrendous, but my sentences do get quite long sometimes. I tend to avoid breaking these sentences into several, instead I add () and ... to attempt to create some coherency. If my posts are ever less then clear, please ask for refinement. I will almost always oblige.

This is exactly what I do. I try to write in a somewhat-professional manner, but I've found, by way of my journalism class, is that writing in a 100% professional manner makes whoever is trying to read your post/story/summary very bored, likely to skip over most of it, or just ignore it all together. My goal has been to not write anything that I wouldn't say in a normal conversation - it keeps things simple, interesting, and easy to read. I'm not going to make a speech about a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. I've been pretty good about it, and I feel like it makes me feel more mature.

(I also use (), ..., and emotes A LOT...it helps convey the sarcasm, hand gestures, and facial expressions that I would use if I were talking to someone face-to-face)

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Karibou

(I also use (), ..., and emotes A LOT...it helps convey the sarcasm, hand gestures, and facial expressions that I would use if I were talking to someone face-to-face)

Please don't teach Don Rotolo how to do all of that. Seriously.

[DonRotolo]

Hey! I thought you were my friend!

Originally Posted by Karibou

Seeing things like this makes me wonder if the poster cares about their reputation at all

Surely you recognize the sarcasm in my original post, Kara.

Originally Posted by Tristan Lall

Granted, in the above example, one could have substituted "it" if one* didn't mind forgoing the implied personification of the "inner editor"; otherwise, the canonical way to express that would have been to employ "he or she", or to imply a particular gender (both of which could potentially distort the intended meaning).

Re-try all that with the word "I" instead of "they" and see how that sounds.


I've learned to control myself when I spot errors, but every one I see grates on my soul. I write professionally, both for a living and for spending money (google "N2IRZ") and grammar, spelling and word usage are very important to me.

Oh, and I do love them commas!

[gblake]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

... a response for a student, an alumni or a mentor.

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.

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. ...

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.

Originally Posted by Don Rotolo

... word usage ...

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."

---------------------------
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

[Richard Wallace]

Usage.

I highly recommend getting a paper copy of The Elements of Style, in one of its more modern editions. [The link above is William Strunk, Jr.'s 1918 original.]

One of my personal pet peeves is misuse of comprise. For a clear explanation of how it is used correctly, see p. 68 of this illustrated edition (Strunk / White / Kalman, 2008).

[Karibou]

Originally Posted by Don Rotolo

Surely you recognize the sarcasm in my original post, Kara.

I certainly did. However, the fact remains that I still see people, on CD (once in a blue moon) and in other places, who consistently type and format their posts and assignments like that.

[gblake]

Originally Posted by Richard

Usage.

I highly recommend getting a paper copy of The Elements of Style, in one of its more modern editions. [The link above is William Strunk, Jr.'s 1918 original.]

One of my personal pet peeves is misuse of comprise. For a clear explanation of how it is used correctly, see p. 68 of this illustrated edition (Strunk / White / Kalman, 2008).

See there - I didn't even have to wait a month.

Where the term turns into jargon is in the passive, preposition-laden, techno-babble that cruses so many engineers. Rather than describing how something is used, so many authors (when they are authoring) insist upon discussing what its usage might be. I suppose I have become allergic to "usage" and its less reputable associates.

[Molten]

Another posting pet peeve of mine: excessive use of blank lines





See what those five blank spaces added to this post? Neither do I. However, I still see an occasional post with lines like that. Particularly when one is trying to say several things in one section. It might just be better to put one line instead and perhaps fill it with underscores or something to seperate thoughts if needed.

__________________________________________________ _______________
PS: I may be the only person that hates excessive scrolling so this might not be a widespread issue. Just a personal opinion. Can I get a second take on the situation?

[ATannahill]

Originally Posted by Molten

Another posting pet peeve of mine: excessive use of blank lines





See what those five blank spaces added to this post? Neither do I. However, I still see an occasional post with lines like that. Particularly when one is trying to say several things in one section. It might just be better to put one line instead and perhaps fill it with underscores or something to seperate thoughts if needed.

__________________________________________________ _______________
PS: I may be the only person that hates excessive scrolling so this might not be a widespread issue. Just a personal opinion. Can I get a second take on the situation?

In my opinion, no blank lines between paragraphs that are on the same subject, one blank line between paragraphs if you are changing subjects.
Example:

Welcome to CD.
I hope you find what you need here.

{answer to question asked}

[JaneYoung]

One thought to consider is the way one chooses to point out the mistake or the area that he or she finds annoying. It has been suggested that this thread be 'bumped' as build season begins. There should be an appropriate and thoughtful way to do that rather than a rude or abrupt way.

Also, an appropriate way to make a correction suggestion to a poster is through a private message here in CD. That is my preferred method. That way, the mistake does not have to be brought to everyone's attention and the poster can decide whether or not to return to the post and edit out the mistake. I've had mixed responses when I do this but, by and large, the majority of the responses have been positive.

This can also be applied to a post that is confusing to me as a reader. I may contact the person and ask them to clarify what they are trying to say. I've found that sometimes the post is confusing and sometimes it is just my interpretation or understanding of the post.

[NorviewsVeteran]

I wish my English class could have a discussion this deep/smart/useful/active every now and then.

Jane, would you tag team with my teacher?

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by NorviewsVeteran

I wish my English class could have a discussion this deep/smart/useful/active every now and then.

Jane, would you tag team with my teacher?

Sure, I would love to. I love English teachers - they rock!

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Originally Posted by gblake

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.

Blake

Four years of Latin down the drain when you don't use it everyday.
Thank You.