Congratulations is spelled with a "T" and not a "D"!!

[Elgin Clock]

As we approach the time when a lot of Congratulations are going to be thrown around on CD it's time for a grammar lesson.

As shown in this forum's title, Congrats is the correct way to abbreviate or short spell the actual word Congratulations..

Not Congrads.. No D!!!


Spelling mistakes make me sad...
<Almost as sad as not being able to go to Atlanta this year.. Almost..>

[Heretic121]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

<Almost as sad as not being able to go to Atlanta this year.. Almost..>

quit work... you don't need to work =P

and people... spell check is your friend <3!!!

[dlavery]

Elgin -

THANK YOU!

The "D/T" replacement in "congratulations" is one of my pet peeves. Every time I read it I just sit and grind my teeth in frustration, and think about how the nuns used to smack the back of my hand with a wooden ruler when I made a mistake like that. Here are a few others that appear with remarkable regularity on these boards:

- Dr. Flowers is "Woodie Flowers" (not "Woody").
- The other co-founder of FIRST is "Dean Kamen" (not "Camen").
- "There" is NOT the same as "their," which is NOT the same as "they're."
- "Ur" is not a word. Niether is "cuz," nor "ppl," nor "lol" (although "ROTFLMAO" may be acceptable in the proper context).
- "Your" is NOT the same as "you're."
- "Y'all" is perfectly permissible if you are currently located south of the Mason-Dixon line and you are speaking aloud. It is not permissible in written prose at any time.
- Punctuation is your friend. Use it.
- "FIRST" is not a verb (yet - give us time, and we will see what happens).
- When referring to yourself, "I" is capitalized.
- And my all-time favorite: "Nuclear" is pronounced "nu kli Er." It is NOT pronounced "nu kU ler." When you use this pronunciation, no matter how smart you may actually be, you sound like an illiterate dolt (are you listening, Mr. Bush?).

(Doug Ross, feel free to jump in any time!)

Some may feel that this is just the ranting of a few old farts that don't know how to lighten up. I would counter that one of the purposes of FIRST is to expose students - and some adults - to the realities of the professional world (in engineering and other disciplines). Well, in the professional world, spelling mistakes, grammatical shortcuts, leet-speek, and misused verbiage are not interpreted as signs of cute, efficient communications. They are indicators of illiteracy, inefficiency, unprofessional behavior, and sloppy work habits. The same happens here. This is not an effort to insult anyone or put anyone down. This is said as a wake-up call - "hey folks, do you really understand how what you write and the way you write make you appear to the community that reads these boards?" Your peers will come to know you by the way you present yourself. And one day your boss, who probably had the same nuns for English teachers that I had, will also.

-dave

[Stephen Kowski]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846
You will love this book Dave. I highly recommend it for those who care how they write and speak.

Hopefully I can be one of those people that learns how to do that. Somehow I doubt it though, thanks USF.

[Denman]

Originally Posted by Stephen Kowski

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846
You will love this book Dave. I highly recommend it for those who care how they write and speak.

Hopefully I can be one of those people that learns how to do that. Somehow I doubt it though, thanks USF.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books
or that one, its very helpful

[Greg Ross]

Originally Posted by dlavery

(Doug Ross, feel free to jump in any time!)

You talkin' to me Jim?

I agree with everything except:

- "Y'all" is perfectly permissible if you are currently located south of the Mason-Dixon line and you are speaking aloud. It is not permissible in written prose at any time.

In particular, the last sentence: I say ANY grammar or punctuation rule may be broken, creative spelling may be employed, acronyms may be used liberally, etc. to produce a desired effect. HOWEVER, YOU NEED TO KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE!

As to "Team X graciously accepts": the first time I heard the phrase, I felt embarrassed for the person who malappropriately used "graciously" in place of "gratefully". It saddens me that ever since then, I have (almost) never heard anyone get it right.

[Wetzel]

Originally Posted by gwross

You talkin' to me Jim?

I agree with everything except:

In particular, the last sentence: I say ANY grammar or punctuation rule may be broken, creative spelling may be employed, acronyms may be used liberally, etc. to produce a desired effect. HOWEVER, YOU NEED TO KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE!

Oh oh...curmudgeon fight!

Jeff "I've got someone on my side" Wetzel

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by Wetzel

Oh oh...curmudgeon fight!

Jeff "I've got someone on my side" Wetzel

Yeah, it's me any my copy of "The American Heritage Book of English Usage" along with Clyde and "The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation." But instead of going head-to-head, it's us against all the bad-grammar-usin', "ya know"-slingin', graciously excepting, "congradulations"-totin', "nu kU ler"-spoutin' linguistic Luddites out there. We'll see who wins!

-Norm

[Greg Ross]

Originally Posted by dlavery

Yeah, it's me any my copy of "The American Heritage Book of English Usage" along with Clyde and "The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation." But instead of going head-to-head, it's us against all the bad-grammar-usin', "ya know"-slingin', graciously excepting, "congradulations"-totin', "nu kU ler"-spoutin' linguistic Luddites out there. We'll see who wins!

-Norm

And you know you just illustrated my point, right?

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by gwross

And you know you just illustrated my point, right?

Sam-

Sshhhh! I was trying to be subtle!

-phil

[Chris Fultz]

FTM TLA in this CDP.

I am LOL.

OO - Now POS.

GTG, BCNU at FIRST -

CBF

[Daniel Brim]

Originally Posted by Chris Fultz

FTM TLA in this CDP.

I am LOL.

OO - Now POS.

GTG, BCNU at FIRST -

CBF

TLAs (three letter acronyms) are irritating
-Daniel

[Bernardo F]

Originally Posted by dlavery

Yeah, it's me any my copy of "The American Heritage Book of English Usage" along with Clyde and "The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation."

I think you mean "and".

[Denman]

lol an example of spell check being evil

[Elgin Clock]

I am so proud..

I have only seen the word congratulations spelled wrong (by accident ) here on CD only one time since I started this thread.

w00t to starting threads on CD, raising awareness, and changing the culture for the better!!!