Comments on: A Summer Grammatical Interlude

By: MtnCaddy

MtnCaddy — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 19:09:36 +0000

FUI CW the underline function displays correctly in the Preview, but doesn't post any underlining ever.

By: C. R. Stucki

C. R. Stucki — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 19:11:29 +0000

Ain't naming any names, but some people use all caps for single words or short phrases because they are not sufficiently computer savvy (too dumb) to know how to italicize.

By: MtnCaddy

MtnCaddy — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 16:05:07 +0000

[9] ...because it's easier for them to read what they right. In your case, I'll grant permission to use all caps in advance.

By: Elizabeth Miller

Elizabeth Miller — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 13:07:35 +0000

"We will hunt you down and make you pay!" Does that have the same kind of meaning as "We will evacuate you."? I'm just sayin' ...

By: andygaus

andygaus — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 12:39:22 +0000

Chris, you need to take back your rant about "winner take all" and apologize. "Winner take all" is perfectly correct. It's a rare instance of an English subjunctive. It means "Let the winner take all." It's like "public be damned" or "God bless America."

By: goode trickle

goode trickle — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 07:30:18 +0000

One last thought.

With the GOP ramping up on the outrage front, would it be fair to coin the term that "the withdrawal will be the GOP's next "Afghanazi"?

By: goode trickle

goode trickle — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 06:57:17 +0000

Damnit I hate the preview function. It betrays sometimes... Coronavirus Disease ... There that's better.

By: goode trickle

goode trickle — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 06:48:36 +0000

It is not often I hop on the grammar wagon. Most everyone so far has bits and pieces correct ( the author included). COVID-19 is the correct way to use the acronym when used in toto or to communicate specific information as it relates to the specific disease. Covid and covid are acceptable when used in the case of passing discussion without the 19. I.E. What existing covid screening practices does your program have in place for the safe packaging of food?"... or at least that is how it has evolved, after all it is not everyday that we get a new acronym. To some extent, I think that the hybridization of how acronyms are used is how well it lends itself to the being understood in proper conversation. Everyone understands that I had to do three scuba dives below 60 ft for my SCUBA certification. Conversely SWAG will always be SWAG ( Scientific Wild Ass Guess)as swag can be used as a term for draperies or pirates treasure and given that I have never had anyone ask "whats your swag for the fuel burn rate on that gen set?" it is always SWAG, at least in that context. As to taxonomy of COVID-19, it is important to remember that virus causes diseases. The most basic definition of disease is "a particular abnormal condition, a disorder of a structure or function, that affects part or all of an organism". Many dictionaries try to tie it to sickness and illness but most of the current medical system trends towards the most basic definition. In this case a problem was discovered that was initially called the "2019 Novel Coronavirus", as data came in and the causal item of the abnormal condition was identified as the "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2" other wise known as SARS-CoV-2. You discuss diseases to repair the abnormal condition, you discuss viruses to eliminate the causation of the abnormal condition. As a disease has already been named SARS a new disease name had to be formulated to avoid multiple issues the most principal being disease confusion and fear( especially in Asia), thus coronavirus disease was named, otherwise known as COVID-19. I could dive further down the taxonomy hole but I think I have it spot on. Ok that's enough. I could go off the rails on the grammar train...

By: Mezzomamma

Mezzomamma — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 05:44:04 +0000

And space between paragraphs makes blocks of type easier to read, too, as the above demonstrates. I couldn't remember whether WordPress automatically adds space or not and guessed wrong. Sorry.

By: Mezzomamma

Mezzomamma — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 05:42:18 +0000

1. One of the differences between BrEng and AmEng is that BrEng tends to treat group nouns as plurals--the committee are--where AmEng tends to treat them as singular--the committee is. This is mostly just convention, but sometimes changing from one to the other reflects thinking of a group as a unit or as the individuals composing it. 2.In blocks of type, all caps are actually harder to read, especially for people with eyesight problems or dyslexia, because there is less space between the lines and because there is less variation in the shapes. People used them when typewriters were the only option outside printing presses and with early IT devices, but bold and italics are much better options. That's before we get to the 'shouting' issue. I won't quarrel with those who prefer COVID, however, just as the names of some products are meant to be in caps. 3. In a substantial part of the world, dates are written day-month-year, so it's 6 or 6th January, as Elizabeth says. In the UK that's spoken as '6th January' as often as 'the 6th of January'. What annoys me as a newsletter editor is inconsistency within the same short article.

By: Elizabeth Miller

Elizabeth Miller — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 04:17:51 +0000

That's not always true.

Some people, in my experience, use all caps when they comment because it's easier for them to read what they right.

It can be a dangerous business to make assumptions like CAPS always equating with shouting.

By: MtnCaddy

MtnCaddy — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 03:36:30 +0000

[5]
All caps are a way of expressing emphasis on one word or thing but otherwise all caps expresses SHOUTING. I don't like shouting unless it's me who's doing the shouting, that's all.

By: MtnCaddy

MtnCaddy — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 03:32:07 +0000

Language and it's evolution is fascinating to me. While I'm a fan of intellectual discourse, I also love slang and use words like cool, gnarly and bitchin' mixed in with more modern expressions.

By: Elizabeth Miller

Elizabeth Miller — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 02:33:15 +0000

I favour the '6 January Committee'. Just because ...

By: Elizabeth Miller

Elizabeth Miller — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 02:31:31 +0000

CAPITAL letters are easier to see. How can they possibly be hard on your eyes!??

By: Elizabeth Miller

Elizabeth Miller — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 02:29:41 +0000

The WHO uses COVID-19.

I always thought that stood for Corona Virus Infectious Disease of 2019.

I'm going with the WHO acronym, naturally.

By: Elizabeth Miller

Elizabeth Miller — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 02:23:49 +0000

As for singular versus plural, I always use whichever one sounds right. Heh.

By: Elizabeth Miller

Elizabeth Miller — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 02:22:19 +0000

I'm gonna go with Whisky a Go Go. :)

Say, we need to do that again, some Sunday night ...

By: MtnCaddy

MtnCaddy — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 02:09:03 +0000

My votes, 1- Although we commonly say al-Queda is and ISIS is I prefer the plural the Taliban are. 2- I prefer Covid without the all-caps (which are hard on my eyes) and without the "-19." If one writes Covid everybody know what you're referring to. 3- I prefer "January 6th."