Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Apparently "poetical" is a word--or is becoming one....

can't ... or won't?

That's because the English language evolved. Years ago, in countries where English was taught using the UK model, shall was used as an absolute; will was a probability.



Contractions are rarely used in formal writing, but they are phun to use!

Disrespect(ful) used to be a noun or an adverb, but within the past ten or fifteen years has became a verb.

What used to be, "The disrespect he demonstrated was unsettling." has become, "He disrespected me, and that's unsettling."

or, "Don't be so disrespectful!" has become, "Don't disrespect me!"

Then there's Ebonics. Yo.

Ye olde, dreaded double post.

Someone said "correctness is the servant of understanding," but sometimes correctness is a big deal.

The second comma in the following sentence cost Rogers Communications over a million dollars in a contract dispute:

�The agreement shall continue in force for a period of five years from the date it is made, and thereafter for successive five year terms, unless and until terminated by one year prior notice in writing by either party.�

The introduction to the court�s decision shows the judge had a dry sense of humor.

Steve, I always enjoy your doggerel.

Ella

Vocabularistically, how important is this?

Well, there might be health issues involved. Just got done reading an interesting book, TEACHING AND HUNTING IN EAST AFRICA, by Dan McNickle, an American who spent four years in Tanzania in the early 1960's. Among other things he taught English to black Africans, and found it very difficult because our language is so arbitrary both in spelling and grammar.

At the end of the book he states that citizens of the U.S. and Britain have more heart attacks than those of Germany, Italy Japan and Mexico. Studies have attempted to trace this tendency to diet, but have failed to find any firm reason. As a result, McNickle suggests we have more heart attacks because we speak English.

Due to English we're all a sooner fatality
For we conjure words with shameless prodigiality


(apologies to Ogden Nash)

"At the end of the book he states that citizens of the U.S. and Britain have more heart attacks than those of Germany, Italy Japan and Mexico. Studies have attempted to trace this tendency to diet, but have failed to find any firm reason. As a result, McNickle suggests we have more heart attacks because we speak English"

Post hoc, ergo propter hoc.

That's improssible

A previous employer regularly bought product from India. Usually they'd send me an email saying hello & thank you, asking for a detailed specification, and concluding, "please do the needful". I always wondered if that phrase was the product of a translation program, or just how they were taught.

Commas:

"My greatest inspirations in life are my parents, the Pope, and Mother Teresa."

"My greatest inspirations in life are my parents, the Pope and Mother Teresa."

BIG difference in meaning

YOU had famous parents! The Vatican keeps deep secrets, for sure.


(I always knew they were an item )

It seems that the addition of unnecessary syllables has become a mark of intelligence and sophistication.

Another mark of intelligence and sophistication is the use of "more educated-sounding" words in place of what is correct. The most glaring example in the shooting world is the use of "velocity" when "speed" is what is being discussed.

Guilty.

Speed, a scalar, is the magnitude of velocity, a vector.

Orientate instead of orient bugs me.

I can only assume presentate will be next!

During my working life I used to write a lot of reports relating to traffic engineering matters. My boss had a disturbing habit of changing out some of my writing because he said my language "wasn't technical enough."

I always thought he suffered from feelings of inadequacy.

Jim

I agree. People who use orientate are automatically suspected to be disoriented.

Fixt it for you!

Thanks, Poobs. I nearly went that way with it, but resisteded.

I'm still stuck on flammable v. inflammable from early grade school days.


English is a funny language...

Inflammable was changed on fuel trucks to flammable, because people thought the cargo wouldn't burn, since it was IN-flammable.

Early dumbing down of America.

"Dumbing"...there's a verb we invented.

Imagine that. My quandary was why waste the extra two letters.