Proper English and punctuation

[islandpiper]

Guys, i know, I'm not your 8th grade English teacher, but we really should strive for proper usage and punctuation here. For example, if you were driving home from fishing and had car trouble there might be two ways to describe it.

You might say you were driving along and had a blowout on Hwy. 76 .........or you could say you were driving along and had a blow, out on Hwy. 76.......

One is trouble, the other is trouble waiting to happen.

Cheers, Piper

 

[Kayak Jack]

Merely emphasizing a different word can change the entire meaning of a sentence in the English language. Fer instance:

I didn't say she stole the money. (Somebody else said it - not me.)

I didn't say she stole the money. (I never would say a thing like that!)

I didn't say she stole the money. (I may believe it, and I may indicate it, but I didn't say it.)

I didn't say she stole the money. (I think somebody else took it.)

I didn't say she stole the money. (She did something shady, but I didn't say she took it outright.)

I didn't say she stole the money. (But ... she did take something.)

 

[islandpiper]

"Clerk, please read the wittnesses words back to him".

And Jack, was she out on Hwy 76? Was she out on Hwy 76? Was she out on Hwy 76? etc etc........

 

[islandpiper]

I guess I missed something a while back: I thought you were really a big guy when someone mentioned you were a couple of stories tall.....now I understand that they were referring to you and a couple of tall stories.....

your serve

Piper

 

[Kayak Jack]

I'm short, fat, and ugly. Just like this here sawed-off 12 gauge under my arm.

 

[islandpiper]

Jack, a 12 ga. is only ugly if you are looking at the wrong end of it.....

Yep, that's why I thought you would notice its similarity to me. Jack here

Piper

 

[catfish]

JACK YOU & THE REST OF THE OLD GEEZERS MUST DON,T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO ALL DAY WHEN YOU ARE SNOWED IN OR YOU CANT GET OUT OF THE HOUSE. YOU GUYS ARE FULL OF IT . KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK . AS LONG AS YOU GUYS ARE AROUND I DON,T BELIEVE THERE WILL BE A DULL MOMENT. I GUESS WE ROOKIES WILL KEEP READING YOU GUYS STORIES. MAYBE SPARKY WANT GET BORED EITHER .CATFISH

 

[Kayak Jack]

Glad you enjoy'em, Catfish. We aim to please, and at close range we're deadly accurate.

PS: They're all true, ya know.

 

[islandpiper]

Bring on your dulll moments and I'll sharpen 'em up for you.

Catfish, you've got a point there....try putting a hat on it...(sorry, that was just too tempting).....

Been a long time since we've been snowed in here in SE Louisiana, that would probably make the news. But, lack of snow won't keep me from talking back to Jack. Check's inna mail. Jack

Carry on.

Piper

 

[hairymick]

OK, American English is a mystery to me.

Some of your words, we don't have in our vocabulary.

Could someone please explain to me the use of the word Farther?

IE is it further away in distance, or time , or something else?

No disespect intended here.
I would just like to know in what context is is correctly used.
It doesn't exist in our english.

 

[WestCoastPaddler]

Further and farther are the same thing, Mick -- they're completely interchangable. There is much to the English language which makes no sense. I think it's designed purposefully so that foreign, non-English speaking people don't have a clue about what we're saying. For that matter, many of us who have been brought up speaking English don't have a clue what the other guy is saying.

I hope you don't get too confused when I tell you that there are also many differences between American English and Canadian English.

 

[Kayak Jack]

English, Mick has only about 5 basic rules. It's the 10,000 exceptions to those five rules that cause the difficulties.

Americans, being basically lazy baahhstuds, shorten down everything. we tend to use farther and further both incorrectly and interchangeably. Usually, at the same time.

 

[WestCoastPaddler]

From the American Heritage Dictionary:

Usage Note: Since the Middle English period many writers have used farther and further interchangeably. According to a relatively recent rule, however, farther should be reserved for physical distance and further for nonphysical, metaphorical advancement. Thus 74 percent of the Usage Panel prefers farther in the sentence If you are planning to drive any farther than Ukiah, you'd better carry chains, and 64 percent prefers further in the sentence We won't be able to answer these questions until we are further along in our research. In many cases, however, the distinction is not easy to draw. If we speak of a statement that is far from the truth, for example, we should also allow the use of farther in a sentence such as Nothing could be farther from the truth. But Nothing could be further from the truth is so well established as to seem a fixed expression.

I guess I missed the memo on this one.

 

[Kayak Jack]

All of which brings up the burnng quesiton of, who shot J.R.?

WCP, ya dun gud. Whilst I can write and speak English pretty good, I also can sling an Arakansawian accent fairly easily. At the end of the month, my retirement checks come in either way. So, "Quite frankly, my dear, ....."