[G4] Re: English

[Brett Caven]

Eric,
I concur over the deteriorating state of the English language. I at  
least have a reason, for several hours of my day I do everything in  
French. I really hate the misuse of "There, Their, and They're".
---
-Brett


On 18/Jun/07, at 5:54 PM, Eric Wood wrote:

> Our language seems to be shaped by a lack of education, actually. I  
> see
> so many errors online, and now they're present in almost everything I
> read. Typically, they are confusion of things like your and you're,  
> and
> then there's the lesser-known confusion between it's and its. But  
> these
> are just two tiny examples of grammar skills disappearing, and  
> everyone
> getting confused by everyone else making such mistakes. Suddenly,  
> there
> are too few examples of proper English. It's a nightmare to me.
>
> The language was far less convoluted before it was transformed from  
> its
> old Germanic roots to what it is now. I blame the Normans.
>
> How long until "English for Dummies" becomes a textbook, I wonder?
> Anyone seen the film "Idiocracy?"
>
> Eric
>
> On Mon, 2007-06-18 at 03:14 -0700, keith_w wrote:
>> Ronald Steinke wrote:
>>> On 17 Jun, 2007, at 10:11 AM, Al Poulin wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hope this helps,
>>>> Al Poulin
>>>
>>> Your explanation of the terms is much appreciated. The information I
>>> read from the Apple site is often laden with terms that can have  
>>> more
>>> than one meaning and Apple does not normally tell which  
>>> definition is
>>> the correct one. Sometimes, I wish the english language was not so
>>> convoluted.
>>>
>>> Thanks, again.
>>
>> Ronald, It's amazing so few errors actually creep into communication,
>> even when used by native speakers.
>> English is a rich language but it's structure is complex , and you  
>> have
>> to work carefully to not be mis-understood!
>> Words change meanings over the years, and as you point out, sometimes
>> have more than one meaning, making it even more difficult to  
>> communicate
>> well.
>> I think it helps when the two parties (reader and writer) stay  
>> polite,
>> and help each other with understanding text with ambiguous  
>> meanings...it
>> makes for a far more pleasant experience!
>>
>> It also helps when the writer is aware of this difficulty, and  
>> makes his
>> or her writings as free of double meaning as possible.
>> Writing clearly is not a simple task, sad to say...
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> keith whaley
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>
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