On 22 Jun 2003 16:14:37 GMT, "J. Randy Mitchell" <mitch@no-spam>
wrote:
>
>That might be true, but if a person can't communicate properly with the
>language commonly used in printed pulications, newsgroups etc., then
>perhaps they shouldn't write or even post to newsgroups at all. There is no
>excuse for sloppy spelling, grammar and/or punctuation regardless of the
>origin or intended purpose of the message. E-mail, the internet, and
>"cyber-chatting" has made the written word the most viable and common means
>of communication these days. Proper spelling, grammar and punctuation exist
>to give the highest possible chance of conveying the writer's precise
>meaning to the reader. If the writer wants to be sure that the reader is
>decoding what he is trying to say in the way it was intended, they need to
>achieve a basic grasp of spelling, sentence structure and punctuation
>before trying to write at all. If you spell technical terms wrongly, your
>reader will wonder if you understand what you are writing about. If you
>spell everyday words wrongly, at best the appearance of your work will be
>marred; at worst you will not be writing the word you think you are
>writing, but some other word that may have a totally different meaning.
>Grammar and punctuation exist to give you the highest possible chance of
>conveying your precise meaning to the reader. For example, one comma can
>totally change the meaning of a sentence. Beyond that, word-processing can
>help you to produce work that is relatively easy to correct in the light of
>others reading of it, and there are computer spelling checkers designed
>specifically for this purpose. The writer will sacrifice credibility in
>exchange for a rapid reply which would result in a poorly written document
>or report.
Good English includes paragraphs that are short enough to be coherent.
On Sun, 22 Jun 2003 22:11:04 +0100, James Cameron wrote:
> Good English includes paragraphs that are short enough to be coherent.
Or, paragraphs which are focused on one subject or object.
Lennier
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On Mon, 23 Jun 2003 10:55:01 +1300, Brian Dooley wrote:
>>Your "pure" grammar is a joke - I defy anyone to tell the difference
>>between "its" and "it's" when spoken aloud as English should be.
>
> Does this mean that when reading one or other of them you couldn't
> possibly take the wrong meaning?
No - because the words are only words when spoken aloud - or when heard in
the mind's ear.
Otherwise they're merely marks on a page.
Lennier
--
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of Telecom NZ Ltd, the right to use the contents of this digital
communication for any purpose whatsoever, whether in whole or in part -
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