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Usenet Posted 22 years ago
Usage
Eats, Shoots and Leaves again
Amazon/Canada finally came through; I read "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" this afternoon, and it's delightful.
Yes, she's a little odd in her own usages now and then, but her attitude and style are what make the book so pleasant to read. She's definitely one of us a punctuation nut. She's a moderate, though, willing, as I am, to give some ground, not too much, to the descriptivists. She's a stout defender of the semicolon, and does a fine job of showing how it differs from the colon.
The book is more than just a guide; her forays into historical explanation are informative, and the bibliography shows she's done some reading on the subject.
I wish something like it would appear in the US; people might read it. Selling E,S&L as is to Americans would, however, create hopeless confusion, because much of the punctuation she so aggressively defends is very British. The errors she attacks, however, are just as common over here.
If you can't handle singular 'they,' stay away from it. She only does it once, though.
Carter Jefferson
http://carterj.homestead.com/
Yes, she's a little odd in her own usages now and then, but her attitude and style are what make the book so pleasant to read. She's definitely one of us a punctuation nut. She's a moderate, though, willing, as I am, to give some ground, not too much, to the descriptivists. She's a stout defender of the semicolon, and does a fine job of showing how it differs from the colon.
The book is more than just a guide; her forays into historical explanation are informative, and the bibliography shows she's done some reading on the subject.
I wish something like it would appear in the US; people might read it. Selling E,S&L as is to Americans would, however, create hopeless confusion, because much of the punctuation she so aggressively defends is very British. The errors she attacks, however, are just as common over here.
If you can't handle singular 'they,' stay away from it. She only does it once, though.
Carter Jefferson
http://carterj.homestead.com/
Top answer
It wouldn't bother me, personally, if Americans simply adopted the British (or European or whatever) standards of English. Seems to me as though it would simplify things somewhat. Oh well, I guess I'm somewhat unusual compared to most Americans.
- It wouldn't bother me, personally, if Americans simply adopted the British (or European or whatever) standards of English.
- Seems to me as though it would simplify things somewhat.
- Oh well, I guess I'm somewhat unusual compared to most Americans.
- I actually prefer the extra U that ya'll throw in to some of your words :-) -Joe
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13 Answers
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It wouldn't bother me, personally, if Americans simply adopted the British (or European or whatever) standards of English. Seems to me as though it would simplify things somewhat. Oh well, I guess I'm somewhat unusual compared to most Americans. I actually prefer the extra U that ya'll throw in to some of your words :-)
-Joe
-Joe
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[nq:1]It wouldn't bother me, personally, if Americans simply adopted the British (or European or whatever) standards of English. Seems to ... compared to most Americans. I actually prefer the extra U that ya'll throw in to some of your words :-)[/nq]
Ah, I'd be careful about embracing that .
First, it goes into only some words. So, Brits write 'colour', 'humour', 'splendour', but 'r
Ah, I'd be careful about embracing that .
First, it goes into only some words. So, Brits write 'colour', 'humour', 'splendour', but 'r
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[nq:2]It wouldn't bother me, personally, if Americans simply adopted the ... that ya'll throw in to some of your words :-)[/nq]
[nq:1]Ah, I'd be careful about embracing that . First, it goes into only some words. So, Brits write 'colour', 'humour', 'splendour', but 'rigor...[/nq]
Only medically, as in rigor mortis. Normally spelt rigour but, as you say, rigorous. (Same as vigour.)
[nq:1]Ah, I'd be careful about embracing that . First, it goes into only some words. So, Brits write 'colour', 'humour', 'splendour', but 'rigor...[/nq]
Only medically, as in rigor mortis. Normally spelt rigour but, as you say, rigorous. (Same as vigour.)
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[nq:2]It wouldn't bother me, personally, if Americans simply adopted the ... that ya'll throw in to some of your words :-)[/nq]
[nq:1]Ah, I'd be careful about embracing that . First, it goes into only some words. So, Brits write 'colour', 'humour', 'splendour', but 'rigor',[/nq]
?? Although the medical term is definitely "rigor", "rigour" is perfectly fine in other contexts.
[nq:1]Ah, I'd be careful about embracing that . First, it goes into only some words. So, Brits write 'colour', 'humour', 'splendour', but 'rigor',[/nq]
?? Although the medical term is definitely "rigor", "rigour" is perfectly fine in other contexts.
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[nq:1]On 04 Jan 2004, Larry Trask wrote[/nq]
[nq:2]Ah, I'd be careful about embracing that . First, it goes into only some words. So, Brits write 'colour', 'humour', 'splendour', but 'rigor',[/nq]
[nq:1]?? Although the medical term is definitely "rigor", "rigour" is perfectly fine in other contexts.[/nq]
So is Larry right about the inconsistency of us Brits, or is he right?
[nq:2]Ah, I'd be careful about embracing that . First, it goes into only some words. So, Brits write 'colour', 'humour', 'splendour', but 'rigor',[/nq]
[nq:1]?? Although the medical term is definitely "rigor", "rigour" is perfectly fine in other contexts.[/nq]
So is Larry right about the inconsistency of us Brits, or is he right?
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(snip)
[nq:1]Second, the disappears when certain suffixes are added, but not when other suffixes are added. So, 'humour' but 'humorous' ... The Brits write 'vaporise' but 'colourise', and 'humorist' but 'colourist'. Keeping track of these gyrations is a huge memory test.[/nq]
I believe that Fowler recommended and used "humourist", classifying "-ist" among the 'native English' suffixes lik
[nq:1]Second, the disappears when certain suffixes are added, but not when other suffixes are added. So, 'humour' but 'humorous' ... The Brits write 'vaporise' but 'colourise', and 'humorist' but 'colourist'. Keeping track of these gyrations is a huge memory test.[/nq]
I believe that Fowler recommended and used "humourist", classifying "-ist" among the 'native English' suffixes lik
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(LT)
[nq:2]Ah, I'd be careful about embracing that . First, it goes into only some words. So, Brits write 'colour', 'humour', 'splendour', but 'rigor...[/nq]
[nq:1]Only medically, as in rigor mortis. Normally spelt rigour but, as you say, rigorous. (Same as vigour.)[/nq]
My apologies for this dozy slip. This word is in fact an example of a further point, which I failed to make.
[nq:2]Ah, I'd be careful about embracing that . First, it goes into only some words. So, Brits write 'colour', 'humour', 'splendour', but 'rigor...[/nq]
[nq:1]Only medically, as in rigor mortis. Normally spelt rigour but, as you say, rigorous. (Same as vigour.)[/nq]
My apologies for this dozy slip. This word is in fact an example of a further point, which I failed to make.
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[nq:1](LT)[/nq]
[nq:2]Only medically, as in rigor mortis. Normally spelt rigour but, as you say, rigorous. (Same as vigour.)[/nq]
[nq:1]My apologies for this dozy slip. This word is in fact an example of a further point, which I failed ... 'rigor' is used for a range of technical senses in medicine, pathology, botany and zoology though not in mathematics.[/nq]
In medicine, rigor is oft
[nq:2]Only medically, as in rigor mortis. Normally spelt rigour but, as you say, rigorous. (Same as vigour.)[/nq]
[nq:1]My apologies for this dozy slip. This word is in fact an example of a further point, which I failed ... 'rigor' is used for a range of technical senses in medicine, pathology, botany and zoology though not in mathematics.[/nq]
In medicine, rigor is oft
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[nq:2](LT) My apologies for this dozy slip. This word is ... medicine, pathology, botany and zoology though not in mathematics.[/nq]
[nq:1]In medicine, rigor is often pronounced to rhyme with tiger; rigour, never. m.[/nq]
I was able to find only two dictionaries which made this distinction, and they don't quite agree with you. The first, the British Collins English Dictionary at
[nq:1]In medicine, rigor is often pronounced to rhyme with tiger; rigour, never. m.[/nq]
I was able to find only two dictionaries which made this distinction, and they don't quite agree with you. The first, the British Collins English Dictionary at
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