I myself

Question

As I’d been studying Mathematics and Geography at the same time as I was conceptualising development, I found there to be a mutual dialogue between them, meaning that not only was I myself being influenced by my developing mathematical understanding, but also my propensity to reduce the real world into indivisible objects.

Does all that gibberish make any sense at all; particularly, I, myself?

Clive · Accepted Answer

Not really.
eg What does it mean to conceptualize development?

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

I guess it's my fancy way of saying 'understanding', but as I've used 'understanding' so many times, I've used conceptualise as a synonym to provide contrast in my writing. Incidentally, I abhor the American variant of conceptualise you've used!

I'm trying to explain how my own understanding of development had been formed prior to actually learning about it in school.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousI abhor the American variant of conceptualise you've used!

Make friends and influence people.

Go to the Cambridge Dictionary link below and type in 'conceptualise', and you'll be shown the entry 'conceptualize'.

You're using what's called the "usual" spelling, not the formal spelling that heads dictionary entries.

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/british/

CJ

Fivejedjon · Answer

Anonymous Incidentally, I abhor the American variant of conceptualise you've used!

As a speaker of BrE, I abhor all ignorant condemnation of AmE.

CalifJim · Answer

fivejedjon Anonymous Incidentally, I abhor the American variant of conceptualise you've used!As a speaker of BrE, I abhor all ignorant condemnation of AmE.

Aside from that, do you have any insight about why "ize" is considered more formal than "ise" in BrE?

I believe I once read that "ise" is a relatively recent development, and that only "ize" was used at one time in history. Have you heard or read anything like that?

CJ

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Anonymous a mutual dialogue between them,

I could accept "Mathematics speaks to me." But a mutual dialog between two abstract nouns is one metaphor too far.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

CalifJimthat "ise" is a relatively recent development, and that only "ize" was used at one time in history.

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/-ise?searchDictCode=all

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_spelling_differences#iseize

According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), "The suffix...whatever the element to which it is added, is in its origin the Greek -??e??, Latin -izare; and, as the pronunciation is also with z, there is no reason why in English the special French spelling in -iser should be followed, in opposition to that which is at once etymological and phonetic." The OED lists the -ise form separately, as "a frequent spelling of -IZE". Noah Webster rejected -ise for the same reasons. Two other well-known publications by Oxford University Press (OUP), Henry Watson Fowler's A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, and Hart's Rules, also recommend -ize. Also, The Oxford Guide to English Usage states "-ize should be preferred to -ise as a verbal ending in words in which both are in use, according to Oxford University Press house style."However, Robert Allan's Pocket Fowler's Modern English Usage considers either usage to be acceptable anywhere except the U.S. Also, Oxford University itself does not agree with the OUP, but advocates "-ise" instead of "-ize" in its staff style guide.

Clive · Answer

I'm trying to explain how my own understanding of development had been formed prior to actually learning about it in school. Development of what?

Here are some other points I have trouble with.

You seem to be saying that your propensity was being reduced. I don't know what this means..

What does it mean to reduce the real world into indivisible objects?

Overall, my suggestion is for you to try, as an intellectual exercise, to rewrite this text in sentences and vocabulary that are as simple as possible. Then you can start to add any missing subtleties.

Effective communicators always try to be as simple as possible!

Clive

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Anonymous how my own understanding of development had been formed prior to actually learning about it in school.

Here in the US, little children learn about development by watching seeds develop into plants, mold develop (magically) on bread, buds develop into flowers, tadpoles into frogs, and puppies into dogs. They don't need to go to school to understand development.

CalifJim · Answer

Thanks, A.S. Maybe you posted this once before, and that's where I read it. It certainly sounds very familiar.

CJ

I myself

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions