Intro A: Welcome to AUE and Guidelines for Posting

(I am posting these Intros while Donna Richoux is away. Maria.)

Last Revised 2002-06-29 (29 Jun 2002)

This series of seven "Intro Documents" is intended to aid newcomers to the newsgroup. The articles are posted frequently here, and are also on the Web for your convenience, at:

http://www.alt-usage-english.org/

Most of what follows is taken from Albert Marshall's and John Davies' work. Comments and corrections should be emailed to me -- Donna Richoux

~~ Contents of Intro A: Welcome to AUE and Guidelines for Posting ~~ - WELCOME TO alt.usage.english! - Guidelines for posting - Newcomers to the Net - Dictionary Definitions - Dictionary Abbreviations - Responding - Dealing with unwanted postings

~~ WELCOME TO alt.usage.english! ~~

alt.usage.english is a newsgroup where we discuss the English language (and also occasionally other languages).

We discuss how particular words, phrases, and syntactic forms are used; how they originated; and where in the English-speaking world they're prevalent. (All this is called "description".)

We also discuss how we think they should be used ("prescription").

alt.usage.english is for everyone, not only for linguists, native speakers, or descriptivists.

Please read or at least browse through our AUE FAQ, which is available at several addresses including

http://go.to/aue/

There is more information about obtaining our FAQ in the regular post "Intro G: Where is the FAQ?"

~~ Guidelines for posting ~~ Things you may want to consider avoiding when posting here:

(1) re-opening topics (such as "singular they" and "hopefully") that experience shows lead to circular debate. (One function of the FAQ file is to point out topics that have already been discussed ad nauseam.)

(2) questions that can be answered by simple reference to a dictionary or a thesaurus.

(3) generalities. If you make a statement like: "Here in the U.S. we NEVER say 'different to'", "Retroflex 'r' is ONLY used in North America", or "'Eh' ALWAYS rhymes with 'pay'", chances are that someone will pounce on you with a counterexample.

(4) assertions that one variety of English is "true English".

(5) sloppy writing (as distinct from simple typing errors, or errors from someone whose native language is not English). The regulars are probably less willing than the general population to suffer sloppy writers gladly. Each article is written by one person, but read perhaps by thousands, so the convenience of the readers really ought to have priority over the convenience of the writer. Again, this is not to discourage non-native speakers from posting; readers will be able to detect that you're writing in a language that is foreign to you, and will make allowances for that.

(6) expressions of exasperation. In the course of debate, you may encounter positions based on premises radically different from yours and perhaps surprisingly novel to you. Saying things like "Oh, please", "That's absurd", "Give me a break", or "Go teach your grandmother to suck eggs, my man" is unlikely to win your opponent over.

You really are welcome to post here! Don't let the impatient tone of this FAQ frighten you off.

~~ Newcomers to the Net ~~ If you are a newcomer not just to a.u.e but to Usenet newsgroups in general, you will find it helpful to read the messages posted regularly to news.announce.newusers, especially "Welcome to Usenet" and "A Primer on How to Work with the Usenet Community". These contain invaluable advice on "netiquette", the rules of behaviour expected of those who post to any newsgroup. The same articles are found at: * http://www.faqs.org/ (click on "Usenet references")

~~ Dictionary Definitions ~~ Please do not post questions to a.u.e. that ask "what is the meaning of...", or "what is the origin of..." Looking in a dictionary is a quicker and more reliable way of getting an answer. Some people may respond to such questions with deliberately false information, and it may not always be obvious that it is comically intended. In the unlikely event that you don't have a dictionary at hand, try the on-line Merriam-Webster dictionary at

http://www.m-w.com/

If the answer is not to be found in a dictionary, it is a good idea to say so in your posting, to reassure people that you have at least looked. If you are still puzzled after you do your own research, then you are welcome to post the results of your findings. Please explain the context of the usage; that will allow people to give you a sensible answer.

~~ Dictionary Abbreviations ~~ The posters in a.u.e tend to avoid initialisms, but you can expect to find the names of dictionaries and reference works abbreviated for convenience. Here are a few of the most common initialisms, which are usually followed by a number to refer to the edition: for example, AHD3 = American Heritage Dictionary, 3rd ed.

AHD American Heritage Dictionary CIDE Cambridge International Dictionary of English COD Concise Oxford Dictionary MEU Modern English Usage (Fowler, Gowers or Burchfield) MWCD Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary NODE New Oxford Dictionary of English NSOED New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary OED Oxford English Dictionary RHDEL Random House Dictionary of the English Language RHHDAS Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang RHWCD Random House Webster's College Dictionary RHWUD Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary SOED Shorter Oxford English Dictionary W3NID Webster's Third New International Dictionary

For many more abbreviations found in a.u.e, go to http://alt-usage-english.org/abbreviations.html

~~ Responding ~~ When responding to other people, please quote just enough of the previous posting to set the context for readers. You rarely need to quote the whole thing. Delete the signature if your software does not do so.

Please place your remarks and signature below the material you are quoting. That is the tradition in this and many newsgroups. It minimizes confusion by keeping the contributions in chronological order, especially when several postings are quoted in one response, as is fairly common. Some popular newsreaders, such as Outlook Express, automatically put the cursor above the quoted material; you can take advantage of this by scrolling down through the prior posting, deleting anything superfluous, until you reach the point where you want to start your reply.

When participating in cross-posted threads, you will often do everyone a service if you use the "Followup-To" line to direct followups only to a.u.e; you should mention in the message body that you have changed this.

For more on this topic, please read "Quoting Usenet Articles in Follow-ups" at: http://alt-usage-english.org/posting_quotes.html

~~ Dealing with unwanted postings ~~ Please don't respond to spam, or off-topic postings, or questions that can easily be answered in a dictionary. If you feel strongly about such matters, send a polite e-mail note to the offender. Responding to the group uses up bandwidth, wastes even more of everyone's time, and has no effect on spammers, who never read the groups they spam to.