Grammar, Spelling, and Fonts

[jchen]

I've been obsessed with the Ubuntu font lately, well for a few months now.

As for grammar and spelling, I'm a Grammar Nazi. I tend to spot spelling mistakes and grammar errors really quickly, and I find it irritating how people still (not including non-English speakers and dyslexics) mix up words like its/it's, you're/your, their/there/they're AND abuse/misuse the poor apostrophe.

[Crockturtle566]

I do something like this a lot.

 

 

WHoops.

[cfmtfm]

When referring to a place in a road, which one is correct?:

 

A House, in Some Street.

A House, Some Street.

 

I usually go for the second one because I thought it was the same as when you refer to a city in a country (e.g. "London, England"). I'm not sure now, though.

 

(Also, I didn't think you'd have to have a comma before 'in'.)

Edited October 20, 2013 by cfmtfm

[7Deadly$ins]

The second one. I've never heard the first one, ever.

[georgexu94]

 

I still don't understand why "flammable" and "inflammable" mean both the same thing. Can someone clarrify that a bit?

[Obscure_Trash]

http://chemistry.about.com/od/firecombusti...Inflammable.htm

 

According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, back in the 1920s the National Fire Protection Association urged people to start using the word 'flammable' instead of 'inflammable' (which is the original word) because they were concerned some people might think inflammable meant not-flammable. Actually, the in- in inflammable was derived from the Latin preposition meaning en- (like enflamed), not the Latin prefix meaning -un. It's not like everyone knew the derivation of the word, so the change probably made sense. However, confusion persists today regarding which word to use.

 

Flammable is the modern term for a material that catches fire readily. Inflammable means the same thing. If a material won't burn easily, you could say it is not flammable or nonflammable. I don't think unflammable is a word (and really anything can burn if you try hard enough, right?).

 

Basically because even people who speak English realize that English is super confusing, so in an attempt to make it less confusing and more user-friendly, we make it more confusing.

[Dimar]

Basically because even people who speak English realize that English is super confusing, so in an attempt to make it less confusing and more user-friendly, we make it more confusing.

I think that is the best description of everything ever.

[georgexu94]

Same reaction as Dimar.

[nasa]

I'm a big supporter in internet grammar.

[DustyBelle]

cfmtfm said

When referring to a place in a road, which one is correct?:

 

Sorry I don't get the question. Did you mean the red house on Baker Street?

 

22 Baker Street

 

the third house from the turn on Main Street or what?

 

Or did you actually mean the flattened trash can in the road or the flattened trash can on Baker Street?

 

Or something else entirely?

 

(I am sooo confused.)

[cfmtfm]

Sorry I don't get the question.  Did you mean  the red house on Baker Street?

 

22 Baker Street

 

the third house from the turn on Main Street or what?

 

Or did you actually mean the flattened trash can in the road or the flattened trash can on Baker Street?

 

Or something else entirely?

 

(I am sooo confused.)

In my case the house has a name.

 

I meant where you refer to a house (by its name) on a road in a newspaper article (sometimes when speaking, but usually you'd say the address XP).

 

Let's call the house "Ahouse". Let's call the road/street/lane/whatever "Aroad Road". When referring to it which one would you say?:

 

Ahouse, Aroad Road.

Ahouse, in Aroad Road.

 

Sort of the same (reference) concept of when you refer to a town/city in a larger place (state, country, etc)--like London, England, or Paris, France. I was asking whether you'd refer to Ahouse on Aroad Road as the first or second examples in the quotes. I was proofreading something and each time they mentioned a place it would follow the same structure as the second quote so I was a little uncertain as to which one is correct (or if you could say either). X3

 

ETA that I also thought you didn't need a comma before the 'in'.

Edited October 24, 2013 by cfmtfm

[georgexu94]

Hello! I just read up something but maybe mistaken, but are there really no kettles in America? Is it something of the word usage or the real thing?

[7Deadly$ins]

Where did you get that idea? Of course we have kettles.

[georgexu94]

Where did you get that idea? Of course we have kettles.

Hmm, maybe just a misunderstanding, or maybe one of my weird dreams.

 

Edited: Apparently, I wasn't dreaming. I searched one of the forums I go to. It was actually something to do with most Americans there in the site says that they don't have kettles since they can boil water in the coffee maker or something. But it should be noted that not ALL. (As someone commented owning one)

Sorry for the confusion.

Edited October 25, 2013 by georgexu94

[Imbecamiel]

Aha, yeah, it's not that we don't have kettles... it's just that a lot of people don't own/use them because they have other ways of boiling the water.

 

 

[DustyBelle]

The Ahouse and Aroad question. We don't use in we use on and no comma. I went to Ahouse on Aroad or in my case I visited my step Mom and Dad at Pine Knots on Pine Road. USA English tends to be less formal so no in in and on are not quite the same and the house is in a town but on a road. Usage. No comma needed.

 

Got it?

 

 

[Rhynn Collins]

On punctuation with quotes, I believe the use when it's a question mark is standardized, but the preference for:

She said "cow".

and

She said "cow."

are location-dependent.

 

Too tired to google it right now, though. I know I googled it a while ago because I thought I had been taught the first but in RP and cave descriptions I see people get corrected to the second all the time. I think it makes the most sense to take it on a case by case basis for what flows best or works best.

From what I've learned, it depends on whether the punctiation is part of the quote. If the end of the quote is also the end of the sentence, then the punctiation is generally after the quotation mark; if the end of the quote is not the end of the sentence, then the punctuation is inside of the mark. But when the quote ends with period and the quote is in the middle of a sentence, the period is omitted. There's also something weird with exclamation marks and question marks... let's see if I can show examples, because I have the feeling my explanation so far is just confusing.

 

Mark said "No, you don't have to".

 

Mark said "No, you don't have to" to me this morning.

 

"Mark," he said, "You don't have to."

 

Did Mark say "You don't have to"?

 

Mark said "Do you have to?"

 

"You have to!" said Mark.

 

That's how I learned it. So it really depends on what kind of sentence the one containing the quote is, what kind of sentence the quote is, and where the quote is in the sentence. It's all incredibly confusing, but also somehow makes sense

[georgexu94]

 

Thanks, Rhynn Collins. This helps a lot. May I ask if you can show how to do those quotes when there is a conversation? Much appreciated.

 

Wow, I am learning so much here that I didn't get to learn in English class.

[Rhynn Collins]

Do you mean something like this?

 

"Hey George," said Elise, "Do you know where it is?"

George nodded. "Yeah, it's right over there."

Elise looked puzzled, because the wizard had told her "It is not there".

 

Sorry I'm at work right now, I can't type much let alone think of something else than work I'll see if I can make a better example tonight, if this wasn't enough yet

[georgexu94]

Do you mean something like this?

 

"Hey George," said Elise, "Do you know where it is?"

George nodded. "Yeah, it's right over there."

Elise looked puzzled, because the wizard had told her "It is not there".

 

Sorry I'm at work right now, I can't type much let alone think of something else than work I'll see if I can make a better example tonight, if this wasn't enough yet

Oh it is enough. However, how do you do that without having another line for that. It is kinda confusing when they are all in one line.

 

Like:

"Hey George," said Elise, "Do you know where it is?" George nodded. "Yeah, it's right over there." Elise looked puzzled, because the wizard had told her "It is not there".

 

 

Sorry, if u are at work, then later.

[7Deadly$ins]

Oh it is enough. However, how do you do that without having another line for that. It is kinda confusing when they are all in one line.

 

Like:

"Hey George," said Elise, "Do you know where it is?" George nodded. "Yeah, it's right over there." Elise looked puzzled, because the wizard had told her "It is not there".

 

 

Sorry, if u are at work, then later.

You don't. It isn't correct to do it like that. Each time the dialogue switches speakers you start a new paragraph.

 

Also, just a note, but if "Hey George, do you know where it is?" is supposed to be one sentence then you shouldn't capitalize the Do. You only capitalize on the first set when you break a quote up like that. If it's supposed to be "Hey George. Do you know where it is?" then it's fine.

Edited October 26, 2013 by 7Deadly$ins

[Obscure_Trash]

From what I've learned, it depends on whether the punctiation is part of the quote. If the end of the quote is also the end of the sentence, then the punctiation is generally after the quotation mark; if the end of the quote is not the end of the sentence, then the punctuation is inside of the mark. But when the quote ends with period and the quote is in the middle of a sentence, the period is omitted. There's also something weird with exclamation marks and question marks... let's see if I can show examples, because I have the feeling my explanation so far is just confusing.

 

Mark said "No, you don't have to".

 

Mark said "No, you don't have to" to me this morning.

 

"Mark," he said, "You don't have to."

 

Did Mark say "You don't have to"?

 

Mark said "Do you have to?"

 

"You have to!" said Mark.

 

That's how I learned it. So it really depends on what kind of sentence the one containing the quote is, what kind of sentence the quote is, and where the quote is in the sentence. It's all incredibly confusing, but also somehow makes sense

I agree that is much less confusing! It's still different for British and American English, if my source is correct, though.

 

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/punctuatio...uotation-marks/

 

If you are writing in American English, other punctuation should go inside the quotation marks, even if it is not part of the quoted sentence. Here is an example from the New York Times:

 

    “When we have got a contractor city, say, of 180,000 people, and there hasn’t been a completed prosecution of anybody coming out of Iraq, not one,” he said, “what sort of city in America would be like that, where no one is prosecuted for anything for three years? It’s unthinkable.”

 

If you are writing in British English, on the other hand, punctuation that is not part of the quoted sentence should be place outside the quotation marks. Here is an example from The Telegraph:

 

    A crisis in the US subprime mortgage market will affect Britain, he said, warning that the housing market is likely to weaken as a result. However, he insisted that the economy is starting from “a very strong position”.

 

Notice that colons and semicolons are always placed outside the quotation marks, and that you should not finish a sentence with more than one punctuation mark, regardless of the rule you are using.

 

So my example was a little wrong since "cow" on its own could be something she said so the period should probably be in the quotation marks no matter what.

[Dracoscar]

I'm kind of lax about it now, I guess. On things like forums or whatever I tend to be more grammatically accurate, since I can take my time with my post without anyone getting mad. But on games I guess my quality steps down, because people are waiting for me to reply and if I don't get a messaged typed out quickly enough they might think I'm ignoring them O_o I tend to leave out periods, occasionally I'll make a spelling error, but they're more like typos than just laziness.

 

And no, I do not use the Oxford Comma. I think I had at some point, but eventually just stopped.

 

I am strongly against chatspeak, however. Sometimes I use shortcuts such as "LOL" or "brb" (Trying to force myself not to use that one) but things like "ok ima go 2 the mall 2day, see u @7 wen i come bak" is unacceptable in my eyes (unless I'm joking).

Edited November 2, 2013 by Dracoscar

[Bacon_Strips]

This is my favorite font to use in general. It's very easy to read and looks nice.

 

This is my favorite "fancy" font.

 

This font is great for attracting attention, especially in larger size.

[HowToSaveALife]

I swear to God, I am thirteen years old and I'm the youngest in a grammar school. There's a newsletter that comes out every week, and my grammar isn't the best, but I could murder the writers. This is not only on behalf of the terrible grammar, but the fact these girls, only a year older than me, were writing like we were three years old. This is one of my pet hates.

 

Anyway, there was recently a Halloween issue released, which contained a multitude of poems and short stories. Granted, some where amazing, yet there were many that were so terrible that my mum suggested I complain to the school.