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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 346 responses total. |
freida
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response 275 of 346:
| 
May 22 05:55 UTC 1995 |
Can we ask punctuation questions here? I could use some help...again
for my medical transcriptions and a doctor who makes sentences into
paragraphs and doesn't like them turned into multiple sentences. Thanks8}
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davel
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response 276 of 346:
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May 22 12:45 UTC 1995 |
Ask away! I'd sure hate to see a separate item for (English) punctuation.
The doctor in question probably disapproves of semicolons as well, right?
8-{)} 8-{)} 8-{)}
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birdlady
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response 277 of 346:
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May 22 22:12 UTC 1995 |
I would *love* for people to start asking punctuation questions. =) You
should see the look on my face when I see a misplaced comma. ;)
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bru
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response 278 of 346:
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May 23 02:41 UTC 1995 |
My sife is a professional proof reader. she hates punctuation errors.
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davel
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response 279 of 346:
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May 23 10:44 UTC 1995 |
One mostly-irrelevant side comment, though, freida. It's great for you
as transcriber to clean things up, make suggestions, etc., etc., & a real
pity if the person you're transcribing for won't accept improvements.
*But* that person is the one whose name is going to be on the thing &
who has to have the last say, right or wrong. (I was a secretary for
a while & found this excruciatingly painful; but then, I'm overly picky.)
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djerque
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response 280 of 346:
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May 26 03:05 UTC 1995 |
Having said that, though, most people who complain about grammar correction
(!) are actually in the wrong themselves.
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freida
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response 281 of 346:
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May 26 06:20 UTC 1995 |
ok everyone! I have more than one punctuation question...I have been
a secretary, so I know what you mean davel! I get quite angry when I buy
a new book and find typos and other errors in it...afterall, they pay
someone good money to proofread these things! Here is the first one...
pardon the explicitness...
I think that you are an excellent candidate for liposuction of your
abdomen, flanks, outer thighs - specifically in the area of the saddle
bags that you have - inner thighs and medial knees.
IMHO, I would change the sentence around, but I am not allowed to do that.
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popcorn
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response 282 of 346:
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May 26 13:57 UTC 1995 |
This response has been erased.
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zook
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response 283 of 346:
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May 26 17:50 UTC 1995 |
(all of the phrases in 282 are grammatically correct - there is nothing
wrong with using an auxilliary verb)
Re: 281 Given that this is the way it was dictated, you could a) leave it
as you have typed, b) change your commas to semicolons and replace dashes
with commas, or c) change dashes to parentheses (putting a comma after the
end-parenthesis). Btw, there should be a comma after "inner thighs" for
all options (except b, which requires a semicolon).
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tsty
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response 284 of 346:
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May 27 07:37 UTC 1995 |
huh? Each of the examples in #282 is completely accurate, garmaticlaly
correct (not my spelling) ... and each provides distinctively
different situations.
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mwarner
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response 285 of 346:
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May 27 21:09 UTC 1995 |
282 raises the issue of intention in speech. I think proper grammar is
frequently implied in speech and writing. Parentheses are used to make
the distinction when implied grammatical correctness is made explicit in
writing or editing. Speech at times goes where no grammarian can follow,
leaving a gulf between "proper" and "valid".
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nephi
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response 286 of 346:
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May 28 07:59 UTC 1995 |
I think that Valerie was trying to say (Correct me if I'm wrong. 8*)
that the latter is what was *meant*, while it was the former that
were *said*. Personally, I find it very annoying to listen to a
person saying one thing but meaning another. I never know if I
should react to what they *said* or to what I think they *meant*.
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camper
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response 287 of 346:
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May 30 06:14 UTC 1995 |
Question: Is the expression "all told ..." really supposed to be
"all tolled ..." as the word "toll" means count.? As in: "All tolled,
the tornado hit six trailers".
Am I nuts ?
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rcurl
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response 288 of 346:
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May 30 06:56 UTC 1995 |
"all told" = "after everything has been counted". I cannot speak to
your mental condition, but the expression is "all told", all told.
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davel
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response 289 of 346:
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May 30 12:04 UTC 1995 |
Things like this seem to be multiplying. <sigh> A while back I read of
some kid whose teacher (!) "corrected" his usage from "take it for granted"
to "take it for granite" - assume it's rock solid, or something, I guess.
Rane is, of course, correct on "all told". The use of "tell" for "count"
is archaic, but the expression makes sense as well given current usage -
compare "when all is said & done", say.
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tsty
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response 290 of 346:
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May 30 13:55 UTC 1995 |
Or ... when is "counted and paid" as in a toll - all tolled. Somehow
i see a mischevious mixture in rcurl's #288.
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rcurl
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response 291 of 346:
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May 30 19:16 UTC 1995 |
Ask not for whom the bell tolled, it tolled for thee.
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mwarner
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response 292 of 346:
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May 30 21:40 UTC 1995 |
Do tell.
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popcorn
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response 293 of 346:
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May 30 22:13 UTC 1995 |
This response has been erased.
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freida
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response 294 of 346:
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May 31 00:58 UTC 1995 |
How about this one?
The risks and complications associated with liposuction surgery include,
but are not limited to, infection, bleeding, scars as shown to you in the oce
today, contour abnormalities post operatively including asymmetries, blood
staining of the skin which can produce permament pigmentation changes,
pulmonary and fat embolous syndrome whiich can lead to respiratory
insufficiency and, as in any surgery, ultimately death. Any comments? This is
one sentence and one paragraph.
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davel
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response 295 of 346:
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May 31 01:09 UTC 1995 |
I don't see anything especially wrong with that, Freida. If I were
trying to clean it up (& possibly if I were writing it myself), I might
do something like this:
The risks and complications associated with liposuction surgery include,
but are not limited to:
- infection
- bleeding
- scars shown to you in the oce today (or OCE? unfamiliar to me)
- contour abnormalities post-operatively including ...
(Hm. I'm not sure just how far the contour abnormalities go, except that
death probably isn't one of those. If this is a specific sub-list, I'd
be tempted to indent it a level further. (Or do I mean "farther"?)
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bru
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response 296 of 346:
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May 31 02:47 UTC 1995 |
on a related subject, one thing that really bothers me is use of words in
the business world. As an english major, I believe that certain words
carry certain specific baggage, along with the recognized defenition of
that word.
The word "customer" is used in business to refer to the people who make
purchases. The corporation for which I work has begun refering to the
people who come into our store and spend money in exchange for products as
"guests". I keep wondering if I need to offer them some tea and cookies?
The problem is that customer has a slightly negative connotation where the
word guest implies a friendly relationship, so the management has decided
to use the word guest to replace customer.
They have also decided to replace the word manager with team leader, stating
that they believe it inspires a closer cooperation between staff and
management. I want to see what happens the first time a guest asks for a
manager and I call for a team leader. I also believe this removes the
position out of the realm of the professional and allows the corporation to pay
people in those positions less than they had to pay managers in the past.
Also. they have replaced the term problem with the word opportunity. It
took me a long time to figure this one out since it wasn't stated anywhere
that I know of. after being passed over for several promotions where the
manbagement repeatedly used the term, i.e. Bruce, as I see it you have
several opportunities... rather than, bruce, I see several problems...
When these things occur, this replacement of words with other words, it
weakens the language by adding a level of confusion.
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freida
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response 297 of 346:
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May 31 03:01 UTC 1995 |
I agree with you bruce...
my line should have read "as shown to you in the office today"
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davel
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response 298 of 346:
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May 31 11:23 UTC 1995 |
The company I work for prefers "client" to "customer", which I find odious
but much less so than "guest". I'll pass on "team leader" - no, I won't.
That one's fine *if* it's part of a very serious, thoroughgoing attempt to
structure things so people really work as teams some of whose members
function as leaders for their teams. Why do I find myself convinced that
this is not the case at the store you're referring to ... ?
A week or two ago, somewhere on public radio around here (possibly on
PRI's _Market Place_?) I heard someone do an excellent job of taking this
on. She described it as doublespeak, & that's what it is. (You young folks
may need to go out & read _1984_ for background.) The use of "opportunity"
for "problem" was one of her examples.
IMO, there is a difference between a problem & an opportunity. Problems
often do present opportunities, and it's good to try to get people into the
habit of looking for solutions instead of merely bemoaning their problems;
but pretending there's really no problem is just plain stupid - the
Emperor's New Clothes, so to speak. OTOH, I can see room for team leaders
in a business, & if you've got them it may be better to call them that
than saying "managers".
This is drifting to areas far beyond grammar; I for one don't object.
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srw
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response 299 of 346:
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May 31 16:55 UTC 1995 |
I think we were getting bored of grammar. I don't object either.
I work with a team that used to have a manager, but now has a team leader.
This could be doublespeak in other situations quite easily, but in this
case it is a correct change in terminology. The person is not a manager
in any real sense any more.
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