"The pen is mightier than MSWord".

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9 Comments

1.  

   clemmati ~ 9 months ago

   0 votes
   
   Grammar checking really does wreck the writing process. Spell-checking at the end (I turn off spell-check while writing) doesn't (IMO).
   
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2.  

   japaneseboats ~ 9 months ago

   0 votes
   
   Hey AdGuy - pity about R Carter's misuse of the the word 'piece' instead of 'peace' as in the phrase " peace of mind" .I would give him a piece of my mind if he proofread my documents so badly :D
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3.  

   Alistair Mad Scotsman ~ 9 months ago

   0 votes
   
   Humbug.. the spelling of words is irrelevant as long as the meaning is conveyed!
   
   Eye kan right wotever eye One-t anned stil bee understud sew wot differance duz der let-er celection mayke.
   
   Communication is about the conveyance of information correctly so that it can be understood. Anything else is semantics!
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   1.  

      Karl ~ 9 months ago

      0 votes
      
      What when the medium cannot appropriately convey the message? While I understand what you mean, I feel if we get used to that we'll reach a point where we could stumble onto situations like the following;
      
      What would you feel I'm trying to communicate by the following sentence?
      " Eats shoots and leaves".
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      1.  

         Karl ~ 9 months ago

         0 votes
         
         I could be commenting on the diet of a Panda or some sort of rude diner...
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         1.  

            Alistair Mad Scotsman ~ 9 months ago

            0 votes
            
            Grammar is different to spelling. Combined with punctuation you have a totally different beast altogether. A panda's diet would be as you typed, but a rude diner would be, "Eats, shoots, and leaves". (Yeah i've read the book btw)
            
            When language and grammar really gets interesting is when self referential sentences kick in.
            
            This sentence contains no punctuation and is not interrogative yet still ends with a questionmark
            
            or...
            
            This sentence was in the past tense.
            
            Long before the "Eats shoots and leaves" book was about i read a book called Metamagical Themas by Douglas Hofstadter, which played with language concepts. In particular i remember the Turing Test, which was devised cleverly. The idea being, you sit at a computer terminal, and type in questions, and have to guess if the replies you get, are generated by a human or a machine. Sounds simple? lol Turns out it's far from it, especially in the English language, which suffers from almost intrinsic ambiguity. Simple things like, "What is a foot?", generates several answers available, yet most people would automatically think of the thing on the end of our leg, rather than say, "12 inches", or, "a unit of measurement", as the answer, yet all three are valid.
            
            However, if a medium cannot convey properly that which needs to be conveyed ... you either need a different medium, (i'd not recommend one using tarot cards and seances lol ), or you need to add to that medium. Look at how text messages, initially limited to 160 characters, made people create a bastard son of the users language, to squeeze what needed to be said into the space available. It has just become acceptable in some schools in the Uk to answer exam questions in subjects, (NOT "English language" though), in text-speak.. as the way the answers are given should not detract from the correctness of the answer.
            
            50% of written English is actually redundant to convey what's actually being said. Language is evolving. Using less to convey more, ostensibly has to be a good thing. It's practical and efficient, and personally I think it's great. Being slightly dyslexic myself I can't stand the sanctimonious people who sit and whine about spelling.
            
            Have a shufti at Here for a bunch of self referential sentences lol
            
            There are 10 types of people in the world. Those that understand binary, and those that don't
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            1.  

               Karl ~ 9 months ago

               0 votes
               
               You make complete sense, and I learned something I didn't know before. However, in my book it's still important to be true to language, grammar and punctuation in it's true form.
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               1.  

                  Karl ~ 9 months ago

                  0 votes
                  
                  Liked the self referential sentences.
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                  1.  

                     Alistair Mad Scotsman ~ 9 months ago

                     0 votes
                     
                     fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too
                     Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.
                     i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh?
                     
                     Tis is old.. but effective
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4.  

   AdGuy

   22 votes
   
   This is my two cents...
   
      
   Hey you know AdGuy always gets the last word! ;)