Another Grammar Lesson for an Errantist

Richard F Lead taxprof@ozemail.com.au
Wed, 21 Jan 1998 21:27:47 +1100 (EST) (00885400067, 199801211027.VAA24305@oznet11.ozemail.com.au) 

At 02:14 PM 20/1/98 -0600, John wrote:

>RICHARD:

>I hope Farrell realises [sic] that many of are waiting for him to

>carelessly split an infinitive. To publicly highlight such a grammatical

>atrocity to the list will be a joy indeed. But to earnestly wait for

>such a faux pas from Farrell will probably resemble those who earnestly

>await the second coming of their boy-god.

>

>PHIPPS

>I've been on this list for something almost a year now, and I just want

>to say that I've seen Farrell corrected several times ( even did it

>myself once ) and he has always seemed gracious in accepting people's

>observations.  He doesn't claim to be perfect.  You must admit,

>considering how many people scrutinize his postings, he makes remarkably

>few typos.

>

>Sticking up for the Tillminator, [excellent term - how about the Tysonator]

>john phipps

>


 RICHARD:

Jesus, John!  Next time you visit your doctor for a medical, ask him/her to
calibrate your irony detector.



>P.S.  I do question the applicability of the [sic] designation in the

>medium of email, however.  I understand that it originally designated a

>mistake left in place, presumably so the reader wouldn't think that the

>quoting party was the sloppy one.  But in this medium most quotes are

>cut-and-paste, (at least on this list) and I wonder if it is really

>necessary to inform the reader that the mistake was in the original,

>when the material is plainly pasted directly from the original by the

>computer.


RICHARD:

Especially when the (sic) is unwarranted. The internet is an international
forum and we must all REALISE that there are national differences in the way
we spell a large number of words. Litre/liter, centre/center, arse/ass,
realise/realize.

The same goes for the way we pronounce words. The American "lootenant" is
more logical than the British "leftenant," as I am sure the residents of
Tooson, Arizona and Little Rock, Arkansaw agree.

If we assume the writer of the offending post will read our reply there is
nothing wrong in highlighting mistakes in spelling and grammar. If i
mistakes are not pointed out to us we will continue making them. It is
childish however to highlight obvious typos (such as the one in the previous
sentence).

Richard
"I tried them all - religion, family, community service. Nothing made me
happy. Then one day I tried beer."
Homer J Simpson