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Joined: Aug 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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In reply to:
Sorry, shona, but that particular sin, doesn't top my list.
Does anybody else ever do this? There is an apparently superfluous comma in the sentence above - a vestige of a subordinate clause that didn't make it. Since Aenigma is too idiosyncratic for general use, I tend to get so concerned with looking for typos and spelling errors that I often miss the detritus left behind from a sudden change of thought. It would give me much comfort to hear that I am not alone in this. 
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 11,613 |
It would give me much comfort to hear that I am not alone in this.
Sweet Max: you are not alone in this! I, of the convoluted sentences, often loose (gotcha!) my wildly careering thoughts out into the bewildering wilderness of comma-land.
Max-ie, I see that you are just 33 posts away from becoming an addict. Go, Max! Go, Max!
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 347
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 347 |
Max,
Seems it's a comman problem, a commacopia of punctuation marks.[groan*2]
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I, of the convoluted sentences,My record to date is around 110 words. I was 15 at the time, whatever grade that is, and argued with my History teacher about it. He marked me down from A to A- specifically because of my masterpiece. I remonstrated that it was less than half the length of a certain sentence in Areopagatica. Sadly, this was a fatal flaw in my argument, as he scored the killer punch by simply stating, "you're not Milton." Ah, the hubris of youth! 
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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the hubris of youth!In my youth Milton was a foul-smelling antiseptic. In my reading of poetry later on...
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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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>"you're not Milton."
he didn't, by any chance, preface this with "I knew Milton; Milton was a friend of mine"?
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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schoolIf school is to blame for many of our woes, consider the revenge of the wide-eyed pupils: Back to school – spilling for big grinners! http://www.takeourword.com/page5.html
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
I guess they may be let off this fishhook, as teachers are certainly not well-paid
Agreed, mav, but they are also responsible (for their sins) for setting the future standard, which our sprats will deliver back to us!
So I hereby withdraw any get-out clause I may have implied for people who are not well paid. And teachers get a special visit from the Grammar Police just before they've managed to make the first coffee of the day (I can't imagine a more cruel punishment)!
[evil grin]
Fish with a Chip on its shoulder
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they are also responsible I don't think I can agree with that, Fisk. When you consider how few hours of teacher/pupil contact time there actually are - frequently less than two hours per week with a class of 30 or so, meaning 4 minutes in which to influence the weekly behaviour and outlook of a given child... Then compare that with the time the parents (could) be spending with the sprats... Then compare that with the average weekly exposure to American dominated TV... And add in the weekly exposure to films... Popular music... MTV (this comes in a class of its own!) and even the Kellogs cornflake packet... It's really little short of a miracle we grow up as sane and articulate as we do (and I'm not too sure about thee!)
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
consider his --> hers --> its
Good point, tsuwm. Waddya know, there is a wee bit of logic in there somewhere.
Actually if we can produce helpful hints to aid the grammatically challenged its probably a better thing than locking 'em up innit?
sound of heavy boots and door splintering...
eek.
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