Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 2 of 4 1 2 3 4
#137651 01/22/05 10:22 PM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Don't the British still use "my" style of punctuation?

If the British were to put the period inside the quotes they'd never get to the close quote since they call the period a full stop.


#137652 01/22/05 10:25 PM
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 95
A
AniamL Offline OP
journeyman
OP Offline
journeyman
A
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 95
A full stop? It must be tough to read any British authors when you have to stop reading after the first sentence!


#137653 01/22/05 10:55 PM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
earlier in this thread I was going to add a post saying that this issue has bothered me for "donkey's years."

no, that doesn't look right; let me try again: earlier in this thread I was going to add a post saying that this issue has bothered me for "donkey's years."

well d'oh!. I just cut and pasted that simple sentence into a more complex one, without changing a bloody(!) thing.

here, I'll just quote myself; that should help: "earlier in this thread I was going to add a post saying that this issue has bothered me for "donkey's years."". there.

now that was just silly; here: earlier in this thread I was going to add a post saying "this issue has bothered me for "donkey's years".".


anyway, like I was saying (typing -- no, keyboarding -- is what i *really mean to say.. er.. keyboard), "earlier in this thread I was going to add a post...". [notice how I deftly sidestepped putting "saying" in there again]? but, in the event, I resisted, fearing that it would be perceived that I didn't know that of which I spoke [drat!]!

so, having waited a bit, I -- the effable I, that is, -- feel satisdicted.





#137654 01/22/05 11:53 PM
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
W
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
"Earlier in this thread I was going to add a post saying that this issue has bothered me for 'donkey's years.' "
[American]

'Earlier in this thread I was going to add a post saying
that this issue has bothered me for "donkey's years." '
[British]

...at least that's my understanding of differences between American and British punctuation conventions. Please do correct me here if I'm in error.


#137655 01/23/05 12:00 AM
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 95
A
AniamL Offline OP
journeyman
OP Offline
journeyman
A
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 95
Don't completely understand the "full stop" bit - does that mean it would be:
'Earlier in this thread I was going to add a post saying that this issue has bothered me for "donkey's years" '.



#137656 01/23/05 12:00 AM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
>Please do correct me here if I'm in error.

Shirley, you guessed.


#137657 01/23/05 12:42 AM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Goodness gracious, I do believe you have baited a wit.


#137658 01/23/05 01:33 PM
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,385
P
veteran
Offline
veteran
P
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,385
Colin's colon coalition!

"Colin's colon coalition" will get a colonoscopy around here. :)




#137659 01/25/05 01:27 PM
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 389
enthusiast
Offline
enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 389
I’m a little late on this, but I was more or less snowed in yesterday. It was lovely and I slept very well after all my shoveling, snow blowing and moving-college-man-back-to-his-dorming.
Kierkegaard composed the phrase, "truth is subjectivity".
With the comma, seems correct or is at least clearer.
"truth is subjectivity" is not a sentence in itself and is not worthy of its own period.
That's the Owlbow rule anyhow and it makes the meaning of your sentence more clear and (no comma needed after an and) that's what's important isn't it? (Did that sound too arrogant?) Ah, you know what I mean.



#137660 01/25/05 05:46 PM
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
>"truth is subjectivity" is not a sentence in itself and is not worthy of its own period.


Not so. It is sentence. So is the preceding sentence. Subject, verb, object, except in the case of the verb to be I think they call it something other than object.

TEd



TEd
Page 2 of 4 1 2 3 4

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,361
Members9,182
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
Ineffable, ddrinnan, TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV
9,182 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 691 guests, and 2 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
wofahulicodoc 10,557
tsuwm 10,542
LukeJavan8 9,919
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5