English Matters

Discussion in 'Education & Personal Growth' started by Ansuya, Dec 20, 2008.

  1. sokanasanah

    sokanasanah IL Hall of Fame

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    First things first - Namaskar readers! What’s up? Que pasa? How do you do? Comment allez-vous?

    Usually, when I see a new post on English Matters, I am all ears. Precise language is important. Talk to me about the ravages of business-speak and I’m like, you’re telling me? You can certainly say that again, man – I hear you, sister! But, when I read this mini-rant above, I thought to myself, are you kidding me? Jeez, hold your horses, lady - get a grip! Here you are writing Hinglish and then railing about how those other people cannot manage the Queen’s language? Couldn’t bite the bullet and clean up your own writing before publishing it? You know, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. If this is all you bring to the table, you’re barking up the wrong tree. Yeah, yeah, I know that’s mixing metaphors, but I’m only human. I’m sure you know what I mean. I saw it with ‘my own’ eyes – otherwise, to be honest, I wouldn’t have believed that this sort of smug superciliousness was even possible. But I guess it is what it is. I’ve had enough. I’m getting the hell out of here. This is my only choice. Are you coming, or what?

    And you, Sonal K, take care of your personal belongings - you might start with your pet peeves.
    :wink1: :beer-toast1:

    PS: This post is a joke. No offense, express or implied, is directed at Ms. Karla or anyone else. I do get carried away with my sense of humor - so-called - sometimes; couldn't resist, not this time. And besides, I have been known to have my very own pet peeves.
     
    Last edited: Dec 1, 2019
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  2. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Hi Soka,

    Thank you for opening my eyes on "Bite the bullet". There is never an end to learning something new everyday. I never knew the origin before.

    I originally had one more "You are getting under my skin" and decided to remove it.:yikes:
     
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  3. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    To be honest with everyone here, I am afraid I can't understand and explain what Soka said above. Trust me, Soka means well. :BangHead:
     
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  4. Gauri03

    Gauri03 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Dictionary.com's word of 2019 is,

    word.png

    The word is chosen from a list of most-searched words. A bit on the nose but tragically unsurprising considering the headlines these days. Wonder what the runner up was? Crisis?

    Dictionary.com's Word of the Year for 2019 Is ...

    For those feeling similarly perturbed, I find the White Wizard's advice soothing.

    “'I wish it need not have happened in my time,' said Frodo. 'So do I,' said Gandalf, 'and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." ~ The Fellowship of the Ring
     
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  5. Amulet

    Amulet IL Hall of Fame

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    Typing existential followed by a space on the Google search window, results in the suggested completions with the top 10. First among those is "crisis"... you may see the rest of the list:
    upload_2019-12-9_13-36-45.png
    I am surprised that "threat" was in #9 spot, considering POTUS is often referred to by the phrase "existential threat" to everything from availability of french fries to the Global economy and peace.
     
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  6. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    It is so embarrassing to see our President make too many spelling mistakes in his twitter handle. Typos can happen to anyone but generally, people generally read before posting anything in public. Even if one or two escapes their attention, it won't happen regularly. Recently, he used the word "Smocking" instead of "smoking" resulting in many trolling him and one particular post attracted my attention with the following:

    [​IMG]

    I am using this page to give comparison of 5 words to be used as opposed to what was actually used by him in his Twitter handle.

    1) Counsel - advice especial that given formally, the lawyer or lawyers conducting the case
    Council - an advisory, deliberative, or legislative body of people formally constituted and meeting regularly.

    2) Pour - flow rapidly in a steady stream.
    Pore - a minute opening in a surface, especially the skin or integument of an organism, through which gases, liquids, or microscopic particles can pass.

    3) Heel - the back part of the human foot below the ankle.
    Heal - (of a person or treatment) cause (a wound, injury, or person) to become sound or healthy again.

    4) Border - a line separating two political or geographical areas, especially countries.
    Boarder - a person who receives regular meals when staying somewhere, in return for payment or services/a person who boards a ship during or after an attack

    5) Peace - freedom from disturbance; tranquility/a state or period in which there is no war or a war has ended
    Peach - a round stone fruit with juicy yellow flesh and downy pinkish-yellow skin.
     
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  7. Amulet

    Amulet IL Hall of Fame

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    When I saw that photo, girl dressed warm, hair in place, and properly seated with knees together, I RFLOL. She looked so proper !! Like trained by Professor Higgins himself.

    And the description of the photo mentions Hereford as the venue of this rescue. Anyone remember Hereford ? That is where Hurricanes hardly ever happen !!

    upload_2020-2-18_20-48-27.png

     
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  8. Amulet

    Amulet IL Hall of Fame

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    Listen To LBC Online - LBC

    Talk Radio is very useful in learning pronunciation.
    I would recommend listening to LBC. One could learn to say it well, and avoid the snobbery of the BBC type speech.
    James Obrien and Shelagh Fogarty are my favorites.
    3:30 PM IST during weekdays.
     
  9. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Everyone here in IL knows how poor I am in my English writing as well as communication skills. After @sokanasanah posted general advice in IL, I started using Grammarly regularly for my writings not only here but for all of my emails, official documents, etc. It sends me reports every now and then as to how well I am doing. The recent report indicated that within 7 weeks, I wrote 587,287 words, enough to complete "War and peace" written by Tolstoy, more productive than 93% of Grammarly users and used more unique words than 98% of the Grammarly users.

    Here are my problems:

    1) Mastery - 42% accurate than Grammarly users. (I read a book titled, "Karna's wife - Outcast Queen written by Kavita Kane and I thoroughly enjoyed the mastery of the language demonstrated by the author)
    2) Missing comma in compounding sentences - 82 alerts
    3) Missing articles - 45 alerts
    4) Incorrect punctuation with quotation mark - 41 alerts

    Please don't troll me with your answers. Those who can give constructive suggestions, please post your answers here to improve my English writing skills on the four problems listed above.
     
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  10. sokanasanah

    sokanasanah IL Hall of Fame

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    Grammarly is useful only for relatively simple expository writing. It does not handle 'creative' writing very well. It is useful for first-pass error detection. Apart from that, it is somewhat schoolmarm-y. If you want to feel better, insert your favorite literary passages into it and marvel at the suggestions offered!:lol:
     
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