New Log Cabin Quilt

Yes Edward - but one of my college subjects was advanced Latin >gg<

Deduce what you wish ...! . In message , Edward W. Thompson writes

ARGH!!!

My nit-pick of the moment is There's/Theirs and there/their/they're.

Oh, and spelling and grammar checking on the computer that tells me I have it wrong when I write a sentence of 40+ words with three sets of parentheses... :D

Then there's the split infinitive no man has splat before.

"begs the questions": I have only _ever_ heard it used in as "leads us to ask".

Of course, I do proofs for a living, and end up using phrases like "circular reasoning" even with friends/family not from work, who may not be entirely sure what I mean by that...

Hanne in London - intrigued

I taught English up to university entrance level on and off for many years. I am dyslexic. The spelling checker is a wonderful tool, but it does annoy me that these days so many kids use it without checking to ensure that it is both set to the correct version of the language for the area and exam system in which they live and work, and that they accept it's corrections without checking that it has given them the correct word, or the correct version of the word chosen.

For people like me who have no problem with pronunciation (I was brought up in an RAF environment, mostly in England, by Scots parents, and my 'accent' is close to BBC/received pronunciation, with odd pockets of Scots here and there), spelling can still be challenging, and genuine errors hold no fears for me. There is, however, no acceptable reason an no excuse for sending out official documents with spelling or grammatical errors, and I too get out the red pen and send them back for correction.

I am a very firm believer in the organic nature of language, and have no trouble with words being hijacked, altered, changing their use over time, and with grammar changing and adapting to suit new circumstances. However, I am firmly against spelling reformation: that way you lose the roots of the language, the context of the vocabulary, the ability to map the changes, and, ultimately, the meaning. English as we speak it today is a complex collection and amalgamation of languages: the vocabulary and grammar have been absorbed from many root languages, and there are more shades of meaning in it than in almost any other. We need to continue this growth and change, not stifle it. But we also need to accept and acknowledge those roots and the conventions of grammar and spelling that go with them if we are to make any sense to ourselves and those around us. Let me recommend Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss (Paperback -

- 31 Oct 2005)

And always remember: spelling and grammar 'rools' are more a set of guidelines and convention than laws! They are optional: fabric isn't!

One of my favorites. And the added introduction in the American edition is a bonus! Roberta in D

"Patti" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@quik.clara.co.uk...

I teach a developmental reading class where phonemic awareness and phonics is stressed. These are children who are 9-11 years old and reading 2 or more years below grade level despite average or above average intelligence.

I explain to them how the English language has changed and where words come from. I teach them about our Lawn Guyland accent and how it affects words. They have great fun doing exaggerations of this but it does focus their attentions on the words. This helps them understand word meanings and word spellings.

Linda PATCHogue, NY

My papers dun as ewe kin sea Its jest as grate as it kin bee This I know bee cause I have a spell Czech on my pea sea

Eye strike a key and type a word And weight fore it too say Weather eye am wrong oar write It shows me write a weigh.

Sew Teacher eye now no Cuz my chequer tolled me sew This papers perfect all the weigh Throw aweigh that read pen and Jest mark this with an aye.

Linda PATCHogue, NY

I agree wholeheartedly with you, Cheryl. DH isn't the best in spelling and grammar, so he *always* has me proof what he's sending out to his students. When he was a high school principal, he did the same; his secretary couldn't be trusted to correct things, as she was almost as bad at spelling as he is and didn't care. :S

It used to embarrass me no end that letters from the district office went out to parents with glaring mistakes in them. It infuriates me that government sends out similar paperwork. I've even been tempted to write to our local television and radio stations to ask if they have anyone on staff to proofread newscasts and check pronunciation before someone goes on the air and messes up.

It's just awful! My current pet peeve is the difference in its/it's and similar words with and without apostrophes. I can't figure out why people can't see that an apostrophe on a pronoun means that a letter is missing. Therefore, "it's" really means "it is", not that something belongs to "it". :S There is no such thing as "her's" or "their's". Sheesh.

Go, Pig! In my former life as a responsible, earning adult, I was a writer. I was a newspaper writer/reporter for my entire career. Newspapers often opt for "calarity over grammar" -- as if the two were mutually exclusive. Drove me nuts. Even though I always intended to be a reporter, my degree was in English Literature. My husband is now City Editor of our local newspaper. He and I have had some snippy discussions through our years together about language. His position is that language and spelling are evolving, as they always have, and that staid, stuffy traditionalists had better just give it up. My position is that there is correct and there is incorrect and that people who want to make their words public should first make certain that those words are correct. I grit my teeth all the time when reading everything from major daily newspapers to blogs. OMG people! Get a tiny little copy of Strunk and White and learn to write the English language.

(I am not talking about folks, like all of us here, who "talk" on posting boards. I really don't get too worked up about grammar or spelling or such when we are having what amounts to a friendly and very casual conversation. Nobody here is intending to publish their words and immortalize their posts, so please don't be offended by my little rant here.)

Enough ranting. You get the picture. I fervantly wish that people who write for public consumption would consult the necessary books/ websites/English teachers and write with precision and conformity to standard English. And yes, I AM one of "those people".

Sunny who grew up in rural, hicksville Texas saying such things as "nukuler mirs" and "liberry" and "it's down around the co'ner", and if I can learn and change, anybody can