Grammer / Spelling

[looney]

Don't you mean ?

No I was being snide/sarcastic, not jokey.

 

[AuntAgonist]

So after Hovagirl's "corrections". The meaning has changed from what I originally meant, a rehtorical question to express irony and sarcasm to one of an accusation of dishonesty.

Yea that really works.

As Martin from The Simpsons would say "Your very question is faulty".

 

[looney]

And if the solution is wrong it cant be the solution.

 

[Nottseagull]

When did grammar, spelling and

punctuation start to be part of the 'A'-level English

curriculum? When I was young, we were taught these things at

primary school. It would have been impossible to start

learning Latin at the age of 11, without a solid grounding in

the basics of language.
'A'-level English was all about the novels of Thomas Hardy, the

poetry of Chaucer and Auden, and the plays of Shakespeare, not

how to write English.

If I may be so bold, I'd like to point out that a comma has

been incorrectly inserted after '11' I'm afraid, LB! However,

the main purpose of my post is to agree, not to nitpick. Having

to study Chaucer's Prologue and Henry IV Part One

left me with no appetite to find out what happened in Part

Two, let alone do it all again for A-level!

 

[AuntAgonist]

*Gives looney a big hug* I love these threads and will be back to jump all over the next pedantry-related one. Have to get up early for work tomorrow though

Nighty-nighty all

 

[HovaGirl]

No beacause in your correction the comma would be not needed, replaced with and.

I counted five errors in five sentences and yet you have an A-level in English?

The comma use also reflects the rhetorical nature of the question. Sheebo has already stated he has an A level in English so just to state it as a question would reflect an accusation of dishonesty. This is also reflected in your false correction which also reads as rhetorical rather than accusational.

A comma has nothing to do with rhetoric. It is used for clauses.

 

[HovaGirl]

When did grammar, spelling and punctuation start to be part of the 'A'-level English curriculum? When I was young, we were taught these things at primary school. It would have been impossible to start learning Latin at the age of 11, without a solid grounding in the basics of language.

'A'-level English was all about the novels of Thomas Hardy, the poetry of Chaucer and Auden, and the plays of Shakespeare, not how to write English.

Asbolutely agree, Lord B. The very things we are discussing now, I learnt at primary school in the early 60s, but homed in on in more detail for the O-Level. As you say, A-Level English was analysis of classical English literature.

 

[phoenix]

i find these threads uncalled for myself, i am awful as spelling and English, i get embarrassed enough as it is about it without being pulled up on it all the time.

Totally agree with you.Its like trying to be better. My friend is very good at English, But is a total failure in life. Rep point to you,sir.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

If I may be so bold, I'd like to point out that a comma has

been incorrectly inserted after '11' I'm afraid, LB!

No it hasn't. A comma is a legitimate way to separate clauses and aid clarity.

 

[HovaGirl]

So after Hovagirl's "corrections". The meaning has changed from what I originally meant, a rehtorical question to express irony and sarcasm to one of an accusation of dishonesty.

Yea that really works.

Your original sentence/s expressed surprise that the other poster had done A-Level in English, yet made five errors in five sentences. There is nothing rhetorical about this, neither is it ironic. It is ironic that the OP complained about spelling errors, and then made some, just as it is ironic that I made a statement, didn't read it back to myself, and NottsSeagull found me out!

 

[HovaGirl]

Given the nature of the thread and the repercussions of making such errors, why wouldn't you have done?

I quite agree. I'd actually changed a sentence I'd originally written, but completely failed to read it back, in my haste to click on reply, and carry on chatting with my sister-in-law elsewhere! I do humbly apologise.

 

[GT49er]

No it hasn't. A comma is a legitimate way to separate clauses and aid clarity.

Agree with that, but have to agree that the comma after '11' was, at the very least, superfluous. Sorry................!

 

[looney]

A comma has nothing to do with rhetoric. It is used for clauses.

IF I may quote LB.

"A comma is a legitimate way to separate clauses and aid clarity. "

ie I was clarifying the retorical nature of the question.

Bottom line is you cant "correct" someones punctuation in a way that alters the meaning from what they intended. You are wrong, deal with it.

 

[HovaGirl]

Agree with that, but have to agree that the comma after '11' was, at the very least, superfluous. Sorry................!

In the world of newspapers, that is true, but it is not what we were taught at school half a century ago!

 

[HovaGirl]

IF I may quote LB.

"A comma is a legitimate way to separate clauses and aid clarity. "

ie I was clarifying the retorical nature of the question.

Bottom line is you cant "correct" someones punctuation in a way that alters the meaning from what they intended. You are wrong, deal with it.

Sorry, I'm not wrong.

 

[looney]

Sorry, I'm not wrong.

So explain to me why I wrote a sarcastic reference but your correction alters my intent therefore I must be delusional about what I meant to post.

 

[phoenix]

You started the thread. This is an internet fail on scales hitherto only even dreamt about (well, probably not) so you deserve hideous amounts of ridicule for trying to be pedantic, and making yourself look silly. As this is how the inrternet works.

Typo intentionally left in

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Agree with that, but have to agree that the comma after '11' was, at the very least, superfluous. Sorry................!

How do you feel about replacing commas with dashes? I'll re-work my original sentence, to emphasise that I was 11 years old when I started learning Latin: It would have been impossible to start learning Latin - at the age of 11 - without a solid grounding in the basics of language.

My original intention was, however, not that; it was to emphasise the importance of having a solid grounding in the basics of language - hence the placing of a comma after "11". I fear being fixtured, though, since the opportunity to use commas to create different nuances is what looney and HovaGirl have been arguing about.

 

[HovaGirl]

So explain to me why I wrote a sarcastic reference but your correction alters my intent therefore I must be delusional about what I meant to post.

It's not a case of being delusional. The grammar was faulty. You said this:

"I counted 5 errors in 5 sentences, you have an A level in English? No wonder the countries going to the dogs."

Here, the comma isn't part of a clause, because the two sections bear no relationship to each other. The comma does not create a relationship. They are two separate statements, one of them being a question. If you want the statements to relate to each other, then you need to add in a conjunction, a joining word, a word which will join the two statements together.

Inserting the word "yet" expresses the opposing sentiments in the two statements. "This yet that?"

"I counted five errors in five sentences yet you have an A level in English? No wonder the country is going to the dogs."

That simple word, "yet", expresses your astonishment, surprise, or even sarcasm. The comma does not fulfill that function.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]