Grammar lesson 101

Borris · 31 Aug 2006 at 11:09

In K_C's example, if I were to type the following:

One meaning of vis-a-vis is "in relation to".

The full stop terminates the clause, and the sentence structure is robust.

In the following sentence:

One meaning of vis-a-vis is "in relation to."

There is no termination of the clause - A more accurate version would be

One meaning of vis-a-vis is "in relation to.".

However, to avoid doubling up punctuation, we use the outer mark alone.

This is the English way, the way of Kings and Noblemen, granted to us by Harry, England and St George.

Them Yanquees just can't speak proper.

dirtydog · 31 Aug 2006 at 11:12

Yes but it is a Yank link, so the English is correct for them

And the 'its' usage is the same for both British and US English :cool:

Beren · 31 Aug 2006 at 11:27

Borris: Do you know if it is the same when using an abreviation?

i.e. a) "I hate that Water Co."
b) "I hate that Water Co".
c) "I hate that Water Co.".

Maybe I have been reading too much written by them common yankees but in that example a looks correct, c looks possible and b looks just odd.

kitten_caboodle · 31 Aug 2006 at 11:27

Borris said:
In K_C's example, if I were to type the following:
The full stop terminates the clause, and the sentence structure is robust.

In the following sentence:
There is no termination of the clause - A more accurate version would be
However, to avoid doubling up punctuation, we use the outer mark alone.

This is the English way, the way of Kings and Noblemen, granted to us by Harry, England and St George.

Them Yanquees just can't speak proper.

I'm quite happy to bow to your superior knowledge

Beren said:
Borris: Do you know if it is the same when using an abreviation?

i.e. a) "I hate that Water Co."
b) "I hate that Water Co".
c) "I hate that Water Co.".

Maybe I have been reading too much written by them common yankees but in that example a looks correct, c looks possible and b looks just odd.

I think it's a because the '.' is a shortening of the word, so still part of the sentence. To put the .". would be pointless (har har) so we just use the one that represents something (the shortening of the word) rather than the one that signifies the end of the sentence.

Beren · 31 Aug 2006 at 11:39

kitten_caboodle said:
I think it's a because the '.' is a shortening of the word, so still part of the sentence. To put the .". would be pointless (har har) so we just use the one that represents something (the shortening of the word) rather than the one that signifies the end of the sentence.

So in short you still think Borris is wrong then?

/stirs

kitten_caboodle · 31 Aug 2006 at 11:59

Beren said:
So in short you still think Borris is wrong then?

/stirs

no because Co. is an abbreviation of Company and the '.' is therefore there as a substitute for the rest of the letters, hence it's still part of the sentence and comes within the quotation marks.

Same as Borris said for vs.

/

Borris · 31 Aug 2006 at 12:03

Beren said:
So in short you still think Borris is wrong then?

In your example, the correct answer is a), as you have not included the clause in another sentence. The quotation marks are superfluous.

In c), if I wrote the following, using your example:

She said "I hate that Water Co.".

The example is now correct. This is subtly different to the placement of punctuation in parentheses.

In the example that I gave earlier:

Versus is abbreviated to "vs.", not "vs".

I can change this around to read:

Versus is not abbreviated to "vs", but to "vs.".

A you can see, the sentence would lose all meaning if I wrote:

Versus is not abbreviated to "vs", but to "vs".

MikeTimbers · 31 Aug 2006 at 12:05

Everyone posting in this thread should remember the rule that any post about grammar/spelling moist include an error.

kitten_caboodle · 31 Aug 2006 at 12:06

Borris said:
brainy stuff

you're my hero

dirtydog · 31 Aug 2006 at 12:07

Borris said:
Incomprehensible stuff

Whoosh!

Borris · 31 Aug 2006 at 12:08

kitten_caboodle said:
you're my hero

*doffs cap*

Borris · 31 Aug 2006 at 12:09

dirtydog said:
Whoosh!

Just picture me wearing a kordroy (sp?) jacket with patches on the elbows, writing animatedly on a black (pc?) board.

dirtydog · 31 Aug 2006 at 12:11

Borris said:
black (pc?) board.

whiteboard. RTM'd for racistness :mad:

Borris · 31 Aug 2006 at 12:16

dirtydog said:
whiteboard. RTM'd for racistness

Huh - Pot calling the Kettle melanin blessed.

dirtydog · 31 Aug 2006 at 12:17

Borris said:
Huh - Pot calling the Kettle melanin blessed.

*giggles*

Beren · 31 Aug 2006 at 12:22

*Doffs cap*

I stand in aww of your corduroyness!

Amleto · 31 Aug 2006 at 12:43

Tru said:
This is one of my favourite pages on the web, it used to be pimped round GD all the time, usually by nim iirc. Ctrl-D it in the face.

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html

Rofl. They have 'ATM machine', but don't have 'PIN number'. :confused:

kitten_caboodle · 31 Aug 2006 at 12:47

I tell you something else that really, really bugs me.

People who say 'loose' instead of 'lose'

"I'm loosing my mind."

No you aren't. You are losing it.

or 'You loose'.

No I'm not. I might have lost, but I'm certainly not loose.

Just because the sound is stretched in the spoken 'losing', people think they have to add another 'o'.

dirtydog · 31 Aug 2006 at 12:50

kitten_caboodle said:
I'm certainly not loose.

That's not what I've heard

kitten_caboodle · 31 Aug 2006 at 12:50

dirtydog said:
That's not what I've heard

then you heard wrong