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El Jefe

latitudinarian
Staff member
#63
Hey, idiots on my conference call...perhaps your concepts are so useless that they should be flushed out, but I think what you're really trying to say is that they should be fleshed out.

Morons.

I'm not kidding: I've heard this same mistake during three different conference calls.
 

goldfish boy

Otium cum dignitate
#64
People, I have been a writer, copy editor and proofreader for the past 17 years, and I still don't understand the distinction between "each other" and "one another." Please enlighten me.
 

VarietyUndrgrnd

@the Parkside Lounge
#65
I just read about this the other day!

m-w.com:

"Some handbooks and textbooks recommend that each other be restricted to reference to two and one another to reference to three or more. The distinction, while neat, is not observed in actual usage. Each other and one another are used interchangeably by good writers and have been since at least the sixteenth century."

So there's essentially no difference.
 
#66
Someone here once gave a good explanation of when to use "that" vs. when to use "which", too. Can we revisit that one?

And again, you "lose" your car keys sometimes. You rarely "loose" them. Unless you are Ricky Ricardo. Or you carry them on an extendable thingy like Schneider used to.
 

El Jefe

latitudinarian
Staff member
#68
FrettyMcNervous said:
Someone here once gave a good explanation of when to use "that" vs. when to use "which", too. Can we revisit that one?
I think the easiest way to state the rule is that you should only use which when the clause it introduces is an independent clause which is not essential to understanding the rest of the sentence.

Moby Dick is the book that I want to to read.

(That I want to read explains which book you are referring to.)

I want to read Moby Dick, which was written by Herman Melville.

(Which was written by Herman Melville is adding more information to the sentence, but you could take it away and the sentence would still make sense.)

Note that which in this sense is usually preceded by a comma.
 
#69
FrettyMcNervous said:
And again, you "lose" your car keys sometimes. You rarely "loose" them. Unless you are Ricky Ricardo. Or you carry them on an extendable thingy like Schneider used to.
Note to Dan Goldstein: Yes, she means like on "One Day at a Time."
 

Erin

Belle of Kilronan
#70
El Jefe said:
I think the easiest way to state the rule is that you should only use which when the clause it introduces is an independent clause which is not essential to understanding the rest of the sentence.

Moby Dick is the book that I want to to read.

(That I want to read explains which book you are referring to.)

I want to read Moby Dick, which was written by Herman Melville.

(Which was written by Herman Melville is adding more information to the sentence, but you could take it away and the sentence would still make sense.)

Note that which in this sense is usually preceded by a comma.
This is similar to the concept of a "genitive absolute" in Ancient Greek, if that makes it easier to understand.
 
#71
El Jefe said:
Moby Dick is the book that I want to to read.

(That I want to read explains which book you are referring to.)

I want to read Moby Dick, which was written by Herman Melville.

.
I must argue here with what I believe is the incorrect use of "want."
Nobody "wants" to read Moby Dick.
I made the mistake of reading Moby Dick because I thought I should , and while the beginning was lively and interesting, for a long stretch in the middle I "wanted" someone to harpoon me and get me out of it.
A more correct usage of "want" with "Herman Melville" in the same sentence would be, "I want to read 'Bartleby the Scrivener' by Herman Melville, which I hear is a kick-ass short story."
:) :) :)
 
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El Jefe

latitudinarian
Staff member
#73
icouldbewrong said:
I must argue here with what I believe is the incorrect use of "want."
Nobody "wants" to read Moby Dick.
I stand corrected. I've started Moby Dick three times, and have never gotten past the first 50 or so pages. Ditto Gravity's Rainbow, which I am determined to read one day.
 

Mo Nose

Paradox in a pantsuit
#74
rroach1115 said:
The reason why people often make mistakes here is that as far as I know their isn't any spell or grammar check buttons here at this website. I don't know why that is, but I think their should be at least a spell check button on The IRC. I know it would certainly cut down all of the spelling mistakes made on some of the posts.
Their v. There

Their applies only to people and their possessions.

There applies to everything else.
 
#75
The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer inwaht oredr the ltteers in a
wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be
in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed
it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey
lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? Yaeh, and I
awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt.
 
#76
Mo Nose said:
Their v. There

Their applies only to people and their possessions.

There applies to everything else.
Thanks Mo ,for clearing that up for me. Hail Almighty Czar!!! Maddy's thread has gotten out it's whip once more! We will all now bow to thee czar. I guess this thread will keep a crackin'.
 

Holmes

of the Rare Bird Show
#77
Can we please figure out how to use apostrophes?
CDs, DVDs, the '90s, the Roaring '20s, there are weirdos along the way, not weirdo's.
If you're just pluralizing, don't put in a '. If you are eliminating a part of something to shorten it, put in a '. If something belongs to someone, put in the ', except with its.
The toy robot has a lightbulb: It is its lightbulb, or it's its lightbulb.
It's Tommy's robot.
 

Holmes

of the Rare Bird Show
#79
Now, is it Chris's? Thanks for adding plural possessive to the discussion.
I always thought that it was s' just like with plurals; like it would be James' bike or the class' guinea pig.

I really don't know what is correct in this instance.
 
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