[OT, grammar and punctuation] Use of commas in US and British style?

[Fast Learner]

Re: I love it!

"I would like to thank my parents, God and Ayn Rand" just means he (or she) would like to thank all three. If they meant that God and Ayn Rand were his (or her) parents, that would be an appropriate use of the semi-colon - "I would like to thank my parents: God and Ayn Rand."

Colon, not semi-colon or semicolon. </pedant>

 

[Kamard]

there is a trainer at my workplace who says "it isn't rocket scientry."

this wouldn't be so bad, but she says it for EVERYTHING that should be simple.

 

[Bjorn Doneerson]

My English Teacher pronounces words wrong and can hardly read. She says "patriotism" pay-tre-a-nis-im and once while reading she said fascism instead of fanatascism and Arabian instead of Arab.

 

[Red Baron]

Edit: Never mind.

 

[ichabod]

My English Teacher pronounces words wrong and can hardly read. She says "patriotism" pay-tre-a-nis-im and once while reading she said fascism instead of fanatascism and Arabian instead of Arab.

That's nothing. Get a few beers into my dad and you can get him to say "Canader and Rusher, too ooj mordern countries."

 

[Saeviomagy]

ichabod - no, not really. In fact language is one of those things that isn't particularly hard-wired at all. Hence the reason that a kid can be taught a second language quite easily while an adult will have a significantly harder time.

Language doesn't change rapidly because there are forces to stop it changing rapidly. People correcting you when you misuse it for instance. If noone corrects you when you speak or spell improperly, you will continue to speak or spell improperly.

There are changes to language which I believe should exist - specifically those which make something which is highly unclear (inflammable for instance) clearer. Changes which seek to do the opposite (childrens, irregardless) should be avoided.

From what I've read, the debate about ebonics is as follows:
1) Ebonics is a dialect
2) It is difficult for traditional english speakers, which far outnumber the users of ebonics, to understand.
3) It is widely considered "bad english"

Personally, given the aim of a common language, which is to communicate ideas, if 2) is true, then so is 3). If your variations on a language are sufficient that you cannot make yourself understandable, you are no longer speaking the language. If the majority of english speakers nowadays used ancient english, then modern english would be considered "bad english".

 

[Sir Edgar]

I don't think you should be too concerned about achieving that level of grammer or punctuation in a d20 product. Have you seen some of the writing in these books??? As long as there are not too many misspellings or grammatical errors, it's not really a big deal. Regardless, I'm not sure if the difference in punctuation is necessarily a US vs. UK thing. I think it's a matter of style really. Most people, even here in the US, seem to prefer no comma before "and". Personally, I like to add a comma and I thought that's what Strunk & White proposes, but someone is saying not so. OH WELL!

 

[Red Baron]

Re: Re: I love it!

Colon, not semi-colon or semicolon. </pedant>

You beat me to it. I guess that's why you're the Fast Learner.

I would add, though, that the comma in "I would like to thank my parents, God and Ayn Rand" actually introduces a faulty apposition, despite Caedrel's claim that the writer "just means he (or she) would like to thank all three." (Of course, I'm stating the obvious here.)

Caedrel, the colon would also work -- but either way, colon or comma, the sentence means precisely the same thing...

 

[hong]

ichabod - no, not really. In fact language is one of those things that isn't particularly hard-wired at all. Hence the reason that a kid can be taught a second language quite easily while an adult will have a significantly harder time.

If adults have a hard time learning something, that indicates it's hardwired for adult brains, no?

From what I've read, the debate about ebonics is as follows:
1) Ebonics is a dialect
2) It is difficult for traditional english speakers, which far outnumber the users of ebonics, to understand.
3) It is widely considered "bad english"

Personally, given the aim of a common language, which is to communicate ideas, if 2) is true, then so is 3).

By this logic, Chinese is also bad English.

If numbers are the metric of interest, everyone should be taught Mandarin.

 

[Theuderic]

Hong is Ooi your last name?