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Subject:The whys (was Re: OT -- "its" vs "it's") From:"Jane Bergen" <jane -dot- bergen -at- usa -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 8 Jan 2001 12:11:01 -0600
Yikes.... I disagree vehemently, Jeff, on several levels. The more
important issue is that grammar is grammar, and anyone using it should
know and use the basic rules. It's not the same as learning a NEW
skill like using computers. The analogy might hold up if you're
talking about someone using English as a newly-acquired language.
Then, possibly, the case could be made that they just haven't yet
learned the correct use/spelling of the word.
A word I see misspelled CONSTANTLY on this list and others is "loose"
versus "lose" -- you don't "loose" your shoes if you misplace them.
You could "loose" them if you untie your shoelaces, I suppose, but
they'd still be on your feet. I think the problem may be because
"loose" looks like "choose" in spelling, which is a present-tense form
of the verb, but it doesn't sound like it in conversation, so it's
easily misused. It's still a fourth grade grammar/spelling issue, like
"its" versus "it's" or "their" versus "there" and "they're"!
THE FACT IS that we've become very lazy and sloppy with grammar and
spelling, and the problem is exacerbated by the internet and email.
The more often something (a word or an idea) appears in print,
correctly or incorrectly, the more easily it is accepted.... a VERY
scary thought. And now it DOES become a technical communication
issue!!!
Jane Bergen
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Hanvey" <jewahe1 -at- yahoo -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Sent: Monday, January 08, 2001 11:04 AM
Subject: Re: OT -- "its" vs "it's"
> --- Mike <techmail_mike -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote:
> >
> > Then there's the whole their/they're/there
> > thing.....
> >
>
> Did anyone see Sex in the City last week? The main
> character was looking for a way to show up her ex's
> new wife, and she found it because the woman wrote a
> note that said "sorry I could not be their."
>
> Anyway, Carrie called one of her friends and told her
> the wife a complete idiot.
>
> While I believe that writers should use rules of
> grammar, can we really expect those who aren't writers
> and haven't been trained in language quite the way we
> have to know and understand the rules - and use them
> fluidly?
>
> I don't think so! That would be equivalent to a
> programmer expecting everyone to know how to use a
> computer fluidly - Not everyone has the use for it, or
> has the skills for it.
>
> That is, after all, why our jobs exist!
>
> =====
> Jeff Hanvey
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