Re: Ago
Lauren wrote:
> I substituted phrases that fit for the missing beginning and ending of
> the sentence as, "Since you modified [or began] your service less than
> 45 days ago, you must wait before making anymore [or any] changes."
>
> I do not like the use of "ago" because it makes me think of fairy tales
> or Star Wars, "a long time ago." I would probably change the snip to
> read "... your service within 45 days, ..." or "... your service within
> the past 45 days, ..." or "... your service start date is within the
> past 45 days, ..."
The fairly tale/Star Wars connection seems awfully far-fecthed.
My guess is that you would find many of my other thoughts "far-fetched." We can all form our own impressions about what words evoke or emote. Why a thing is uncomfortable to me is not the issue. The issue was whether the thing felt right in the context. I provided examples that were more appealing to my prose palate.
Don't tell me that you're also one of the people who refuse to use the word "appears" in technical documentation because it sounds like magic?
No, I don't use "appears" because it sounds silly.
The other issue I have with your rewrite is the use of "anymore" as an adjective phrase instead of "any more", which is something of a pet peeve. "Anymore" is a perfectly good word when used as an adverb (typically a sentence adverb) to mean "any longer".
Why are you going after a crutch I used to address the issues of the phrase in question? The crutch is certainly not a rewrite nor part of my rewrite; it is only, as is obvious from my use, a crutch I used to derive semantics of the "snip." I could have used logic nonsense, like "thwerps," but I used "anymore." *This* is what you choose to discuss?
But that's the only sense that is defined in any of my dictionaries. When used as an adjective phrase (e.g., "I don't have any more patience today.") or as a noun phrase (e.g., "We couldn't buy any more no matter what the price.") it's two words.
It is well established that my informal discourse often contains homophonic errors. That can hardly be an issue of contention, especially when the discussion was about the use of "ago" in a sentence fragment and not my semantic device. Further, I sincerely doubt that anyone will be concerned with the made up sentence I used around the fragment that is the subject of discussion.
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References:
Re: Ago: From: Lauren
RE: Ago: From: Fred Ridder
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