air conditioning may be making us fat
in [Europe]
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From: Mxsmanic on 15 Jul 2006 12:13 Karen Selwyn writes: > Growing up, I was taught to form a posessive out of a word that ends in > an "s" by adding only an apostrophe after the "s." Now, literate > publications like the WASHINGTON POST, CHICAGO SUN TIMES, and LA TIMES > routinely form posessives by adding "'s" even to words ending in "s." A lot of modern journalists lack basic English skills that were taken for granted in the past. -- Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.
From: Stanislas de Kertanguy on 15 Jul 2006 12:16 Le 15/07/2006, Mxsmanic a ?crit : > People follow the rules > of grammar because they cannot communicate with each other otherwise. Some people deliberately bypass the rules of grammar, yet communicate. Teens and their "SMS" language are a good example. Some writers and poets also bypass the grammar rules to reach true genius. Have you ever read Ren? Char's poetry ? -- remplacez "lesptt" par "laposte" pour me joindre substitute "laposte" for "lesptt" to reach me
From: Mxsmanic on 15 Jul 2006 12:17 jeremyrh.geo(a)yahoo.com writes: > What is it defined by? Language is ultimately defined by the society that uses it, which develops rules that are passed on from generation to generation. The more rigid the rules, the more efficient the communication, in general. The more lax or unobserved the rules, the more ambiguity there is in communication. > Unemployed IT geeks filling in as English teachers? Information theory has a strong and unavoidable influence on language development, but IT professionals themselves often have very poor English skills. As for English teachers, it often depends on exactly what kind of teaching they are doing; however, today--and at least in the U.S.--even the skills of college instructors in English leave much to be desired. For some reaason, modern society, particularly in the United States, has developed the attitude that one must neither tell anyone how to do anything nor attempt enforcement of any rule, and language skills have suffered considerably in consequence. -- Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.
From: Stanislas de Kertanguy on 15 Jul 2006 12:30 Le 15/07/2006, Mxsmanic a ?crit : > People follow the rules > of grammar because they cannot communicate with each other otherwise. /L'Hellade, c'est le rivage d?ploy? d'une mer g?niale d'o? s'?lanc?rent ? l'aurore le souffle de la connaissance et le magn?tisme de l'intelligence, gonflant d'?gale fertilit? des pouvoirs qui sembl?rent perp?tuels; c'est plus loin, une mappemonde d'?tranges montagnes: une cha?ne de volcans sourit ? la magie des h?ros, ? la tendresse serpentine des d?esses, guide le vol nuptial de l'homme, libre enfin de se savoir et de p?rir oiseau; c'est la r?ponse ? tout, m?me ? l'usure de la naissance, m?me aux d?tours du labyrinthe. Mais ce sol massif fait du diamant de la lumi?re et de la neige, cette terre imputrescible sous les pieds de son peuple victorieux de la mort mais mortel par ?vidence de puret?, une raison ?trang?re tente de ch?tier sa perfection, croit couvrir le balbutiement de ses ?pis. O Gr?ce, miroir et corps trois fois martyrs, t'imaginer c'est te r?tablir. Tes gu?risseurs sont dans ton peuple et ta sant? est dans ton droit. *Ton sang incalculable, je l'appelle, le seul vivant pour qui la libert? a cess? d'?tre maladive, qui me brise la bouche, lui du silence, et moi du cri*. Ren? Char/ The last sentence of this poem has a very twisted grammar and syntax. It is obviously incorrect by French rules. Yet it sends thrills through my eyes when I read it. Isn't that _communication_ ? -- remplacez "lesptt" par "laposte" pour me joindre substitute "laposte" for "lesptt" to reach me
From: Mxsmanic on 15 Jul 2006 12:31
Stanislas de Kertanguy writes: > So, what was your point ? I was clarifying. > Do you have any advice on how to figure whether a word common > to French and English has a mute initial H ? Check a dictionary. -- Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail. |