Crosswords1 min ago
Does your English go to pot ...
25 Answers
... when you post to forums like this? I pride myself on spelling and punctuating correctly in whatever I write. I have a certificate that says I can type at 90wpm (and that includes spelling everything correctly) and I've taught English to adults, but as soon as I get to an internet forum it all goes out of the window and I end up making myself look like a right dimbo!
Anyone else have this problem?
Anyone else have this problem?
Answers
Best Answer
No best answer has yet been selected by saxy_jag. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.
I know exackly - sorry, exactly - wht - erm, what - you mean, saxy_jag. I sometimes post an answer and when it's on the screen, on the actual website, I'll think, "Why did I put that?" I have asked the AB editor if we could have some means of editing an answer/question after it appears on the website (à la Yahoo!Answers), but the answer was No. P.S. I also am a person who is normally quite careful about my use of the language, but that old internet-itis still catches me out!
-- answer removed --
I find these rules help:
1. Avoid alliteration. Always.
2. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
3. Employ the vernacular.
4. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
5. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
6. Remember to never split an infinitive.
7. Contractions aren't necessary.
8. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
9. One should never generalize.
10. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
11. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
12. Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
13. Be more or less specific.
14. Understatement is always best.
15. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
16. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
17. The passive voice is to be avoided.
18. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
19. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
20. Who needs rhetorical questions?
21. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
22. Don't never use a double negation.
23. capitalize every sentence and remember always end it with point
24. Do not put statements in the negative form.
25. Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
26. Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
27. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
28. A writer must not shift your point of view.
29. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)
1. Avoid alliteration. Always.
2. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
3. Employ the vernacular.
4. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
5. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
6. Remember to never split an infinitive.
7. Contractions aren't necessary.
8. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
9. One should never generalize.
10. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
11. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
12. Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
13. Be more or less specific.
14. Understatement is always best.
15. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
16. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
17. The passive voice is to be avoided.
18. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
19. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
20. Who needs rhetorical questions?
21. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
22. Don't never use a double negation.
23. capitalize every sentence and remember always end it with point
24. Do not put statements in the negative form.
25. Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
26. Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
27. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
28. A writer must not shift your point of view.
29. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)
Yes, it must be the excitement of Answerbank meaning I'm trying to type too quickly! Also have great difficulties typing 'throughout' for some reason, it always comes out as thrugouht or thrghtuout and then Word has no idea what to change it to so I have to go back and change it myself very very carefully!
-- answer removed --
This might sound silly but ever since I've changed the fonts that my browser uses to display webpages so that the text looks like proper printing complete with descenders - http://tinyurl.com/ydaffe3 - it just feels that little bit different when typing so that I do better than before (or so it seems).
Excellent advice, McMouse, apart from 29, which is nonsense. No one would ever say to a naughty boy who was clearly planning some mischief, "Up to what are you?" rather than "What are you up to?" And - see the conjunction opening? - there is nothing whatever wrong with the little boy's sentence in the following story...
Every evening his mother bathed him and put him in bed while she went downstairs to bring up a story-book from which she would read to him. On one such evening, when he saw what she had brought, he said, "Why have you brought that book I don't like being read to out of up for?" That ends with FIVE consecutive prepositions, but makes perfect sense.
Every evening his mother bathed him and put him in bed while she went downstairs to bring up a story-book from which she would read to him. On one such evening, when he saw what she had brought, he said, "Why have you brought that book I don't like being read to out of up for?" That ends with FIVE consecutive prepositions, but makes perfect sense.
Latest Posts
ChatterBank12 mins ago
Quizzes & Puzzles14 mins ago
Quizzes & Puzzles15 mins ago
Quizzes & Puzzles20 mins ago
Quizzes & Puzzles27 mins ago
Related Questions
Sorry, we can't find any related questions. Try using the search bar at the top of the page to search for some keywords, or choose a topic and submit your own question.