Re: Is there a comp.lang.english to which I can post this?

Re: Is there a comp.lang.english to which I can post this?

[bowfin.cs.washington.edu!simon]

     Article <9107101438.AA10589@bunny.gte.com> quotes Ray Diederich:

=In article <EACHUS.91Jul9173612@largo.mitre.org>, (Robert I. Eachus) writes:
=
=>   Dikstra once said that the best predictor of success in the field
=>of programming was a person's ability to use their native language.
=
=This sentence is not proper english. It should be:
=
="Dikstra once said that the best predictor of success in the field
=of programming was the people's ability to use their native language."

     While we're correcting English, let me point out that it's Dijkstra,
not Dikstra.

                                      ---Kevin Simonson
-- 
My goal--which POSSIBLY affects my current attitude:  The degree at which I
               am shouting at you is always less than or equal to the degree
               with which I down-deep love you, which is non-descending.

Re: Is there a comp.lang.english to which I can post this?

[Jim Showalter]

diederich_r_%ncsd.dnet@GTE.COM (Ray Diederich (301)-294-8400) writes:

>This sentence is not proper english. It should be:

>this is not proper english.

"english" should be capitalized: "English"

>"That said, it is true that interested students will take courses even
>when they are not required, and uninterested students won't get anything
>out of required courses."

Still needs work. The first half of this sentence is ambiguous: are you
saying that the courses are not required, or that interested students
are not required?

>By the way, Jim, I wouldn't know this kind of stuff if I hadn't attended a
>university and had all those liberal arts courses.

Looks like you should brush up! ;-)

P.S. Personally, I think English sniping on the net is a total waste of time.
     It also has great potential for personal embarrassment, since as soon
     as you call someone else's grammer/spelling/punctuation into question,
     it makes yours fair game as well...and nobody is perfect.
-- 
*** LIMITLESS SOFTWARE, Inc: Jim Showalter, jls@netcom.com, (408) 243-0630 ****
*Proven solutions to software problems. Consulting and training on all aspects*
*of software development. Management/process/methodology. Architecture/design/*
*reuse. Quality/productivity. Risk reduction. EFFECTIVE OO usage. Ada/C++.    *

Re: Is there a comp.lang.english to which I can post this?

[Robert I. Eachus]

In article <9107101438.AA10589@bunny.gte.com> diederich_r_%ncsd.dnet@GTE.COM (R
ay Diederich (301)-294-8400) writes:

   In article <EACHUS.91Jul9173612@largo.mitre.org>, (Robert I. Eachus) writes:

   >   Dikstra once said that the best predictor of success in the field
   >of programming was a person's ability to use their native language.

   This sentence is not proper english. It should be:

   "Dikstra once said that the best predictor of success in the field
   of programming was the people's ability to use their native language."

   What is _your_ native language, Robert? :-)

   THIS IS SHEER ERRANT PENDANTRY UP WITH WHICH I SHALL NOT PUT!!!!
You put words in my mouth to try and be pedantic.  Bad form.  A person
is correct and was intended, Dikstra was talking about predicting the
success of a student--singular.  However, Dikstra said something closer
to "a student's facility in his native language."  (I'll have to look
it up, the meeting was over ten years ago, but I recently ran across
the proceedings.)  Since I was paraphrasing I took the opportunity to
make the quote less gender specific. (HIS ability to use HIS native
language seemed excessive, and HIS OR HER ability to use HIS OR HER
native language, I would not touch. I thought about a student's...,
but we are talking about someine being considered for studenthood, so
that is not quite true.)  

   So now we come to the question of when or whether `their' is the
correct possesive pronoun for `a person.'  When a specific person is
intended, the possesive form should always be `his' (or in some cases
`her').  When it is being used a placeholder as above or as in `a
person or persons unknown' the number is indefinite and the proper
possive is the plural, `their,' although this rule is not always
followed.  I guess I now think that this is a case where it would have
been less confusing (but less politically correct) to use `his.'

    Where you said, "This sentence is not proper english. It should
be..."  I quite agree.  What is your native language?


					Robert I. Eachus

with STANDARD_DISCLAIMER;
use  STANDARD_DISCLAIMER;
function MESSAGE (TEXT: in CLEVER_IDEAS) return BETTER_IDEAS is...
--

					Robert I. Eachus

with STANDARD_DISCLAIMER;
use  STANDARD_DISCLAIMER;
function MESSAGE (TEXT: in CLEVER_IDEAS) return BETTER_IDEAS is...

Re: Is there a comp.lang.english to which I can post this?

[agate!bionet!uwm.edu!spool.mu.edu!mips!wrdis01!jshumate]

In article <EACHUS.91Jul15172146@largo.mitre.org>, eachus@largo.mitre.org (Robe
rt I. Eachus) writes:
    --- stuff deleted ---
> 
>    THIS IS SHEER ERRANT PENDANTRY UP WITH WHICH I SHALL NOT PUT!!!!
I hesitate to correct an English "authority", but it looks like "PENDANTRY"
is not a word.  I assume you meant "PEDANTRY".  If so, maybe there is a
comp.lang.english.spelling you can subscribe to.
> You put words in my mouth to try and be pedantic.
The only person I see being pedantic is you, Robert.
> Bad form.
I agree - your original posting was in bad form.  
> A person
> is correct and was intended, Dikstra was talking about predicting the
> success of a student--singular. 
How interesting.  We have here a textbook example of a run-on sentence.  You
might consider looking for comp.lang.english.punctutation too.
> but we are talking about someine being considered for studenthood, so
I see another misspelling here - the word "someine".  Again, I suggest
you look for comp.lang.english.spelling.
I have found the various discussions in this group to be very enlightening.
However, I can certainly live without postings from jerks like Eachus who
merely waste space on the net.  
-- 
CUL8R,                                | Unknown Actor:"Sounds like a lot of 
Jason Shumate                         |   supernatural baloney to me."
System Administrator, wrdis02         | Bela Lugosi:"Supernatural, perhaps. 
jshumate@logdis1.wr.aflc.af.mil       |   Baloney, perhaps not."