Subject: Proper English
Date: Feb 12 17:07:52 1997
From: Jerry Blinn - 76506.3100 at CompuServe.COM


I appreciate, and support, Burt's comments on proper English. I work hard at
proofing my messages for spelling and grammar, even though some junk gets
through (like the misplaced ' in my latest missive).

And I also work hard at editing my quotebacks so I don't repeat the entirety of
somebody's message when I respond, something else I think needs attention here.
Just because our readers can automatically dump the entire message into our
response doesn't mean we should leave it there. We should edit it to the essence
unless, of course, the original is already terse. I turn the dump off, and use
the clipboard to quote a small part. Total quotebacks waste bandwidth --- and
brainwidth, something I have too little of. (I expect disagreement with this
opinion -- uh, not my limited brainwidth, but re: quotebacks.)

I also share the horror expressed at the spelling and grammar of our students
and graduates. In my prior life, I spent 30 years with a large corporation, 26
of those years in management positions where I reviewed job applications and
visited campuses. I observed the decay of the English language as it emerged
from our schools from 1963 on. It got worse every single year, to the point
where I was simply astonished at many job applications and ~resumes~ I saw. Even
some English majors were butchers! And their excuses were atrocities: "It
doesn't really matter if the reader understands what I'm trying to say." (Don't
call us, we'll call you.)

Now I will backpedal a bit...

This medium seems to me to be particularly dangerous when it comes to homophones
- words like they're, their and there, or as mentioned by Burt, sight, site;
its, it's. I don't know why, but I find myself frequently making homophonic <G>
errors. I don't know if it has to do with keyboarding, or simply the speed with
which we can now write. I know the difference, but I still make the misteaks <G>
and I'm stunned when I see them. I do think it has to do with mental "speaking"
that goes on in the head while writing, which hides homophones, and the speed
with which we commit the words to "paper." Just as we type "the" automatically,
we may also have automatic, even involuntary, finger actions from a mentally
"spoken" word, like "there."

(Oh! Your head doesn't "speak?")

So, while in full support of Burt's message, I will add my support for just a
bit of slack in this forum.

Jerry Blinn


E-mail from: Jerry Blinn, 12-Feb-1997