Rajko M. wrote:

The Wiki Team is looking for people that can check spelling, grammar and style of texts on the http://en.opensuse.org wiki, so native English speakers willing to spend some meantime moments there are more then welcome.

which is exactly how i intend to help.. proofreading for spelling, grammar, style, clarity, whatevers... seeking and removing (for example) the every last vestige of German capitalization Rules :-) so, add me to the list of happy helpers.. i can't promise when or how often i will be available for direct tasking--but, if you need a few pages looked at 'right now!' holler and if i can, i will.. let the following serve as my introducion: hi, i am me.. me am native born engrish speaker/writer who hath earned small portions of the daily bread via writing, proofing, etc since about 1970 (i was mostly paid for other abilities...but, i've done a pile of originating and proofin') don't let my 'style' here or in the forums fool you....here, i have so much to get done today that i don't have time to push down the shift key...so, if you want these: "I", You need to pretend them into existence.. used computers (at work) off and on since about '78 (terminals to Big Iron where the first thing i did was give a "mount request" and a real person would pull a "disk pack" off the shelf and 'mount' it on a dishwasher sized gizmo with read heads and a motor to turn the "disk pack"), first machine on my desk, for my use had a 21 MB hard drive and MS-DOS 4 or 5; first home computer in '92 had 33 MHz Intel and 4 MB RAM with Win3.1, put in a DX2 (66 MHz) Intel, increased RAM to 16 MB and switched entirely to OS/2 in early '95, transitioned to Linux began about '98, Linux only since about 2001, daily SuSE/openSUSE user since about 9.1 or .2 real name: Denver D. Robinson, citizen of USA, legal resident of Denmark.. on the net as DenverD since '95 (and, on Bulletin Boards before then) is that enough? DenverD -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

On Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:07:03 -0500, you wrote:

Now perhaps you can do one on "there", "their" and "they're". ;-)

And after that maybe later and latter :) Philipp -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

On 12/21/2009 7:07 PM, James Knott wrote:

...

Looks good. Now perhaps you can do one on "there", "their" and "they're". ;-)

I keep that one book marked so I can send it as a sig. This has become very common on some mailing lists that attract high school students (like anything having to do with phones or gadgets). -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

Anders Johansson wrote:

On Tuesday 22 December 2009 01:12:08 Doug McGarrett wrote:

...

"Loose" means not tied up, like a woman's hair without ... "Lose" means to not have anymore, due to some accident. You could lose ... But if I lose a dependant I will have a lot more, even if it's not by ^ e (Accident? :-)

accident. Also, I'm sure I have seen loose people be quite tied up - some would say they are lost

:-)

...

.. If you're explaining to non-native speakers, does it make sense to refer to sounds from the English way of pronouncing letters? "Now, the 'ce' sound in 'Leicester' is pronounced the same way as in 'Worcester' - simple, no?"

:-)

Oh, and don't forget affect/effect, and my personal favourite "would of been"

What bugs me is the constant misuse of "'s". _NO_ English possessive pronoun contains an apostrophe. The "'s" is only used to convert a noun to the possessive case (called genitive case in most Indo-European languages). Which, of course, also means that _ALL_ uses of "'s" to make a plural are mistakes, except when you need to convert an acronym or abbreviation or other non-word to a plural (as I have below -- our beloved language is full of arbitrary-seeming exceptions :-). Of course, since the idiots at UC Berkely and their partners in infamy declared during the '60's that grammar and spelling are irrelevant to English, we've developed 3 generations of teachers who are as ignorant of English grammar as their students are. Unfortunately, English's heritage as a corrupt mishmash of Anglo-Saxon and French has saddled us with a mess that's harder to understand and use correctly than most languages. So most take the easy way out and subscribe to Berkelyism.

Merry Christmas

And a blessed, happy new year. John Perry -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

Patrick Shanahan wrote:

* John E. Perry [12-22-09 21:22]:

...

Of course, since the idiots at UC Berkely and their partners in infamy declared during the '60's that grammar and spelling are irrelevant to English, we've developed 3 generations of teachers who are as ignorant of English grammar as their students are.

Ah, perhaps you really ment: "... ignorant of English grammar as their students." To be proper, that is.

:Y)

Well, no; I inserted the verb that is frequently, even usually elided in normal English speech -- and in writing, now that writing is shedding some of the 19th-century dross. We're both right, unless you're treating "as" as a preposition rather than as a conjunction. Hmm. With the advancement of English further into the analytic category and out of the synthetic category of its predecessors, you're right, too, even treating "as" as a preposition. :-P jp -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

Also, "then" and "than". My dog is _not_ bigger then your dog; rather, your dog is bigger than mine. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

On Wednesday 23 December 2009 16:11:43 Jos van Kan wrote:

Mike Grau schreef:

...

Also, "then" and "than".

My dog is _not_ bigger then your dog; rather, your dog is bigger than mine.

Definately. I mean definitely.

Fewer advice and less dogs plis;-) L x -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

What bugs me is the constant misuse of "'s".  _NO_ English possessive pronoun contains an apostrophe.  The "'s" is only used to convert a noun to the possessive case (called genitive case in most Indo-European languages).

Which, of course, also means that _ALL_ uses of "'s" to make a plural are mistakes, except when you need to convert an acronym or abbreviation or other non-word to a plural (as I have below -- our beloved language is full of arbitrary-seeming exceptions :-).

The other use of the apostrophe is for contractions.    In the UK, one learns math's at school (mathematics).  In the US, one learns math'. In both cases, the poor old apostrophe is often missed out.  But it gets confusing when you have phrases like "My math's teacher" - well, for those who are less ignorant of the use of the apostrophe - they will complain that "My math" is not something capable of possessing something (a teacher, in this case), and will overlook the fact that it is a contraction and thus in need of the apostrophe.. Anyway, just my $0.02 on this wonderfully entertaining OT subject! Phil -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Wednesday, 2009-12-23 at 21:32 -0600, Leslie Turriff wrote:

On Wednesday 23 December 2009 19:18:14 David C. Rankin wrote:

...

On 12/21/2009 06:12 PM, Doug McGarrett wrote:

I'll be damned! Good show Doug!

There is actually someone else on this list as whacky and anal about the English language as I am. (Now -- if I could only get my fat-fingers to do what my brain is telling them to do, I'd have it made ;-)

Next week, y'all tune in for the tutorial on the proper use of 'effect' vs. 'affect'. I'll give you a early hint. One relates to the result or conclusion brought about, while the other to an emotional state or 'influence' had. Study hard and we'll see you next time. Remember -- always sharpen your mind and pencils before class :p

Maybe we should all just abandon English (all flavours) and adopt Esperanto. :-D

Hear, hear! :-) - -- Cheers, Carlos E. R. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.9 (GNU/Linux) iEYEARECAAYFAkszeO8ACgkQtTMYHG2NR9X2RACdF7rG6CWQ0XVG4qB6x00QqmQ1 D64AoJFasvuBSzanXj+TU6u7mQcjtCgm =g6T4 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org