[Sca-cooks] OT OOP English was (Re: Drive up ATM's OT, OOP)
Decker, Terry D.
TerryD at Health.State.OK.US
Wed May 22 12:38:22 PDT 2002
> >As for the, for the "flammable" "inflammable" business, the
>
> I am aware of this (once was a grad grunt in English), however, I was
> speaking of general usage. It would appear that those who
> _should_ know,
> such as journalists and editors, either don't know, or don't
> care. I think
> it has something to do the with lowest common denominator. :-/
But it was such a lovely place to practice my pedantry in the pursuit of
obnoxiousness.
Journalistic writing is usually fast hack work against a deadline, so I'm
willing to make greater allowance. Editors on the otherhand seem to be
singularly lacking in language skills. An editor who understands language,
construction and flow is a jewel beyond price these days as the ones who
could bring out the best in a writer are being replaced by "editors" who
(maybe) understand marketing product but have no grasp of the language.
> Actually, I was not confusing it at all- I was making a
> reference to the
> old joke about-
>
> "You know the difference between 'pro-' and 'con-', right?"
> "Yeah..."
> "Well, if 'progress' means 'moving forward' or 'becoming
> better', then what
> does that say about 'congress'?"
>
> 'Lainie
My wife can tell you I tease people with a straight face and fastidious
precision. It works better in person than online. Unfortunately, when I
first heard the joke, it was too close to reality to be funny.
Bear
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