> -----Original Message----- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ted MacNEIL > Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2008 1:41 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: loose vs. lose > > > >The thought being that one only needs to communicate. > Correct spellings and grammar are impediments to people being > able to communicate. > > I disagree with that one! > I remember (in the 1960's) losing marks for bad > grammar/spelling on science projects (by teachers who were > not english teachers). -5SP was the designation. > > I remember when my (now 18) son would do projects and, when I > complained about his spelling, the teacher would say "who > cares? He's communicating"! > > Communication only works when you are all using a common > language. If everybody spells randomly, where's the commonality?
And, given English, it is too easy to mistake one word for another similar one and actually miscommunicate. Too many times here at work there are complaints back and forth about what was meant. Even if everything is spelled correctly with good grammar, miscommunication is possible. Granted, for "shooting the bull", it is not critical. But for specifications? It is critical! There is even a book entitled: "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" <quote> A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air. "Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder. "I'm a panda," he says at the door. "Look it up." The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation. "Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves." So punctuation really does matter, even if it is only occasionally a matter of life and death. </quote> ref: http://eatsshootsandleaves.com/esl.html -- John McKown Senior Systems Programmer HealthMarkets Keeping the Promise of Affordable Coverage Administrative Services Group Information Technology The information contained in this e-mail message may be privileged and/or confidential. It is for intended addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, reproduction, distribution or other use of this communication is strictly prohibited and could, in certain circumstances, be a criminal offense. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by reply and delete this message without copying or disclosing it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
