On Wed, March 5, 2008 10:49 am, Carl Lowenstein wrote: > On Wed, Mar 5, 2008 at 10:43 AM, Brad Beyenhof <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: >> On Wed, Mar 5, 2008 at 9:43 AM, Lan Barnes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> > ~Lan, the former copy editor >> >> Heh, me too! My last job was editing music notation and text for >> publication. >> >> I've been very interested in this discussion, but Carl's splenetic >> accusation of "arrant pedantry" (which, in most circumstances, I would >> actually accept as a compliment) dissuaded me from joining the fray. > > I think you missed the fact that "arrant pedantry" was a quote from > Winston Churchill. > > Don't shoot the messenger. > > carl
In one of my Churchill biographies, there is a marvelous exchange of memos between Winnie and his secretary over commas. Churchill was trying to drum up an argument over an inserted comma, and Eddie what's-his-name replied with a British version of "Whatever ..." (the actual memo read more like "the superfluous comma has no greater enemy than I, however I will abide by your wishes"); to which Churchill shot back, "No no, I want to _fight_!" My point, if I have one, was this was a man who knew and loved English, and was willing to bash both sides as it suited his purpose. -- Lan Barnes SCM Analyst Linux Guy Tcl/Tk Enthusiast Biodiesel Brewer -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
