On Fri, 1 Jun 2007, Dave Clark wrote:
> I'm one of those lawyers who read -- very carefully -- the reports
> and letters or whatnot folks like Godsey prepare. Bad spelling,
> misplaced commas, terrible grammar and other such gaffes display
> someone who cannot communicate properly. I take that into
> consideration when evaluating the matter, how well can that person
> present in court before judge and jury, and does the person know what
> they're talking about.
I'm a computer engineer and was a sysadmin for a long time. It always
amazed me when sales reps would send me e-mail with badly mangled grammar
and syntax. I'm supposed to trust you and spend my money with you yet you
couldn't pass a 5th grade English test? Whether I'm writing
professionally, personally or a quick e-mail I always proof read it. I
see my words as my ambassadors and if they're ugly I'll look ugly too.
And I don't need any more help there!
The most recent trend I've noticed is the overabundance of single quotes,
particularly before the letter 's'. I was in the grocery store yesterday
and a sign said "Red Delicious Apple's". I didn't realize that a single
quote means "look out - an 's' is coming!" Either that or the apples own
something and they aren't telling us what. Has anyone else noticed that?
> You cannot believe the junk I see... they're, their, and there,
> you're and your (and of course, UR), and the poor little apostrophe
> all over the place. Every man or woman who treasures the English
> language should read the little book "Eats, Shoots and Leaves."
>
> On my Treo, I spell out what I'm trying to say, and with that puny
> keyboard it takes a while. So, I've learned economy of words. Keep
> it short and simple.
Hear hear!
-Jason
-----
--- There are no absolute statements. I'm very probably wrong. ---
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits."
- Albert Einstein
