How to write properly in English - Guides

Guest

BuachaillBeo wrote:

Auditor #9 wrote:

Kate P wrote:

Auditor #9 wrote:

Kate P wrote:: In answer to the OP's question, the bible is Strunk and White's 'Elements of Style.'

Who are you recommending it to?

Anyone I know who writes (and I know a few), has a well-thumbed copy of this in their bag of tricks. Anyone who wants to write well should have it.

Thanks. Wouldn't mind looking that up.

ya, it seems like a handy book to have near.

Do you know anyone you could give a present of it to?

Someone who might like to try it out.

Guest

Why don't you all just shut the f. up ? Smile

Guest

cactus flower wrote:: Why don't you all just shut the f. up ?

You might want to watch your misuse of prepositions there, cactus, given the irony of the thread you're making mistakes on...

Guest

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:: I shall say but this today: STOP PUTTING PREPOSITIONS AT THE END OF SENTENCES!!!

You'll know the famous marginalia written by Winston Churchill, commenting on an awkward construction by an underling designed to avoid ending the sentence with a preposition: 'This is the sort of English up with which I will not put!'...

Guest

BuachaillBeo wrote:

cactus flower wrote:: Why don't you all just shut the f. up ?

You might want to watch your misuse of prepositions there, cactus, given the irony of the thread you're making mistakes on...

Who is she laughing at?

I'd say ArdToiseach will be sorry he brought this up.

He might even mod these bits of the thread out

Toxic I heard that one before.

Guest

This thread is only going down.
If I see one more sentence ending in a preposition I think I'm going to die inside...
I commented in this thread a few hours ago, and we've made absolutely no progress since!

Guest

BuachaillBeo wrote:: This thread is only going down.
If I see one more sentence ending in a preposition I think I'm going to die inside...
I commented in this thread a few hours ago, and we've made absolutely no progress since!

Do you think we're getting too hung up and bogged down?

If you're writing formal english you know, phrasal verbs like 'hung up' and 'bogged down' are not phrases you're supposed to put in ...

They just come natural to people though - it's harder to get the formal versions of the phrases out...

Guest

Is that moving it on ?

EDIT

I think I spot a mistake even on our own forum here. Shouldn't it be "Are high salaries necessary to attract the best people with ?" ?

Guest

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

cactus flower wrote:: Yehbut nobbut....

That isn't a proper sentence, cactus. It has no subject, verb or object.

Poppycock. The first "but" is the verb, the second "but" is the subject and the smilie is the object...

Guest

Auditor #9 wrote:: I think I spot a mistake even on our own forum here. Shouldn't it be "Are high salaries necessary to attract the best people with ?" ?

I thought about mentioning that before...
I didn't want to put any bad feelings across...
I figured we'd have done better without...

To be honest, though, I'm not sure if I've thought that through...

Guest

Buachaill I think this thread is on "How to write English properly" but I don't think posting can be constituted as "writing" it's more akin to speaking so do you think we should open a new thread on How To Post and Blog Properly and cut this conversation out?

Guest

Ya that might be the right way about...
better than carrying on with putting messages in this thread underneath...
... oh, and it'd give us an opportunity to mess around with using prepositions to end sentences on...
was anything like that ever tried before?

Guest

I think that you lads are only messing about
You're giving the Ard Taoiseach the run around
I don't know what your playing at.
I never saw such brass neck before.

Razz

Guest

By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.

Guest

About time someone brought some Shakespeare into the discussion...

Guest

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:: I shall say but this today: STOP PUTTING PREPOSITIONS AT THE END OF SENTENCES!!!

Dont know if it's an urban myth. The story is a bus-tourist Yank goes into a preppy-type bar in Dublin bursting for a wee-wee and says to a young fella: "excuse me, where's the john at?"

young fella: "I don't know about this john but where I come from we don't end a sentence in a preposition!" (no info forthcoming about said john.)

bus-tourist Yank: "Alright buddy, where's the john at, asshole."

I know my own writing style is way too convoluted but I put that down to muddy thinking rather than just writing style.

There are some annoying misuses of basic english and simple grammatical rules that put me off reading an occassional post but that's about it. Otherwise, there is just various styles imo.

Guest

rockyracoon wrote:: There are some annoying misuses of basic english and simple grammatical rules that put me off reading an occassional post but that's about it.

any examples you can think of?

the only things thatd put me off i think would be a complete disregardation of every grammar punctionashin marks all bad spellings and no central point to a sentence but only if i saw it happening alot from someone or even if a sentence that shouldve been ended ages ago just drags on and has a preposition to end on and at worst three of them coupled with the word the and so that way youre reading wondering what the point is while the sentence itself just goes on and on and on

Guest

BuachaillBeo wrote:

rockyracoon wrote:: There are some annoying misuses of basic english and simple grammatical rules that put me off reading an occassional post but that's about it.

any examples you can think of?

the only things thatd put me off i think would be a complete disregardation of every grammar punctionashin marks all bad spellings and no central point to a sentence but only if i saw it happening alot from someone or even if a sentence that shouldve been ended ages ago just drags on and has a preposition to end on and at worst three of them coupled with the word the and so that way youre reading wondering what the point is while the sentence itself just goes on and on and on

OOOooh that makes me more furiouser than seeing it's everywhere when it should be its - it's = it is and people always make that mistake and into the bargain it's or its is an awful word to end a sentence with.

Guest

rockyracoon wrote:: Dont know if it's an urban myth. The story is a bus-tourist Yank goes into a preppy-type bar in Dublin bursting for a wee-wee and says to a young fella: "excuse me, where's the john at?"

young fella: "I don't know about this john but where I come from we don't end a sentence in a preposition!" (no info forthcoming about said john.)

bus-tourist Yank: "Alright buddy, where's the john at, asshole."

I know my own writing style is way too convoluted but I put that down to muddy thinking rather than just writing style.

Well there you go, the American was rude and illiterate while the young fella was interested in grammatical integrity. And a toilet is not a john, nor a "restroom" or any other pleonastic euphemism deployed by Americans.

Guest

toilet or lavatory, or then again water closet???

They are all euphemisms except for the very colloquial "S****er" Ard Taoiseach, which I'm sure you'd agree is a tad vulgar.

I had the pleasure once of staying in a place with a very magnificent item trademarked "Crapper" in mahogany panelling beneath a swagged velvet awning. Smile

Guest

cactus flower wrote:: toilet or lavatory, or then again water closet???

They are all euphemisms except for the very colloquial "S****er" Ard Taoiseach, which I'm sure you'd agree is a tad vulgar.

I had the pleasure once of staying in a place with a very magnificent item trademarked "Crapper" in mahogany panelling beneath a swagged velvet awning.

Toilet is a reasonable enough word. The Americans are awfully illiterate.

Guest

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

cactus flower wrote:: toilet or lavatory, or then again water closet???

They are all euphemisms except for the very colloquial "S****er" Ard Taoiseach, which I'm sure you'd agree is a tad vulgar.

I had the pleasure once of staying in a place with a very magnificent item trademarked "Crapper" in mahogany panelling beneath a swagged velvet awning.

Toilet is a reasonable enough word. The Americans are awfully illiterate.

Not in my experience, Ard Taoiseach. In fact many of the expressions and words that they use and we don't are charming 18th century archaisms.

What do the Americans have to do with this ?

Guest

cactus flower wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

cactus flower wrote:: toilet or lavatory, or then again water closet???

They are all euphemisms except for the very colloquial "S****er" Ard Taoiseach, which I'm sure you'd agree is a tad vulgar.

I had the pleasure once of staying in a place with a very magnificent item trademarked "Crapper" in mahogany panelling beneath a swagged velvet awning.

Toilet is a reasonable enough word. The Americans are awfully illiterate.

Not in my experience, Ard Taoiseach. In fact many of the expressions and words that they use and we don't are charming 18th century archaisms.

What do the Americans have to do with this ?

They can't spell words like labour or neighbour, that's what.

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