> > Writing was invented in approximately 4000 BC. Since then people have > been > > able to write to each other quite successfully without needing > emoticons, > > smilies, 'mark-up' and other non-standard orthography. > > i say capital letters are markup, along with all punctuation, spacing, > and any use of puns or rhyme ;?> >
indeed. The Romans did well enough with none of those. Perhaps with the exception of puns. > > > I really don't know > > why people have suddenly decided to resort to privately-defined > systems of > > non-communication. > > as opposed to publicly-defined systems of non-communication? (which is > what a lot of business language seems to be) > I worked from home yesterday, reading a book about that well-known oxymoron 'business intelligence'. Everything in it was useful and quite interesting (given the context), but they didn't need 120 pages to say it - they could have said it in no more than 30. They should have leveraged their dictionaries a bit more, and leveraged the word 'use' instead of 'leverage'. > > > If you're not writing in your first language then you have to take a > bit of > > extra care and stick to the standard variety& register of the > language, > > avoiding archaic, precious or excessively formal or informal > language. > > i understand this sentiment, and i agree it's good to take such care > in, > say, business, but in the broader sphere i don't agree with "have to > ... > stick to" -- i like the interesting constructions that come from > non-native speakers -- they refresh me and give me pause to reflect on > my language; for example i listen to/watch Democracy Now! and i admire > the fact that they let people say complicated things in heavily > accented > English without providing any "help" > Yes. I didn't really mean "have to". Everyone can do whateverage they want and leverage in any damned language they want. It all depends on how successfully they want to communicate. > > > If you are using your first language then you have to remember that > many of > > your readers are not, so take a bit of extra care and stick to the > standard > > variety& register of the language, avoiding archaic, precious or > > excessively formal or informal language. > > now that's markup! -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
