On 02/10/2008 21:50, norseman wrote:
NoOp wrote:
On 10/01/2008 12:24 PM, Harold Fuchs wrote:
You'll also need to specify the *exact* language you are talking
about. For example, US and British English are *not* the same when
it comes to grammar. One instance: "The President said Monday that
..." is OK in the US (at least it seems to be from reading
newspapers like The Washington Post and The New York Times) and
illiterate garbage in the UK. We understand it but any properly
educated teacher would mark it down. We say "On Monday the President
said" so (a) the word order is different but also, and *much* more
importantly, (b) we say "... *on* Monday ...".
Right...
He is in hospital vs he is in the hospital. Thank goodness is isn't in
car... :-)
I admit that I almost flunked English 101 in college when the professor
started the class with "and the gastly, ghostly sounds came spewing
forth from the windows".
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I love a sense of humor!
"Humans do not have the ability to transfer whatever thoughts they
wish to share with others through a direct brain to brain connection.
Humans do have the ability to create and receive sounds. They do have
the ability to create special marks, called glyphs, and to recognize
them. These are tools that can be used in conjunction with some sort
of standardized form. Such a form is called language. A common
language, one adopted by and understood by more than one human, has
the sole purpose of transferring the thoughts of one to another or
even to many others. For example, if this young fellow here (sit up
straight) wanted to transfer his thoughts to that young girl there
(stop teasing him) and they both used the same language, then he
could. The sting of the slap of her hand across his face would
signify a negative response. It also indicates that communication is
not limited to words, spoken or printed. In this class we will learn
words, what they mean, how they sound, how they look as glyphs and how
to put them together to transfer concepts from one to another. This
will be your first real education in communication."
-- My 5th grade English teacher, close if not exact, day 1.
The part: "...Language...has the sole purpose of transferring the
thoughts of one to another..." has stayed with me.
So has:
"As long as the thought flows correctly, one need not be overly
concerned with the grammar." -- Same teacher.
Steve
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
You and your teacher are absolutely correct. The purpose of language is
*correctly* to transfer the thoughts of one to another. That is
precisely why grammar is important. The phrase "The President said
Monday ..." implies that the word "Monday" is included in what the
President said. Therefore it does not *correctly* transfer the thought.
The same is true of "Biden will debate Palin". No he won't. He'll debate
[the issues] *with* Palin. If he debated Palin he'd be discussing her
existence. Again, the thought is not correctly transferred. To get the
thought correctly transferred you need the right grammar.
--
Harold Fuchs
London, England
Please reply *only* to users@openoffice.org
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