130 lines
4.0 KiB
Plaintext
130 lines
4.0 KiB
Plaintext
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Here are some spellings and usages that indicate you're
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reading Popular English; none that I know of is yet to be found
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in any dictionary. While many distress me greatly when I see
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them, I don't expect to change the world! For simplicity, I've
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omitted commas and quotes in many places.
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Spellings:
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----------
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alot compatable accidently incidently
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soley accoustic asterik momento
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imposter millenium (These two words are very rarely spelled
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correctly; they don't really signify Popular English.)
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Forward (The opening commentary about a book)
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In Memorium (Personally, I find this insulting...)
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Artic Antartic
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ect. (Is this an abbreviation for "ectoplasm"? I doubt it!)
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it's (for "its" and vice versa; the situation
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hasn't yet settled down.)
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of, to mean "off"
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add, as a short form of "advertisement"
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were for "we're" (or for where)
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where for "were" (not too common, yet)
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your (for "you are")
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you're (for "your")
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"silicon" and "silicone" confused with each other (The
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scientist who coined the term "silicone" was hopelessly
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optimistic about the literacy of the people who were
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likely to use the term!)
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visa versa (and variants) for "vice versa"
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thats all (and any possessive with an omitted apostrophe)
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"Pouring" through papers (seems to be a very corrosive liquid,
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or, perhaps just making filtered coffee...)
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Possessives with apostrophes omitted (This is a problem with a
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surname such as "Gettys", because it is likely to be
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confused with "Getty's")
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Any ordinary, unabbreviated plural with an apostrophe before
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the final "s" as in "These are the spoon's I told you about."
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This extra apostrophe rarely happens predictably.
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Usages:
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-------
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Omitted question marks
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Omitted punctuation ("Happy birthday Jack" is how a robot
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would say it in a feelingless monotone; "Happy birthday, Jack!"
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shows human feeling.)
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Double quotes for emphasis (Can be amusing, if sexist, when
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referring to a "wife".)
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A comma after the subject of a sentence (I'm utterly baffled
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why people do this...)
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"Comma splices" (commas where semicolons belong)
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A semicolon after the salutation in a letter, as in
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"Dear Jill; "
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Semicolons in place of colons
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"...add additional..."
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ex. (instead of e.g., which is hopelessly academic from the
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standpoint of just about all students, and probably many English
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teachers)
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Plurals that end in "...man", as in "ten fisherman" or
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"six woman"
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Singular forms that end in "...men", as in "A women has her
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own right..."
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Omitted middle syllables, as in "inconvience", "compability",
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and "nutrious" (Indeed, this matter could be the subject of a
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fairly-extensive commentary in itself. It's not rare. I've
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even heard radio announcers do it!)
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Omitting the final "s" in plurals, often the names of
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professions, such as "scientists" (Listen carefully! You'll
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hear this rather often. It also appears in print.)
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(Spoken:) "nucular", "Febiewary", "Joolery", "Childern", etc.
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Mislocated asterisks: Traditionally, within a body of text,
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an asterisk was at the end of a word (or phrase) that was to be
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commented on by another, often shorter item. The latter began
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with an asterisk, and was below the last line of text, like a
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footnote.
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However, this convention is apparently unknown to many writers
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of English today. Asterisks appear at either end of the
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referring and the referred items, and the referred item might be
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above or below the referred. It's sometimes quite distracting
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to figure out which is which!
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(Incidentally, I like to keep my closing double quote next to
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the last letter of the quoted word or expression; I understand
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this is a matter originating with traditional typography. I'm
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following what I believe to be British practice.)
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Edited and updated 910603
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(I did have a duplication there, "Forward".)
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