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Semantics 101

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OSU_Buckguy said:
...that you have typed these misspellings: "judgement," "pillowfight," "bottocks," and "potatos."
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Ha ha, Thump. Eveyone knows that's spelled "pillowphight." :)


The "canceled" thing has been quite the problem for me lately. The software I use (SAP) is designed by germans and has an international flavor. It is commonly spelled both ways throughout the systems.
 
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Bucky Katt said:
Hell, there are words where the definition changes according to common usage. "Prodigal" does NOT mean returning after an absence. It means wasteful, but I have never, ever heard it used properly. I believe it was George Carlin who once said, "Fuck 'common usage'." Just for the record, I'm pretty sure he meant to say "Fuck Michigan."
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yes, there are boatloads of these words. dictionaries are not static entities, nor were they intended to be. however, much of understanding other persons is speaking the same language and being able to decipher the language. language is often misinterpreted, and the difference of definition is often a culprit. it was a handful of years ago that i also realized that virtually no one correctly uses the word prodigal. i've never thought that someone else means "returning after an absence." understandably, our experiences are likely going to be different. the primary misuse of prodigal that i've encountered considers the word to mean "prodigious," which is almost antonymous to one actual meaning, "wasteful."

almost sheepishly, bucky, i admit that i absolutely love learning words and studying correct grammar. as i mentioned before, i make several mistakes; nonetheless, i make a concerted to learn and to correct my mistakes. a quarter of a century has passed in my life, so there is much more time to learn.

oh, by the way, here's a quiz i enjoyed taking a couple years ago (my score was a 176; trust me, i actually do read the dictionary):

http://www.eskimo.com/~miyaguch/schmies.html
 
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OSU_Buckguy said:
yes, there are boatloads of these words. dictionaries are not static entities, nor were they intended to be. however, much of understanding other persons is speaking the same language and being able to decipher the language. language is often misinterpreted, and the difference of definition is often a culprit. it was a handful of years ago that i also realized that virtually no one correctly uses the word prodigal. i've never thought that someone else means "returning after an absence." understandably, our experiences are likely going to be different. the primary misuse of prodigal that i've encountered considers the word to mean "prodigious," which is almost antonymous to one actual meaning, "wasteful."

almost sheepishly, bucky, i admit that i absolutely love learning words and studying correct grammar. as i mentioned before, i make several mistakes; nonetheless, i make a concerted to learn and to correct my mistakes. a quarter of a century has passed in my life, so there is much more time to learn.

oh, by the way, here's a quiz i enjoyed taking a couple years ago (my score was a 176; trust me, i actually do read the dictionary):

http://www.eskimo.com/~miyaguch/schmies.html
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I started to take it, then scrolled down and saw there are 200 questions. That's way too many for scUM week.

:scum4:
 
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OSU_Buckguy said:
yes, there are boatloads of these words. dictionaries are not static entities, nor were they intended to be. however, much of understanding other persons is speaking the same language and being able to decipher the language. language is often misinterpreted, and the difference of definition is often a culprit. it was a handful of years ago that i also realized that virtually no one correctly uses the word prodigal. i've never thought that someone else means "returning after an absence." understandably, our experiences are likely going to be different. the primary misuse of prodigal that i've encountered considers the word to mean "prodigious," which is almost antonymous to one actual meaning, "wasteful."

almost sheepishly, bucky, i admit that i absolutely love learning words and studying correct grammar. as i mentioned before, i make several mistakes; nonetheless, i make a concerted to learn and to correct my mistakes. a quarter of a century has passed in my life, so there is much more time to learn.

oh, by the way, here's a quiz i enjoyed taking a couple years ago (my score was a 176; trust me, i actually do read the dictionary):

http://www.eskimo.com/~miyaguch/schmies.html
Click to expand...

It certainly is nothing to be sheepish about. Unles you are hanging with Tibs, in which case being "sheepish", "goatish", or in any way "farm-animalish" is very dangerous. :wink2:

I ended up at 150 on the quiz. I saw that the creator of the quiz projects 165 as a score that put the taker at 99.9%, but I have no idea where 150 is on the scale.
 
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As an alumni of Ohio State
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Six pages of a cluster-fuck on spelling and grammar, and nobody asked Thump whether he should have said 'an alumnus' rather than 'an alumni', which in formal usage is a plural noun? :biggrin:
 
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BB73 said:
Siz pages of a cluster-fuck on spelling and grammar, and nobody asked Thump whether he should have said 'an alumnus' rather than 'an alumni', which in formal usage is a plural noun? :biggrin:
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gee, bb73, that is but one other mistake in thump's message to the author. more mistakes:

1. no comma after "State"
2. no comma after "Overhyped"
3. no question mark at the end of first paragraph
4. italics and quotation marks are redundant (in regard to quoted material)
5. underlining and quotation marks are redundant (in regard to "villianize")
6. inside of double quotation marks, more double quotation marks are found (should be single quotation marks)
7. notes that author says something in the article; authors don't "say" in print -- they write
8. "seriously" modifies what is near, and thump, i imagine, did not intend such a meaning; should be "to take seriously what... "
9. "98 & 2000" lacks continuity; should be "1998 & 2000"
10. should be "Class of 1998 & 2000"
11. "Classes (sic) of 98 & 2000" should be on the next line, and directly underneath, "Thump"
12. double quotation marks surround the whole letter; this placement creates lots of problems for the interior material surrounded by double quotation marks; although, it is understood that the quotation marks surrounding the whole of the letter are likely not found in the actual letter to the author

i am, however, not attempting to be a or the grammar nazi. not proclaiming myself as such exculpates me from any expectation of perfection. i'll preempt one possible rebuttal to my writing style and/or grammar: the lack of capitalization, if it is deliberate and done with the complete understanding of what proper capitalization is, is a consideration of style and not a mistake in grammar.

my sole point of this and my prior messages is that if one is going to correct another, the person should make sure that his or her s*it is together. that's all. no offense to thump or anyone else should be taken.

"As an alumni of Ohio State I value the fact that you can speak your mind in your article "Rivalry too Overhyped" but how about learning how to spell before you make yourself look like any more of an idiot.

You state:

"While loyal to OSU, it still strikes me as odd how we "villianize" a school of comparable quality to our own from apparent envy."

It's spelled "villainize."

Good luck getting people to take what you have to say seriously.

Sincerely,

<!-- / message --><!-- controls --> Thump Classes of 98 & 2000"
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edit: edit to number 12
 
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