Punctuation

S

Steve Butram

501 Club
I once had a girlfriend send me a "Dear John" letter:
Dear John,
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be? - Yours, Gloria

I was crushed for a moment before I realized that some creative punctuation changes would make things all better:

Dear John,
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy. Will you let me be yours? – Gloria

See It's all in your perspective, right?
 
Sometimes, I shake my head at what I read on forums and especially Craigslist ads. I'm not sure if it's being uneducated, lazy or a combination of both.

Here's some I have kept through the years:

• small farm all tractor with belle more - $1000
• Farmall Super A tractor with coutivators - $1500 (Elmer NJ)
• Cub cadet with rear pto and hydrolic deck up and down, 12hp colar motor, call Andy

And a classic:

ford deere ad.jpg
 
Stanton":5je1r9a2 said:
Sometimes, I shake my head at what I read on forums and especially Craigslist ads. I'm not sure if it's being uneducated, lazy or a combination of both.

Here's some I have kept through the years:

• small farm all tractor with belle more - $1000
• Farmall Super A tractor with coutivators - $1500 (Elmer NJ)
• Cub cadet with rear pto and hydrolic deck up and down, 12hp colar motor, call Andy

And a classic:

ford deere ad.jpg
Click to expand...
I find spelling and punctuation, on Craig's List, especially entertaining! Like the "Seeds spread", recently advertised! (a seed spreader)
Ed
 
I seem to keep running into these people that remind me of Bart Simpson: "underachiever and proud of it". They seem to wear their poor spelling and grammar as a badge of honor. Every error blurs the original meaning. The more errors, the less likely the intended message will be understood. An old, now departed friend of mine had a favorite expression: "Easy reading is hard writing."

Here is an actual quote from one of the Bart Simpsons that I easily found just now on another popular tractor site:
"Besides, even when words are spelled wrong, the human mind can still figure out what you are trying to say.

It really only bothers English teachers and those that are OCB."

I suppose he meant OCD.
 
A hand written sign in our post office for an indoor yard sale , at he end it says "sale your un wanted treasurers" . I was probably the worst english student ever to roam the halls of the high school where I graduated. If I can spot errors in grammar you know they are bad, and Even I Find a lot of errors in todays communications.

Berlin
 
Jim Becker quoting Bart Simpson???????? :sick: I need to go lay down for a little while....................................
 
If you really want to get upset, spend a bit of time on the internet, searching for the illiterate and semi illiterate percentage of the population in your state. Also search for the percentage of high school graduates that cannot read.

OK, I'm upset. When I taught high school shop, had a conversation with local university professors. Seems that a high percentage of freshmen entering the university have to take remedial classes.

Last school I taught at had a course that some 11 and 12th grade students attended. The students called the course "bone head English".

Almost done. When in the US Army, the Army had classes on how to write clear, concise, reports.
 
Bill E Bob":1i7khrce said:
Proofreading usually improves written communication. At least in my case.
Click to expand...

I agree. I always try to hit "Preview" and read my posts in that window. It's amazing how many edits, revisions and corrections I need to make in a simple forum post. Then again, I don't always catch them all.
 
Jim Becker":qju48u32 said:
Punctuation, spelling and capitalization all together:

God rest ye Mary, gentlemen.
Click to expand...
I think this whole discussion has been about my typing. My spelling and punctuation are passable, but my tuping is sumthin ilse. :mrgreen:
 
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