Is this thread going to contain too much pedantry

[Moon bunny]

And why not? For an honorable tradition of doing just that exists. But some people persist in prohibiting this technique. Yet we defy them. Or we simply ignore them or laugh at them, neither of which they appreciate. Nor do they understand our attitude, though we try to convince them, and will continue to do so. So there.

 

[lulubel]

I bet they admired your immaculate spelling and punctuation though. Hint: read some, e.g., James Joyce perhaps?

James Joyce is one author I haven't read. I may have to head over to Amazon and download some samples to my Kindle.

I can appreciate a good plot when I read one, but creating one is a different matter. It's rather like art. I can appreciate a beautiful painting, but offer me a brush and you really won't like the result!

 

[Hotblack Desiato]

And why not? For an honorable tradition of doing just that exists. But some people persist in prohibiting this technique. Yet we defy them. Or we simply ignore them or laugh at them, neither of which they appreciate. Nor do they understand our attitude, though we try to convince them, and will continue to do so. So there.

Aha! Your spelling of honourable means you are clearly an American.

Which Ulverston :

Ulverston Dr, Pennsbury, Chester, PA 19348, USA
Ulverston Dr, Rock Hill, York, SC 29732, USA
Ulverston Dr, Bella Vista, Benton, AR 72714, USA
Ulverston Dr, Mifflin, Franklin, OH 43230, USA
Ulverston St, Oak Park, Ventura, CA 91377, USA
Ulverston Way, Blythewood, Richland, SC 29016, USA
Ulverston Quay, Virginia Beach, VA 23452, USA
is home?

 

[lulubel]

It worries me when someone seems to go out of their way to correct someone's spelling or grammar.

OK. Your first sentence. It should be :

"It worries me when someone seems to go out of their way to correct someone else's spelling or grammar."

otherwise it looks as if it worries you that they are going out of their way to correct their own spelling or grammar.t

It doesn't really. The first "someone" in Gary's post is the subject and the second is the object. It's fairly clear from the context of the sentence that the subject and the object aren't the same person.

Your version is grammatically correct, but what Gary has written is easy to understand.

 

[marinyork]

James Joyce is one author I haven't read. I may have to head over to Amazon and download some samples to my Kindle.

Just to be clear incase it is needed. James Joyce died in 1941. That means on the fairly standard Life + 70 year rule operating in many countries that most of his work is out of copyright in the UK and many other countries (not sure about Spain as it seems to quote a Life + 80 and Life + 60).

 

[Moon bunny]

Aha! Your spelling of honourable means you are clearly an American.

No, it does not.
This:

Is on a hill above Ulverston, Cumbria, England.
I am reliably informed that because of this there is a local tradition of using what some people think of as "American" spelling.

 

[Archie_tect]

No, it does not.
This:

Is on a hill above Ulverston, Cumbria, England.
I am reliably informed that because of this there is a local tradition of using what some people think of as "American" spelling.

No, just an illiterate stone mason!

 

[Gary E]

Y

OK. Your first sentence. It should be :

"It worries me when someone seems to go out of their way to correct someone else's spelling or grammar."

otherwise it looks as if it worries you that they are going out of their way to correct their own spelling or grammar. And* I am sure that doesn't worry you at all!

*Starting a sentence with 'and'.. How bad is that

Thanks for the correction I'm an Engineer by trade but over the years, as I've progressed and been promoted, I increasingly find myself having to write more reports and tighten less bolts!

I agree that good grammar can make a piece of writing flow and I certainly wouldn't be impressed if I read a book that was full of mistakes. My point was simply that people's posts on this forum should be appreciated for the content of that post and not marked for spelling.

If you have a problem with your bike and I was able to resolve that problem would you choose to ignore my otherwise sound advice if I spelt byke wrong?

Maybe we should start a new sub-forum where we could have book reviews and literary debates?

 

[marinyork]

Did they have to glue on the R? They accidentally do a D instead of an R?

 

[lulubel]

Just to be clear incase it is needed. James Joyce died in 1941. That means on the fairly standard Life + 70 year rule operating in many countries that most of his work is out of copyright in the UK and many other countries (not sure about Spain as it seems to quote a Life + 80 and Life + 60).

I have no idea what the situation is in Spain. My Spanish isn't good enough to read classic fiction ... or any fiction other than children's books, come to that.

As far as I'm concerned, it's worth paying the few pennies for the convenience of clicking a button at Amazon and having the book on my Kindle next time I power it on, even if it is out of copyright.

 

[Archie_tect]

Funny hpw often authors we had to read at school become our betes noir for the rest of our lives... can't stand Lawrence, Joyce or Hardy as a direct result.

 

[marinyork]

Well you can have them in many formats http://manybooks.net/authors/joycejam.html

And it depends. Amazon varies what it charges for recently out of copyright works.

And it wasn't just that. It seemed an opportune time to point it out and in a few days time authors who died in 1942 will come out of copyright in the UK.

 

[Archie_tect]

...or you can go to the library and get any book you like out for free.

 

[marinyork]

...or you can go to the library and get any book you like out for free.

Sadly stocks have declined. Stocks of classics have too.

 

[Archie_tect]

Not if you order them... takes about a week to 10 days to be sent up from the Lending Library store at Thorp Arch near Wetherby.