Australian (ASX) Stock Market Forum

ASF spelling and grammar lessons

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Julia said:
Yes, thank you so much, Wysiwyg, I do realise that. And that is why I used quotation marks. I was quoting a phrase from Gumby Learner's post, i.e. he suggested I 'harden up'.
All clear now?

Btw, another appropriate use of quotation marks is to distance oneself from a phrase: e.g.

"The disappointed body builder blamed the 'fat slobs' who judged the contest."

Here the writer is making it clear that the term 'fat slobs' was not his own choice of words, but rather that of the body builder.

So you could probably say that in putting quotes around "harden up", I was both quoting Gumby Learner and distancing myself from the expression itself.
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Yes sorry Julia. I have deleted the post.
 
nomore4s said:
I must admit I do this regularly especially with peoples names, although I wouldn't do it in the example you provided above.
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Nomore4s, can you give an example of what you mean? It's often appropriate to use an apostrophe with people's names, e.g. Bob's coat.

Wysiwyg said:
Yes sorry Julia. I have deleted the post.
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OK. No worries Wysiwyg. The many nuances in language make it pretty hard to know sometimes.
 
Julia said:
Nomore4s, can you give an example of what you mean? It's often appropriate to use an apostrophe with people's names, e.g. Bob's coat.
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Well there you go, I'm probably not doing the wrong thing then. To be truthful spelling and grammar isn't a strong point, didn't finish Year 11 so my education to a certain point is limited.

What is the rule about the use of an apostrophe like this - Bobs' coat? This might be where I confused myself :eek:
 
Joe Blow said:
I meant it in the present tense and thought that was made clear by the context.

I also thought that proofread was one word. Are you suggesting that it's two? :confused:
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to proof read is a future tense thus two words and having proofread (or having proof-read ) is a past tense



I intensely dislike "this is yours to" which means to be "this is yours too" and "this is better then" which means to be "this is better than" ....something the Americans are very fond of doing....oh well, I don't speak American....

thenks fer the reply, eh bro (which is south Auckland)
 
nomore4s said:
What is the rule about the use of an apostrophe like this - Bobs' coat? This might be where I confused myself :eek:
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The apostrophe comes after the 's' when the subject word is plural.
In your example above, it's not correct because Bob is just one person and presumably has one coat. So the apostrophe is before the 's'.

If, though, you were to say "the men's coats", then that's correct because the word 'men' is the plural.

But, just to confuse you further, if we said :"the boys' coats", meaning the many coats of several boys, then it comes after the 's'.

Have I just made it worse for you?
 
When using a company's name that may start with a lower case letter. Is it proper to use the company's name as the first word in a sentence? Thus starting the sentence with a lower case letter, such as: ebet (EBT) have said in their statement...
 
bounty said:
I'm so glad that this forum is helping people use correct English for online discussion. :)
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Me too.

I've said this before, but I failed English at school... mainly because of being a total ********.

Forums have made me pick up may act and do some after school learning.

The English language can be a beautiful thing, worthy of respect. The best way to respect it is to use it properly IMO. :)

In person, we have all the non-verbal cues and body language in order to understand people's communication. Online, all we have is the pure written language. To get our message across accurately, the written language has to be of good standard to avoid misunderstandings.

My appreciation of certain authors has certainly increased as a side benefit. :)
 
wayneL said:
Me too.

I've said this before, but I failed English at school... mainly because of being a total ********.

Forums have made me pick up may act and do some after school learning.

The English language can be a beautiful thing, worthy of respect. The best way to respect it is to use it properly IMO. :)

In person, we have all the non-verbal cues and body language in order to understand people's communication. Online, all we have is the pure written language. To get our message across accurately, the written language has to be of good standard to avoid misunderstandings.

My appreciation of certain authors has certainly increased as a side benefit. :)
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Shakespeare was not the best speller, he wrote too bloody fast, but he would have empathised with you wayne.

From As You Like It

"the whining schoolboy, with his satchel/ And shining morning face, creeping like a snail/ Unwillingly to school"
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gg
 
I have just come across this thread and am so pleased to discover there are other people who revere correct spelling and grammar. You can't communicate properly without it. I wish I had time to read the whole thread!!

My pet hates are the inappropriate use of the apostrophe (where on earth did it come from?) and the ridiculous idea that has taken hold of putting inverted commas around almost everything, using them incorrectly for emphasis. There are others........... but I won't go on. It would be a long post!

Thank you Joe for starting it, and to others who have expressed the same ideals.

Ruby
 
wayneL said:
Forums have made me pick up may act and do some after school learning.
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Still some work to be done there Wayne :) but I'm in a similar position. I also failed English (48%), mainly because of my lack of ability in 'creative writing'. The bloody essays that counted for about 30% of the total in matric English (if I remember correctly) were my Achilles' Heel despite an intense effort to try and improve. I came to the conclusion that if you're not a creative person, there's really not much you can do about it. In those days if you failed English, you failed to matriculate! Thankfully I was granted a 'compensatory pass' because of my higher marks in my other subjects.

However, a free little program I've found very handy is WordWeb. Its icon sits on my Quick Launch bar and gets frequent use in checking definitions. Highly recommended!
 
Re: Can you read this?

From Cambridge University.--

Olny srmat poelpe can raed tihs.
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthhit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter bt istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs psas it on!!

The above reminds me of my trading

(I still have difficulty in reading some text messages!!)

Peter :)
 
Yes, thanks BBand. I have seen this before, and although I could read it I had to concentrate on it. The wonderful thing about language when it is written properly, with correct spelling, punctuation and grammar, is that it communicates nuances and meaning instead of being just a string of words whose meaning can be quiet confused or completely lost. It flows and is read easily.

Unfortunately, this does not seem to be taught in schools any more.

Now, having said all that, I hope there aren't any typos...........

Ruby
 
Re: So you think you can read?

Here's another to test your reading ability

Alzheimers Eye Test

Count every "F" in the following text:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTI
FIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.........

(see below)

HOW MANY?
wrong, there are 6 -- No joke
READ IT AGAIN!
really, go back and try to find the 6 F's before scolling down.


The reason is
The brain cannot process "OF"

incredible or what? Go back and look again!!
Anyone who counts all 6 "F's" on the first go is a genius

Three is normal, four is quite rare

The trading equivalent is trading in hindsight
When you miss an "obvious" trade and wonder how you could have missed it
-easy in hindsight

Peter :)
 
whose meaning can be quiet confused or completely lost. It flows and is read easily.

Unfortunately, this does not seem to be taught in schools any more.

Now, having said all that, I hope there aren't any typos...........

Ruby
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Sorry Ruby, you failed :) The word you want is quite.
 
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