Gathering of the Figments

marianas · The Scarlet Pimpernel Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 435

a general guide

and my pet peeves:

The word data is plural. "Your data are correct" not "Your data is correct" and if you desperately want to be singular "Your datum is correct" though people don't usually go around with a singular datum...

Candelabrum is singular and candelabra is plural

index --> indices
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Altogether Too Unsophisticated To Deserve a Proper Postscript

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Kidashka · Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:26 am Post subject:

And dice... loads of people get 'dice' wrong.

DICE IS PLURAL!!! DIE IS NOT!!!! (Die is also a nice morbid word but let's not go into that...)
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Beware the evil donkey
Falling slowly from the sky
You can choose the way you live, my friend
But not the way you die.

*splat*

Hawkins · Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:45 am Post subject:

Reminds me of what I told Ty during a Monopoly game one day..."choke on a die." And he's like, "don't you mean 'choke and die'?" "NO, I mean I want you to choke on a die!" And then I chucked it at him. xD
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Tyler's on vacation...to CANADA...*sad*

The Grey Dawn · Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 8:37 am Post subject:

Yea, Latin strikes again here. Let's go over Latin endings used in English with their singular and plural endings.
Singular:...........Plural:.........Example:
-us...................-i.................Focus Foci
-um..................-a................Datum Data
I can get into more details, but I won't as this is English we're talking about. Now if I could only remember the other endings...
Also criteria is plural.
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Remember, a velociraptor can run at 10 m/s (indoors) and it knows no fear.

Hawkins · Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 12:54 pm Post subject:

Then there are those of us who don't care.

We say, "roll the dice." when there is only one.
We say, "look at all the cactuses!" when there are billions.
We say, "that ain't fair." when ain't ain't a word.

But like Grey Dawn said, (*took Chinese in high school, not latin, and don't remember a word of either anyway*) a word like 'cactus' is plural when you say 'cacti'. Very Happy

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Tyler's on vacation...to CANADA...*sad*

The Grey Dawn · Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 2:48 pm Post subject:

Fear me and my hypocrisies! I break the rules of grammar all the time;
_________________
Remember, a velociraptor can run at 10 m/s (indoors) and it knows no fear.

marianas · The Scarlet Pimpernel Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 435

The Grey Dawn · Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 12:30 pm Post subject:

It doesn't help that I basically have a semicolon fetish; heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee;
_________________
Remember, a velociraptor can run at 10 m/s (indoors) and it knows no fear.

marianas · The Scarlet Pimpernel Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Posts: 435

I love semi-colons; they're terribly underused.
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The Grey Dawn · Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 5:33 pm Post subject:

I agree; they are used very rarely and should be used more often.
Even if in incorrect syntax;
_________________
Remember, a velociraptor can run at 10 m/s (indoors) and it knows no fear.

Kidashka · Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 2:50 am Post subject:

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

Very Happy

_________________
Beware the evil donkey
Falling slowly from the sky
You can choose the way you live, my friend
But not the way you die.

*splat*

Hawkins · Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 12:30 pm Post subject:

Ah yes, the semi-colon. Where it ought to be used, more often than not it is the comma.

*stabs comma*
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Tyler's on vacation...to CANADA...*sad*

The Grey Dawn · Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 5:13 pm Post subject:

Yes...?
That sentence, the one posted above about the semicolon and comma, made no sense; let us break it down to it's essential meaning.
You said: "Where it ought to be used, more often than not it is the comma."
Essentially you said that when one should you the semicolon (referred to as it) should usually be a comma. I think a good revision of the sentence would be: "When it is used, more often than not, a comma would be more appropriate."
_________________
Remember, a velociraptor can run at 10 m/s (indoors) and it knows no fear.

Figment · Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:51 pm Post subject:

No... I think what Hawky means is that a comman IS used, where a semicolon OUGHT to be, usually.
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The Grey Dawn · Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 5:10 pm Post subject:

Hmm... that is certainly a possibility, also it's further proof of the need for revision of that sentence. (Improper comma use for effect)
_________________
Remember, a velociraptor can run at 10 m/s (indoors) and it knows no fear.