"Why Grammar Counts at Work" 1

[2ffat]

Here's an interesting op-ed piece from Forbes. It also includes a link to another article from the Wall Street Journal.

James P. Cottingham
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[CajunCenturion]

Good article; thanks for bringing it up.

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[ChrisHirst]

Defiantly sumthing that 2days yoof shud reed!!

Chris.

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[FI0L]

I wonder if Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit, would hire an applicant who on their CV spelt the word "recognise" instead of "recognize"

Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are good is like expecting the bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian.

 

[Annihilannic]

Hmm... when is the "... and I" usage correct then?

Annihilannic
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[MakeItSo]

Hmm... when is the "... and I" usage correct then?

When you talk of yourself as the subject and not the object (grammatically speaking).

“Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.” (Kofi Annan)
Oppose SOPA, PIPA, ACTA; measures to curb freedom of information under whatever name whatsoever.

 

[hairlessupportmonkey]

Bring back the wooden ruler "whacking" technique. Make a mistake, get a whack!

I do agree with the article. I'm no expert on grammar, but I do make an effort and pull myself up (and annoyingly others ) about spelling and grammar.

My daughter (two and a bit) came home from play group pronouncing water as "waughah" (lazy southern England English.) Every time she says it, we drum into her it is said "watER." She is generally very clever and loves her books, so I have faith we can "beat it out of her" ;-)

If the people looking after our kids can't get it right, what hope is there!!!

ACSS - SME
General Geek

 

[hjgoldstein]

Generally this could be considered fighting a losing battle.

I just overheard a manager saying to one of her team that she wanted the team member to speak to a senior manager about an issue.

Rather than saying something along the lines of "Would you ask Senior Manager about..." or "can you speak to..." she said "...and when you see Senior Manager can you go..." followed by a description of the issue she wanted raised and how.

What can you do if people who can't even string together a simple lucid sentence are put in positions of authority?

Aspiring to mediocrity since 1957

 

[hairlessupportmonkey]

Nothing like sleeping ones way to the top.

ACSS - SME
General Geek

 

[MakeItSo]

Nothing like sleeping ones way to the top.

I agree. Nothing beats politics!

“Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.” (Kofi Annan)
Oppose SOPA, PIPA, ACTA; measures to curb freedom of information under whatever name whatsoever.

 

[rexxhead]

Hmm... when is the "... and I" usage correct then?

Because sentence structure can be quite complex on occasion, I silently drop the other out of the sentence: "Aunt Sue is coming to visit (you and) I" To visit I? Nah; to visit me! Therefore Aunt Sue is coming to visit you and me.

Similarly, for "it's vs its", just substitute "it is" and see if it works. If 'yes', it's; if 'no', its.

Frank Clarke
--America's source for adverse opinions since 1943.

 

[rexxhead]

Ending a sentence with a preposition: the object of the game is communication. If communication happens, everything's A-OK.

It turns out there are several verbs for which it's not even possible: 'pay' vs 'pay for' illustrates this. "That car wasn't even paid for!" is nearly impossible to rework to avoid the trailing 'for'.

Frank Clarke
--America's source for adverse opinions since 1943.

 

[Annihilannic]

Thanks MakeItSo and rexxhead... I knew when it sounded right or wrong, but just couldn't quite remember the distinction.

Annihilannic
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