Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Username

porsche

Member Since

October 20, 2005

Total number of comments

670

Total number of votes received

3088

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Latest Comments

Past tense of “text”

  • January 13, 2009, 7:08pm

Goofy, I'm afraid your quoting of Merriam-Webster is both incomplete and out of context. First, you left out the part at the very beginning where it says: "Though disapproved of by many...". Next, if you had researched it further you would have found the following clarification, directly from Merriam-Webster. Taken from:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq/pronounce.htm

We do not list either the ÷feb(y)wer pronunciation of February or the ÷ nü-kyl(r) pronunciation of nuclear as "acceptable"; we merely list them as commonly used pronunciations. Both of those pronunciations are clearly preceded by the obelus mark ÷ (which looks like a division sign). This mark indicates "a pronunciation variant that occurs in educated speech but that is considered by some to be questionable or unacceptable." A full description of this can be found in the Key to Pronunciation Symbols. We are definitely not advocating that anyone should use those pronunciations or that they should abandon the others that are regarded as more acceptable.

Of course, M-W goes on in descriptive fashion to say that they are presenting usage, not "correct" pronunciation, if there even is such a thing, and that it is their responsibility to present all common documented pronunciation variants. Please see the link for the full text.

Past tense of “text”

  • January 11, 2009, 8:05am

Yes, Wittgenstein, and the man with his finger on the trigger of the largest nuclear arsenal in the world can't actually say nu-cle-ar. He says nu-CU-LAR. Nor is he the first president to do so. While I mostly agree with you, I still find this more than a bit frightening.

Curriculum Vita or Curriculum Vitae

  • December 31, 2008, 5:14pm

Gee, I'm just full of typos today. ...i... should be ...I... and ...is... should be ...it... Normally I wouldn't bother, but I know how picky some can be out here. I've been corrected out here enough before for what was obviously just a typo. I suppose a pedant like me deserves it.

Curriculum Vita or Curriculum Vitae

  • December 31, 2008, 5:11pm

gee, i guess i contradicted myself a bit. I originally said is WAS course of ONE'S life. Well, I still stand by general gist of what I just posted.

Curriculum Vita or Curriculum Vitae

  • December 31, 2008, 5:10pm

oops, that's me above, p

Curriculum Vita or Curriculum Vitae

  • December 21, 2008, 8:28pm

No, curriculum vitae is singular. It means literally, "the course of one's life" with "vitae" being the genitive of "life". not the plural. The plural would be "curricula vitae".

Fora vs Forums

  • December 21, 2008, 9:19am

Hey, if I just start collecting old movie posters, but I only have one so far, does that mean that I have memorabilium? No, that can't be right. It should be memorabilis.

Street Address vs. Mailing Address

  • December 21, 2008, 9:05am

No, "will not" is correct. As long as the package is small enough to fit in the box they "can" deliver it. Come to think of it, even if the package is bigger than the box, the post office will still hold it for you. Even if it's illegal, or the post office is uncooperative, or the post office is on the moon, that still doesn't mean it "cannot" be done. I suppose if the post office were in another dimension... Case in point, some third party delivery services WILL deliver to post office boxes for letters and small items. I suppose they just pay the extra postage for the final leg of the delivery (and charge you accordingly). Another case in point, one of the big services, I think UPS, offers a lower cost hybrid delivery service, only for large volume customers, where they deliver to the regional post office and the USPS does the final delivery, so obviously, there's no legal, organizational, or physical reason why it's impossible. It's purely a matter of policy, or rather, a limitation on the spectrum of services they're willing to provide. Notice I said "willing", not "able". If you requested that the UPS driver dance naked and sing show tunes during the delivery they would certainly be able to accomodate you. I would doubt very much that they'd be willing.

“dis” vs “un”

  • December 17, 2008, 8:46pm

If I am unorganized, it means my desk is a bit messy at this particular moment. If I am disorganized, it means my desk is ALWAYS a bit messy. Note, this is consistent with what I have said above; un = not, dis = opposite of.

Please be advised....

  • December 4, 2008, 7:27pm

Of course, another way of looking at it is as an attention-getting device. Something like standing in front of a crowded room shouting "hey everybody, listen up!" Comparatively, "Please be advised" could be nothing more than the same thing, only more formal and polite. It's sort of a throw-away phrase so you don't miss the gist of the message by ignoring the first few seconds.

....Nah, I'd go with my last post: message from spineless beauraucrats cowed by lawyers into making sure that you can't sue them for any risk they actually tell you about. You are talking about the transit authority, after all.