moon/Laura
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Post by moon/Laura on Jan 6, 2017 12:18:53 GMT -5
THANK YOU for saying "a lot" rather that "alot"!
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wyouser
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Post by wyouser on Jan 6, 2017 12:25:36 GMT -5
You take a peek at the cryptic stuff folks text.....and we are surprised at the errors in there, their and they're? I know I'm a mess and have to go back all the time an correct. My head is perpetually three lines ahead of my fingers complicated by a "left-hander" forced to type on a keyboard built for right handers. And, yes, I know, they make keyboards for left handers.....however, the German in me always gets in the way....I go hunt for a computer and will only buy the cheapest hunk of junk ON SALE in the store.....pay extra for a keypad upgrade?? Hell no! (see, the Scotch are not the only ones with a reputation for being tight with money)
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Chocolate Lover
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Post by Chocolate Lover on Jan 6, 2017 12:30:48 GMT -5
Other than the number pad, what's so right handed about a keyboard? I'm left handed, and super speedy with that number pad.
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Jan 6, 2017 13:18:56 GMT -5
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teen persuasion
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Post by teen persuasion on Jan 6, 2017 14:21:48 GMT -5
Reading books is (or was) the major exposure to spelling and grammar for me. At least in the past, books would contain correct spelling. Lately, however, self published stuff (ebooks) can be full of errors; I'm beginning to find them in mainstream print books, too. They drive me crazy, especially the homophone errors. Discrete is not the same as discreet, and rein does not have the same meaning as reign. I really shake my head when I find errors in the school superintendent's report, or on the Smithsonian website. YES!!! Kindle versions of some books seem to have gotten no attention whatsoever. I've read a series that started in the 80s and a bunch were converted at the same time and oh the homophone errors! These books are still getting written and I think the more recent ones are better but if I see something like vile/vial again in these things I'm going to start grammar Nazi-ing all over Amazon reviews. I think I learned most of my grammar & spelling from constant reading too, so seeing it in books really chaps my hide. I know I've committed a few sins here and I hope I get forgiven if I don't catch them all. I do try to correct them. Yep, it's on my Kindle that I'm seeing (most of) them. I'm especially confused when the author thanks a laundry list of people that read the book and gave advice - how did ALL of those people miss the errors? At one point I decided to try making electronic in-book notations of the errors, thinking maybe I could convince that author that she really needed a proofreader (me?). Eventually I had to stop - there were so many errors in that book that the notation was seriously slowing down my reading speed, and I was no longer following the story. Sometimes I wonder if an author is using voice recognition software, and that accounts for the bizarre word choices.
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Chocolate Lover
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Post by Chocolate Lover on Jan 6, 2017 14:34:26 GMT -5
YES!!! Kindle versions of some books seem to have gotten no attention whatsoever. I've read a series that started in the 80s and a bunch were converted at the same time and oh the homophone errors! These books are still getting written and I think the more recent ones are better but if I see something like vile/vial again in these things I'm going to start grammar Nazi-ing all over Amazon reviews. I think I learned most of my grammar & spelling from constant reading too, so seeing it in books really chaps my hide. I know I've committed a few sins here and I hope I get forgiven if I don't catch them all. I do try to correct them. Yep, it's on my Kindle that I'm seeing (most of) them. I'm especially confused when the author thanks a laundry list of people that read the book and gave advice - how did ALL of those people miss the errors? At one point I decided to try making electronic in-book notations of the errors, thinking maybe I could convince that author that she really needed a proofreader (me?). Eventually I had to stop - there were so many errors in that book that the notation was seriously slowing down my reading speed, and I was no longer following the story. Sometimes I wonder if an author is using voice recognition software, and that accounts for the bizarre word choices. Sometimes I wonder if the self published even bother with proofreading and that the people they're thanking listened more than actually read what was written. :/ I checked a book out of the local library once that was written by a guy who lived in the area, and I never should have. The first paragraph was one long run on sentence & the errors! I read the whole thing because the idea itself was good but my eyes were bleeding by the time I was done.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Jan 6, 2017 15:00:09 GMT -5
While we are on the subject...I always say "X and I went to the movies" (example). I was always taught this is correct but IRL, on television, on this board, etc. I hear people saying "me and X." Did something change in the proper English language and I just missed it? This drives me nuts! I hear educated people saying it ALL the time. It is annoying as hell. I'm hearing it from BBC announcers in podcasts now! I always thought the BBC was the gold standard when it came to speaking The Queen's English. It makes me cringe.
I was raised with a rigorous grounding in grammar in parochial schools, as were my parents. Dad would point out split infinitives in drafts of his manager's reports when he was working. (Example: "It is important not to forget..." is correct. "It is important to not forget..." is a split infinitive.) The seventh-grade nun, in particular, really drilled it into us and I appreciate it. One former classmate, whom I always considered an academic equal, constantly includes "would of" and "could of" in her FaceBook posts. DH majored in English Lit. in college. I miss being able to watch TV with him and point out grammatical errors.
Spelling- it's a gift and I have it. Just a few years ago I was on a Corporate Spelling Bee team and we won one year- lots of fun. English is a mishmash of words from other languages, though, so there are no consistent rules. I've known some really intelligent people who couldn't spell.
I'm a polyglot. English is by far the most difficult language I had to learn. There are no rules, only exceptions. Native English speakers beg to differ. "Oh, it's so easy! What are you talking about?" It's only easy if you were exposed to it from birth. How was I to know that the plural of house is houses, but the plural of mouse is not mouses? How was I to know that the plural of moose is moose, but the plural of goose is not goose but geese? It make absolutely no sense.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2017 16:20:06 GMT -5
Unless you're Rob, who likes to act "ignant" (to coin a phrase an old friend used to use) on purpose. My Dad, especially, used to zap me when I'd ask "Can I go ride my bike?" I don't know. Are you able to ride your bike? What he wanted me ask was "May I" (permission) rather than "Can I" (ability to). I once saw a bit of an interview of Obama by Ellen Degeneres. They were discussing what his life would be like after he left office- extent of Secret Service protection, restrictions, etc. Ellen asked, "Can you drive?" Without missing a beat, he replied, "I'm capable of driving, yes."
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Jan 6, 2017 17:02:38 GMT -5
I'm hearing it from BBC announcers in podcasts now! I always thought the BBC was the gold standard when it came to speaking The Queen's English. It makes me cringe.
I was raised with a rigorous grounding in grammar in parochial schools, as were my parents. Dad would point out split infinitives in drafts of his manager's reports when he was working. (Example: "It is important not to forget..." is correct. "It is important to not forget..." is a split infinitive.) The seventh-grade nun, in particular, really drilled it into us and I appreciate it. One former classmate, whom I always considered an academic equal, constantly includes "would of" and "could of" in her FaceBook posts. DH majored in English Lit. in college. I miss being able to watch TV with him and point out grammatical errors.
Spelling- it's a gift and I have it. Just a few years ago I was on a Corporate Spelling Bee team and we won one year- lots of fun. English is a mishmash of words from other languages, though, so there are no consistent rules. I've known some really intelligent people who couldn't spell.
I'm a polyglot. English is by far the most difficult language I had to learn. There are no rules, only exceptions. Native English speakers beg to differ. "Oh, it's so easy! What are you talking about?" It's only easy if you were exposed to it from birth. How was I to know that the plural of house is houses, but the plural of mouse is not mouses? How was I to know that the plural of moose is moose, but the plural of goose is not goose but geese? It make absolutely no sense. Actually, it does make sense. Not sense in the way that more homogeneous languages that have remained closer to their roots make sense, but as much sense as can be made by a language assembled from chunks of German and French and Latin and Greek grafted onto leftover parts of the languages native to western Europe and the British Isles with bits and pieces of other languages picked up over the course of a globe-trotting history. Many of the apparent anomalies cited when decrying how awful English is are simply evidence of the remnants of the original grammar of the language of origin still clinging to the offending words. How a word behaves today may still be affected by how it behaved in its original language, how (and when) it came to be assimilated into English, or even the particular pet peeves of the author(s) of the first written documents or dictionaries in which it appeared.
This is not to say that you are not perfectly correct in your assessment of English as an infuriating, confusing, and very difficult language to learn (even many native speakers find it baffling). It is. But it can't help it. English didn't have the benefit of its own version of Cyril and Methodius to organize it and tame it and make it all tidy and accessible. It just is what it is.
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." --James D. Nicoll
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Chocolate Lover
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Post by Chocolate Lover on Jan 6, 2017 17:17:41 GMT -5
I'm a polyglot. English is by far the most difficult language I had to learn. There are no rules, only exceptions. Native English speakers beg to differ. "Oh, it's so easy! What are you talking about?" It's only easy if you were exposed to it from birth. How was I to know that the plural of house is houses, but the plural of mouse is not mouses? How was I to know that the plural of moose is moose, but the plural of goose is not goose but geese? It make absolutely no sense. Actually, it does make sense. Not sense in the way that more homogeneous languages that have remained closer to their roots make sense, but as much sense as can be made by a language assembled from chunks of German and French and Latin and Greek grafted onto leftover parts of the languages native to western Europe and the British Isles with bits and pieces of other languages picked up over the course of a globe-trotting history. Many of the apparent anomalies cited when decrying how awful English is are simply evidence of the remnants of the original grammar of the language of origin still clinging to the offending words. How a word behaves today may still be affected by how it behaved in its original language, how (and when) it came to be assimilated into English, or even the particular pet peeves of the author(s) of the first written documents or dictionaries in which it appeared.
This is not to say that you are not perfectly correct in your assessment of English as an infuriating, confusing, and very difficult language to learn (even many native speakers find it baffling). It is. But it can't help it. English didn't have the benefit of its own version of Cyril and Methodius to organize it and tame it and make it all tidy and accessible. It just is what it is.
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." --James D. Nicoll
I agree with the whole post but had to give the quote its proper appreciation.
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Green Eyed Lady
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Look inna eye! Always look inna eye!
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Post by Green Eyed Lady on Jan 6, 2017 17:24:03 GMT -5
Those all make me cringe - but not as much as "I seen" when it should have been "I saw". I'm stunned at how many highly educated people say/write this.
I seen a horse today!
No....you didn't. You saw one.
That being said, my fingers work way faster than my brain so I always make a mistake long before my brain realizes it.
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Chocolate Lover
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Post by Chocolate Lover on Jan 6, 2017 17:25:06 GMT -5
How about "I done"? <<shudder>> Look what I done!
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Green Eyed Lady
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Look inna eye! Always look inna eye!
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Post by Green Eyed Lady on Jan 6, 2017 17:26:52 GMT -5
How about "I done"? <<shudder>> Look what I done! <smack>
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Jan 6, 2017 17:34:00 GMT -5
I did done. 😉
(Reminds me of Mater from Cars.)
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Jan 6, 2017 17:36:29 GMT -5
I'm hearing it from BBC announcers in podcasts now! I always thought the BBC was the gold standard when it came to speaking The Queen's English. It makes me cringe.
I was raised with a rigorous grounding in grammar in parochial schools, as were my parents. Dad would point out split infinitives in drafts of his manager's reports when he was working. (Example: "It is important not to forget..." is correct. "It is important to not forget..." is a split infinitive.) The seventh-grade nun, in particular, really drilled it into us and I appreciate it. One former classmate, whom I always considered an academic equal, constantly includes "would of" and "could of" in her FaceBook posts. DH majored in English Lit. in college. I miss being able to watch TV with him and point out grammatical errors.
Spelling- it's a gift and I have it. Just a few years ago I was on a Corporate Spelling Bee team and we won one year- lots of fun. English is a mishmash of words from other languages, though, so there are no consistent rules. I've known some really intelligent people who couldn't spell.
I'm a polyglot. English is by far the most difficult language I had to learn. There are no rules, only exceptions. Native English speakers beg to differ. "Oh, it's so easy! What are you talking about?" It's only easy if you were exposed to it from birth. How was I to know that the plural of house is houses, but the plural of mouse is not mouses? How was I to know that the plural of moose is moose, but the plural of goose is not goose but geese? It make absolutely no sense. My dad used to claim that Polish is even harder. I'm not sure whether he's right or not, but it is certainly harder for me!
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Cookies Galore
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I don't need no instructions to know how to rock
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Post by Cookies Galore on Jan 6, 2017 18:05:13 GMT -5
I'm an editor, so I kind of pride myself on my grasp of the English language. I also drunk text a lot, so my phone spells swear words better than first grade words. How many times I don't catch "thst" instead of "that," I swear...
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Jan 6, 2017 18:09:55 GMT -5
How about "I done"? <<shudder>> Look what I done! I done did all them things. And me and him seen something weird!
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sesfw
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Today is the first day of the rest of my life
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Post by sesfw on Jan 6, 2017 18:43:42 GMT -5
a language assembled from chunks of German and French and Latin and Greek grafted onto leftover parts of the languages native to western Europe and the British Isles with bits and pieces of other languages picked up over the course of a globe-trotting history. This is the best definition of the American language I have ever seen ........... beautiful We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." --James D. NicollThis adds to the beauty Thank you, I'll have to remember these
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billisonboard
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Post by billisonboard on Jan 6, 2017 18:54:10 GMT -5
... Native English speakers beg to differ. "Oh, it's so easy! What are you talking about?" It's only easy if you were exposed to it from birth. ... But not so easy if you have learning disabilities. (Shout out to Cruz, one of my favorite former students, who frequently informed me of how much the language sucked )
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tallguy
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Post by tallguy on Jan 7, 2017 2:22:22 GMT -5
Spelling- it's a gift and I have it. Just a few years ago I was on a Corporate Spelling Bee team and we won one year- lots of fun. English is a mishmash of words from other languages, though, so there are no consistent rules. I've known some really intelligent people who couldn't spell.
I'm a polyglot. English is by far the most difficult language I had to learn. There are no rules, only exceptions. Native English speakers beg to differ. "Oh, it's so easy! What are you talking about?" It's only easy if you were exposed to it from birth. How was I to know that the plural of house is houses, but the plural of mouse is not mouses? How was I to know that the plural of moose is moose, but the plural of goose is not goose but geese? It make absolutely no sense. That brings to mind....
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Jan 7, 2017 5:02:41 GMT -5
No, it was used twice and both times were different but the wrong one. It made me laugh, then cry a little for the English language (just joking on that) I see it daily enough on FB for me to think are we not teaching this anymore? I don't think it is lack of intelligence. I know when I'm typing quickly I have made mistakes. I clearly know which is the correct word to use, but my fingers seem to go faster than my brain!
I do also know some very smart people who couldn't spell to save their lives! I don't think that makes them any less intelligent and certainly didn't impact their success. One was the former managing partner of my old firm. Brilliant business guy who make a LOT of money. But he never sent anything out without his secretary either writing or proofing it. She was the spelling/grammar Nazi but made about $40k to his seven figures...in the list of skills, I would go with the one that got me 7 figures
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Jan 7, 2017 5:07:33 GMT -5
I wasn't educated as a child. My parents didn't care, teachers problem, not their job to educate me. I didn't learn to read past a 2nd grade level until 6th grade. I took remedial math, history and English but the classes didn't catch me up at all they just gave easy work to keep you out of the hard classes. Remedial English for example had us read paperback books and give oral book reports. I was 11th grade so could read then so read one or two books a day until they kicked me back to non remedial English. That English gave me detention every day for flunking test but never actually taught anything. So I was almost 50 before the internet and grammar people started correcting people and explaining these rules. I started learning spelling after word processors had spell check. Now I am 68 and getting up to not so bad but still remember a worker teasing me for using your instead of you're because I teased him about using semi-weekly when he meant bi-weekly and he thanked me so I wrote your welcome. They should teach this stuff in school but they don't at least they don't to all the kids. I moved every year so missed some because it wasn't taught the same time in all schools. I was in college before I found out what a square root was. They gave me remedial math that didn't teach that in 9th grade then didn't require math in high school if you took bookkeeping it counted as a math. I finished a degree in accounting and passed the CPA exam when my mom asked if I was learning disabled at age 43. I asked why she asked and she said because I never learned to spell. My IQ is not low and if they schools didn't teach me this stuff I expect a lot of people weren't taught it either. My mom has horrible grammar so I grew up speaking in double negatives and just plain bad grammar. To be honest, it wasn't until I got to college and was surrounded by people who spoke well that I realized how awful I sounded. I was actually quite smart but shitty grades in high school (barely passed!) and sounded like an idiot. I took it upon myself to educate myself in the rules of grammar. I am not perfect and to this day when I'm not sure about grammar rules when I'm writing something, I will change the sentence structure. It was easier when I worked at the firm because I had a secretary and she would correct my boo-boos...now I'm on my own!
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Jan 7, 2017 5:16:36 GMT -5
Those all make me cringe - but not as much as "I seen" when it should have been "I saw". I'm stunned at how many highly educated people say/write this.
I seen a horse today!
No....you didn't. You saw one.
That being said, my fingers work way faster than my brain so I always make a mistake long before my brain realizes it. Ha! Yes, that is a bad one and drives me nuts.
I did used to say "I bet him", as in I won. I was probably around 20 before I realized that I was making no sense!lol
It is tough when you learn from people who have horrible grammar because things like "I seen" and "I bet him" sound correct.
How about "axe"...."can I axe you something?"...sounds like you want to murder me or cut something up for me!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2017 5:30:27 GMT -5
All I can ever say, if I sound like an ignoramus on here, Cael has permission to smack me, as I am the child of an English teacher and I have a really useless English BS of my own. Unless I'm drunk posting, as is often the case. Then all bets are off.😜
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on Jan 7, 2017 5:52:58 GMT -5
All I can ever say, if I sound like an ignoramus on here, Cael has permission to smack me, as I am the child of an English teacher and I have a really useless English BS of my own. Unless I'm drunk posting, as is often the case. Then all bets are off.😜 Lol!
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ken a.k.a OMK
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They killed Kenny, the bastards.
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Post by ken a.k.a OMK on Jan 7, 2017 8:55:04 GMT -5
I never had a real English class. Never learned to diagram a sentence and don't know how. I became an Engineer. That's my excuse.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Jan 7, 2017 12:18:32 GMT -5
I never had a real English class. Never learned to diagram a sentence and don't know how. I became an Engineer. That's my excuse.
I was a linguist. I have been known to diagram sentences for fun. I'm not sure there's any excuse for that.
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ken a.k.a OMK
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They killed Kenny, the bastards.
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Post by ken a.k.a OMK on Jan 7, 2017 12:25:01 GMT -5
I look at electronic schematics for fun and see how the device works. Possibly redesign it. Is there hope for me?
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naughtybear
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Post by naughtybear on Jan 7, 2017 12:57:03 GMT -5
I had never heard of sentence diagramming until four days ago when a teacher friend on FB posted something about it. Now here it comes up again, things that like are weird to me.
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swamp
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THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS!!!!!!!
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Post by swamp on Jan 7, 2017 14:48:16 GMT -5
My 9th grade English teacher would have us diagram a Dickens' sentence. I thought it was fun. But I'm a dork.
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