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Author Topic: New column-type thingy  (Read 111453 times)

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Offline rivka

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New column-type thingy
« Reply #150 on: May 13, 2010, 10:28:01 AM »
Quote
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See, the advantage of being a prescriptivist is that the "why" is rather besides the point.

Because it's WRONG, darnit! That's why! ;)
And this is my single biggest problem with the standard prescriptive approach to language: it all boils down to a bunch of ipse dixits.
I was kidding, you know. I actually find the why fascinating.

And "ipse dixits" can be my new thing I learned of the day. :)
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Offline Jonathon

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New column-type thingy
« Reply #151 on: May 13, 2010, 10:35:43 AM »
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I was kidding, you know. I actually find the why fascinating.
Yeah, I know. But most people simply assume that something is wrong because the rule says so, without ever stopping to question why the rule exists in the first place.
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Offline Neutros the Radioactive Dragon

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« Reply #152 on: May 13, 2010, 10:47:20 AM »
I totally should make a screen name of Ipse Dixit.

Offline rivka

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« Reply #153 on: May 13, 2010, 10:55:41 AM »
(I hate myself for this, but I can't resist.)

That's what she said.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2011, 09:04:39 PM by Jonathon »
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Offline Neutros the Radioactive Dragon

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« Reply #154 on: May 13, 2010, 11:13:22 AM »
She did? Where?

Offline rivka

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« Reply #155 on: May 13, 2010, 11:34:00 AM »
:P  
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
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Offline rivka

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« Reply #156 on: May 13, 2010, 10:36:06 PM »
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I totally should make a screen name of Ipse Dixit.
I can't believe you actually did that.  :lol:  
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
-Aaron Kunin

Offline Neutros the Radioactive Dragon

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« Reply #157 on: May 14, 2010, 07:30:29 AM »
It took? I changed it here at work, but I've got this computer so locked down that it was getting errors when I tried to change it.

:cool:

Offline rivka

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« Reply #158 on: May 14, 2010, 09:39:20 AM »
Indeed.

[/Teal'c]
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
-Aaron Kunin

Offline Jonathon

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New column-type thingy
« Reply #159 on: May 14, 2010, 09:55:33 AM »
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I totally should make a screen name of Ipse Dixit.
I can't believe you actually did that.  :lol:
Huh? Where?
You underestimate my ability to take things seriously!

Offline Neutros the Radioactive Dragon

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« Reply #160 on: May 14, 2010, 09:57:12 AM »
Good Reads. It seemed appropriate.

Offline Jonathon

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Re: New column-type thingy
« Reply #161 on: August 10, 2010, 08:22:29 PM »
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Offline BlackBlade

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Re: New column-type thingy
« Reply #162 on: August 11, 2010, 05:31:05 AM »
That's weird, over the past year I've thought about grey and gray several times.  Firefox kept telling me "grey" was an incorrect spelling, yet no matter how many times I changed it to "gray" I still felt like grey wasn't wrong.  It's in dictionary.com and google so that's good enough for me.

I feel like grey looks better than gray.
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Offline Annie Subjunctive

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Re: New column-type thingy
« Reply #163 on: August 11, 2010, 06:44:29 AM »
Hey me too! I've always thought grey sounded nicer. And greyer.
"It is true, however, that the opposite of Little Rock, Arkansas is Boulder, Colorado." - Tante

Offline BlackBlade

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Re: New column-type thingy
« Reply #164 on: August 11, 2010, 07:03:09 AM »
Hey me too! I've always thought grey sounded nicer. And greyer.
I couldn't a grey more.
Kyrgyzstan, is the homeland of the Kyrgyzs, a people best known for cheating at Scrabble. -Tante Shvester

What, you expected us to be badly injured or dead, and flying blind to boot? You're the one who told us all to be Awesome. -Brinestone

Offline Zalmoxis

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Re: New column-type thingy
« Reply #165 on: August 12, 2010, 01:15:51 PM »
That was a really good post, Jonathon. And I too am fond of using grey.
Zwei Aufgaben des Lebensanfangs: Deinen Kreis immer mehr einschränken und immer wieder nachprüfen, ob du dich nicht irgendwo außerhalb deines Kreises versteckt hältst. (Kafka)

Offline pooka

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Re: New column-type thingy
« Reply #166 on: August 12, 2010, 03:23:11 PM »
I always thought of grey as a Britishism, along with colour and mum.  I think one big reason you see that fall off in the late 19th century could be the tendency to refer to the confederacy as the grays.  It could be that gray was preferred in one region over the other and when it became synonymous with the confederacy, that region's spelling became prevalent.  Trouble is, I don't know who was more responsible for referring to "The Blue and the Gray." 

I also don't know why people also called the confederate uniforms butternut.  But I really liked the Dave Barry column where he was sent to the Hardware store to get some gray paint.  His wife wanted something the color of Pierce Brosnan's eyes, but they wound up with Confederate dead.
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Offline Jonathon

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Offline rivka

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Re: New column-type thingy
« Reply #168 on: November 11, 2010, 08:09:50 PM »
Very nice.
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
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Offline Jonathon

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Re: New column-type thingy
« Reply #169 on: November 11, 2010, 08:13:11 PM »
Thanks. :)
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Offline The Genuine

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Re: New column-type thingy
« Reply #170 on: November 11, 2010, 08:22:39 PM »
Whoa!  I'm your muse tonight!   :flower:
I think Jesse's right.

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Offline Tante Shvester

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Re: New column-type thingy
« Reply #171 on: November 11, 2010, 09:02:08 PM »
You amuse me many nights, Jesse.
Fighting thread drift with guilt, reverse psychology, and chicken soup.
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Offline Nighthawk

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Re: New column-type thingy
« Reply #172 on: November 12, 2010, 10:23:12 AM »
Get a room you two!
"When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer..."

Offline Jonathon

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Re: New column-type thingy
« Reply #173 on: June 28, 2011, 09:05:58 PM »
Just for Annie! (And anyone else who wants to read more about the word temblor, of course. But I think I made most of these points on the forum a while back.)
« Last Edit: June 28, 2011, 09:06:07 PM by Jonathon »
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Offline Marianne Dashwood

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Re: New column-type thingy
« Reply #174 on: June 28, 2011, 10:48:14 PM »
:wub:
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