What Corporate America Can't Build: A Sentence

New York Times ^ | December 7, 2004 | SAM DILLON

[agere_contra]

"Scarry".

You mean "scarey"! :0)

Though I guess it could be "scar-ry"

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

The increasing use of email simply exposes a problem that already existed.

And built-in spell checkers don't always help.

I have a spelling checker.
It came with my PC.
It plane lee marks for my revue
miss steaks eye ken knot sea.
I've run this poem threw it,
an Yule bee pleased two no.
It's let her perfect inn it's weigh.
my checker tolled me sew.

[Gondring]

I got reprimanded at a job for using semicolons and the word "thrice" in a report. I was told they were "slang" items that weren't appropriate in a formal report. Also, my em dashes were replaced with hyphens.

<sigh>

I'm a big fan of both semicolons and em dashes, where appropriate. I'm no fan of PHBs who make things unreadable.

[Gondring]

Heck, here in Pennsylvania, we had an automobile license plate that said...

    You've Got a Friend in Pennsylvania

It was eventually yanked for the play on words with the Quakers, the fact that there was a representative by the name "Friend," and the poor grammar.

Unfortunately, the nuttiness continues: A bill was introduced in 2000 to make it the official state slogan, and the Commonwealth has paid millions for tourism campaigns since then, yielding winners such as the "Pennsylvania Memories Last a Lifetime" (and that was my first documented use of a colon introducing a sentence-within-a-sentence--a construction I hate, but thought I'd use in honor of this discussion!).

Everyone knows that the slogan is actually, "Pennsylvania: Where the Buick Meets Bambi!"

[driftless]

While certain standards of grammar and punctuation can be relaxed for purposes of a good response, anyone who spells loser as looser deserves to be hung by their fingernails. It's LOSER!!! not looser for crying out loud...only one o.

[Gefreiter]

Friend of mine who went back active duty Army, via ROTC, had to be taken aside by his new CO.

Within a few days of settling into his new unit it was determined that his writing was too formal and complex. His boss told him to tone it down.

[Gondring]

I recommend Lapsing into a Comma, by Bill Walsh (chief copy editor in the business section of The Washington Post).

And you're right, whenever I have been reading lots of 18th- and 19th-century writing, I find myself writing in more complex ways. I also notice that my earlier writing was far better than it is these days, now that online writing has become so lax...back in the 70s and 80s, poor writing online was more the exception than the rule.

[Gondring]

Uh, that's e-mail messages... ;-)

At least you didn't say email--that is, French enameling.

A-Frame, B-movie, C-rations, D-Day, E-mail.

     Those who can't write, edit.     

[Gondring]

My native language is English, but I found when I took German that there are certain patterns that came natural to me...and I tend to use them in writing.

[Gondring]

Actually, that was a testimonial comment, not the $20k/day dood.

[Gondring]

And... your vs. you're

[Aquinasfan]

Actually, that was a testimonial comment

I know, but if that's the best testimonial he could find, that tells you something.

[Ditto]

I finally came to the conclusion that email is a short sweet and to the point medium, not necessarily a vehicle for detailed communications. I found the phone to be more effective when there was a need for detailed conversation.

Agree. If a detailed document is required, E-mail is not the correct vehicle. It should be a document attachment that can be read on the screen for those with the inclination, or printed out for folks like me who digest complexity easier from the printed page.

IMHO, (in my humble opinion) no E-mail should be longer than one page.

[SAJ]

Or even if you don't want it.

:^)

[Gondring]

At least the CO realized which was which! :-)

[Gondring]

good point!

[Gondring]

ugh, I HATE AP style. ;-)

[durasell]

You said in more succinctly than I did, but yeah: Manners, appearance and a touch of culture count. Of course, you stil have to be good at the job, but all things being equal, the guy (or gal) who knows how to act like an adult will win out.

[television is just wrong]

This nation is doomed. Illiteracy is a new way of life. I would be embarrassed to ask for that kind of help. Head for nearest library and try to fix it.

[Gondring]

Being able to write clearly and type it out quickly certainly is an advantage for me career-wise. I've been in offices of vice-presidents, watching them painfully "hunt and peck" at their keyboards, trying to keep up with the email.

So you're the president?