Grammar/Vocabulary ??? (1 Viewer)

[JohnRice]

There are so many similar examples I don't know why this particular one bothers you so much.

How does this impact you? That one is just stupid.

How about the rain of apostrophes? It's gotten so any word that just happens to end with an "S" gets an apostrophe. The rule is simple. If the word is a contraction (You are: You're) it gets an apostrophe. If it is a possessive (Jim's HT) it gets an apostrophe. Abbreviations such as DVDs don't get them.

My favorite. TV Weather futurecasts. That isn't a word, plus, forecast, the correct word, means the same damn thing and it's a shorter word. Fore=future, in advance, etc.

BTW, I also code, program databases, etc, and I punctuate. FWIW, internet or not, when you say something publicly and think it is worth the time for others to read, you might as well type it out properly. For most people, the time they are most likely to be read by the most people is on public forums like this, so why choose that time to take shortcuts? IM is private and a completely different situation.

 

[Diallo B]

i punctuate. i simply don't capitalize. is it really that distracting?

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Yes. It is the single most annoying thing I've ever encountered. It makes things more diffcult to read by 10 fold. Plus, it is only done for effect. Anyone who learned to write or type originally learned to write or type with capitalization. This "I code, therefore I can be a latter day ee cummings" crap is absurd. It is one of the obnoxious things comp sci guys do to put themselves above others, like they are so in tune with the computer world that only they can ignore conventions. It's hacker/cracker/cyber elitist crap run amuck and I hate it.

I've been coding advanced systems for 15 years and can probably run circles around most "hacker" types I've met (who are basically systems people with good contacts) and I capitalize my words correctly. I do not expect others to deal with a coder's dumb affectations that are basically manufactured to try and set them apart from the mere "mortals" of the world. No offense, but you should be no different.

 

[Holadem]

Same here. And I think you're being too kind.

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H

 

[Diallo B]

i am truly surprised that this is such a big deal. perhaps i will re-evaluate. but as with anything on htf my signature definitely applies......

 

[drobbins]

When I read posts that do not have capitals used, I assume that the poster is either a kid or not well educated. Chances are the poster is not, but it still gives that impression. It is hard to take him seriously.

 

[BrianW]

Jeff, you're really missing out. With 15 years of coding experience, you are completely excused from using capitals and punctuation. And that's just the beginning. In fact, with your coding experience, you're entitled to do the following:

* Flick burning cigarettes out your car window.

* Eat at restaurants without leaving a tip.

* End every argument with the assertion of Occam's Razor, Ohm's Law, or whatever the hell you feel like misquoting.

* Cut in line at the grocery store, movie theater, or concert. (Don't try this at a NASCAR event, however.)

* Use the toilet without washing your hands.

* Talk on your cell phone in the public library.

And that's not all. The longer you code, the more the rules don't apply to you! I've been coding for 25 years, and in addition to the things I've listed above, I'm entitled to do the following:

* Drive without signalling my turns or lane changes.

* Floss my teeth in public.

* Have my parking tickets dismissed. (Just send your resume to the judge, and he'll take care of it.)

* Swim in public fountains.

* Litter. (Don't knock it until you've tried it!)

In another five years, I'll be able to fart on the elevator! I can't wait!

Jeff, I know that you and I have agreed on a great many things in the past. But in this instance, I really think you're just not taking full advantage of the extent to which you can get away with not living up to your full potential.

We're coders, after all. There's got to be some glory in it. If being coders doesn't entitle us to force others to put up with our eccentric ways, then what's the point? Surely, it's not just a job. Is it?

 

[Diallo B]

so are you stating that the simple ommission of capitalized letters leads you to think that the poster is poorly educated?

does that take into effect the actual content of the post? or is it simply based on the lack of captial letters?

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Diallo,

It's an affectation, a manufactured quirk. You have to relearn writing/typing to do it, no matter how much you try to blame it on a habit from coding. Just the fact that modern OOP languages have abandoned the all lower case conventions of 'C' in favor of more descriptive, capitalized naming conventions puts the kibosh on the "I'm a coder, I do it to save time" excuse.

In my opinion, it is an arrogance of ignorance, a philistine thrill that I've never understood, never mind respected. To be blunt, I have always seen it as immature petulance trying to compensate for the inate insecurity of the nerd by attempting to self-elevate us anti-social types above the conventions of mere mortals. I didn't buy into it 25 years ago when I was reading Richard Stallman's claptrap and I don't buy into it now.

I also don't buy into from my coworkers, as the last underling who thought it would be unique to change the universal 'i' counter variable to a 'w' in all his code found out. It's really just acting different in order to prove you are different; and personally, my rebellion against society's norms has always taken on much higher targets than simply annoying the people I'm supposed to work/converse with.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

whoops, double post.

 

[Diallo B]

wow. well no one would ever expect me to be a nerd from first impression, let alone someone that writes code, so all of this 'arrogance and elitist' innuendo really does not apply to me.

i simply have stopped using caps for informal writing. i am really just surprised that so many of you see it as a big deal.

with all these salvos of bb guns and saturday night specials i might need to come up with some htf body armor.....

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Why would you think informal writing is not worth capitalizing, especially when it takes barely more effort to do it correctly than it does to do it incorrectly? Also, why would you do it on a forum that seems to hold to conventions, except to set you apart from the norm?

By the way, you do realize the "all lower case" convention came from early compilers that did not distinguish between capital and small letters; so 'Count' was the same as 'COUNT' which was the same as 'count", right? Thankfully, those compilers have gone the way of the 25 column CRT and the trailing close bracket. I just wish the "all small letters is kool" convention would follow, at least out in the real world.

 

[BrianW]

Jeff, you just don't get it. What's claptrap to you is a permanent hall pass for us!I'm with you, diallo b! Break out the HTF flac jacket, close the battle doors, and raise the shields! Because the alternative -- using the Shift key -- is just too unthinkable!

BTW, diallo, how long have you been coding? Can you pick your nose in church yet?

 

[Holadem]

it's l337. like



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h

 

[Christ Reynolds]

This is a disease that cannot be stopped. Look for it, and you'll find these error's (tee hee) everywhere.

As for capitalization, my first ~9 years on the internet, I doubt I properly capitalized anything on forums or emails. I started properly capitalizing about 4 years ago (wow, I've been using the internet for 13 years?!). It just feels like I'm being less unprofessional. Even if my post is pure junk, at least it will be readable

CJ

 

[Jeff Gatie]

I'm an inappropriate apostropher (apostrophe'er??). I always got the its/it's thing wrong and I still can't figure out what to do with a possesive plural ending in 's'. But I got the capitalization thing down!!

 

[Jeff Gatie]

I still remember the nightmare I had about 12 years ago when I had to port some communications code (I think it was Z-modem) written by one of those FSF nuts. It was an amalgamam of C and C++ and contained no less than 20 "goto's" (I mean "gotos"

)." The documentation took great delight in explaining how very taboo the goto is and how the self-described genius of an author used them to weed out the lesser persons who were not able to follow his purposefully anarchistic code. What a tool he was. I wrote him an e-mail in which I corrected about 12 bugs, one of which was his improper use of a goto.

 

[Holadem]

Since we're confessing, I tend to collage words into new ones, and split other words into two. Like "anycase" and "some times." Or "every day" rather than "everyday." I have to stop and give some thought to the appropriate form.

Perhaps I should learn German (where I understand it's perfectly OK to stick words together like that to form new ones)

--
H

 

[Jeff Gatie]

H, You've got nothing to worry about. You write english better than 90% of the people I know, and they grew up writing it. A couple split words is nothing when an entire generation of Americans think "loose" is the opposite of "win".

 

[Christ Reynolds]

As an inappropriate apostropher, I hope you leave it out when in doubt. Quite annoying when people throw it in for no reason.

The possessive plural is tricky for me, I try to avoid it

As for it's/its, the only time you use an apostrophe is if you are abbreviating "it is". All others, use "its". That's how I remember it.

CJ