Grammar/Vocabulary ???

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

Since when did capital letters go out of style?

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

Diallo, I've been typing for years as well, but have managed the difficult task of pressing down the shift key with one finger while typing with another. I promise you, it can be done with practice.

Okay, enough of the gratuitous insults. Please can you give an example or twain of this offensive use of 'up'? I can think of 'up the tension', 'up the stakes', 'up the ante', 'up the volume' and several more that are perfectly acceptable in spoken Brit english at least. They probably wouldn't be used in formal written english, but the same applies to many other colloquial expressions (e.g. 'ain't' which is used surprisingly often in spoken educated Brit english).

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

Hey, lets kick it up a notch!
How about we up the ante?

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

Or as Red Buttons once said, "Dean Martin should be an example to us all. He wasn't content with just being a singer. He constantly pushed his career up, up, up. Dean upped his career. Up yours!"

Regards,

Joe

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

Upping one's language skills? I'm down with that. And that's on the level.

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

I've also been coding for years (over 20) and I find if I follow certain rules and conventions, my code is easier to read and share with others. Imagine if they had the same types of rules and conventions for writing English? Hmmmm, I may be on to something . . .

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

Actually, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, "up" is a perfectly valid synonym for "increase" when used as a verb.

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

Edna: "Embiggens? I never heard that word before I moved to Springfield."
Ms. Hoover: "I don't know why. It's a perfectly cromulent word."
---
Wiggum: " Good God he is fabulous."
Skinner: "Yes he's embiggened that role with his cromulent performance."

So the next obvious evolution of language should be the replacement of "up/upped" with "embiggen/embiggened". It's the cromulent thing to do.

Brad

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

That just makes my Patula Obendala hurt.

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

All the examples you're giving are headlines of news articles. Headlines traditionally use abbreviations/slang in order to save space. You shouldn't expect to see proper grammar in headlines.

Find articles that use the term "upped" in the actual body, not the headline, and your point will be more valid.

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

Says the guy whose name is lowercase...

It is my impression that people like to appear uneducated, that can be the only explanation for it, especially when they are criticizing someone else's writing while brutalizing the language in their response.

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

Awhile ago. I'm not sure, Diallo, why you react so harshly to that particular use of that particular word.

From dictionary.com:

–verb (used with object)
--to make larger; step up: to up output.
--to raise; go better than (a preceding wager): to up the ante.

From American Heritage Dictionary:

v. tr.

1. To increase: upped their fees; upping our output.
2. To raise to a higher level, especially to promote to a higher position.

From Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

transitive verb

1: raise, lift
2 a: to advance to a higher level: (1): increase (2): promote 1a b: raise




But it is a legitimate use of the word as recognized in most (if not all) major dictionaries.

Scott is correct about the headlines, though. The idea is to keep 'em short. Headline-writing is a true talent. Remember Variety's "Stix Nix Hix Pix?" One can use improper spelling in tabloid headlines in order to creatively get the point across in shortened fashion. But rather than a mis-use, I would characterize the use of "up" in a headline as simply a short word that means increase.

After all, the headline from homemediaretailing.com wasn't going to read:

"The Viacom company greatly increased its profits through the sales of DVDs of the films Transformers and Shrek 3."

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

Put me down as one of those who are amazed that anyone who ignores capitalization conventions (which are in place to make writing easier to read) comes down on the language/grammar cops side.

I was an IT professional for many years and fired more than one technician who had poor written communication skills. Not to demean your technical skills, but there are many people who can code (and a significant number of those do not have English as their native language), but not so many who can convey to customers or users what they are doing and why.

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

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.

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

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.

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

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

--
H

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

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.

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

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?

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

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.

Re: Grammar/Vocabulary ???

whoops, double post.