Writing

[J.B. Dyer]

Amen!

Bryan, you are exactly right!We all are from different regions, religions, political backgrounds, ethnic make up, sex, financial status, and educational levels. None of this is of any importance. The common thread is sailing.This site is about sailing,it's associated problems, and information, not to make fun of each other.Live and let live YALL!

 

[Rick Webb]

Reminds me of School Days in Hawaii

I had a hell of a time learning Spanish from a teacher who spoke Pidgen English. Was muy da kine.

 

[Harry]

Keep it comming Dan

I've been sailing / racing for about 15 years, and continue to amaze myself with my lack of knowledge. Many of you have corrected me on many occasions.Sailing is my hobby and my passion, and I try to absorb everything I can about anything remotely cocerned with it.I appreciate Dan's help in trying to "do it right the first time". This site has been great in furthering my education, and I consider myself a better sailor because of it, and people like Dan...there are many of you out there.This site is like a radio; If I don't like what I hear, I switch stations...but I tune in every day.Like I said; KEEP IT COMING DAN!!!

 

[Harry]

I meant coming Dan !!!

I really didn't do that on purpose!

 

[MArk]

Call me intolerant!

If I don't tolerate intolerance does that make me intolerant?With such confusing language I don't know why there isn't more misunderstanding!Another example:A guy walks up to a Zen Buddhist hot dog vendor and says, "make me one with everything." Spelling and grammar are nice but the real meaning is in the context.Have a good weekend!MArk

 

[Debra B]

writing isn't great and some info is just wrong

But if you read the disclaimer (which you had to do at some point) you agree to live with this. Welcome to the internet - democracy is a messy business.But it would be nice if people read what they posted - Phil has given us edit capability after all. A spell-checker would be good, but you can't have it all.

 

[Henry Hey]

Nucular

Even our own president mispronounces this one.(subject) Nuclear Unfortunately, there are many grammar habits that we Americans have learned. Some seemingly incorrect ones are practiced so often that they are being accepted as the norm. I guess it will be up to each of us to decide our own level of tolerance. -h

 

[John Nantz]

to Bryan of Dallas

Hey Bryan! .... just got home and read your post about mine - please don't take what I wrote as insulting as I really enjoy listening to someone speak with a good south'rn (or how ever you spell it) accent. The area of Tennessee near Memphis where my friend was from was very enjoyable to listen to. I really liked to hear him talk - not just the pronunciation but also the style. Unfortunately with TV, movies, etc. many areas of the country are loosing their dialects.It really pained me to hear, several years ago, that some southerners were taking classes to loose their accent.Several years ago I was hitch hiking around New Zealand and down in Queenstown I got in late to a youth hostel. I'd been on the road for a few weeks and managed to pick up some Kiwi accent to avoid standing out like a sore thumb. After checking in nobody talked to me for about an hour until they went to turn the lights off and the guy in the other bunk asked me where I was from. "California?" he said with surprise. At this point he yelled out loud to everybody "'es a Yank!" and then everybody started talking to me. You see, they were Ausies and they thought I was a Kiwi!Now you know - I'm originally from California and moved to Washington (we aren't supposed to say that around here). I'm not a Yankee (New England) although I did live there for a while too.If you were offended, Bryan, I sincerely apologize. It was not intended to be that way and certainly not meant to be elitist what so ever. The original post was about spelling and I thought the forum could benifit from a bit of levity along this vein. By the way, one thing I found is that most real southerners tend to have a really good sense of humor, at least my co-worker did. It was a memorable summer for me and just writing what I wrote brings back good memories.Bryan, I would appreciate it if you would believe me and accept my appology. -= John Nantz =-

 

[David]

not writing

It is not the writing that troubles me it is the dangerously incorrect info that is provided by some of the posters! But I don't know how that can be corrected. Some people like to write even though they don't know what they are talking about!

 

[Gwen s/v Luna Sea]

zen hotdogs

(To the zen hotdog vendor - "Make me one with everything.") Mark, this one is felony! Maybe even a crime against humanity! I fell off my chair, but luckily grabbed my keyboard on the way down. Arrrrgh!

 

[Gwen s/v Luna Sea]

Voting with Dan

Lots of you seem to object to Dan's tone, and that's unfortunate. Please consider: There are no "grammar police." Language evolves constantly. Good writers break rules all the time. What matters is clear, effective communication. That's exactly why we have alleged rules (conventions would be a better word) of grammar. A competent writer breaks rules in hopes of being clearer or more dramatic. Most don't do it very often, at least not on purpose. Knowing how to listen, being able to write a comprehensible paragraph, and being able to do simple arithmetic, are all critical skills. Sadly, it gets harder and harder to find people who can do all three. Ask any employer. And I agree that communication isn't all the writer's problem. Reading, like listening, demands attention. You can't listen to someone, or read, without keeping quiet and paying attention. You have to set yourself aside until it's your turn to talk.Then there's this business using terms correctly. An example from Star Wars: Luke is dissing the Melenium Falcon as a wreck, and Han retorts that she made the Kessel run in "under three parsecs." What's wrong?Anyone who knows anything about astronomy knows a parsec is a unit of distance, not time. Either Han Solo is an idiot, or the script writer used the term without knowing/caring what it meant, and just showed his dirty laundry to the world. Saying "knots per hour" or "volts per weekend" damages your own credibility. It's worth taking a few seconds to find out what the term really means.

 

[Jim Cook]

Phil...No wench covers allowed on my boat.

nm

 

[Terry Arnold]

need a deckhand Jim?

I'm assuming that they are comely

 

[jcherubini]

Pity the language expert

Well, I meant pity ME. I am, at the same time:a novelist;a teacher of English (middle and high school);a contributing techie on this column;a parent;and a philosopher in the 18th-C vein who can actually see Jonathan Swift's point that there could be a use for a language police!My late father, not what you would call a scholar but nevertheless an exceptionally intelligent man, who never finishing high school was yet a brilliant engineer and a talented artist, happened to have a tremendous respect for literacy. (He wrote beautifully, by the way, in both form and substance.) He once said that when you leave a note behind, the only thing the guy who reads it has of you is how you presented yourself in the note. If you've left garish misspellings and egregious grammar errors, the next guy coming along and reading that note is likely to think you are an moron (his words).I have never forgetten that; and it is something I pass on to all my students. Spelling can be learned; grammar can be learned; vocabulary (even technical) can be learned. We all make typos, we all forget, we all slip up often enough. But I believe, in all my capacities above, that at all times we should always make every reasonable effort to be clear, concise, and accurate in our use of what is supposed to be our common language. It's what we need to make our points understood by others, and it's a form of respect for ourselves and the people who will read what we leave behind.--sorry, just another stupid two pence, thank you very much!JC 2

 

[Steve C]

Don't judge a book by it's cover

and don't judge a person by what they write on the internet. While I can't find a thing to disagree with in your post JC, I have a general disagreement with the spirit of this thread. I too am appalled by the "dumb-ing down" of our culture, including our language skills; however, posting to forums on the internet, such as this one, is somewhere between the written word and talking. There is an immediately about the internet that allows us to write free form, much like talking. While it is true, someone can save what we have written here for posterity, I don't think anyone reading "does anyone know why my anchor light doesn't work", on a forum such as this, will take it for anything other than the context in which it was written. If I was to publish a book or technical paper on the internet, I would, of course, want the written word to be a precise and grammatically correct as possible.  Dan, there is no shortage of people correcting others on internet forums, including this one; it's almost become a sport for some. This forum is a place to ask questions, learn from others, share ideas, and simply connect and communicate with other sailors. If posting becomes laborious, for fear of being ridiculed publicly about one's grammar, or knowledge, then it will fail it's chartered mission. Here is an example of what I mean about the immediacy of the internet: I'm at work trying to write a response to this thread, I'm multitasking doing other work, I've got to run to a meeting, I don't have time to reread what I've written to make sure it's grammatically correct and I don't sound like a buffoon. If I wait till later, this post will never get done ... so go ahead and rip me a new one ... pick apart my spelling, grammar, and my technical content, and I won't want to post again. Look, if someone has the wrong idea about something that could be of importance, perhaps where their safety is at stake, kindly correct them. But let's not turn this into a forum for nit picking others. Let's keep the questions, answers, and ideas flowing. Life is not perfect, why should posts to this forum be.

 

[Mark Burrows]

Great Intellectual Fodder

I love this thread!!!It has so many aspect (as opposed to what's your favorite boat name).Personally, I don't care if HOWites write well or not, BUT the messages do leave a lasting impression. I have all kinds of opinions of what people on this site are like based solely on what I have read. That opinion is not just based on the content but how it was presented.I started to write about some of the folks I am familiar with but figured I should look in the mirror first. So based on my posts, you might think that I am:VerboseCloset intellectualCouldn't sail his way out of a paper bagTechnology nerdHas experience on an H26Can kill a thread with some obtuse commentLikes a clever jokeIdea manDoesn't know when to keep his mouth (or keyboard shut)I'm sure there are more but that would be YOUR opinion. Maybe Phil should sponsor an essay contest of some sort in conjunction with a magazine or other sponsor.Emoticons anyone? :0Markdb

 

[Mike]

My too scents..

I appreciate good English and the occasional burst of eloquence. However, it’s far more important to share friendship and helpful information. From what I have seen so far, if something is clearly misstated or a wrong unit (of measure?) is used, someone will sing out.Not everyone is an engineer or English major but we are all sailors (or wannabes) !

 

[Dale I]

Final Results....

Yes, I think that Phil needs to do a tally here. Would it go something like this?100% of respondents: like reading something well written. (myself included)100% of respondents: like a little levity. (myself included)100% of respondents: like knowlegeable replies to legitimate questions. (myself included)Many respondents: (probably) TOO much time to surf forums, (myself included)...Several respondents: take too little time to form good questions. (myself included)Many respondents: underestimate the impact of the written word.Many respondents: have a tendency to become too cerebrial in an informal thing such as this. (not likely me)Many respondents: Are occasionally wound really TOO tight for their own good, (myself included)...I agree with just about every one here, and to those others....eh, I'll get over it---without bashin' em much. I've found this site to be the best yet ! ....and further appologize to any and all of you that may or may not be offended by this little summary...or other posts, past present or future...forever. Now lets go a sail and chill.

 

[Dan McGuire]

"Writing"-Final Comments

I have been traveling for the last three days. I expected that by the time I came back, the discussion of my “Writing” would have completely disappeared. It had not. I have a few final comments. I was initially concerned that what I wrote would discourage some writers. It does not appear to have made much difference in the number of contributors to the forum. However, I believe the quality of the writing has improved. Hopefully it is because more effort was put into the writing rather than not writing. I may draw more criticism, but I believe sailboat sailors are better sailors than powerboat sailors, as a group. If nothing else, you can go into a boat shop and buy or rent a powerboat and immediately start boating, regardless of previous boating experience. Very few would try that with a sailboat. At my marina there are six sailboats and over five hundred powerboats. I would like to see more sailboats. I believe there is a better chance to see those sailboats, if I present a favorable impression. If they ask me how fast it will go, an answer of six knots per hour will not impress them, either as a speed or technically. I believe Gwen expressed it very well in her last paragraph of "Voting with Dan". To quote Gwen "Saying "knots per hour" or "volts per weekend" damages your own credibility. It's worth taking a few seconds to find out what the term really means."

 

[Jeff D.]

I think I will audit this course!

nm