[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

There is something about coaching (horse-drawn) days where the word is used.

The word is post-chaise. Didn't have to google, I have read the entire Horatio Hornblower series multiple times.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Ahh yes.

Hornblower? So did I, but a long time ago. The last thing I read of that period was the Master and Commander series, and I'm sure that is where I would have heard this.

I never even came close to getting to grips with the many sorts of horse-drawn vehicle mentioned in Victorian literature, or set in that time.

[Samurai]

I also found out about canal boats in the Victorian era via Hornblower. That mode of transportation died once railways came along.

[Thad E Ginathom]

The waterway that flooded my house was built as a navigable canal --- and there are people still alive who can remember there being boats on it.

[samaspire]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

The waterway that flooded my house was built as a navigable canal --- and there are people still alive who can remember there being boats on it.

Do you mean that the Chennai floods were not your first?


A query about bulleted text:

- Should there be a full stop after each point in a bulleted list (assuming they are all long sentences)

- If the answer to the above point is negative, then what if each bullet point has multiple sentences. Like this one.

- And what if some points are single sentences and some multiple - should all points get a full stop just for uniformity sake?

[Sangre]

If there is one thing that I've always struggled with using, it is the word / phrase "sorry / ..feel sorry.."

This is my understanding:

Saying "I'm sorry" is when I've made a mistake and want to apologize (or apologise?).

When I say "I feel sorry for you", is that an expression of pity? Or am I apologizing for someone else's mistake?

When someone says "Don't feel sorry for me", I simply don't know what to say. Do I say "I wasn't feeling sorry" (sounds rude) or "I will feel sorry for you because of ..." (sounds stupid).
Maybe, I will just nod and keep quiet.

Anyway saying sorry seems to be a disappearing habit. I'm not entirely sure if it is good or bad.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by Sangre

When someone says "Don't feel sorry for me", I simply don't know what to say. Do I say "I wasn't feeling sorry" (sounds rude) or "I will feel sorry for you because of ..." (sounds stupid).
Maybe, I will just nod and keep quiet.

Anyway saying sorry seems to be a disappearing habit. I'm not entirely sure if it is good or bad.

That would be always used to express disappointment, or to empathise with the current situation of the other person.
You cant apologize for someone, at least not in this manner.
You could just say, "OK", if someone asks you to not feel sorry.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by samaspire

Do you mean that the Chennai floods were not your first?

They were not my first flood, but they were my first flooded-house experience.

The water in this part of the city came via the Buckingham Canal.

A query about bulleted text:

I doubt if there is a rule, and it probably depends on the nature of the text. Some bullet lists are literally lists, with just one word or item to each point. Others may have single or multiple sentences.

This is my idea: punctuate it in the same way as you would if there were no bullets.

[tilt]

Originally Posted by samaspire

*SNIP*
A query about bulleted text:

- Should there be a full stop after each point in a bulleted list (assuming they are all long sentences)

- If the answer to the above point is negative, then what if each bullet point has multiple sentences. Like this one.

- And what if some points are single sentences and some multiple - should all points get a full stop just for uniformity sake?

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

*SNIP*
I doubt if there is a rule, and it probably depends on the nature of the text. Some bullet lists are literally lists, with just one word or item to each point. Others may have single or multiple sentences.

This is my idea: punctuate it in the same way as you would if there were no bullets.

The general convention is that list items are to be separated by a semicolon.

Re. the Post-Haste Post -Chaise discussion - I have never heard of post-chaise; but I do know post-haste because in the horse-drawn coach days, the mail (post) used to be the fastest coach and had top priority at all stages; and therefore post-haste meant "immediately" or "ASAP" or "as quick as the post".

Cheers

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by tilt

The general convention is that list items are to be separated by a semicolon.

That makes sense.

There were so many kinds of "coach." Google helps us to know what the post-chaise would have looked like: images.

[tilt]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

That makes sense.

There were so many kinds of "coach." Google helps us to know what the post-chaise would have looked like: images.

Thanks Nick. That does help with post-chaise, but I have yet to find proper citation to support my "post-haste" theory.

Cheers

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by tilt

Thanks Nick. That does help with post-chaise, but I have yet to find proper citation to support my "post-haste" theory.

Cheers

From etymonline :
Posthaste -adv:
1590s, from a noun (1530s) meaning "great speed," usually said to be from "post haste" instruction formerly written on letters (attested from 1530s), from post (adv.) + haste (n.). The verb post "to ride or travel with great speed" is recorded from 1550s.

[reverse_gear]

This is from an article in Fortune magazine's website.

Apple was one of the only stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to rise on Wednesday, reversing its earlier declines in a late-afternoon comeback.

Have seen this in regular usage, and it sounds terribly wrong. This really confuses the hell out of me - how can something be "one of" and also "the only" at the same time? No idea, and I am guessing the author wants us to remain in suspended animation about the meaning (probably because he does not know himself).

Expressions like this have crept in as part of management jargon, wherein people don't want to be specific about the meaning.

[reverse_gear]

Originally Posted by samaspire

Do you mean that the Chennai floods were not your first?


A query about bulleted text:

- Should there be a full stop after each point in a bulleted list (assuming they are all long sentences)

- If the answer to the above point is negative, then what if each bullet point has multiple sentences. Like this one.

- And what if some points are single sentences and some multiple - should all points get a full stop just for uniformity sake?

In Powerpoint presentation formats, the convention is not to use punctuation at the end of each bullet. The full stops within each bulleted list will continue as per norm. Usually, these bullets need not necessarily be complete sentences. This was drilled into me 20 years back when I started out working and had to prepare such presentations.

In full form text documents, it depends on the nature of usage. If it is a bulleted list of objects or phrases (not sentences), the only punctuation that is typically used is the semi-colon. If it is paragraphs or full sentences under each bullet, then full stops (or question marks or exclamation marks) are used.

I hope I have managed to confuse you even more.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by reverse_gear

This is from an article in Fortune magazine's website.

Have seen this in regular usage, and it sounds terribly wrong. This really confuses the hell out of me - how can something be "one of" and also "the only" at the same time? No idea, and I am guessing the author wants us to remain in suspended animation about the meaning (probably because he does not know himself).

Expressions like this have crept in as part of management jargon, wherein people don't want to be specific about the meaning.

I suppose I'm one of the only people who can reassure you on this one: it is fine! Sometimes it is a group of words that defines the meaning. It's an idiom, and I don't think it was invented in the marketing department.

Having said that, yes, thinking about it makes my head hurt!